Temple Visits of Parantharami Mani

 Cheluvanarayana Swami Temple, Melukote =============================== Thirunarayanapuram ===============       Visited this temple yesterday in Mandhya District of Karnataka. It is 158 kms away from Bangalore with a fine motorable road. This temple was constructed in the early years of 12th century by Saint Ramanujar of Vaishnavite order. In the 11th century the Chola King Kulottunga I was ruling and there was a great ideological fight between followers of Saivism and Vaishnavism. Kulothunga was a fanatic Saivite and the atrocities committed by him forced Ramanujar to exile in Melukote around 1099 AD when he was in his 82nd year. He along with his thousands of followers migrated to Melukote. He lived in Melkote for 12 years and constructed this temple. The Moolavar here Cheluvanarayana Swamy  was identified by Ramanujar from the bushes of Yadavadri hills. The auspicious day in the month of January ( Makara) is celebrated every year with enthusiasm. The temple ...

        This temple is situated in old Pallavaram at a distance of 4 km from Madras Airport. It is situated in Perumal Koil Street . The presiding deity of the temple Vaikunta Vasar is with his consorts Sridevi and Boodevi.  The beautiful statues of Jayan and Vijayan the dwarakapalas stand outside the sanctum. There are idols of Yoga Narasimhar and Sudarsana Alwar inside the  Ardha Mandapam . Thayar Kanakavalli is in a separate enclosure  in a sitting posture . This  is a Rahu, Kethu parihara sthalam and a Lizard , Snake bas relief are on the ceiling outside Thayar Sannidhi.           As you enter the temple facing east through a arched entrance you can see a granite Deepa sthambam followed by Balipeetam  and Garudar enclosure. Going by the architecture of the temple the temple cannot be more than 300 to 400 years old. No inscriptions are found in the temple for estimating it’s antiquity.The Vimanam above the san...

Lesser Known Temples of Madras : 60 ============================ Agastheeswarar Temple, Pozhichalur (Vadatirunallar)      This temple is situated in Pozhichalur which is at a distance of 3 kms from Pallavaram railway station.  This temple is one of the Navagraha parikara temples of Thondaimandalam known for Saneeswarar. The legend of the temple is like this. The effects of Sani affects every devotee and gives them troubles and hardships. To get relief of these sins Sani Bhagwan prays to Lord Shiva to get relief of his Doshams.  Lord Shiva asks Sani Bhagwan to come to this place and worship him. As directed Sani Bhagwan worships the God at this place and cleanses himself the sins he has committed on others. He is worshipped in this temple as prime God next to Tirunallar and is called Vadatirunallar. Lord Sani is housed here on the Maha Mandapam of the temple.         This is a latter Chola period temple as seen by the architechture and the Gaj...

 Jalanadheeswarar Temple, Thakkolam  ============================        Thakkolam is a small Panchayat Town in Ranipet district around 70 kms from Madras. The nearest railway station is Thiruvalangadu  on the Madras -Arakonam line. The town is around 14 km from the station and can be reached by Auto. Thakkolam was the place which changed the history of succession of Imperial Cholas. It was here in the year 949 AD the famous Thakkolam war was fought between Cholas led by crown prince Rajaditya (son of Parantaka I) and the Rashtrakutas led by Krishna III.  It was a fierce battle were more than 3,00,000 people died on both sides.  Crown Prince Rajaditya was treacherously killed in the battle by an arrow while he was fighting on his Elephant. The Chola forces were forced to make a retreat after the death of their crown prince. This changed the history of Chola succession and the crown went to the remaining sons of Parantaka one by one and to Sun...

         This temple one of the 108 Divya Desam is situated at a distance of 50 km from Chennai on the road leading to Tirupathi. It is a Pallava era temple with inscriptions dating to 9th century. The temple is under the control of hereditary trustees of Shri Ahobila Mutt and the present head  Sri Ranganatha Yatheendra  Mahadesikan Azhagiyasinger is running the affairs of the temple. The mutt has a hoary history of more than 600 years.      The presiding deity of the temple is Vaithya Veeraraghava Perumal who is in a Sayana kolam ( kidantha kolam)in the sanctum blessing his devotees. The right hand is positioned on the head of Salilhotra Muni and left hand in Gyana Mudra blessings Brahma. It is believed the lord here cures the illness of his devotees and they put rock salt and milagu in one of small mantap in the outer prakaram to get rid themselves of their illness.  The moola vigraham of solid granite is around 15 feet in width. ...

 Vijayalaya Choliswaram Temple, Narthamalai , Pudukottai, TamilNadu        This is an 9th century stone rock cut Shiva Temple situated on Narttamalai Hill in Pudukottai district of TamilNadu. The approach to the temple is through tiring journey up an hillock. The beautiful stone temple was constructed in second half of 9th century by a  local Mutaraiyar Chieftain Cattan Pudi who was ruling this part of the country and was aligned with the Pallavas. It was latter redeveloped by Tennavan Tamiladi Araiyan. There is also a view that this temple was constructed by the founder of Imperial Cholas Vijayalaya( 850-870 AD) and hence the name Vijayalaya Choliswaram. The controversy still survives to this day.        The stone temple is a beautiful piece of architecture of that era. The temple has a main shrine in the centre and eight sub shrines on the outside of which only six survive now. The main shrine which has the Shiv lingam inside is entere...