Thiruninravur Hrudayaleshwarar temple

Just a stones throw away from the Baktavatsala perumal temple is the equally popular and equally old 1500 yrs temple dedicated to Lord Shiva

Legend:
The story of this temple dates back to 7th century during Pallava reign. There was a Shiva devotee living in this place during 7th century called Poosalaar. who had a desire  to build a temple for Lord Shiva at this place unfortunately he could not find funds for the same. Poosalaar finally decided to build a temple for the Lord by himself, As he was well read and knew all the Aagama Vidhis and nuances to build a temple, he wanted to start building the temple.in his mind
He sat under a tree called Iluppai and started meditating. He planned each and every small detail to perfection for the construction of this  temple in his mind itself. He also marked an auspicious day to commence the holy work. The temple work progressed in his mind.  He built the temple step by step. He had designed evebything in his mind right from Vimana, Sanctum, Temple Pond, Compound walls etc., and executed each in detail as per what he had in mind.
After the temple construction work came to a finish. He even had organised all the utensils required for the temple. Finally, he also fixed an auspicious date for Kumbhabishekam (consecration) of the temple. He prayed to Lord Shiva to be present for the consecration and offer His blessings.
During the same period, a Pallava king called Rajasimha  was ruling this part, with his capital as Kaanchi (today’s Kanchipuram). He also was a sincere devotee of Lord Shiva and was building a huge beautiful temple for the Lord, at Kaanchi. He  named the God as Kailasanathar and the temple as Rajasimmeswaram. The king was too proud to see the grandeur of the temple constructed by him.
The king also marked a date for consecration, while the finishing touches were going on at the temple. Lord Shiva appeared in his dream and told him that He cannot make it to the consecration of the king’s temple on the said date and asked him to change the day of consecration, as He had to be present for consecration of another temple built by Poosalaar of Thiruninravur.
The king woke up shocked . He wanted to know about the temple which God informed him of. He immediately started with his queen, ministers  to see Poosalaar’s temple at Thiruninravur.
He came to Thiruninravur the next day and enquired with many people about a new Shiva temple built by Poosalaar. Nobody knew anything about the temple but directed the king to the place where Poosalaar was meditating under the Iluppai tree.
King went and asked Poosalaar himself about the temple. Poosalaar, on hearing the king explaining about his dream, was overwhelmed to realize the mercy shown to him by Lord Shiva. Poosalaar explained to the king that he had been constructing the temple in his heart (Manasu in Thamizh) and had fixed a date for consecration.
Poosalaar made the king to look at his heart and realize the temple which he constructed. King was able to see and realize the temple made by Poosalaar.
Knowing this Rajasimma was amazed to see the devotion and sincerity of Poosalaar. The king himself took all the specifications of the temple which Poosalaar had in mind and physically constructed a temple for the Lord here. This temple is also called Manakkoil.As Poosalaar originally built the temple for the Lord in his Hridayam, the Lord here is known as Hridhayaaleeswarar.

The main deity here is called Sri Hridhayaaleeswarar. The Goddess here is Sri Maragadhaambigai
The main sanctum has an east facing Sivalingam with entrance from the south side. There is an image of Poosalar worshipping the Sivalingam inside the main sannidhi.
The Maragadambigai sannidhi faces south and has a petite amman in standing posture. The sanctum has a gaja prushti vimanam with Lingothbhavar, Brahma Dakshinamurthy and Durga in various niches.The entire complex is tastefully covered allowing for natural sunlight to illuminate these gods without the harshness of scorching sun!!.

There are a lot of Murals painted on the roof of the mandabam on the east side




(Various figures on the right side of the main entrance)
There is also a statue of King Rajasimmam in the main complex.
ref:poosalar

Thiruninravur Bhaktavatsala perumal

This is the 55 th divyadesam of Vaishnava temples in India and is situated close to the Hrudayaleshwara siva temple in Thiruninravur.
How to reach:
Thiruninravur  is situated in Thiruvallur District and is about 35 kms Northwest of Chennai. On the road from Chennai to Thiruvallur,( the MTH road or chennai anantapur road) proceed west from padi  till you cross Pattabiram .When you reach Tiruninravur  you see the over bridge  across the railway rack take a right turn and climb on the bridge and proceed south as you get down on the other side look for the temple on the second left road the road takes you right to the back of the temple . You cam also reach it from Thirumazisai one has to take right turn after Kalki bhagwan ashram and sriram eng college and ask for the temple . From there Thiruninravur temple  is about 4 kms.
Thiruninravur can also be reached by Suburban trains from Chennai to Arakkonam, after Pattabiram.
Legend:
It is believed that Samudraraja (Lord Varuna), who is the father of Goddess Lakshmi worshipped Lord Vishnu here. It is also said that the Perumal here is always giving dharshan (ப்ரத்யக்ஷம்) to Lord Varuna. Thiruninravur is considered as the place of Goddess as she settled here first and then Lord came here to Her place. The rarity of this temple is that the Lord Sri Bhakthavatsala Perumal is staying permanently at his in-law’s place . As Goddess settled here first, the place itself had got its name after her. In Thamizh, ‘Thiru’ means Sri Lakshmi, ‘Ninra’ means stood, ‘Vur’ means place.
The Goddess of this temple is ‘Ennai Petra Thaayaar’  also called as Sri Sudhaa Valli.
According to legend, Thirumangai Aazhwaar had visited this temple and left to Thirukkadal Mallai - today’s Mahabalipuram without singing a single Paasuram on the Lord. After he left, Sri Bhakthavatsala Perumal gave Dharshan to him again at Thirukkadal Mallai. It is said that Thirumangai Aazhwaar had God’s dharshan from Mahabalipuram itself, after which he had sung 2 Paasurams on the Lord, admiring the beauty and similarities of the deities in Thirukkadal Mallai, Thiruninravur and Thirukkanna Mangai.
Later days, with the divine instruction of the Lord, a Pallava King had constructed this temple and arranged for Brahmotsavam
 

(view of the temple entrance and Raja gopuram)

(view of the Rajagopuram from inside)

View of the Main sanctum from outside
The main deity Sri Bhakthavatsala Perumal here gives dharshan in standing posture facing east. He has Sridevi and Bhoo devi as his consorts

The sudha valli thayar sanidhi is in the North west.
Other deities of the temple are  Sri Aandaal, Sri Chakkarathaazhwar and Sri Aadhiseshan. Paramapatha Vaasal is located on the Northern Praakaaram.

There is Sri Anjaneyar Shrine opposite the temple, facing west. The beautiful temple chariot is parked there adjacent to Sri Anjaneyar Shrine.

Wikipedia link to the temple

details of the temple in tamil snapped today 18/3/2012

Tiruvallur VeeraRaghava swamy Koil

Today I had the chance to go to Surutapalli and returned by Tiruvallur, Tiruninravur and could see few temples.Surutapalli temple I have already blogged. The next  temple I saw was the Veeraraghavaswamy koil at tiruvallur.
The temple is one among the 108 divya desams of vaishnavas and a part of Thondai Nadu divyadesams. Amavasya days are believed to be auspicious for visiting this temple.
How to reach:
I proceeded from Surutapalli towards Uthukottai and took the Chennai Anantapur Road (extension of MTH road) and in about 30 mins I was at the temple.It was about 17.5 kms from surutapalli. The temple is in the bazaar street of Tiruvallur and can easily be reached from the highway . There is One way system around the temple and there is ample parking in the Teppakulam.

( a view of the temple tank where parking is provided)
“Darsanat sparsanat snanat, Sadyo hrittapanasanah,
Ato sarveshu lokeshu, Namna Hrittapanasanah”
The tank is so holy that evens a sight or a touch or a bath would immediately dispel all anguish of heart. The local tradition attaches greater importance to this tank than to the Ganga, the Godavari
Today the Jeeyar of Ahobila mutt was camping there (this temple is under his control) hence there was a huge rush with VIP’s thronging and disrupting the queue but patience paid.
It is a truly remarkable temple very well maintained and the kurukkal said please come on Tuesdays when there will be no rush!
(main entrance from the gate)

(Main gopuram from the inside)
Legend: Thiru vul oor  the place where thiru stayed for a night. It seems saalihotra maharishi did penance here and out of his bhikshai was waiting for an athithi .Vishnu  came as an old man and had bhikshai and requested all th food which the rishi happily gave . He asked for a place to lie down Uraidarkuria Ull Evvull'? (where is the  place  to sleep) The rishi happily took care of him in his own hut later he realised his guest was none other than Maha Vishnu and was overjoyed. the Lord was so happy that he discoursed the Vedas to brahma here with an affectionate right hand resting on the Rishi. The main sanidhi has the lord in sleeping posture with Right hand resting on the Rishi with the left hand in the Gnana mudra with Brahma in attendance.The deity of Veera-raghava is lying on Adi Sesa, with Lord Brahma coming out from his navel.

Legend also has it that Vishnu  vanquished the demons Madhukaidapas, and protected devotees here. The Vijayakoti vimaanam is named after this victory over demons.
It is believed that bathing in the temple tank, and worshipping Veeraraghavaperumaal with symbolic offerings of salt and pepper here, is a cure to many a physical ailment, and hence the deity is also known as Vaidya Veeraraghava Perumal. It is also believed that barren couples beget progeny upon worshipping here.
The Lord’s abhishekam is performed only with sandalwood oil.
This temple is under the administration of the Ahobila Mutt. It is an east facing temple with a 5 tiered rajagopuram

(view of the main sanctum complex from the gate)
In the north west is the Kanakavalli thayar sannidhi.
. There are also shrines to
Nammalwar
Vedanta Desikar
Andal
Ramanujacharyar
Lakshmi Narasimha
. There are inscriptions dating back to the 2nd half of the 9th century Pallava period here.
The temple is open from 6.30 am to 12 noon in the mornings and from 4 pm to 8 pm in the evenings.

The priest Sri. PVS Bhattar can be contacted at 27660378(STD Code-044)
Mangalasasanam:

• Thiru Mangai Alwar - 11 Paasurams.
  
• Thirumazhisai Alwar - 1 Paasuram.
  Total - 12 Paasurams.

wiki link to the temple

(inside the approach to the temple)

Main gate to the temple

(View of the chariot mandapam just inside the rajagopuram)

Navagraha temples in Chennai near Porur- Pozhichallur Agastheeswarar Temple- Shani sthalam- Vada Thirunallaru

The Agastheeswarar temple in Pozhichallur a suburb of Chennai behind the Meenambakkam Airport is a famous old temple .This temple has been in existence for more than 1500 years.Pozhichallur is Pugazh Chola Nalloor (meaning Famous town of the Chola Kingdom, in Tamil)
How to reach: On the GST road proceeding from Kathipara after the airport look for the right turn after areva signal and Pallavaram bus stand take this road for about 2 kms you will skirt Pammal and come up to the junction of  pozhichallur road and kunrathur road take a right turn here and proceed about 2 kms as the road winds you can see the  on the right hand side. The approach road is being laid so it is very rugged.You may miss the approach road as there is a shopping complex built there .
The temple cam also be reached from Kunrathur . You can also reach this temple from Gerugambakkam, kolapakkam from the porur side.( See my previous blog about the Kolapakkam temple)

There is no raja gopurm as seen in this temple as also in all parihara sthalams
The first thing that stuck me as a temple keeping up with the times was this sign painted:on the entrance wall



The temple has an east facing entrance with the main gate opening on the North side

(The Durga sannidhi and Chandikeshwarar on the north west side of the temple)

Go shala at the north east side

East facing entrance with dwajasthambam and temple office behind
As you enter the Main sanctum you have  the east facing Sivan sanidhi with a south facing Goddess Sri Aanandhavalli sannidhi.There are separate sannidhis for Suryan and chandran behind the main door and saneeswarar is seen facing the Sivan sannidhi in an independent sannidhi.
There is also a seperate Navagraha sannidhi inside to the right of the saneeshwarar.
Sri Saneeswara Bhagavan is said to have worshipped Lord Shiva here. As Sri Saneeswara had been giving ill effects to people, he had gained Dhosham out of it. Sri Saneeswara Bhagavan, wanting to be relieved of his dhoshams, prayed Lord Shiva for help.Lord Shiva asked Sri Sani Bhagavan to come to this place and worship Him. As directed, Sri Sani Bhagavan came to this place, created a pond called ‘Sani Theertham’ and worshipped Lord Shiva and got relieved of his problems.Hence, Sri Sani Bhagavan here is believed to be Mangala Saneeswarar with no dhoshams or ill effects. People having problems because of Sani (Saturn), worship here to reduce the ill effects. This place is also called ‘Vada Thirunallaaru’
This temple is also a Parihaara Sthalam for Raahu and Kethu.
Outside on the south west you have a unique neem tree with Banyan combination with a Ganesa below it

The opposite corner on the South east side has  neem trees with a seperate Sivan and nandi below the neem trees

The gajaprushti vimanam is very clearly seen here

The south east corner near the office has a small sannidhi for Anjaneyar



Click here for :Google map to temple

Navagraha temples in Chennai near Porur-Kolapakkam Agastheeswarar- Surya kshethram

Kolapakkam is a small village between Porur and  Nandambakam. The ASI has found ancient idols near this temple and also many buddhist relics. There are not many stories with this temple but it has a prominent suryan sanidhi and is a parihara sthalam of the thondai mandalam. It is more than 1500 years old as per ASI excavations nearby
How to reach:There are 2-3 ways to reach this place .
1) From the porur Kunrathur road you can turn left at Gerugambakkam and proceed along the road for about 2-3 Kms and you will reach Kolapakkam(pronounced kolaipakkam ) . on the road look for the higher secondary school take a left turn after the school and in a furlong you can see the temple and reach it
2)From Butt road ( kathipara to Porur road) as you come from kathipara look for the MIOT hospital on your right exactly opposite to this is the road to kolapakkam  follow for 2 kms and you will reach the school
3) from Pammal to  pozhichalur to Kunrathur  follow the road from GST road to pammal  after the meenambakkam airport on GST road .Proceed beyond pammal to Pozhichallur and ask for kolapakkam road the road is ricketyand bad in many stretches It will cross the adyar river via a causeway go for another 3 kms and you will reach the Kolapakkam school



Legend:
The place does not have any great story except that Agasthya and Vaageesa Munivar worshipped here. The eastern side has a seperate Suryanar sannidhi which has prominence and is seen above . It is believed that Surya bhagawan came here to pray to lord Shiva . The Bhairavar is also very powerful and every sunday special poojas are done for Bhairavar during rahu kalam and 6 weeks will get our ishta karyam . Sunday morning is Abhishekam for Lord Surya and each is priced at Rs.500/-The priest saravanan was very helpful with the details
As you enter the praharam you see the south facing entry point

Behind the main sannithi in the south east side are seperate shrines for Ganapathy(Raja Ganapathy). Kasi viswanathar and Visalakshi thayar  as seen below. There is a seperate Rhunahara eashwarar who is supposed to absolve you of all rhunam I.e..,obligations for favours received from anybody in the past.
The North west corner has a shrine for Muruga with Vali devayani. The Peacock is  sculpted out of green granite and is called Maragadha Mayil as seen
Seem above in the North east corner is the seperate sannidhi for Bhairavar .Suryanar sannidhi is seen on our right .
Entry into the main sanctum is by the south side as you enter you see the ambal sannidhi Shri Anandavalli amman  is a 3 foot standing vigraham.
The main sannidhi is the Sivan sannidhi facing east with a serene garbha gruha .
The temple is built in the gajaprushti style
Many kings have patronized this temple during various periods. A king called Aadhithya Chola  is said to have done renovations to the temple during 878 AD.

Raja Raja Chozha I, Raja Raja Chozha II (1152 AD), Kulothunga Chozha III (1188 AD), Sundara Pandiyan (1200 AD), Veera Rajendra Chozha, a Telugu Chozha king called Vijayakanda Gopala are said to have contributed much to the temple, according to the inscriptions found in the temple.
According to another inscription, a king by name Sri Vijaya Maharaja of Sumatra Island (Indonesia) is said to have gifted 250 Kuzhi (குழி - in Thamizh is an unit to measure lands) of lands to Sri Agatheeswarar at Kolappaakkam, during the 8th year of his reign. Inscriptions reveal that Sri Vijaya Maharaja was contemporary to Raja Raja Chozha and also had very cordial relationship with the then Chozha kingdom. The inscription also gives details about some Buddhist activities nearby this temple and Sri Vijaya Maharaja was a Buddhist.

In the recent past, the ASI have explored the area and found ruins of a Buddhist shrine near the temple. A couple of Buddha statues and pillars were discovered near this temple, which is kept in the street sides of the temple. A carving of Lord Ganesha is also found on one of these pillars.
The Sthala Viruksham for this temple is ‘Arasa Maram’ (Peepul tree) and Theertham is called ‘Amirtha Pushkarani’ (pic above) which is found adjacent to the temple and is mot well  maintained.
Contact Saravanan Kurukkal: 9976596342

Navagraha temples in Chennai near Porur –Ramanadheswara temple –Guru Sthalam

This temple is the closest one to the porur Kunrathur Junction and is famous for Guru Bhagawan.It is also an old temple belonging to chola period 700 AD built by kulathunga cholan.
Legend says the Sri Rama  came here searching for seetha. While staying here he accidently kicked a sivalingam and on realising it was a lingam he worshipped Siva here and lord Siva directed Rama to proceed towards Lanka (South ) from  here and hence Since Siva is the guru who gave directions  to the worshipper Rama the place  is famous as a guru kshetram There is no seperate Guru sannidhi and as such dakshinamurthy is also seen as in any Siva temple.
The temple was in Renovation when I went and hence was strewn with rocks. The main sannidhi has been completed with Marble.
Route: On entering the porur Kunrathur road after about 300 metres look for the EB  substation on the left. Take the adjoining left road and proceed till the last at the end take a left turn and you will come in front of the temple

(The main entrance under renovation)

( the Bairavar sannidhi seen here on the right and the Amman sannidhi seen in the back ground)

(back side of the Main sannidhi showing the gajaprusti vimanam)

Since Rama consecrated this temple there are lots of Vaishnava figures in the outer praharam and the vimanam

( view of the Main sannidhi mandapam with polished granite flooring)

(roof showing various painted motifs of the zodiac)

(Main ramanadheswarar sannidhi is on the right a sivalingam worshiped by Lord Rama before he left for Lanka)

The practice of offering Theertham and Sadaari are generally seen only in Vishnu temples. But, this is probably one of the few  Shiva temples like the pallikondeswarar temple in Surutapalli , where Theertham and Sadaari are offered to the devotees.
Devi  Kamakshi  sannidhi is seen on the east side facing the south

The Sthala Viruksham is Neem tree which is seen on the southern side of the prakaram. Lord Brahma is seen under the tree facing north. A small Shiva Lingam is kept facing east with Nandhi, adjacent to Lord Brahma. The Neem tree is dressed up with a nice sari which looks very lady like
The entire area is under construction hence difficult terrain to walk on .