Temple Visits of Parantharami Mani

           Vaikuntavasal  Perumal Temple, Koyambedu.  This temple is adjacent to Kurungaliswarar temple and is A Chola Era temple. The main deity Vaikuntavasa Perumal is in standing posture with his consorts Sri Devi and Boodevi. Kanakavalli Thayar has a separate shrine. It is said Sita  Ramas wife stayed here in sage Valmikis house along with her sons Lava and Kusa. They had worshipped Vaikuntavasa here. Rama and Sita are in a shrine outside the sanctum in ordinary robes with Sita having her " Kodali Kondai" hair do. There is also a separate shrine for Andal. The temple tank created by Ramas sons is shared  by Siva temple also. There is a separate shrine for Anjaneyar here outside the temple facing it.

    Somangalam Somanadheeswarar  Temple.  This temple is situated 12km from Tambaram  on the Kishkintha route. Somangalam was one of the Chaturvedi Mangalam which was donated to the Vedic Brahmins by the Chola rulers tax free for vedic propagation. The temple is a Navagraha sthlam dedicated to Chandran. The curse given to Chandran by Dakshan was cured by Chandran taking a dip in the Somatheertham nearby and worshipping Lord Shiva.  The temple was built during Kulothunga Chola I (1070-1120) period. The Amman here is called Kamatchi and there are separate shrines for Chandran, Subramanyar and Bairavar. Chola Era inscriptions here mention about donations made for repairing tanks  and for lighting temple lamps. A legendary temple to visit for temple lovers.

     Vedapureeswarar Temple, Tiruverkadu.  This is a Chola Era temple situated in Tiruverkadu 18km away from Chennai.  It is situated 1 km away from the famous Karumariamman Temple and is one of the Thondai Nattu sivan temples.  The presiding deity is Vedapureeswarar with his consort Balambigai.  The moolavar Vedapureeswarar is in Linga form and also in Kalyana Kolam with his consort Parvathi. The Kodi maram and the beautiful Nadi facing Siva are a treat to see.  The legend has it that Sage Agastiya who was sent to south by Lord Siva to set the Earth right  wanted to see the celestial wedding and Siva gave him dharshan in Kalyana Kolam here. This is a Padal petra sthalam by Thirugnanasambandar and Arunagirinathar has also sung about it in Thirupugazh. The temple is a Chola Era temple as evident from the scores of Inscription found on the outer walls of the Inner prakaram and the Gajaprahsta Vimanam.         T...

      Nageswarar Temple, Kunrathur.  This is more than a 800 year old Chola Era Temple. The temple was built by Sekkizhar who was also called Uttama Chola Pallavan.  He lived during the reign of Kulothunga Chola II (1113-1150) also called Anabaya Chola.  The temple is 500 metres from Kundrathur bus stand.  The presiding deity is Nageswarar facing East and Amman Kamatchi is facing south. Sekkizhar built the temple on the lines of Thiru Nageswaram at Kumbakonam and it is also called Vada Nageswaram.  It is a Ragu parikara sthalam and poojas are made by devoties during Ragu kalam and the god is offered rice made of Ulundu.         There is a separate shrine for Sekkizhar facing west and there are shrines for Karpaga Vinayaka and Valli Deva Samedha Subramanyar and Saneeswarar. There are many inscriptions on the walls of the temple dating to Chola period and inscription refering to Puliyur Kottam and Kulothunga Ch...

  Chidambareswarar Temple, Choolai. This  is  a unique temple  situated on Avadhanam Paupiah Road in Choolai  where the  moolavar  is Lord Nataraja with his consort  Sivakamasundari. There is a spatika Lingam before the moolavar. This is more than 150 year old temple.  Six special abhishekam are done every year  during  Marghazhi Thiruvadhirai, Chitirai Thiruvonam, Aani Uthiram  , Avani Chaturdasi, Puratasi  Chaturdasi, Masi Chaturdasi. The  Annual  Brahmotsavam is celebrated  in month of January  starting from  Arurdra Dharisanam. There are separate shrines for Goddess  Umaiyambigai,  Thirumoolar,  Thirupurasundari and Valli  Deivanai  samedha  Subramanyar. There  is a Kalvettu  at the entrance of the temple mentioning about the endowment of two houses one in Peddanaickenpet and the  other in Choolai  by Kancheepuram  Venkatesa ...

       In early  nineteenth century  Mylapore there lived a Siddhar by name called Apparswami. He was a great  devotie of Siva and kept  on chanting  his name. An  English man who saw this  Siddhar and his devotion to  Lord Siva ridiculed his devotion.  Later when  he went back to  England  he had an attack of Chronic stomach pain. He thought it may be due to  his ridiculing the  Siddhar Apparswami. He came back to India and asked for forgiveness from the swamI.   Apparswami forgave him and asked for  a piece of land  for his jeeva samadhi. The  English man donated the place where the temple lies now. When Apparswami attained Moksha on 25th June 1851 his disciple  Chidambaraswami  interred his mortal remains in the place donated and kept a Lingam over the samadhi. He also built a 16 pillared  mandapam in 1855 outside the samadhi. The  Lord in Lingam form he...

          This temple is situated in Kundrathur a suburbs of Madras around 10 km from Porur junction.  The Lord is atop a small hillock(Kundru) and hence the place is called Kundrathur.  There are 84 steps leading to the top and the main tower and sanctum are facing North unlike other temples. The black and white photograph is dated 1870 when the steps were not proper. The Lord is with his consorts Valli and Deivanai and the temple was built 800 years ago by Kulothunga Cholan II. There are inscriptions dated 1720 AD mentioning the developments made during Naick period. There is a separate shrine for Valazsuzhi Vinayaka on the right hand side. Inside the temple there are separate niche for Dakshinamoorthy, Durgai, Vishnu and Bairavar. Entering the temple from east side one can see the shrines of Varasidhi Vinayakar and Visalakshi Samedha Kasi Viswanathar. Kundrathur is the birth place of Sekkizhar who wrote Periya puranam. The temple is a Prarthana...