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!