Day 3-our temple visits-28th august
1. Rahu-Ketu Temple-Thirupampooram
2. Thiruneechiyar-lalitha ambal temple
3. Thirunellar-Navagraha temple for lord Shani
4. Thiruvengadu_navagraha temple for lord Budha(mercury)
5. Amritha Kadeswarar temple-Thirukadaiyoor
6. Keeza perumabalam-Navagraha temple for Kethu
7. Vaideeswaran Temple_navagraha temple for Mars
8. Nataraja Temple-Chidambaram
9. Kanchanur_navagraha temple for Shukra
10. Suriyanar Temple-Navagraha temple for Sun
11. Vithaldas Rukmini Temple
The day started with us visiting the Rahu Kethu temple at Thirupampuram a joint abode
of Rahu and Kethu.
Thirupampuram-Rahu Kethu
temple is one of the oldest temples of Lord shiva and is situated in Mayavaram.Rahu
and kethu are present as a single entity in this temple. The leading deity is
seshapureeswarar/Pampuranathan with his consort vandarkuzali.people who suffer
from Sarpadosha do worship here to relieve of the dosha. Mythological belief
is, that God is living in the form of snakes
As per legend once Lord
Ganesha was worshipping Lord Shiva at Kailash. The snake which was in
Shiva’s neck thought that Ganesh was worshipping him and he started to feel.
When Shiva understood the thoughts of snake he cursed that all the Naga’s in
the world including Aadhiseshan, Raghu and Kethu will lose their powers. Hence
Aadhiseshan and Rahu and Kethu lost their importance and they suffered.
To get cured from Shiva’s curse they prayed to him. Shiva accepted
their request and asked them to worship him at Thirupampuram.
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| Rahu_keth |
From here we proceeded to see Goddess Lalithambika Temple at Thirumeechiyur
The presiding deity of
the temple is Lord Meghanatha. The consort of Lord Meghanatha is Goddess
Lalitambika.The story behind this temple is that Karththuru, vinathai are the
two wives of kashyapa maharishi. They had a fight in between them about
the black spot on the tail of Indra’s horse. Repenting they came to
Thirumeeyachur and worshiped the Lord. The Lord blessed them and gave them an
egg each, asked to preserve for a year to gets sons. They got Garudan and
Arunan Respectively
Once arunan took the form of mohini a
charming girl, the sun god harmed her. When Arunan prayed to the Lord, he
cursed the sun that he would become dark. To come out of this curse sun
worshiped the Lord at Thirumeechiyur for seven months. But as there was no
change he started screaming and the this noise made the Goddess angry as
the sun was shouting in their abode and was about to curse him.
The God
pacified her saying that sun was already under a curse and was looking for
relief.(This Pacifying scene is depicted by the sculpture in the temple
where In one angle the sculpture of the
goddess appears to be in anger on the other angle you can see a smile).Since
Shiva himself pacified the goddess, the angels called vasini emerged from the
mouth of the goddess and sang 1000 holy names in praise of her which came to be
known as Lalitha Sahasranamam.
The priest there narrated one interesting
incident about this temple. It seems a devout
lady kept getting recurrent dreams about Lalitha Devi, who kept asking her to
make a pair of anklets and offer it to Devi. The lady was confused, as she was
not even aware of the existence of any such temple. Eventually, she made anklets
and somehow located the temple and reached there with the anklets. Now the
temple authorities were shocked. The Goddess statue was made of a single stone, and hence there was no
provisions to accommodate the anklets, which go around the ankles. But to
everybody’s surprise, upon close inspection, they found a small parting in the
space between Devi’s feet and the stone seat through which they slipped the anklets.
Since then, it is common to offer anklets to Devi here.
Next temple on the list
was the Navagraha temple for Lord Shani
at Thirunellar
The presiding deity is
Lord Shiva as Darbaranyeswarar and is believed to be made of dharba grass which
is considered as the holy plant and his consort is Bhogamartha poon Mulayal
or Praneswari.Lord Shani or Shaniswarar is also
worshipped here and is treated as the door keeper of the temple. The tradition
is to worship Lord Shaniswarar first before entering the main sanctum of Lord
Shiva.
According to myths, King Nala was once affected with innumerable
problems due the adverse effects of Shani Dosha.
The king took a holy dip at the
Theertham, a water tank in the temple, and got relieved of all evil effects.This
theertham came to be known as Nala Theertham and many people have a dip in the
holy water here and throw away the old clothes. According to the epics and
legends the planet Saturn houses itself in each Zodiac sign for seven and half
years and this is considered as a troublesome time for the individual who going
through that phase. So praying to Lord Shani in this temple is believed to
remove the difficulties.
The temple was pretty crowded
but we did archana for all our family members and also paid money for continuous
archana for 1 year.
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| Thirunellar |
After finishing our poojas we moved to visit the next temple at Thiruvengadu which houses the Navagraha temple for Lord Budha,It goes by the name of Swetharanyeswarar Temple.This temple is located in the town of Thiruvengadu near Sirkazhi and is around 28 kms from Mayavaram.
The unique feature of the temple here is that there are three murthys, three Sakthis, three sthala vrikshams (holy tree), Vilvam, Vadaval and Konrai and three holy tanks, Agni theertham, Surya theertham and Chandra theertham.
The temple represents a unique incarnation of Lord Shiva -Agora Murthi who is the main deity and his is consort Brahma Vidya Ambal. The story behind this temple is that an asura known as Marutwasura was disturbing the Rishis and the people of Thiruvenkadu.He had received the power of invincibility from Lord Brahma. The individuals prayed and appealed to Shiva who sent Nandi (Bull) to battle the Asura. In the battle that ensued Marutwasura was crushed by Nandi and tossed into the ocean. But arutwasura through his penance acquired a Trishula (Trident) –from Lord Shiva.
The asura then came back with more force to disturb the people. At the request of the devotees, Lord Shiva sent Nandi once again to destroy the asura. Nandi couldn't battle the devil as the asura had the Sula of Shiva. The asura inflicted wounds on Nandi's back with the Sula. A furious Shiva took the form of Agoramurthi and opened his Third Eye to destroy Marutwasura.
In the left side of the ambal mandapam there is a separate shrine for Lord Budhan (Lord Mercury).Budhan is said to be the one who does good deeds.
Our next visit was the temple at Thirukadaiyur.Most of the temples are known either by the name of the Lord or his Consort. For Example, Madurai reminds us of goddess Meenakshi, Chidambaram for Lord Nataraja etc However, there are a few temples that are well-known for the Lord and his Consort and Thirukkadaiyur is one among them. In this temple Shiva is in the form of Kalantaka (Destroyer of Death) and his wife goddess Parvathi as Abhirami .This temple is associated with the legends of Markandeyar and Abirami Battar.
It was in this temple Lord Siva is believed to have vanquished Yama, the God of death and destruction to save the life of Markandeya and bestowed immortality on him. Since Death was conquered at Thirukkadaiyur, we can see couples celebrating their shastiabdapoorthy, completion of 60 years and Sadabishekam (completion of 80 years) to pray for long life.
Meanwhile,
as Yama was rendered inactive, there were no deaths happening on earth, but
people were still being born. So Burdened by the weight of so many people the earth,
goddess, Bhuma
devi appealed to Shiva for help. Shiva, hearing
the plea of the goddess, released Yama, allowing death to occur again. However,
in order to remind Yama that he should not kill anyone while they are
worshiping Shiva again, the image of
Shiva in this temple is depicted with his forefinger raised in warning
There are three temple tanks known as Amrita Pushkarini, Kaala Theertham and Markandeya Theertham. There is a separate shrine dedicated to Abhirami as it is in this temple that he sand Abhirami Anthathi in praise of the Goddess and there is also separate shrine for Markandeya.We
could see many people conducting their 60th and 80th
birtdays here .
Our next temple was keezaperumpalam which is the abode of Lord Kethu, who is supposed to ward off poverty, sorrow and pain.The Naganatha Swamy Temple in the village of Keezaperumpalam is dedicated to Lord Kethu, the shadow planet, and therefore, is also known as Kethu Sthalam(shrine and is one of the Navagraha temples. However, the primary deity is Naganatha Swamy or Lord Shiva. In this shrine, Lord Kethu is seen with head of a snake and body of an asura.
He appears in divine form, his head as five-headed snake and with folded hands worshipping Lord Shiva. Here Lord Kethu is in a separate Sannidhi. People arrange small stones outside this temple as a small stack in the belief that if they do this ,they can also construct their own houses.
We then proceeded towards Vaitheeswaran koil.Vaitheeswaran Koil or Pullirukkuvelur Temple is one of the nine Navagraha temples in Tamil Nadu and is associated with planet Mars or Angaraka or Sevvai, one of the Navagrahas. The main deity here is Lord Shiva as Vaidhyanathaswamy, Vaidhyanathaswamy, the Vaid or doctor, is a renowned healer.
His consort is Thaiyalnaayaki or Valambigai can be seen carrying the pot of Sanjeevi Thailam, the medicinal oil for all illnesses. Legend has it that Angaraka was suffering from leprosy and was cured by Lord Vaidhyanathaswamy. So it is strongly believed that a bath in the holy waters of Siddhamirtham tank just opposite ambal’s sanctum is said to have many medicinal properties and will cure all illness.
This pond is also known as Goksheera (cow milk) Theertham as the sacred cow Kamadhenu’s milk is believed to have flowed into this tank when she performed abhiskek to the Shiva lingam with her milk.
We bought Pepper, salt and Jaggery) to be offered in the Siddhamirtham Pond as it is believed to relieve us of all diseases.
There is a separate shrine for Planet Mars (Angaraka). Angaraka or Mangal (is worshipped with immense devotion to seek healing from illness. Devotees throng to Vaitheeswaran temple praying for relief from 'chevvai dosham' (mangal Dosha).
You will find many devotees lighting Ma Vilaku here in this temple.Lord Muruga, has a special place and shrine and is worshipped in Vaitheeswaran Koil as Selva Muthu Kumaraswamy.
Vaitheeswaran Koil is the nerve center for Naadi Josiyam, which is a a popular form of astrology.
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| vaiseeswaran temple |
By the time we finished this temple we were hungry and decided to have our lunch at a nearby restaurant called Akshardam.The food was excellent and we ate to our hearts content.
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| Entrance of hotel Akshardham |
We were thinking whether to return back to the hotel and then continue our second lap or whether we could visit one more temple before returning to the hotel,our driver suggested that we could visit Chidambaram which is about 25 Km.As I always wanted to visit the Nataraja temple we agreed to his suggestion and proceeded towards Chidambaram.
When we reached Chidambaram it was afternoon time and temple was closed. So we decided to wait for some time till it opens.
We spent some time walking the streets of Chidambaram and having some ice-cream at a ice-cream parlor.The temple opened at 4 Pm.
Chidambaram is one of the five holiest Shiva temples, each representing
one of the five natural elements; Chidambaram represents akasha. The word Chidambaram might have been
derived from chit, meaning consciousness, and ambaram, meaning sky. It refers to the chidaakasam, the sky of
consciousness.
It is amongst the few temples where Lord Shiva is portrayed in the deity
form instead of the common Lingam
The story of Chidambaram begins with the legend of Lord Shiva strolling into the Thillai Vanam (vanam meaning a forest and Thillai is a type of trees)In the Thillai forests were a group saints who believed in the supremacy of magic and that God can be controlled by rituals.
The Lord strolled in the forest assuming the form of' Pitchatanadar. He is followed by his consort who is none other than Lord Vishnu as Mohini. The rishis and their wives are enchanted by the brilliance and the beauty of the On seeing their womenfolk totally enchanted , the saints get angry and invoke lot of serpants.The Lord however lifts the serpents and dons them as ornaments neck.. Further enraged, the saints invoke a tiger, which the Lord skins and wears as a shawl around his waist.
So totally frustrated the saints invoked a powerful demon Muyalakan with all their strength .Muyalakan is a symbol of complete arrogance and ignorance. The Lord steps on the demon's back, immobilizes him and performs the dance-Ánanda Thaandava.
Hearing this episode, Adishesha requested for a repeat performance. He sets up a Shivalinga and meditates upon it.Impressed by the prayers. Lord Shiva appeared before him and performed the dance in Chidambaram.
At the centre of the temple is situated the sanctum sanctorum called the
Chit Sabha or Chit Ambalam. It is the main shrine where Lord Nataraja
accompanied by his consort Parvathi performs the Cosmic Dance, the Ananda Thandava
or Dance of Bliss.
The most imposing feature of Chidambaram Natraja temple, which can be
seen soaring above the plain from miles away, is the four temple gopurams.
From Chidambaram we went to Kanchanur.Agniswarar Swami Temple at Kanchanur is one of the nine Navagraha Temples in Tamil Nadu
and is associated with Lord Shukra (planet Venus).the sixth of the Navagraha
planet
The main deity is Lord
Shukra Lord Shiva as
Agnipureeswarar and Parvathy as Karpagambal.There is no separate sannidhi for Sukkiran here as
Shiva himself is believed to be incarnated as Sukkiran here.This temple has
Goshala (cow shed)with 15 cows inside the temple It is fairly large temple and people pray here for happy marriage.
Next we moved to Suriyanar Kovil at Thirumangalakkudi.This
temple is situated at about 16 km form Kumbakonam. This is the Navagraha temple
for Lord Surya (Sun).
As per legend to this temple, Sage Kalava Muni was suffering from leprosy. He worshipped all the grahas (planets) begging for cure. All the nine grahas granted cure to this rishi. Lord Brahmma got because the planets were created to give the effects of good and evil according to the deeds of the individuals (karma) and they cannot grant any boons to a devotee directly. So Brahma cursed them to suffer from leprosy.
The planets came down to a jungle called Vellerukku vanam and performed penance towards Lord Shiva for relief. Lord Shiva appeared before them and said that henceforth they can have their own sthalas and can grace the devotees who worship them
The
uniqueness about this temple is that the devotee can worship all the 9 planets
as presiding deities in this temple. In other temples, the planets are
generally considered as sub-deities. Each graha (planet) has their own shrine
in this temple.
The presiding deity is the Sun God. Usha and Chayadevi are His consorts. Lord Sun graces.The Kol Theertha
Vinayakar shrine is considered to be of importance in this temple. We picked up Ganpathy made of vella erukku form outside the
temple.
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| ganpathy made of Vella erukku |
We then proceeded to visit the last
temple of the day at Thiruvidaimaruthur.
According to legend, Thiruvidaimaruthur Mahalingaswamy is the centre of all Siva temples in the region and the Saptha Vigraha moorthis (seven prime consorts in all Siva Temples) are located around the temple,in various parts of the state. The seven deities are Nataraja in Chidambaram, Chandikeswarar in Tirucheingalur, Swetha Vinayagar at Tiruvalanchuzhi, Swaminathan at Swamimalai, Bhairava at Sattainathar Temple, Navagraha at Sooriyanar Temple and Dakshinamoorthy at Apatsahayesvarar Temple, Alangudi.
Mahalingam here is Swayambu and is the presiding deity with his consort Brihatasundaragujambigai also known as Nanmulainayaki. The Siva Linga is also considered as Jothirlinga .Thiruvidaimaruthur is one of the three Siva temples in India which adopt Maruda as their Sthala vriksham (holy tree) and hence it is called as Idai Marudur .
The Ambal Shrine is one of the Sakthi Peetams and is on the right side of the main shrine. There is a separate shrine for Mookambiga Amman. There are stone images of Pattinathar and Bhadragiriyar in the eastern and western gateways of the temple respectively. There are five temple tanks inside the temple, namely Karunyamirdha Theertham, Soma Theertham, Kanaga Theertham, Kalyana Theertham and Iravatha Theertham.
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| Nandi at the temple |
While on our way back,our dirver suggested that we see the Vittal Rukmini Temple at Govindapuram. As an afterthought it was a wonderful decision.It was indeed a very beautiful temple.
Sri Vittal Rukmini Sansthan is a temple built recently which has the idols of Krishna and his consort Rukmini. This is situated in Govindapuram near Kumbakonam. The temple is massive and really beautiful. There were no offerings to be made at this temple. We were told that this temple has been constructed by a classical singer jaikrishnan who had christened himself as Vithaldas.
It is a very peaceful serene temple and is built in a maharshtrian style. There are 2 huge statues welcoming you at the entrance. There is a prescribed entrance and exit route to monitor the crowd .The large doors at the entrance and the inside of the temple has intricate carvings. The best thing about this temple is that we can go very close to the deity and worship.
There is a Goshala in the backyard where more than 500 cattles of cows and bulls brought from Brindavan,dwaraka etc. We were also told that none of the cows were milked and the milk was only for the calves. Only on few occasions few cows were milked. The cow dung was used for gobar gas plant which was used to light the stable. We were really wonderstruck at the cleanliness. We met one lady who was from Chennai and was doing absolute voluntary services at the stable and her husband was taking care of temple activities voluntarily. We met many such people who were doing voluntary services.
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| Vittal Temple |
After visiting such beautiful temples and learning a little about all temples we returned back to the hotel
