Temple Visits of Parantharami Mani

          This 190 year old temple is situated on Veeraraghava  Mudali  Street  (Big Street ) Triplicane, a stone throw away  from  Pycrofts Road junction. It is a unique temple in the  sense that it has no Dwajasthambam,  Prakaram and Rajagopuram. It is a private  temple not under the control  of HRCE but owned by Chinakavaram Mudaliyar clan. The  temple was intially  consecrated around  1827 by Muthiah Mudaliyar.  His grandson Chinakavaram  Solayappa Mudaliyar was the  trustee from  1881-1911 followed by his son Thatulinga Mudaliyar  from 1911-1954. They have to fight a bitter  battle in the  courts  with  HRCE at various  stages to have the rights over the  temple. As you enter the  temple the main Sannidhi of Pillaiyar  facing  East can be seen. There is a small enclosure having the Navagrahams on the  left hand side. There is also  a Sannidhi of Valli  Devasena  Sameda  Subramanyar at the  back of Pillaiyar  Sannidhi. That constitues this small  temple frequented by huge  num

       Arunachaleswarar and Varadharaja Perumal Temple, George  Town.  This  temple on Palliappan  Street  was built  around  250 years  ago by Mylai Subbaraya  Mudaliyar. Mudaliyar used to visit  Thiruvannamalai for Karthigai Deepam  every year and one year he missed it. So he built Arunachaleswarar  Temple in Madras for  devotees to worship  Deepam. The  Moolavar here is Arunachaleswarar  and during  Pradosham six Pradakshanam and Six Apradakshanam of the sannidhi gives you the benefit of  doing  Aswamedha  Yagam. Ambal here is Abhithakusambal  standing  6 feet tall facing  south.  Kanchi  Sankaracharya in 1967 installed  Srichakra in Amman  sannidhi. There are shrines /niches for  Valli Devasena  samedha  Arumugar, Dakshanamurthy, Durgai,  Vilveswarar,  Mahishasura  Mardhini, and Varahi Amman. The  Ani Annamalaiyar  brought from  Kasi was first  installed  here around which temple came up. 100 years ago Mouna Guru swamigal  alias Thinnai  swamigal used to  sit opposite the

         Aranganathaswami Temple, Mulla Sahib Street, George Town, Chennai.  This  temple was intially  a Bhajanai  Koodam during the years 1845 to 1854. The beautiful statue of  Moolavar  Ranganathar in sayana kolam with  Brahma from his  Nabhikamalam with Sridevi and Bhoodevi was later installed and  worshipped as per Vaikasana Agama  rituals. This  temple has connection with  Parthasarathi  Swamy  temple  in the  sense  that a statue of  Perumal called Kaudukar was kept and worshipped with  Parthasarathi for  6 months and  installed by Kancheepuram Manavala  Ramanuja Jeeyar in the  temple.  Thayar Ranganayaki  is on the  South side of  Moolavar and Andal Sannidhi is on the North side.  There are separate shrines for  Ramar with Sita along with  shrines for Srinivasar and Varadarajar. The  Annual  Brahmotsavam is celebrated in this temple for 10 days in Panguni month. Vasantha Utsavam in Vaikasi month is celebrated in a grand manner. Navarathri Utsavam for  Ranganayaki  

        Luz Anjaneyar Temple. There are four exclusive Anjaneyar  temples in Mylapore.  The  one at Mosque Street,  Alamelumangapuram, Alwarpet and Luz Anjaneyar. The  first three are less than 40 year old where as Luz Anjaneyar is more than 200 years old. It was built around 1800 AD by Salivahana  Chettiar  community  who migrated from  Mysore in 18th  century due to harassment by Muslim  rulers there. They came and settled in Kosapettai  area of Mylapore  inhabited by Potters. They were digging the earth for a  Vinayagar  temple when they discovered the  self manifested  statue of  Anjaneyar.  A temple was built  there and Perumal Chettiar  was the first  Dharmakartha  during  1800-1830 AD. The  main  deity is facing  West and is seen as if walking towards  south. The  right hand is in " Abhaya  Mudra" and the  left hand is on the hip holding the  " Gatha". The tail is swinging above the head facing  south. There is a Utsavamoorthy of Venugopalaswamy in

     Arulmigu  Varadaraja Manavala Mamuni Temple.  This  more than  200 year old temple is situated at Varada Muthiappan Street past Godown  Street a km away  from  Pookadai  police station.  This is the only  temple where the name of  Manavala Mamuni (1370-1443)the  Thengalai Achariyar is linked with the main deity Varadaraja  Perumal.  The  main Rajagopuram is facing  West and as you  enter the temple the shrine of Anjaneyar is there in standing  posture. The  main deity Varadaraja Perumal  is in a beautiful  standing  posture with  four hands facing  East.  Utchavar is giving darshan  with  Sridevi  and Bhoodevi . Thayar here is called  Perundevi  facing East and the nine day Navarathri festival is celebrated in a grand manner in this sannidhi. Ramanujar is having separate shrine.  There are separate shrines for Yoga Narasimmar, Alwars,  Chella  pillaiyar, Venugopalan , Ramar and Aranganathar. The  Vimana of  Perumal has sculptures showing the various  Avatars of Lord Vish

     This Anjaneyar Temple in a corner of Hanumantharayan Koil  Street,  Triplicane is more than 200 years old. This street  was a Agraharam  hub of Madhawa  Brahmins 200 years ago and even now continues to  do so. The  temple was consecrated in the  year 1794 by Sri Sathyasandharu 25th pontiff of Sri Uttaradhi  Mutt.  The  main deity Mukya Prana Anjaneyar in granite stone is 19 inches tall with  folded hands in standing posture in a place 9 feet by 7 feet in dimension. It was renovated in the year 1910 during the  reign of 30th pontiff of the  Mutt. The  present structure  was constructed in  the year 2000.  Sitting in front of the  Anjaneyar  and doing meditation for a few minutes you feel rejuvenated and away from your worries.

     Mallikeswarar Temple,  Linghi  Chetty  Street,  Muthialpet.  This  more than 500 year  old temple is situated  on the  northern  side of  George Town near Mannady. The  presiding deity  of Siva facing  east is called  Mallikeswarar.  The temple is situated  6 feet below the  road level. The  legend of the  temple  says that this area was covered by a sand hill and when  it was cleared  the temple was unearthed the Lord with  Jasmine  flowers and the  Amman Maragathambal in green coloured granite  stone. The  temple was developed on this core Idols. Amman is facing south. The Rajagopuram  of the  temple  was built  by Mangadu Ellapa  Chettiar in  1923. The  16 pillared Mandapam outside  the main entrance of the  temple was built  in the  year 1897 as well as 4 pillared Ganesh temple outside  as per the  inscription etched  on one of  the  pillars by Manickam Chettiar. The  Navagraha shrine of the temple is unique in the sense all the  9 grahams are in their Vahanams

   Thirusoolanadar Temple, Thirusoolam. This  Chola era temple is situated 1km from  Thirusoolam station on the  Eastern side. This area was called by different names in the  olden days including  1. Vanavan Madhevi Chaturvedi Mangalam 2. Thiruneetru  Chozhanallur 3.Thirisooram 4.Brahmmapuri and 5. Thirusoolam.  The  temple is situated in the  centre of four  mountains representing four Vedas. The  presiding deity here is  Thirusoolanadar and is facing east. There is a statue of old Amman  beside the Lingam which was the original one but got damaged. A new statue was prepared  and kept in separate sannidhi   called Thirupurasundari  facing  South. Every  Friday Santhanakapu  Alangaram  is made for Amman. The  main sanctum of Siva is  semi circular  and the  Vimanam is Gajaprishta  as was the style in many Chola  Era temples. The  sthala virusham is Maravalli and theertham Brahmatheertham. In the  first circumbulatory path around the sanctum  there are shrines for Vinayag

        Vedapureeswarar Temple,  Tiruverkadu.  This is a famous  chola era temple  in Tiruverkadu  18km from  Chennai.  The  temple is situated 1 km away from the  main Karumariamman temple and one of the Thodainattu Siva temples. The presiding deity is Lord  Vedapureeswarar  with his consort  Balambigai. The  Moolavar here is  Siva in Lingam  form and also in Kalyana  Kolam with  Parvathi.  The  Kodi  Maram and the beautiful  Nandi  facing  Siva are a treat to see. The  Legend has it that  Sage Agasthiya who was sent to  South by Siva to set the earth wanted  to see the  celestial  wedding  and Siva gave  him dharshan in Kalyana Kolam here. This is a Padal Petra sthalam by Thirugnasambandar  and Arunagirinathar has also sung about the temple in Thirupugazh. The  temple was constructed during  Chola Era as evident  from the  scores of  inscriptions  on the  outer walls of Inner  prakaram and the  Gajaprashta Vimanam. The  temple was renovated during  Nayak  period. The

       Sri Venugopala Krishnaswamy Temple. This  temple also called  Krishnan  temple is a 230 year old temple on Pavazhakara Theru,  Muthialpet.  This is one of the few Krishnan temples of  Madras. The  main deity  Krishna is  in standing posture  cross legged with four arms Sanku, Chakra and flute in his hands  and with his consorts  Bhama and Rukmani. There is a separate shrine for Rukmani on the  southern side.  Separate shrines are there for Srinivasa Perumal, Ramar and Andal on the  north side.  The  dwajasthambam of the temple was erected in 1894 and was recently refurbished.  There is also a 15feet high granite Deepa Sthamba.  In the  18th  century  Pavazhakara Theru (Coral  Merchant Street ) was inhabited by Jews and Armenians who indulged in trading  Diamonds , Coral and Gems. In the  year 1790 there was a  serious riot  during the Annual  Uriyadi festival  between  Right hand castes and Left hand castes when the right hand hoisted  their white  flag instead of  five