Temple Visits of Parantharami Mani

      This temple is situated at Begur near electronic city on the southern suburbs of Bangalore . It is more than 1200 years old constructed during the reign of Ganga king Ereganga Neetimarga ( 843-870).  The temple was expanded extensively during the Chola, Hoysala and Vijayanagara dynasty. An old kannada inscription dated 890 AD mentioing about " Bengaluru war" was discovered in this temple complex. It shows the antiquity of the name Bengaluru. This place is pre historic site  with fields containing bone and  pottery remains. The temple  has shrines of five lingas Nageswara, Nagareshwar, Choleswara, Kalikamtèswara and Karaneshwara. It has big Raja gouram on four sides. Amman here is called Parvathi facing south. There is also a granite Deepasthamba facing the sanctum. 

            This temple situated at Melukote in Mandhya District of Karnataka. The temple is situated at a height of 1777 metres from the  sea level  and one has to climb around 350 steps to  reach the temple.  It was constructed during Hoysala rule around  900 years ago.  The presiding  deity  Yoga Narasimha is in a sitting  posture with the  Yogapatta. It is considered  to be one of the seven  holy centres devoted to the worship of Narasimha. The Mysore king Krishnaraja Wodeyar III in early 19th century  had donated a gold crown to the temple. The temple on the hill is visible at a distance from it. There is a beautiful temple tank on the foothills of the temple. 

 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...