Shri Lakshminarayana temple Varahur

After visiting the appakudathan temple I decided to travel another 10 kms down the same road beyond thirukattupalli and see this temple.This temple is famous for its uriyadi festival during Gokulashtami . It is associated with Shri. Narayana theertha swami of Andhra who setteled here and wrote the krishna Leela tharangini and many other compositions

When I visited the temple there was a Kalyanotsavam being performed which I was able to witness and get blessings in the form of hot puliyogarai at the end!!

THe main deity is Shri Lakshmi Narayana with Mahalakshmi seated on his left thigh.The utsava vigraham is Venkatesa perumal for whom kalyana utsavam is done.

For a more detailed article on the temple and shri Narayana theertha see

Article from the Hindu on Narayana theertha Swami

Shri Hari anna's blog on this kshetram

Koviladi Appakudathan Temple Thirupernagar a Divyadesam

Last week during a visit to trichy I could visit this temple .The term ADI means ancient and Koil  is temple so the bhattar said this temple is in existence from before the Srirangam. It is a small temple which is being renovated,

How to Reach:

1. From Trichy take the road to Kallanai . On the Trichy Chennai bypass there is a prominent board that leads to Kallanai. The road is excellent. It is 9 kms to kallanai and about 5 kms further you will reach Thirupernagar / Koviladi village where the temple is situated. 

.You can also reach the temple from Lalgudi and Anbil side . The road was horrible last time I travelled hence I chose to travel via kallanai. 

3. The temple is about 25 kms away from Thiruvaiyaru towards trichy after you cross Thirukattupalli from Tanjore  side.

Legends of the temple:

The lord of the temple shri vishnu is giving appam a sweet to the devotees hence the name appam kuduthan.

There was a king called Ubarishravas who was cursed because he kiled a brahmin while hunting elephants . On prayers to  lord Shiva the king was directed to go to koiladi and feed devotees and when Mahavishnu is fed here the king’scurse would be lifted. The king came here built a palace and started feeding poor people. On day Mahavishnu came in the guise of an old man  after all the food was finished and was served appam. and payasam by the king.

At that time, Markandeya rishi was directed by Shiva to this place to seek refuge in Lord Vishnu for longevity of life. Markandeya came here and saw the old Brahmin lying on the couch holding an appa kudam in one hand. Markandeya bowed to him 100 times and Lord Vishnu regaining His original form, lifted his hand from the appa kudam and blessed Markandeya with longevity. He also blessed King . The temple:

This is one of the Pancha Ranga Kshetrams

Srirangapatnam in Karnataka, Srirangam, Kumbakonam and   Mayiladuthurai all along Course of the River Kaveri.Many people consider it a piligrimage and  see all the five in a day.

This temple is on a hillock by name Indragiri. With 2 prakarams,

A climb up these  stairs leads us to the praharams

The lord faces the west and is in the lying down posture with his hand on the appa kudam raised to bless King Ubarishravas  who is seated below. Bhumadevi thayar is found kneeling  near his foot.The utsava vigraham has a balakrishnan and people pray here for begetting children.

. . Appam is prepared as a daily offering to the deity here.

There is a separate shrine for Kamalavalli Thaayar The thayar is in an east facing sanctum which is in the first praharam itself.. There are also shrines for Ganesha, Nammazhwar, Ramanujar, Lakshmi Narayanar and Venugopalan. .

The temple is being renovated.

It is believed that Nammazhwar recited the last of his paasurams here before departing the mortal world.

.Tirumazhisai Alwar refers to seven shrines featuring Vishnu in a reclining position - Tirukkudandai, Tiruvegkaa, Tiruvallur, Tiruvarangam, Tiruppernagar, Anbil and Tirupparkadal - in a pasuram.

The rathams both old as well as new one below

Thiruvaiyaru Panchanadheshwara temple

The season of Marghazhi brings a hectic life to this sleepy town due to the annual Thyagaraja utsavam. Though it is more famous for shri Thyaga brahmam who lived here it is also famous for the huge Shiva temple. It is a Paadal petra sthalam visited by many nayanmars. Sundarar had the flooded cauvery part to facilitate his visit, Appar Thirugnanasambandar have sung about this temple. The Town of Thiruvaiyaru is crisscrossed by the Cauvery and its various tributaries making it 5 rivers here hence the presiding diety is pancha nadhi eashwara or Ayarappan in tamil. He rules over with Dharma samvardhini ambal.

How to Reach:

The fastest way to reach thiruvaiyaru is from Tanjore by road its about 9kms.It can also be reached from trichy via Kallanai the grand anicut, at present the road here is horrible between Manakkal and thirukattupalli  so it is better avoided. There is also a road via the kollidam banks via Appakudathan temple a divya desam.

Legends of the temple:

It is the birthplace of Nandi and Shiva performed the marriage of Nandi here. Annually It is celebrated with Nandi visiting 7 temples in procession as part of the sapthapadi

Kulothunga Chola  Apparently built this temple as per directions from a saint The temple has many contributions from the Pallavas,Chelas and the Hoysalas and Mahrattas too.

The temple has 5 prakaras and Ambal has a seperate temple in one prakaram.

The temple is being renovated by the Dharmapura aadheenam and is being readied for Kumbabishekam in Feb 2013

 

The rajagopuram from inside

Way to the Ambal sannidhi

Multiple pillars in the hall in the ambal complex

 

 

The main temple has manypraharams and the Lord is in the inner praharam as a shivalingam.

The second praharam has wall murals by the Mahrattas in 18 century being re done now.The original is below

The Birth place of Nandi

A meditation Centre inside leading to Guru sannidhi

A maha vilvam tree with 12 leaves

Kosta vigrahas Bhairavar

 

The temple legend

The temple Nandi

 

Nachiar Koil the Divyadesam inside Trichy in Woriyur

This vaishnavaite temple inside Woriyur is a sacred Divyadesam which was built by the Cholas initially.

How to reach:

It is just about 500 metres to the south of the Shiva temple and is very easily found.Just proceed to the end of Salai road and turn left and right again you will be in front of the temple.

Legends of the temple:

The Chola king had no children after prayers to Sri Ranganatha he was blessed with Goddess Mahalakshmi being born as his daughter Kamalavalli. When she was to be married the King had a dream which directed him to Srirangam with his daughter where she merged with the lord. In her memory he built this temple in Woraiyur. Later when Shiva’s ire reduced the town into a desert the temple was lost and was later rebuilt.

As you enter the Rajagopuram you enter the outer praharam below. There is a huge pond on the left

View from the pond

The main sanctum has a Ranganathar in the Standing posture bedecked as a bridegroom with a small statue of Kamalavalli nachiyar sitting below as the bride.

There is no separate thayar sannidhi.

There are separate sannidhis for manavala mamunivar and for Tiruppanalwar who was born in Woraiyur

Thirumangai Azhvaar has composed one paasuram (song/verse in praise of the Lord).
Koziyum Kadalum Koil Konde, Kovalare Yoppar Kundramanna
Paazhiyum Tozhumore Naankudayaar, Pandivar Thammayaum Kandariyom
Vaazhiyro vivar vanna Mennil, Makadal Ponrular Kaiyil Veiya
Azhiyon Renthiyor Sangu Patri, Acho Oruvar Azhagiyavaa

A very peaceful temple

Shri Panchavarneshwarar temple Uraiyur (Woriyur) Trichy; - A padal petra sthalam

Woriyur was the Capital Of the Cholas and this is the main Shiva temple here . I visited this place with lots of expectations . The place was called Thirumukkichuram in olden times.
How to reach:
It is easily reached via salai road. The temple street is called PVS  (Pancha varneshwara swamy) street. The present temple was supposedly built by the pallavas.
Legends:

It was built in the 8th century by the  Pandiya King Varaguna Maharaja II. An inscription dated 885 AD has referred to the donation of gold coins to the village sabha for performing poojas to the temple. Inscriptions in the Rcokfort Thaymanavar temple at Tiruchirapalli also speak of the donations by the pandya king Varagunaa Maharaja II.The temple legend mentions Karikala chola as the chief builder.
The Chola king Veera vathithan was once travelling on an elephant and the elephant became  mad it was subdued by a Cockerel which saved the king hence he built the temple. Even today a Cockerel visits the temple daily evening during pooja.
Kochengat  Cholan who built 78 temples was born in this place and was a great devotee of this lord.
Garuda, Brahma have worshipped here.

Uthanga munivar  received the darshan of Shiva in five hues at different times of the day in this place hence here Shiva is called Panchavarneswarar. There is a separate shrine for this rishi in the inner praharam
View from the outer Gate

There is a huge courtyard with a pond and lots of cows There was a Shivan under the sthala vruksham Vilva tree which the people were doing poojas to.

 
     
The outer courtyard

The Doorway in front of the nandi leads us into the inner praharam
The inner praharam has a huge Sannidhi for Gomathi  ambal on the right facing South.
The main Sanctum has Shiva in the linga form facing east
There are 74 nayanmars statues on the side . The Gosta vigrahas around the main sanctum are Narthana Ganapathy, Dakshinamurthy , Ardhanari , Brahma, Durga and Chandikeswarar.
There are separate sannidhis for Vinayaka, Murugan, Gajalakshmi.  The Chandikeshwara here is quite tall about 4 feet. The pillared hall has a number of exquisite carvings like the multi faced ganapathy, Thandava Shiva and Kali below.
 

The temple legend

Allur Shri Panchanadishwarar temple

Allur was the centre of Vedic learning in the past.This is comparatively a big temple in this area but sadly not very popular.The lord here is Panchanadeeswarar with Dharmasamvardhini ambal

How to reach:

Along the Trichy Karur kulithalai road at about 10 kms you can see the temple on the left hand side

There is a Raja gopuram and a big courtyard

As you enter you see The nandi with the main sanctum housing both the Ambal facing south and the shiva lingam facing East

The Kosta vigrahas are not present.

There is a separate shrine for Vinayaka, Murugan  as in other shiva temples

A serene temple.

Jeeyapuram ShriChandrashekareshwara Temple- Padal petra sthalam

This is a padal petra sthalam though I tried twice I found the door closed.

How to Reach:

 The road from trichy to kulithalai will take a left curve and almost climb over the temple ramparts so you can not miss this temple.It is about a kilometer from the Allur temple

Legends:

The temple is supposedly housing a Shiva lingam which is shaped like a Jackfruit and the sthala vruksham is also a Jackfruit tree which at any given time has fruits both from the branches as well as the roots!!

The temple has been sung about by Sri. Thirugnanasambandar . It was built by Kundavai the Chola Princess

A better explanation of the historicity is found here

http://jeeyapuram.blogspot.in/2009/02/sri-chandrasekaraswami-temple-history.html

http://jeeyapuram.blogspot.in/2008/10/sri-chandrasekaraswami-temple-history_22.html

Hope some day The lord blesses me with a detailed darshan

16/5/14 I was blessed!!!

Last friday 16/5/14 I had an occasion to see this temple. The main Garba griha was locked though. It was a huge complex with separate sannidhis for Chandrashekareshwara and Ambal Mrugadharambikai ( Daping the Animal- a deer also known as Maan endhiya valli in Tamil)

The view of the first praharam

The nandi seen in the foreground

Entrance to the main sannidhi which was closed

The main sannidhi has lot of writings all around and have been researched by the ASI

as seen in the history. In a  variation from usual I found a rishabhanatha behind a new dakshinamurthy

 

 

 

The sthala vruksham with a nandi in  front

Plenty of Bhilva fruits in the garden

The western side had a Ardhanari in the back

Notice the inscriptions around this niche all a treasure trove of history

The ambal sannidhi is in the fore ground facing South. The ambal is seen leaning on a deer which was very nice

Vinayagar sannidhi behind the main sannidhi

 

Navagraha in the forecourt of the Main sannidhi

 

A small Lion figurine with two bodies and one face a masterpiece lying forgotten as the temple itself is , avery sad story regarding our cultural heritage!!