Sri Virudhagireeshwarar temple at Vriddhachalam

Some say this is the oldest temple in Tamilnadu. The lord of the temple is Pazhamainathar (Olden Lord) and Vriddhachalam means old hill, Though there is no hill around the temple the temple itself is considered the hill. To show that the temple is the hill the Vinayaka temple is built at about 18 feet lower.T he temple is very ancient with four Rajagopurams and Three main temples inside. There are 5 sannishis, five Kodimarams, five chariots all 5 in number!!
How to reach:
The temple is right next to the Railway station in Vriddhachalam. It is just after the road over bridge
 
The temple model shows the layout of the temple better
The Thazha pillayar koil is seen on the left Ambal sannidhi is seen on  the right near the back and the main Shivan sannidhi is seen in the middle.the Chola queen
The nandi mandabam in front of the main shrine was built by sembian ma devi
There are 5 praharams and the pillars and walls are adorned with exquisite carvings. The temple was initially built by
Legends:
This temple is considered to be older than Kasi itself and the lord is supposed to utter the panchakshara mantra to the departed here and take them to kailas.The Saivaite saints Appar, Sundarar and Gnanasambandar have sung poems on this lord. The ambal Vriddhambikai has a separate temple behind. To appease the saint Namachivayar she appeared as Balambikai and has a sannidhi in the main Shiva complex also .
  Main Shiva temple and nandi mantap seen from amman koil side
Thazha pillayar koil

The main builders of this temple


Main Shiva complex from Pillayar koil
 
The shivan koil is a huge temple by itself the entrance is seen above entrance is through the Gopuram. There is a huge shivalingam with usual Kosta devathas and Mahavishnu instead of Lingodhbhavar and a separate sannidhi for Balambikai inside. There is a Cute Vallabha ganapathy inside in the back.
 
The Vridhambikaisannidhi
 

The sthalavruksham  Vanni maram which is more than a 1000 years old

On 22/6/14 I happened to visit the temple armed with the info that the Adhishtanam of  the 11 th Kanchi acharya Sri Sri Sivananda Chidghanendra Saraswati  has recently been discovered here as per details in the Kanchi mutt calendar 2014. The Annamalaiyar lingam in the northwest corner next to the Kamakshi sannidhi is where this acharya attained Jeeva samadhi. (Below are details from the Kamakoti peetam website Kamakoti.org acharya parampara)

Sri Sivananda Chidghanendra Saraswati : He was a Karnataka Brahmin and the son of one Ujjvala Bhatta. His poorvasrama name was Iswara Vatu. His predilections were towards Sivaadvaita. He attained mukti at Vrjddhachala on Sukla Dasami in the month of Jyestha of the cyclic year Virodhikrit (172 AD).

The pic below is a carving from one of the pillars in the second praharam of the Shivan temple in front of the Nataraja which I believe depicts the acharya .

Shri Dhenupureeswarar Temple –Madambakkam a Suburb of Chennai

 

Today morning after a visit to the tirusoolam temple I drove down further and visited this temple.The Temple is under control of the ASI and is in daily worship with Puja offered daily. It has many great carvings from the time of Sundara chola to Kulathungachola and lastly to the Hoysala period. The peaceful ambience was very refreshing

 

How to reach:

The temple can be reached either from Velacherry  or from Tambaram. It is adjacent to Selaiyur and Rajakilpakkam. I travelled down the GST road from Pallavaram and took the railway over bridge near Hindu mission hospital and turned left towards Velacherry. After proceeding for 4=5 kms I came to the signal at Selaiyur turning right towards Rajakilpaukkam. I proceeded on this road till I crossed a couple of schools the Sankara school and Kamakshi temple and Vedathri School and entered Madambkkam. The temple is very close to the main road on the right side. There is ample car parking beyond the temple near the temple pond.

The legend of the temple:

Saint Kapila committed a sin when he  unwittingly held the Shivalingam in his left hand during puja so he was guided by Shiva to worship him as a cow in the next Janma. When the rishi was reborn as a cow the cow used to bathe the shivalingam daily with all its milk . The cowherd followed it one day and started beating the cow on its udder when the cow trampled the tiny lingam in pain the stone started bleeding and the villagers realised that it was a divine stone and the king built a temple here, Sundara Chola remodeled this temple into a stone temple in 937 AD. For more details see the link of the Hindu below

Dhenupureeswarar temple

 

The  temple entrance has a pillared hall with excellent sculptures of both Shiva and Vishnu

 

. The famous of them are the veena Dakshinamurthy and the Sarabeshwara and 10 headed hanuman seen behind the pillar in the photo below

The main sanctum is entered via the hall above. There are excellent sculptures in each pillar and it is all well preserved.

The main sanctum has a small 6 inch Sivalingam sitting on the 2 inch avudiar. The Lord is adorned with a Nagabharanam. I received milk theertham after Abhishekam today

The Kosta Vigrahas are Narthana Ganapathy, Dakshinamurthy. Mahavishnu , Brahma and Durga.

The vimanam is the Gajaprushti type.

 

A panel with a Cow giving milk on the lingam

 

The pillar showing the Hoysala legend  a Soldier killing a lion with a dagger which is what Hakka and Bukka did when they started the Dynasty

 

There are separate shrines for Vinayaka, Varadaraja with Sridevi and Bhoodevi and  Murugan . Lord Murugan is prayed to here for  obstacles related  to  marriage  to be removed

The outer courtyard has the Sthala vruksham Vilvam,There is a Huge Nagalinga flower tree. The temples sells delicious puliyodarai and sakkarapongal which we enjoyed

Shri Tirusoolanathar Tripurasundari temple at Trisoolam near Chennai Airport

I had an opportunity to visit this temple today morning. It is an ancient temple built by Kulathunga Chola. It is very surprising that such pristine surroundings are found so close to the City.

How to Reach:

On the GST road after you cross the airport there is the Trisoolam railway station on the left. Take the first left after this you will come on to the Railway  level crossing which is the gateway to the hilly road . Follow the winding road or 3 kms and you can see the temple arch on the right side turn right to reach the temple

Though the temple is ancient it is very well maintained and has been visited by Adisankara and Shri Chandrashekara saraswathy swami of Kanchi. The priest was telling me he is the third generation of kurukkal here and his family has conducted daily rituals for more than 150 years and seen three kumbabishekams.

Legends about the temple:

Brahma did pooja to Shiva here . The four hills around the temple are considered four Vedas.

(All the pictures here were taken by the permission)

There is a goddess in the main sanctum itself Sri. Sundarambikai but the presiding goddess is Tripurasundari in a south facing sanctum.

The main sanctum has a huge Shivalingam royally bedecked .The Vimanam has the Gajaprushti type of Architecture

The Koshta vigraham has few unique deities.

The Ganapathy is having a Naga Yagnopavetham (Poonal) and is considered very auspicious. to remove obstacles  especially for marriage and marital harmony

The panel above this shows Brahma worshipping Shiva

There is the Dakshinamurthy in the Veerasanam posture( left leg bent at the hip and knee)

There are separate Sannidhis for Vinayaka Murugan and Kasi Vishwanata

The Lingodhbhavar has a panel showing Vishnu worshipping Shiva

The Brahma and Durga are also very intricate. 

The panel above the Durga shows Anjeneya worshipping Shiva

The ambal sannidhi has a 5 foot tall Tripurasundari blessing the devotees.

The bhairavar is also famous and poojas are done for him during Rahukalam .

The outer praharam has various trees and a garden The sthala vruksham is the vilvam tree

There is a Banyan tree and naga devathas  in the north west corner. The south west corner has a navagraha enclosure.

The main Complex has separate sannidhi for ayyappan and Adisankara

There is a rare sarabeshwara with two faces carved on the pillar in front

The Kurukkal was very courteous  Sri Raja: Cell :+919444764162

The washroom facilities were clean and excellent here.

Gnayiru Sri Pushparatheshwarar-Swarnambikai temple – A suryan navagraha sthalam near Chennai

Finding a few hours of free time today morning  I went for a quick temple visit to this ancient temple which is famous for

Lord Suryan being blessed here – good for eye related problems

The place of Final resting of Shri Kanva maharishi ( foster Father of Shakunthala)

The Birth place of Sangili Nachiar the wife of the Nayanmar Sundarar

How to Reach:

The temple is  about 35 kms away from Chennai Gnayiru gramam a village close to Karanodai and Red hills. On the Kolkata highway from Chennai take a left toward puzhal At red hills take the right turn after Sivanthi adithyan mat school at the signal at vadakkarai it is called the andarkuppam redhills road about 10 kms down the road you will reach the temple. Please ask for Gnayiru gramam as the area is full of small village roads and you can get lost.

Alternatively you can come from Karanodai also from further down the GNT highway take a right at Karanodai and ask for directions locally.

In this remote area the well maintained temple and its pond Surya thirtham is a real stress buster.

As you enter you see the amman sanidhi facing  east with the Sivan sannidhi also facing east the entrance to both is via a pillared  hall

Legends of the temple:

Surya was cursed by Brahma once and he prayed to lord shiva here to be cured of his curse. The lord gave darshan to Surya on a 1000 petalled  lotus hence he is called Pushparatheshwarar. In the month of Chithirai the sun rays fall directly on Shiva and swarnambikai.

A chola king enroute to Kashi was attracted to the lotus in the pond while cutting it he lost eyesight and  prayed to shiva . He was directed to visit kashi and come back to build a temple here when he did this he got back his vision. There is a Kasi vishwanatha sannidhi also here.

Sangili nachiar the wife of Sundarar was born in this village

A view from the eastern side  with dwaja sthambam and pond

The Main shrine has a small Sivalingam apparently worshipped by Kanva maharishi and Agasthiyar. There is a small statue for Kanva also here

The main sivan sannidhi also has a separate enclosure for Suryan with a an impressive brass background

The ambal sannidhi has a 5 foot tall Swarnambikai blessing the devotees.

The ususal Kosta vigrahas of Ganapathy, Dakshinamurthy lingodhbhavar , Brahma and Durgai are enshrined in their niches around the Sivan sannidhi.

Around the main shrine are sub shrines for Vinayaka , Murugan with Valli and Devasena, a separate kashi vishwanathar the ambience in the midst of the lovely flower garden is very enchanting

  

The shrine for Sangili nachiar

Just outside the temple is a thatched shed where new shrines are being built for Chakrathalwar (Sudarshanam the discus = related to eye),Lakshminarasimhar, and Anjeneyar  

The priest sri.Krishnaswamy Kurukkal can be contacted on tel:+919952224822