Temple Visits of Parantharami Mani

       This  beautiful temple of  Lord Venkateswara  is situated  in New Delhi  near Kali Bari and Birla Mandir.  It was constructed by Tirumala  Tirupathi  Devasthanam. In the  year 1994 Govt  of India  allotted  1.1 acres to  TTD for the construction of the temple, Prayer  Hall and Auditorium.  The temple  was constructed  and first Kumbhabhishekam was done  in 2013. As you  enter the  complex  you  have  to enter  the  temple  through a three  tier  Rajagopuram constructed in Dravidian  style. The Dwajasthambam  with  the  balipeeta follows.  The presiding  deity  Lord Venkateswara is in a standing pose as is in the  main temple at Tirupathi.  Padmavathi  Thayar sannidhi  is to the right side and Andal  on the  left. The  temple  has a small prakara around  it. There is also an Auditorium and Dhyana mandapam in the  complex.  A must  visit temple while you are in Delhi.

          Arulmigu  Vaidyanatha Swamy  Temple,  Poonamalle     This Siva Temple is  situated  at Poonamalle  around  half a km away from  Trunk Road. Poonamalle  was part of  Puliyur Kottam in one of the 24 kottams of Thondai  Nadu.  This  Chola era temple  has Vaidhyanatha Swamy as presiding deity  with  Thaiyalnayaki Ambal as consort of  Lord.  The  three  tier  Rajagopuram is facing  North and there is another small Gopuram on the  Eastern  side leading to  Teppa Kulam. North side is meant for  Kuberan and  the Lord seems to be blessing his devotees for  Kubera Sambathu. As per the book  published by the  Temple inscription dating to the period of Raja Raja Chola dated  1010 AD and Rajendra Chola dated 1022 AD are  available in the temple  but in bad condition.  It  gives evidence for the  antiquity of the temple.         The  Moolavar is facing  East and Ambal South. Angaragan has worshipped the  Lord of this  temple and those with Angaraga Dosham  visit  Temple

     Thirukachi Nambi Varadaraja Perumal Temple,  Poonamalle.       This temple is situated at Poonamalle 23 kms away from  Madras and is more than a 1000 year old temple and believed to have been built during the period of  Paranthaka Chola in 10th century.  Thirukachi Nambi was a great Acharya of Vaishnavite tradition  and was the  Guru of Ramanuja. He was born  in 1009 AD at Poonamalle  to Viraraghava  and Kamalamba in an orthodox  Vaishya family. He was named  Gajendra  Dasar and from  his  childhood  he was an ardent  devotee of Varadaraja  Perumal at Kanchipuram. He used to daily do Pushpa Kaikariyam to  Perumal  from his Nandavanam  and also did  Thiru Alavatta Kaikariyam (Circular fan with peacock feathers  )  He was privileged to talk to  Perumal  during such Kaikariyams.  It is believed that   Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam,  Venkateswara of Thirupathi and Varadaraja of Kanchipuram  gave darshan to him at this place  in Poonamalle.           The  beautiful  temp

     Had the opportunity to visit  Thirumogur Kalamegha Perumal  Temple  46th of the  108 Divya desam of Vaishnavites. This  more than 1000 year old temple is 12km from Madurai It has a beautiful  5 tier  Rajagopuram  and as per the  Temple  legends is referred in Akananuru and Silapathikaram. The  main  deity Kalamegha Perumal  is in standing  posture  and thayar is called Mogavalli. The  speciality of the  temple is Chakrathazwar with 16 hands having  16 different  weapons. Lord Narasimha  on the other  side with  Shanku and Chakra satisfies the  devotees  requests. Nammazwar and Thirumangai  Alwar have  sung about the deity  here. The  statues of Marudu brothers  stands here facing the main sannadhi. There are separate shrines for Andal,  Anjaneyar and Navaneetha krishnan. A temple with rich legend and religiosity.

          Adhikesava Perumal Temple Bashyakarar  Koil.      This  temple is situated in  Acharappan Street, Peddanaickenpet ,George  Town, Madras. Going by the architecture of the Temple it can be deduced that it should be around  300 years old  East India  Company  Era temple. The  presiding deity of the temple is Adhikesava  Perumal  facing East  in standing  posture with his consorts Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi and having Sanku and Chakra in hand. The  deity is made of Athi maram.  The  shrine of Udaiyavar  Ramunujar is just outside the main deity's shrine in maha mandapam.  Thayar here is called Yathiraja  Nathavalli Thayar housed in a separate  shrine.  There are also  separate  shrines  for Rama,  Srinivasa Perumal. Alavandar,  Hayagreevar and  Anjaneyar trampling demon.  The  main Rajagopuram is a 5 tier one standing tall. As you enter the temple you can see a 7 feet granite tower before the Dwajasthambam  used for  lighting lamp. The  temple follows Thengalai  sampra

     Thiruvaliswarar  Temple,  Koovathur.      Koovathur  8 kms from  Kalpakkam is known for its ancient Siva Temple of  Thiruvaliswarar. The temple situated beside the  scenic East Coast Road has Valiswarar as the  presiding  deity in Linga form facing  East.  The  special feature of this Lingam is that it has sixteen faces on it ( Pattai Lingam). The  goddess here is called  Thirupurusundari Lord of the three worlds  facing  south. The  temple  though ancient has no inscriptions to  ascertain it. The temple was extensively  renovated recently and conducted it's Teppam festival after  a long time. There are separate shrines for  Vinayagar,  Subramanyar,  Bairavar , Chandikeswarar and Durgai. A beautiful tank abets the Temple with water. The temple follows the saivite agamas for its various rituals. It is also kept  very neat and clean unlike many other temples. The  sacred tree of the temple is Pavazhamalli.

       Ahobila Mutt Lakshmi Narasimha  Swamy,  Triplicane.   The Mutt situated  in Theradi  Street , Triplicane is one of the  important mutt  for  Vadagalai Vaishnavite  Brahmins and is better known in the  area. The  place where the mutt is situated was given  by the  British government  as a grant in the  year 1888  when  the  36th head of the  mutt Srivan Satakopa Sri Srinivasa Yathindra  Mahadesikan was at the  helm of affairs. The  idols of  Lakshmi  Narasimha,  Sri Desikan  and Srimad Adivan Satakopa  Swamy were installed and worshipped. The  mutt was developed during the period of  40th,  43rd and 44th peetathibathis. During the stewardship of the  45th head  Srivan Satakopa  Narayana  Yathindra  Mahadesikan  the  land adjacent to the mutt were purchased and the  shrines of Lakshmi  Hayagreevar and  Sudarsana Sakrathazwar along with place for doing religious ceremonies were built.  The  Ashtabandana  Saprokshanam  was done during March 2011 with the mutt attaining the prese

      Anjaneyar Temple, East  Tank Square Street, Triplicane.   This  nearly 300 year old temple is attached  to  Parthasarathy  Temple. The Lord Anjaneyar is facing  West towards the sanctum of Venkatakrishnan   ( Parthasarathy swamy).  According to the book on the  History of Triplicane  the place  was originally  used as a Siva Temple which subsequently became Hanumar  Temple. During the Brahmotsavam of  Parthasarathy  Temple  the Hanumantha Vahanam is alighted in front of this temple for Mantakapadi which is done  by  goldsmith community.  The walls of the  mandapam in front of the Anjaneyar shrine are adorned with  exquisitely drawn pictures of the various episodes of  Ramayana which is a pleasure to see. Vishnu Sahasranama  parayanam is done daily by group of devotees here. The  Lord here is supposed to be very powerful and fulfills the desires of his devotees 

     Visited the 1000 year old Sankaranarayana  Swamy temple  at Sankaran  Kovil around  50km from  Tirunelveli today. This is a temple  dedicated to  Lord Siva and was built  around  1076 AD by Pandian  King Ukkirapandian. A statue of the king is there as you  enter the  temple on the  left side of  Rajagopuram. The  presiding  deity  is Sankaralinga swamy in a small Linga vadivam on a line direct from the main gopuram. It is believed that he revealed himself  from a  Snake Putru and is also called Vanmeega Nathar. Goddess here is called Gomathiyambikai having a separate sanctum on the north side.  The statue of the goddess is exquisitely beautiful. In between  there is a separate sanctum for Sankaranarayana  Swamy where  Sankaran  and Narayanan  are together in one form called  Sankaranarayana Swamy which god revealed himself  at the request of Parvathy.  The  beautiful  gigantic  Temple  tower is 125 feet  tall consisting of 9 storeys. The gigantic gates of the  

    Srikaileswaram Temple,  Kappithavathai,  Colombo. This  is  the oldest Hindu temple in Colombo consecrated in the  year 1783 by Vanniga  Vysya Chettiar community. In the  last quarter of 18th century Ceylon was ruled by Dutch people. The  Chettiar community earliest Indian settlers to emigrate to  Sri Lanka settled in Colombo in the  area called  Captain  Gardens  which has now turned to  Kappithavathai. They were trading in Pepper, Kopra, Oil, Coconut  and Coir. They exported the goods to  Goa Nagapattinam, Trivandrum, Karaikal. Intially they installed an Idol of Siva Linga in their Gardens and worshipped. But over a period of time  a small temple was built in the garden of Veerabhadran  Chettiar around 1783 and worship was done as per Siva Agamas. The  old temple has been fully renovated in the  last 50 years. The  Ambal here is called  Karunakadashi and is facing south. Kailasanathar the main deity is facing East in Linga form.  There are separate shrines for M

    This temple called Kandy  Kathirkamam  Temple  is situated in the UNESCO   heritage city of Kandy. The moolavar in the  form of Balamurugan  is always kept  behind  a screen of Murugan on peacock and it is open only once in a year  on Vaikasi  Visakham  day. The  temple has a beautiful elephant  and is visited by both  Tamil Hindus and Sinhala  Buddhists. There is a shrine for  Buddha at the  back of  the  Murugan  shrine and is worshipped by all. A symbol of God as unitary force.

      ANURADHAPURA  the UNESCO heritage city was the  Capital of Srilankan  kingdoms for more than  1500 years from  400 BC to 1000 AD. It was attacked by Tamil  kings during  various periods in its 1500 year history. It contains  many Buddhist  Dagobas ( Stupas) which are more than  2000 years old. The  most  important  religious place  is the  Mahabodhi tree which is more  than 2200 years old. A branch of the  Bodhi Tree from  Bodhgaya  in India  was brought  here by Sangamitra daughter of  Ashoka the  Great when she was sent by Ashoka to  spread  Buddhism in the  Island.  It was planted here by King  Devanampiya  Tissa in 288 BC who converted to  Buddhism. Our guide said that  a majority of the Buddhists visit the holy place at least once a year and pray here and invariably their prayers are answered.  I could see the  Srilankan  Buddhists in their white attire praying profusely. The  compound  wall of the place was built by last Kandy Sinhalese king Vikrama Raja