Temple Visits of Parantharami Mani

     Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangapatnam, Mandya  District.  This  place is 20 kms away  from  Mysore in the  Island  of Srirangapatnam  formed by the  branching of river  Cauvery. The  temple was built intially  in 9th  century  by Ganga Dynasty  Chief Thirumalraya. As per ASI the east  facing  temple  was later expanded during the  reigns of Hoysalas, Vijayanagar kings, Mysore  Wodeyars and Hyder Ali. The  temple  architecture  is a mix of Hoysala architecture  with  circular exquisitely  carved  pillars, with  Dravidian Towers,  Vimanas and  Vijayanagar  era Mandapams.   Lord Ranganathaswamy is in a gigantic reclining pose on his Serpent Sesha with  multiple  hoods. During  the 11th  century  when  Saint  Ramanuja was staying in Melkote the Hoysala King Vishnuvardhan was converted to  Vaishnavism. He gave large  number of  villages to Ramanuja who appointed a community of  Hebbar  Iyengars     ( some famous  descendents  are Congressman Jayaram Ramesh , actre

      The  Big Bull Temple,  Basavanagudi,  Bengaluru.  This  Bull was consecrated  480 years ago in 1537 AD by Kempe  Gowda the  founder  of Bengaluru.

            Nithya Kalyana Perumal Temple, Thiruvidanthai.  This  temple is located on ECR on the  way to Mahabalipuram 25 kms from Madras 5 kms from Muttukadu.  It is one of the 108 Divya Desam and Thirumangai Azwar in 8th century has written  Pasurams  about the deities.  The  Legend of the temple as told by the  Bhattars is that Maha Vishnu in Varaha Avataram married the 360 daughters of Kalava  Maharishi and revealed himself to the  sage.  Hence,  marriage performed to the  deity everyday.  Moolavar Varahar  is in standing pose one legged having  Akilavalli Thayar on left thigh. Thayar  Komavalli  has separate shrine on the  North side. There is a beautiful  16 pillared  Vijayanagar  Era  Mandapam before the  main entrance which is  also a flat roofed.  As per information given by ASI in the  temple it  has inscription from  10th to 16th century  including  one of Rashtrakuta king Krishna III and Mudalam  Raja Rajan from 8th to 29th year of his rule. A merchant f

    Velliswarar Temple,  Mangadu. This temple is a Navagraha Sthalam of Sukra .The  temple is situated half a kilometre from the famous  Mangadu Kamatchi  amman temple. The  legend of the  temple says that Asura guru Sukra got back his eye by praying to Lord Siva  here. The Lord gave preference to  his devotee than Parvathi  who was also doing penance  here on one leg. The  main deity is called  Velliswarar  and there is no amman sannidhi here since Kamatchi is there in the  nearby temple. Only Kamatchi photo frame is there  in front  of Nandikeswar  statue. The temple must be late Chola era temple going by the  Inscription available  in the  temple. The  temple  has no Raja gopuram  and on entering the  Artha Mandapam  there are statues  of Lord Ganesha and Subramanyar  on either side of Garbhagraha.         The  Ganesha here is holding Paddy stalk and Mango in his hand  and is called  Mangani  Vinayagar.  The  place must have been  dense  in Mango forest and hence  ca

           Kodandaramar Temple,  West  Mambalam.  This  200 year old temple is near Madley  subway. As per the Legend/ Sthala puranam the place was originally called Mabilashetram and the  presiding deity of Pattabhiramar was in Pattabhisheka Kolam with  Seetha, Lakshman and Hanuman for many years. Since the deity resembled Bhadrachala Ramar it was called  Dakshina Bhadrachalam. It was in the  year 1926  that Vangayala  Kuppiah Chetty(of Kuppiah Chetty Street  fame )  a rich man who constructed the temple in the  present form out of his funds  and from the  funds collected from public.  The  Mahasamprokshanam was held in 1927 and Kodandaramar with Bharatha,  Lakshmana, Shatrukan along with Seetha and Hanuman was consecrated. Thayar  here is called Aranganayaki and Sanjeevi Parvatha Hanuman has a separate Sannidhi facing Kodandaramar. In the  Mahamandapam outside the  sanctum  there are separate shrines for Aranganathar, Kulasekara Azhwar, Udayavar and Manavala Mamuni. Th

        Virupaksheeswarar Temple, Mylapore. This Chola era temple is one of the Saptha Shiva  temples of Mylapore. It is situated in a lane  off Bazaar  Road. The  presiding deity Virupaksheeswarar is in a big Linga form facing  East.  Amman Visalakshi is in the  same maha mandapam facing South. Legend  says Sage  Kutsa worshipped  Shiva  here and Sundaramoorthy Nayanar after worshipping the  God here saw Nataraja  Thandavam.  In  one of the pillars  in the  Mandapam  a statue of a person is etched facing  North. Enquiry with the temple authorities  revealed that the person was Sivanesan  Chettiar whose daughter Poompavai  was resurrected by Thirugnanasambandar. It is believed that the temple was built by him. There are separate shrines for Shanmugar, Sandikeswarar, Saniswarar, Dakshinamoorthy and Navagraha.  According to  Dr.Nagaswamy's book there are 20 inscriptions dating from 11th century to  16th century.  Many of them are in the Sanctum Sanctorum and are inaccessible