Vedal Vadavamukhagneeswara Temple There are temples and temples that one may visit in their life time, but it is only a few whose images come up to your mind immediately when you close your eyes. A lake by its side, a huge temple tank right in front, beautiful ancient Gaja Brishta brick temple, probably the only one around this area, with unique moorthis, an absolutely magnificent Vadavamukhagneeswara and in contrast, the gentle and graceful Goddess Vasanthanayaki, an absolutely idyllic location, that s...
Rajagopuram of the Sri Venugopalaswamy Temple, Vengadampet About a year ago, a friend of mine called me to ask if I knew about a temple with an 19 feet sleeping Rama near Cuddalore. He mentioned the name of the place as Vengadampatti. I searched high and low, through reams of notes I have made on must-visit temples, reference books in my library, and checked with friends and relatives in that area. None of them knew about Vengadampatti or a sleeping Rama. The information stayed at the back of my...
This is not the first time that after visiting a temple I have wanted to write about it, but due to some reason or the other, the article is delayed, and suddenly out of the blue, the time comes true for it to be written. I had visited the Thachanallur Siva Temple a few months ago, along with REACH PRO Mr.J Chandrasekaran. Thanks to Podhigai Kudumban, who took us directly from the railway station in the pouring rain, to this temple. On the way, he briefed us that a portion of the temple was going to be ...
Yaganti Sri Uma Maheswara Swamy Temple There are some temples that have a wonderful mythology attached. Some are rich in architectural splendour, others in the divinity and vibration that they generate. Very few have all these things intact even after several hundreds of years. One such temple is the Yaganti Sri Uma Maheswara Swamy Sivalayam. The story associated with the temple: Sage Agasthya after completing his Uttara Desha Yatra was coming towards the South when he reached this site. Seeing t...
The Bhakthajaneswara Temple at Thirunavalur The stories of Nayanars has always fascinated me - Their devotion, the ultimate and unimaginable sacrifices they made for the love of the Lord, their steadfastness and determination demonstrated during the most trying circumstances really move me. Among the Nayanmars, my personal favourite has always been Sundaramurthy Nayanar. Merely for the relationship he shared with Lord Shiva." I give myself to you as a friend" said the Lord to Sundaramurthy Swamy. What ...
Sri Kandaswamy Temple, Cheyyur Sometimes you just stumble upon awesome temples, without really preparing to visit them. One such jewel is the Sri Kandaswamiyar Temple at Cheyyur which I had visited a couple of weeks ago as part of a REACH Foundation heritage trip. We set out at 5.00 am in the morning and after a lot of climbing,walking, photographing etc. by the time we reached the Kandaswamy temple, we were quite exhausted. But all our fatigue vanished once we were inside this temple which is unique ...
The Palike Devaru Temple at Budumuladoddi Every New Year starts for us at Mantralayam in the holy presence of Sri Raghavendra Swamy and while we are there, we try and visit other temples close by. This year, we decided, instead of visiting the same places again (which we normally do if there are a number of newcomers) we would go somewhere we have not seen before. Thanks to Thamby Raghavendra, at the Mantralaya Temple, we got to see two beautiful Hanuman temples, both of them on the way to Adoni, and q...
Agni Theertham When I wrote aboutVanniyappar Templein Aalayam Kanden a couple of weeks ago, I had mentioned I would be writing a separate post on Agni Theertham, the original place where Agneeswara who is today called Vanniyappar had existed. Agni Theertham, is on the banks of the Patha river. During Dwapara Yuga, the Saptharishis were performing a Yagna to protect people from being killed by the Pralaya. Fearing his power would be lost, Agni did not help the burning of the sacrificial fire. Angered by...
The humble entrance to the Kari Varadaraja Perumal Temple at Nerkundram Awesome! Wow! How Divine! These were the words predominant in our minds as we walked out of the Nerkundram Kari Varadaraja Perumal Temple this afternoon. Every month, through the Aalayam Kanden Trust, we have been going to a lesser known, ancient temple and lighting lamps and distributing ghee and oil, This month, we chose the Kari Varadaraja Perumal Temple and feel extremely pleased about having done so. For pictures of ...
The Gopuram of Vanneeswarar Temple, Alwarkurichi There are planned travels you undertake, when you read up about the places you intend to visit, their significance, uniqueness and everything else that would make your visit complete and wholesome. Sometimes, unplanned travel has a number of hidden surprises for you which become much-cherished and treasured memories. My recent visit to Tirunelveli District was one such trip. When Mr. Chandrasekhar, PRO of REACH Foundation, told me that he was going to Ti...
