Holy Pilgrimage –Temples in Tamilnadu (Chennai City) -4 at 5:37 AM

Holy Pilgrimage –Temples in Tamilnadu (Chennai City)

 

Madhya Kailash Temple, Adyar, Chennai

 

Madhya Kailash (Tamil: மத்திய கைலாசம்), also known as Nadukkayilai in Tamil, is a Hindu temple in South Chennai, located at the junction between Sardar Patel Road, Adyar and Rajiv Gandhi Salai. It is located opposite the Central Leather Research Institute and is close to the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai.

Temple

The "Moolavar" or main deity, Venkata Ananda Vinayakar, is surrounded by shrines to Lord Siva, Surya, Devi and Vishnu. In response to the wishes of the people, there are also "Sannidhis" to Anjaneya, Swarna Bhairavar and Onpankol, though these fall outside Ganapatyam practices.
On Vinayaka Chaturthi day, the rays of the sun fall on the presiding deity, striking an auspicious note. Since Vinayaka is the form of the first sound "Om", eight bells have been installed. They represent the seven notes Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da, Ni, with the eighth bell signifying the Sa that follows. In the "Mandapam" before the sanctum sanctorum is a shrine to Vinayaka’s brother Muruga.
The temple has become famous for its unique idol of "Adhyantha Prabhu", which is part Ganapathy and part Anjaneya. The right side is Ganesh and the left Hanuman. The idol was crafted after a vision of such a form was seen by one of the temple officials. In Maharashtra style, one can light the camphor to this deity himself, giving a great sense of satisfaction. Lord Vinayaka himself takes on the onus of propitiating the ancestors. Every afternoon, the priest has a bath and in his wet clothes begins the rites. He takes the Darba garb, earlier placed at the Anandavinayaka idol’s feet and goes to the shrine of Lord Vishnu. From there he takes the white rice offered to the Lord and comes to the Siva shrine. There the rice transforms into the "Pindam". The rice "Pindam" is taken from the Surya shrine and offered to the crows on a platform. People of all caste and creed can avail of this service.

 

Madras Kali Bari, Chennai

 

Madras Kali Bari is a Hindu temple located in the neighbourhood of West Mambalam in Chennai, India. Dedicated to the goddess Kali, the temple is constructed on the lines of the Kalighat Kali Temple in Kolkata by the Bengali community in the city. Within the precincts of the temple, is a meditation hall where bhajans are sung daily. Bengali festivals like Durga Puja and Kali Puja are celebrated with grandeur.

 

 

Mallikesvarar Temple, Chennai

 

Mallikesvarar Temple (Tamil: மல்லிகேஸ்வரர் திருக்கோயில்) or Mallikarjunar Temple (Tamil: மல்லிகார்ஜுனர் திருக்கோயில்) is a Hindu temple situated in the city of Chennai, India. It is one of the first Hindu temples to be constructed in the British settlement of Madrasapatnam.

History

The twin temples of Chenna Kesava and Chenna Malleeswara Swami were originally built by Beri Thimappah, the dubash who brokered the deal between Francis Day and the local chieftain for the small strip of beach that was to become the city of Madras. The city's regional name "Chennai" is said to have been derived from these temples.  The Mallikesvarar Temple was constructed by Alanganatha Pillai, assistant chief merchant to the British East India Company, in the 17th century AD.  The temple is first mentioned in a document of 1652 as "Mally Carjuns Old Pagoda".  It is also believed to be the Muthialpet Pagoda depicted in a Madras map of 1710

 

 

Marundeeswarar Temple, Chennai

 

Marundeeswarar Temple (Tamil: மருந்தீஸ்வரர் ஆலயம்) is a temple dedicated to Hindu deity Shiva, located in the Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai adjacent to the beach of Bay of Bengal. It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, where the three of the most revered Nayanars (Saivite Saints), Appar and Tirugnana Sambandar have glorified the temple with their verses during the 7th-8th century. The temple has been widely expanded by Chola kings during the 11th century.^[1] The temple has two seven tiered gateway towers, a huge tank, with the overall temple area covering 1 acre. The Marundeeswarar temple has been a place of curative worship for people with diseases. The latest coronation of the temple after renovation was performed in May 2008. The temple is administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

 

 

Legend

Lord Marundeeswarar is known so because he taught sage Agastya about some magical medicine.^[1] Since then the Marundeeswarar temple has been a place of worship for people with diseases and various problems with their health.^[2] It is said that even The Sage Valmiki, who wrote The Ramayana, came here to The Marundeeswarar temple to worship The Lord.^[3] Sage Valmiki was said to be blessed here. After this incident, this place was to be known as Thiruvalmikiyur, after a long period of time, the name gradually changed to Thiruvanmiyur. There is a place present in Thiruvanmiyur called Valmiki Nagar in his honour. There is also a temple built for Sage Valmiki in the middle of the East Coast Road,^[4] very close to the Marundeeswarar temple. The lingam for which Lord Hanuman performed pooja, The lingam(meenakshi sundareswarar) that cured the curse of Lord Indra, the Lingam for which Saint Bharadwaja performed pooja are present here. Markandeyar performed a penance and prayed to lord Shiva here, Lord Brahma is believed to have conducted a festival here for lord Shiva.There is a story that Vishnu worshipped Shiva with his family here to get a son ,but he forgot to worshipp parvati devi who cursed his son to die at once after birth .Vishnu apologised and she took away the curse. This son was Kama deva.Parthasarathy is also said to have worshipped this lord for teaching wrong things in his Bhagvad Gita like preventing Shiva worship.

History

The road starting from Marundeeswarar temple, now called ECR was an important route during the Chola period and was known as Vadagaperuvazhi, connecting the kingdom to places in Thanjavur and Andhra Pradesh  Inscriptions can be found in the shrine of Tripurasundari Amman dating back to the 11th century during the period of Rajendra Chola.  The origins and antiquity of this temple is corroborated by the inscriptions found in other temples in the city namely Kapaleeswarar Temple, Virupaksheeswarar Temple and Thiruvidandai which bear testimony to Tiruvanmiyur's existence. A new life has been put into this ancient worshipping place, first in the year 1903 and then in 1970's.

The Temple

The temple has two entrances, one from East Coast Road and the other from West Tank Street both adorned by 5-tiered gopuram (gateway tower). The Entrance from the West Tank Street has got three gates whereas the entrance from the East Coast Road has only one gate. The temple occupies an area of about 1 acre - numerous images adorn the pillars of the temple, while stucco figures adorn the gopurams. The mandapam (hall) housing the Somaskanda form of Shiva has 36 massive pillars adorned with carvings. Devasriyan mantapam inside the temple conducts shaiva sidhantha lectures every day between 7 pm and 8.30 pm.

The Shrines

The temple has smaller Shrines for Lord Ganesha, Lord Murugan,there is ashire for 3 ganeshas who control all there time periods adajecent to this a vedagama padasalai is situated . a thirumurai mandapam has been set up in which thirumurais are sung daily for the pat 11 years. the shrine of Lord Shiva, which has the idols of Lord Shiva in his three forms, Lord Theyagaraja, Lord Marundeeswarar, and Lord Nataraja. Lord Nataraja is supposed to be Lord Shiva in his dancing form. Lord Theyagaraja and Lord Nataraja are the only forms of Lord Shiva in which he is not in the Lingam form. The last shrine is for Lord Marundeeswarar's consort, Goddess Thirupurasundari, who is actually Goddess Parvati. The samadhi of Pamban Swamigal is also found near the shrine.

inside shiva shrine

inside sivas shrine ganesha is situated in the SE corner moving clockwise from there we can see statues of 4 saiva samaya kuravar gaja laksmi skanda with his consorts,arunagirinathar and veerabahu(ne) utsava murthis nataraja 1o8 shiv lingas bhairava(nw) arunchaleswarar and other lingas surya ganesha(sw) 63 nayanmars in the east west axis

The Deities

The Primary deity, The Marundeeswarar Lingam is said to be naturally formed and not sculpted by anyone. This formation is known as svayambhu or Idumbu in Tamil. In the Mahamandapam where The deity resides, there are 108 lingams, and the replicas of the five lingams of the five elements. The divine cow Kamadhenu is believed to deliver milk to the lingam daily and hence the lingam is white. Another name for the lingam is 'Paalvannanathar' (in Tamil, 'Paal' means milk, 'Vanna' means colour). And hence, Paalvannanathar means 'one whose colour is that of milk'. Other names of the Lord here are Oushadheeswarar, Marundheesar, Vedapureeswarar.in the goshta there are statues of durga ,brahma sri maha vishnu ,dakshinamurty, ganesha.one unique feature of this temple is the presence of 2 chanigeswaras ,some say the 2nd statue may represent appaya dikshitar who visited this temple. The Goddess or ambal is known as Thirupurasundari, Chokkanayagi and Sundaranayagi.there is paaliarai,shrine for sukravara amman etc in the devi shrine

carvings in pillars

in the thegaraya mandapam there are carvings of valmiki ,kannapa,palani andavar,hanuman , kamadhenu etc in the shiva shrine the are sculpturing of swastic etc .In the outer prahar of the devi shrine there are carvings of dakshinamurthy,shanmuga sitting on a elephant,sarabadeva,nrisma,vishnu,kamakshi tapas avtars of vishnu etc.in the inner prhar there are sculpturs of hanuman duga etc

Literary Mention

The temple is reverred in the verses of Tevaram, the 7th century saivite canonical work by the two saint poets namely, Appar and Campantar.

"கரையு லாங்கட லிற்பொலி சங்கம்வெள் ளிப்பிவன்

றிரையு லாங்கழி மீனுக ளுந்திரு வான்மியூர்

உரையு லாம்பொரு ளாயுல காளுடை யீர்சொலீர்

வரையு லாமட மாதுட னாகிய மாண்பதே."

translating to

"Tiruvāṉmiyūr where the fish leap in the back water where the strong waves move about, taking from the sea which moves towards the shore the shining conches, and white oysters. Lord who rules over the world, being the meaning of the words please tell me about the dignity of having a beautiful lady who wanders in the mountain.".^[7]

Another verse explains the devotion towards the goddess of the temple as

"விரையார் கொன்றையினாய் விடமுண்ட மிடற்றினனே

உரையார் பல்புகழா யுமைநங்கையொர் பங்குடையாய்

திரையார் தெண்கடல்சூழ் திருவான்மி யூருறையும்

அரையா வுன்னையல்லா லடையாதென தாதரவே."

translating to

"Civaṉ who wears koṉṟai flowers abundant in fragrance!

who has neck which consumed the poison!

who has many forms of fame which are spoken by devotees!

who has Umai;

a lady of distinction, as a half!

the King who dwells in tiruvāṉmiyūr, surrounded by the clear sea full of waves.

my love will not reach other gods except you".

Arunagirinathar has visited this temple and has sung praises of Subramanya here.

In News

It came as a surprise that the builders of the ECR (East Coast Road) had even considered demolition of the temple of Sage Valmiki lying opposite to the Marundeeswarar temple in order to complete the project (of building the ECR). The high court of Tamil Nadu then directed that the temple be in its place and not to disturb it.
The Kumbhabhishekham (coronation after renovation) of the temple was performed on 23 May 2008.  The construction of the Rajagopuram on the eastern side of temple started 45 years ago, but was completed only before the function following the Government issued orders for completing it at a cost of Rs 45 lakh.  Rs 1 crore was spent for improving infrastructure at the temple, which included construction of additional compound wall, Annadanakudam, office complex and amenities for devotees.

 

 

Melatirupati, Chennai

 

Melatirupati is a temple and abode of Lord Venkatesa Perumal in Chennai District.
It is in the Pillayar Koil Street ,Medavakkam.

Devotion

This temple, also called Melai Tirupati, an abode of Sri srinivasa Perumal (Lord Balaji). The “Dwajasthambam” is seen at the entrance. The Bali Peetam and the Kodi Maram (flag post) are seen at the entrance. Further ahead is “Garuda Azhwar” praying to the Lord with folded hands facing the main deity. The Lord “Sri srinivasa Perumal” gives his divine darshan to his devotees. Next to him is padmasani thayar and andal in separate shrines.

Other shrines

There is Sri Hanuman opposite to goddess Padamasani and Ramar Padugai (feet) opposite to Andal. As one goes around the sanctum there are separate shrines for Varahar, Narasimhar, Venugopalar, Ramar and Chkaratazlwar there is a Ganesha temple and Sakthi temple outside this temple.

 

 

Mundaka Kanni Amman Temple, Chennai

 

Mundaka Kanni Amman Temple is a Hindu temple in the neighbourhood of Mylapore in Chennai, India. It is dedicated to Mariamman and used to be famous for animal sacrifices  The temple is one of the most famous shrines dedicated to Mariamman.
The neighbourhood is served by Mundakanniamman Koil railway station of the Chennai MRTS. The station is under construction.

 

 

Nandeeswarar Temple, Chennai

 

 

Nandeeswarar Temple is located in Adambakkam (off Karuneegar Street) in Chennai. It is closest to St. Thomas Mount suburban railway station. It is famous and popularly referred to as Sivan kovil among the localites
The temple has two entrances one in the east, and another in the south. There is a tank situated outside the southern entrance, though not in use.

Deities

Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the presiding deity of the temple is in the form of Nandi standing in front of his devotee Sage Birungi. It is one of the oldest temple in Chennai. ( 950 years old temple)
The temple houses separate worship places for Vinayaka, Nagadevathai, Vishnu, Subramanyar, Bairavar, Brahma, Durga, Sandikeswarar and Navagrahas. The idol of Nandeeswarar (Siva lingam) faces east and the Goddess Avudainayagi faces south.

Special Poojas

Special poojas are conducted on days like Pradhosham, Shivratri, Somawar (Mondays). Arudra darshan is yet another famous religious event here.
Also other special pujas are conducted on days significant to Lord Subramanya and Lord Ganesha.
People who want to get marry soon can give two rose garland to this temple for five Pradhosham.

History

This is an ancient temple built by the Chola King, Aadhani and has carvings on the pillars of the temple include the images of Kannapanayanar, Kamadhenu, Maruthi, Narasimha and Vinayaka. The temple history, slogas and Thiruppavai are printed on the walls of the temple.
Vilvam tree is the stala viruksham of this temple.
The special feature of this temple is that on all Pradosham days a cow goes round the sanctum.
The temple has undergone lot of improvement in the past 3 decades.

 

 

Neelagandeeswarar Temple, Chennai

 

Location

This temple is in Chennai District.
It is in the ecr road ,neelangarai

Devotion

this shrines linga and ganesh are swayambu and the were got from a well. the moolavar is very powerful goddess parvati an chandikeeswara is located inside the sanctum. there is a subramanya temple also .the navagrahas ,dakshinamurthy ,durga devi & hanuman are also here .the linga here is very huge

 

Parasuramalingeswarar Temple, Chennai

Parasuramalingeswarar Temple is a Hindu temple situated in the neighbourhood of Ayanavaram in Chennai, India. The presiding deity is Shiva as Parasuramalingeswarar and the goddess is Parvathi. The main idol is in the form of a linga.

 

Om Tat Sat

                                                        

(Continued...)                                                                                                                              

(My humble  salutations to the great devotees ,  wikisources  and Pilgrimage tourist guide for the collection )