Tiruttani

Last Sunday after Soundaryalahari parayanam in Suja’s house, we were sitting and talking when Rama mentioned that Kamala had suggested that we should all visit Tiruttani. As it is I had been behind Ranga to take me to Tiruttani and this added fuel to the fire!

Immediate action on WhatsApp group resulted in a big disappointment with Sajan and Karthik not being able to confirm due to official work. As it is, we were missing Jayashree as she is back in Vapi!  Further in the week, Kalyan hinted that he may not be able to join as he was to travel out of Chennai on the same day. Despite all these hiccups, we were keen that all of us should go together which I think finally helped our cause, as all confirmed their joining on Saturday evening!

Starting in two vehicles at 430 am after breaking coconut to Pillayar as usual, we reached Tiruttani at 630 am.  

coffee break on the way

We took the assistance of one of the temple staff for darshan. As we entered the sanctum, the God decided to surprise us with the Gurukkal of Srikarumbur temple on duty standing in front of Lord Murugan! After that it was just short of red carpet, making us all sit in front of the Lord, who was decked in thanga kavasam and wearing a blue velvet coat! I felt very sentimental with my ancestral connection with the temple and was tearful throughout the darshan. With archanai and deeparathanai, Naren Gurukkal took us to the sannidhis of Valli, Devayanai and Durgai!

We had darshan of Sri Adhi Balasubramaniyar just behind the main sanctum.  Coming out, we had darshan of the Urchava murthy Lord Murugan with Valli and Devayanai seated in a Rudraksha mandapam. I was tempted to take a photograph here as usually, clicking photos of urchava murthies is allowed. But the Gurukkal there said it was not allowed there inside the rudraksha mandapam, but we could take photos when the urchava murthies are taken out in procession. Accepting his words, we went to Shanmugar sannidhi. There are two sannidhis adjacent to each other. The one close to the wall was Aabathsagaya Vinayakar, such a huge Pillayar, always ready to help us! In front of this sannidhi, adjacent to the wall we could see idols of Arunagirinathar and the Nava veerar who were with Lord Muruga during the war.

Next to Aabathsagaya Vinayakar was Shanmugar with six faces, sitting majestically on a peacock, flanked by Valli and Devayanai on either side with a snake beneath the peacock’s feet. We prayed here and came out having a glimpse of a very cute smaller urchavamurthy.

We sat for a few minutes at the temple and the Gurukkal gave us sandalwood paste prasadam on special request. This prasadam is edible and is considered sarva roga nivarani.

 

 

Darshan completed, we were ready for breakfast. After driving down for about 5-10 minutes we took a breakfast break. Next plan was to visit Thiruvallur Veeraraghava Perumal temple.

But isn’t it HIS decision where we go?

Mani mama (Rama’s father) called Sudha and she promptly told him that we were at Tiruttani. His immediate advice was that we should visit Thiruvalangadu.

Mama further advised that we visit the Kali temple first and then the Sivan temple. We came to know only then that these are two separate structures and not one!

Our visit to this temple made me very happy for two reasons. 1.  Mama had advised me to visit a Kali temple for Rahu dasai and 2. I have been wanting to visit Thiruvalangadu for a long time!

We drove about 20 km to reach Tiruvalangadu. Our first stop was at Kali temple. This temple has just one sannidhi of the Goddess with Lord Ganesha on the side. The Gurukkal here enthusiastically explained about the Goddess.

Kali Temple gopuram

Once upon a time there was a rakshasa called Rakthabeejan who after a long and tough penance obtained a boon from Goddess Parvati that he will not be killed by humans and each drop of his blood touching the ground will create a clone of his! Goddess granted the boon and Rakthabeejan became all powerful. To destroy him, the Goddess created Kali from her own body. When Goddess Kali fought with Rakthabeejan, drops of his blood falling down created as many Rakthabeejans. To stop this, Kali collected Rakthabeejan’s blood in a bowl and drank it, thereby destroying him.

The result of drinking evil blood, Kali became violent! Lord Shiva was the only power who was capable of stopping her. The Lord built a small hut near her and settled there. Kali angrily beckoned him for battle. The Lord calmly suggested that they have a dancing competition. Kali agreed to this and the competition started. Equally matched, the dance went on for a long time. The Lord dropped his right earring and as though trying to wear it again, he picked it up with his left foot and put it back on his ear. The Goddess could not match this posture and accepted defeat! Here, in this temple she stands with her right hand in abinayam, left hand in abhayam and six more hands holding weapons. Her feet are in a dancing posture, heels touching and toes away! The Gurukkal also showed her anklets to us!

The Lord granted her the boon that people will visit her first before coming to his abode and hence all go to the Kali temple first and then to the main temple.

People who want to excel in dance pray here!

As I recalled this narration this morning, my only worry was won’t the Goddess’s feet hurt if she stands in this dancing pose eternally? Thaye, please bless me with an answer to this!

We had to drive down for a few minutes to reach the main temple. It was a huge temple with Vallabha Ganapathi and Valli Devayanai sametha Arumugar on either side at the entrance. We went in further to see Vandaarkuzhali sannidhi on our right and further inside to our right was Ratna Sabhai. Lord Natarajar dancing with his left foot up in the air and to his left standing very cutely in nine yards sari was Samiseenambikai. Quite a strange name but the Gurukkal later explained the very beautiful tamizh name—arugil viyandha ambikai.(அருகில் வியந்த அம்பிகை)  Yes, who will not be in awe of such a dance posture!

   

  

On the right side of the Lord is his ardent devotee one of the 63 Nayanmars— Karaikkal Ammaiyar.

This is the place where Karaikkal Ammaiyar attained mukti and jeeva samadhi in the place where Rathna Sabhai Natarajar is dancing eternally!

For more details on Karaikkal ammaiyar pls click on my blog : Karaikkal Ammaiyar 

We circumambulated around the main sanctum praying at many sannidhis starting with Surya Bhagavan and Adikara Nandi. Next was Sreedevi Bhoodevi sametha Vijayaraghava Perumal and then Valli Devayanai sametha Murugan, Ashta Ganapathy, Bhadrakali. Directly behind the main sanctum on the left was Pradhana Ganapathy and on the right was Valli Devayanai sametha Murugan. On the right corner behind the sanctum was Gajalakshmi and then Maandhiswarar.

Maandhi is the Son of Saneeswarar and is marked in horoscopes in some families. In front of Maandhi was another Shivalingam named Paapahareswar. Next was Lord Iyyappan and a very beautiful looking Upadesa Dakshinamurthy. We walked further towards the main sanctum and on our left was palli area. Sudha and I wondered where the Lord was as the Goddess was sitting there cutely on a swing! We entered the main sanctum to see a huge lingam. The name of the Lord is Vada Aranyeswarar.

The Gurukkal explained that this was a forest full of Aala maram (Banyan trees)—Vada Aranyam and hence the swayambu Lord was called Vada Aranyeswarar. We prayed to the Lord and came out to go to Goddess Vandaarkuzhali sannidhi. She was a majestic Goddess, clad in a bright orange sari, standing tall and blessing us all. We prayed and sat in the prakaram for a few minutes. I stole a few more minutes to take some snaps much to the irritation of the men who wanted to leave. In the outer prakaram, we prostrated in front of the kodi maram before leaving.

We decided to call it a day as Kalyan had to catch a flight in the evening. We were back home by 1130 am. All in all, a short but great trip with excellent darshan satisfying all of us!

 

             

Nava Tirupathi

Leaving Thiruchendur around 7 am, we thought we will be able to cover 3-4 temples out of the Nava Tirupathi but thanks to the able drivers planning the route pucca and Jagan fixing duration for each temple visit, warning us if we are even a little delayed, we managed to cover the 9 temples plus one of the Sivan temples under Nava kailayam before lunch!

The weather was really favourable and it made the journey more enjoyable.

Our first visit was to Then Thiruperai தென்திருப்பேரை 

The names of the temples, Lord and the Goddess are in such beautiful chaste tamizh that it is not fair to just write these in English

A fairly big temple the architecture is so beautiful. The best part of these 9 temples and many other temples in this region is that there is no rush and one can see all the sculpture and have darshan of the Lord in a relaxed manner. We did not have this chance with the idea of covering all the temples before lunch!

Out of the Nava Tirupathis, this is Sukran sthalam. Unlike the Navagraha sthalams near Kumbakonam which are Sivan temples, here we did not get to know anything about the connection of the particular navagraha with the Lord. It is said to be good to pray at the particular planet parihara sthalam if the said planet is weak in your horoscope

The Lord's name here is Sri Makaranedunkuzhaikaadhan. (ஸ்ரீமகரநெடுங்குழைக்காதன்)  We could well appreciate the beauty of our mother tongue!

Though we could not get much info about the legend of the temple, the details I got while browsing the net goes like this. Once Bhoodevi received blessings of Sage Durvarsa and a mandira upadesam. While chanting the mandiram and having a dip in the water body nearby, she got a pair of large earrings shaped like fish. She gifted these earrings to her Lord and hence he came to be known as Sri Makara Nedunkuzhai kaadan.

The Lord is in standing posture with both Sridevi and Bhoodevi on either side. Here in the Sannidhi, Garudan is said to be standing not directly in front of the Lord but a little on the side.

There is a separate sannidhi for the Goddess and she is called Kuzhaikaada Nachiyar.(குழைக் காத நாச்சியார் 

As we were a bit short of time, we completed the quick darshan and drove down to the next temple

Thirukolur (திருக்கோளூர் 

A fairly huge pallikonda perumal, he is called Vaithamaanidhi Perumal.(வைத்தமாநிதி பெருமாள்  Again we were fascinated by the Tamizh phrase! He is called Vaithamaanidhi Perumal because he absolved Kubera's curse and restored his wealth for him here!

Perumal is lying on Adhiseshan and the five headed serpent looks impressive. Perumal's hand is on a marakkal (மரக்கால் - a measure used to measure paddy.

Garudan here is in sitting posture as against the usual standing posture in all Vishnu temples. Thayar is called Kumudhavalli Thayar. (குமுதவல்லி தாயார்  This is the birth place of Madurakavi Azhwar.(மதுரகவி ஆழ்வார்)

Azhwarthirunagari (ஆழ்வார்திருநகரி) 

 

Our next visit was to Azhwarthirunagari, a huge temple with a wealth of sculptures. The Lord is called Aadhinaathar (ஆதிநாதர்) meaning he is the First one, sitting in artha padmasana (அர்த்த பத்மாசனம்) posture where you get to have only one Paadha darsnam. The Goddesses on either side of the Lord are called Aadhi Nayaki (ஆதி நாயகி) and Thirukurugoor Nayaki (திருக்குருகூர் நாயகி) . This is the parihara sthalam for Guru (Jupiter)

Other important features are: 

Urchava Murthy with 5 consorts. the name of the Urchava murthy again is in beautiful tamizh - polindhu nindra perumal.(பொலிந்து நின்ற பெருமாள்)

5000-year-old Tamarind tree where Nammazhwar (நம்மாழ்வார்  was staying for many years as a child.

Four armed Garudan - Chaturbuja Garudan

A separate sannidhi for Varahamurthy with Thayar on his lap

We took a longer time in this temple with many sannidhis to see and a short explanation about the tamarind tree by the Bhattacharyar.

         



 



 

Jagan and Sajan also tried to explain the architecture in their own way making us all laugh!

As we came out of the temple, we heard what we could call Devagaanam. A lady was singing so beautifully that it touched all our hearts and we are sure the Lord would have been moved by the devotion in her singing. Without any accompaniments, her voice just rang through the prakaram and it was such a pleasure to listen to and a great experience!

devagaanam

listening to the Devagaanam

Thiruvaikundam (திருவைகுண்டம்)

Next stop was at Thiruvaikundam.- parihara sthalam for Suryan (Sun God)

Again a big temple and an architectural treasure! The Lord here is in sitting posture and is called Vaikundanaathar. (வைகுண்டநாதர்)He is Ekamurthy as he stands there alone and not with Devi.

The urchavamurthy is very cutely named "Kallapiran"(கள்ளபிரான்) His consorts are Vaikunda nayaki (வைகுண்டநாயகி)and Chora nayaki (சோரநாயகி). The Bhattar could not offer any information about the strange name Kallapiran but what I infer from the internet is an interesting story:

Once there was a thief by name Kaladooshan who prayed at this temple before each robbery and also gave half the loot to the Lord. On one of the occasions where he tried stealing in the palace he was caught by the King. Kaladooshan promptly prayed to his Lord and after this the King could make out that the explanation given by Kaladooshan was not his own but of the Lord’s!

The Lord gave darshan to both the King and the thief and the King requested Him to reside there and named him Kallapiran!

Kailasanathar (கைலாசநாதர்)

Rama's father had advised us to visit one of the Nava Kailayam - Kailasanathar temple - in Thiruvaikundam. This is parihara stalam for Sani (Saturn)

This is the only Sivan temple we visited between the Nava Tirupathis. 

Again a big temple with so much of architecture! 

As we usually see in all Sivan temples, before we enter the sanctum, we prayed to Anukai Pillayar and Valli Devasena sametha Subramaniyar.

Kailasanathar is a fair-sized lingam with Sivagami ambal in a separate sannidhi perpendicular on his right side. We prayed there and came to outer prakaram to see the sannidhis of Kasi Viswanathar, Visalakshi amman, a separate sannidhi for Natarajar named Chandhana Sababathi - the Lord is covered with sandalwood paste. There is huge idol of Bhoothanathar and then Bhairavar. We tried our best to capture the beautiful sculptures in the short time we spent here.

    


  

 


 

 

                                      

Varagunamangai (வரகுணமங்கை)- Natham (நத்தம்) 
Chandra parihara sthalam (Moon)

Here the Lord gave us a lot of time to have a look at the pillars carved with cute looking statues because aaradhanai was going on for Perumal and the curtain was down. All except Suja, Jayashree and I were sitting and we three were studying the pillars. The guys found it so funny and named us Chera, Chozha, Pandyas!

 


 

 


 

After waiting for about 10 minutes, we could have darshan of Vijayasana Perumal (விஜயாசன பெருமாள்) with Varaguna Mangai (வரகுணமங்கை) and Varaguna Valli  (வரகுணவல்லி)on either side. The beauty here is that the Lord in sitting posture beckons us with his left hand and shows his right hand to his feet explaining Charanagathi thathuvam! (சரணாகதி தத்துவம்)

 

The Urchavamurthy again has a beautiful name - En Idar Kalai Perumal (என் இடர் களை  பெருமாள்)with Sreedevi and Bhoodevi on either side.

 


 

 

As we came out, the Bhattar took us to a separate sannidhi of Yoga Narasimhar opposite the main sanctum. This Lord is very powerful granting all our wishes. The Bhattar also went on to explain that this Narasimhar sannidhi is aligned on a straight line with the Sivan temple in this town. 

We prayed to the Lord and proceeded to the next temple - 7th of the Nava Tirupathis in our list.

Thirupuliankudi (திருப்புளியன்குடி) - Budha parihara sthalam (Mercury)

Here Lord Kaisinivendha Perumal (காசினிவேந்த  பெருமாள்) is huge in his reclining posture. He is so huge that we need to have darshan of his feet from a window as we circumbulate around the sannidhi.

 

He has two consorts - Sreedevi and Bhoodevi and lying with one hand above his head and Lord Brahma from his naabhi in a kamalam!  We can see only one Goddess at the sannidhi and we can have darshan of the other Goddess only from the window when we have paadha darsanam.

We had a quick darshan here before going further

Thirukulandhai (திருகுளந்தை) 

  

 This is parihara sthalam for Sani bhagawan (Saturn)

This temple is fairly huge with cute carvings on the walls and ceiling. It has just one sannidhi with Srinivasa Perumal standing between his two consorts Sreedevi and Bhoodevi. Urchavar is called Mayakoothan. (மாயக்கூத்தன்) 

carving on the ceiling

  

After this only two of the Nava Tirupathis – Rahu and Ketu parihara sthalam called Rettai Tirupathi was due. We travelled a little distance and reached these temples.

Our first visit was to Rahu parihara sthalam

Devarpiran (தேவர்பிரான்) is the name of the Lord in standing posture.

This temple and the Ketu sthalam are maintained by TVS group and one can see the marked difference in the overall upkeep!

Next we went to Ketu sthalam, yet another beautifully named Lord – Aravinda lochanan (அரவிந்த லோச்சனன்  also called Thamarai kannan (தாமரைக்கண்ணன்)

in Tamizh!

The Goddess also has a matching name – Karunthadankanni! (கருந்தடங்கண்ணி)

This place is also called Thulaivilimangalam.(துலைவிலிமங்கலம் 

After successfully completing all the Nava Tirupatis + one of the Nava kailayams thanks to the able car drivers, we took a break for lunch!

On a full stomach, all were a little sleepy as our vehicles entered the city of Tirunelveli.

With Thamirabharani pushkaram round the corner, Kalyan was keen on having a dip in Thamirabharani. Though it was around 2-230 pm, weather was so nice that we were ready to relax by the riverside. The drivers found a suitable place and a few people bathing in the river disappeared as soon as they saw our noisy lot!

 Karthik in Dhyanam in front of the river

Karthik, Kalyan, Sajan and Satish got into the water and after 5 minutes, we ladies were very tempted. One by one, we all went into the water and had an enjoyable time splashing water on each other and forcing the others to go head down in water!

15 minutes inside the water, four huge buffaloes entered the river to give us company! It was quite scary, but the poor animals made their way to the other side without disturbing us. After having great fun in the water, we managed to change inside the van and got ready to visit Nellaiappar.

Nelliappar Temple

Part of a blog will not do justice to Nellaiappar temple. So I restrict myself to a few pictures here. I need to make one more visit to the temple, God willing, to do a detailed write up about this huge, huge, huge temple!

We went to the temple only after a short coffee break, but by the time we were out of the temple, we were ready to have early dinner before boarding the train.

The drivers recommended a small hotel where the food was quite homely! The ladies, kids and our kaaval deivam Ranga reached the hotel first as the other guys had to take a longer route to buy Tirunelveli halwa for each family and their friends!

With dinner completed, we reached the station and waited for the train. On board the train was a tasting round of halwa with plans for next trip.

After a long debate about different places as many of us had leave issues in our respective offices, we tentatively planned on Ahobilam.

Hope Lord Narasimhar gives us darshan soon!