Tamil Nadu Yatra - Part 4

The ideal time to visit Tamil Nadu is December to February. We had done this yatra in the last week of Oct, 23 and first week of Nov, 23. We chose this time as Tula Snanam (the main purpose of our yatra) is done during this period. The weather during our yatra was reasonably pleasant throughout with a few showers occasionally. Luckily for us the afternoons were also not very hot while the mornings and evenings were very nice. 

Day 5

Sarangapani Koil

In the morning, we decided to cover local temples at Kumbakonam which is rightly called as the temple city with its lovely & grand temples in every nook and corner. One needs a week to 10 days to visit all the temples in this city. Due to paucity of time, we only covered the following temples which were located within a 2 km radius from our hotel and hence easy to reach. Luckily none of these temples were crowded and we could have a peaceful comfortable darshan everywhere. Each of the temples we visited were majestic and large sized with proper layouts and architecture. I am unable to go into details due to lack of time and it is impossible to really understand the beauty of ancient temples of Tamil Nadu unless one sees it with one’s own eyes.

Some of the temples covered were:

-        Sri Sarangapani Swami Temple : dedicated to Lord Vishnu it is a grand temple but with very few devotees early in the morning when we visited it. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams (holy temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu spread across Bharat Varsha and revered by the 12 poet Saints or Alwars). This temple is located along the banks of River Kaveri. It is here that Goddess Lakshmi was born as Bhargavi, the daughter of Maharishi Brighu. The temple tank is located opposite the Western entrance of the temple.

-       Arulmigu Chakrapani Temple : dedicated to God Vishnu. Here Lord Vishnu is said to have appeared in the form of Sudarshana Chakra to put down the pride of Surya Bhagavan, who subsequently became His devotee. Like Shiva, Lord Chakrapani also has a third eye on His forehead. This is one of the most prominent temples in Kumbakonam.

-      Adi Varaha Perumal Temple : This temple is dedicated to an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He blesses His devotees along with His consort Goddess Ambujavalli. Inside the sanctum, the Adi Varaha Perumal can be seen with His consort Bhoomi Devi on His lap and Adi Seshan can be seen in a standing posture. There is a separate shrine for Goddess Ambujavalli.

-      Kasi Vishwanathar temple : This temple was located bang opposite our hotel. Here Lord Shiva and His consort Goddess Visalakshi are worshipped here. The temple is located in an area of 2 acres and has two Gopurams. The western Gopuram is 70 feet tall. The famous Mahamaham tank is located next to the temple. As per legend, the nine sacred rivers of Bharat varsha worshipped Shiva at Kashi to be absolved of the sins of people who bathe in them. Lord Shiva directed them to bathe in this tank and worship Lord Kumbheshwar to get rid of their sins. Legend also has it that Lord Rama and Lakshmana worshipped Shiva here during their search for Sita.

      Adi Kumbheshwar temple : This is another important Shiva temple which gave the town its name of Kumbakonam. Lord Shiva and His consort Mangalambigai are worshipped here. This temple has 4 Gopurams and the Eastern gopuram is 128 feet tall. It has a 16 pillared hall which has the 27 stars and the 12 zodiacs sculpted in a single stone. The present temple was built in the 9^th century.

-       Arulmigu Ramaswamy Temple : This temple, dedicated to Lord Rama, was built in the 16th Century. It is enshrined within a huge granite wall. The main Gopuram of the temple has five tiers. There are beautiful sculptures depicting various Hindu legends from the various Puranas etc. The main deities sculpted in black granite are quite tall and very beautiful to look at. This is one of the prominent temples of Kumbakonam and a must visit destination.

     Thepperumanallur Shiva Kovil : This temple located about 6 kms away from Kumbakonam became famous when a few years back a snake was observed & recorded doing Shiva puja by carrying a Bilwa leaf and placing it on the Lingam. It is said that this phenomenon occurs regularly especially during eclipse time. Sometimes the snake is also seen lying on top of the Lingam. One of the unique features of this temple is the alankaram / decoration of the Lingam with a large number of rudraksha beads / malas. Recently, they had used more than 10 lakhs of rudraksham beads to decorate the Lingam. Here Lord Shiva is worshipped along with His consort Goddess Vendanthanayaki. It is believed that a single visit to this temple qualifies the devotee for moksham. 

After this we had lunch at our hotel and then took some rest in our rooms. In the evening, we left for Trichy via the following temples. 

Swami Malai : This is one of the 6 most important temples dedicated to Lord Muruga (son of Lord Shiva and Parvati). It this trip we could manage to visit all the 6 temples. Earlier we had visited Tiruttani temple on Day 2 of the trip. This temple is situated about 5 kms from Kumbakonam and is at a height (one must climb about 200 steps to reach the main temple.) It was here that Lord Muruga extolled the meaning of the Pranava Mantra (Aum) to His father Lord Shiva and hence got the name Swaminatha. The temple is said to be in existence since 2^nd Century BC. As it wasn’t much crowded being early afternoon, we could have a quick darshan and leave the place in less than an hour.

Thingaloor Chandran Navagraha temple : This was the last of the Navagraha temples to be visited. Prior to going there, we visited a small village nearby called the Ganapati Agraharam where there is a small quaint Ganesh temple. At the Chandra Navagraha temple, we visited the Shiva temple and then visited the Chandra temple. We prayed for the mental well being and peace of mind for all our family and friends here. After this, on the way to Trichy we visited the following temples.

Thiruvaiyaru Panchanadeeshwarar and Dharmasamvardhini Ambal Koil : These are grand temples for Lord Shiva and Ambal where the famous annual Tyagaraja aaradhanai is held. Thousands of famous Carnatic musicians come here and have a joint concert singing many of the important compositions of Saint Tyagaraja. It was dark when we arrived. The number of Bhaktas were not many and we could get a good darshan of Both Bhagavan Shiva and Devi.

After this, we reached Trichy late in the evening and checked into a hotel called Grand Arcadia. This was a decent hotel but not as grand as Rayas Grand at Trichy. Rooms were compact and service was average. After checking in, we drove to a nearby restaurant for dinner before retiring for the night. We also signed off our car that we had used all these days because in the next leg of the journey our group of 5 was splitting and heading in different directions.

Tamil Nadu Yatra - Part 3

Day 4

After a refreshing sleep in one of the best hotels of the trip (Rayas Grand, Kumbakonam), we woke up and after our morning rituals, came down for a sumptuous breakfast in the restaurant attached to our hotel. After this, we left for visiting nearby Navagraha temples as follows:

- The first destination was Suriyanar Koil Navagraha temple which was about 16 kms away. It took us about 45 minutes to reach the temple dedicated to Lord Sun. The main deity is Shiva and Lord Surya along with His consorts Usha Devi and Pratyusha Devi are within the temple complex. People visit this 11^th century temple to improve their health and prosperity as also to get relief from any afflictions caused by this planet. This temple also has separate small shrines for the other eight planetary deities. After worshipping here, we proceeded to our next destination. 

- The temple of Agnishwarar (Shiva) is situated very close to the previous temple (3 kms) at a place called Kanchanur. This temple is also one of the Navagraha temples with Sukra (Venus) as the planetary deity who is believed to be within the stomach of the idol of Shiva. We prayed to Lord Shiva and to Lord Shukra to be blessed with their grace and to be rid of afflictions, if any. The temple complex is big and has a small goshala within the complex where we could feed the cows. After this, we proceeded to our next destination.

- We had to cover about 35 kms to reach Alangudi to visit the Guru temple situated there. This is a holy place surrounded by 3 rivers – Kaveri, Kolidam and Vennaru. Lord Shiva here is known as Apatsahayeshwarar (One who helps during difficulties) and His consort is known as Elavarkuzhali. The temple is big (about 2 acres) and is holy as many of the Saivite Saints have written and sung about this deity. Guru Bhagavan is in the form of Dakshinamurthy who is worshipped with yellow flowers and blesses His devotees with wisdom, holy company, and the spiritual path.

Cat replacing Nandi? 

After this darshan, we came back to Kumbakonam and had lunch at our hotel. Post that we took a siesta for an hour or so. If the afternoon, we had a cup of coffee to refresh ourselves and shake off sluggishness for the second part of the day.

- In the afternoon, we drove down to the Thirunallar Shaneeshwarer Navagraha temple which was about 35 kms away located in Karaikal which is a part of the Union Territory of Pondicherry. When we arrived, although early it was dark and it started to pour cats and dogs. The rains were so heavy that we could not step out of our vehicle. The roads quickly got flooded due to clogged drains and mini traffic jams started occurring as drivers struggled with the deluge. Luckily, we entered the main street leading to the temple which was entirely covered with concrete canopy at a high level. This ensured that that road was relatively dry, and we could step out of the car. We walked to the temple which was crowded. We had darshan of the main Lingam and the idol of Shaneeshwarar. I also took the opportunity to do my evening prayers at the back of the temple. After spending some time here, we left this place and proceeded back to our hotel in Kumbakonam.

We reached our hotel in time for a quick dinner before retiring to our rooms for the night. This completed day 4 of our yatra.

Tamil Nadu Yatra - Part 2

Day 3

Vaitheeshwaran Koil

On the morning of Day 3, we left early for Vaitheeshwaran temple where our co-yatris had booked for abhishekam of all the deities (Lord Shiva, Ambal and Lord Karthikeyan). At that hour there were not many devotees in the temple. We had a lovely darshan of the abhishekam sitting in front of each of the sanctums. We also had darshan of Lord Ganesh and Lord Angarika (Mars - This is one of the Navagraha temples in and around Kumbakonam). Here, Lord Shiva is known as Vaitheeshwaran (which means Lord of Medicines or Doctor). It is believed that people who come here and pray are cured of all illness of the body as well as the mind. Our co-yatri had some rituals to perform like lighting a lamp (made with rice batter) with clarified butter and offering flowers etc. After this, we mixed jaggery, salt and pepper in the temple pond which is the tradition of this temple.

Lighting the ghee lamp

The priest gave us huge amount of prasadam – six small buckets containing medu vadas, lemon rice, tamarind rice, curd rice, salted rice (ven Pongal) and sweet rice (Chakra Pongal). We took all the prasadam to our hotel, packed our bags and then checked out and proceeded towards Chidambaram. Before leaving the hotel, as we had not had any breakfast, we were so hungry that we ate all the vadas from one bucket (approximately 40 vadas between the five of us !!).

Preparation of the lamp

It took us more than an hour to reach Chidambaram although the distance is only about 30 kms. We went straight to the temple where we were met by a known Deekshithar (these are the priests who manage the temple in all aspects). He helped us get a proper darshanam of the Lord and Ambal in the two temples. He also asked us to wait for the afternoon puja after which we would be able to get the darshan of the Chidambaram Rahasyam (CR). Of the pancha butha lingams (Lingams associated with various elements like Water, Earth, Fire, Air and Space), Chidambaram is associated with Akasha or space. There is no Lingam here and all worship is done to the Nataraja idol. The CR is essentially an empty space in the sanctum which is always covered by a curtain and opened only during specific times. In that empty space, one can see a few stings with golden bilwam. The empty space signifies that the Lingam is all encompassing and that the entire Universe is Shiva Himself. We saw the afternoon Abhishekam followed by the aarti accompanied by the sounds of the two large bells of the temple.

Temple Pond VK

We wanted to wait in the temple complex and eat the prasadam collected from VK but we were told that the temple does not allow any devotees to stay in the premises after the noon puja. So, we left the temple and proceeded towards Seergazhi temple. En route, we stopped in the side of the road where we had a good shade of a large tree. There, we ate the prasadam received from VK temple – tamarind rice, lemon rice et all. As we couldn’t finish the prasadam, we gave it away to some labourers on the road who were happy to receive the prasadam.

We reached Seergazhi temple by 3.45 p.m. and as the temple was closed, we waited outside the gate and had lovely fresh coconut water from a vendor outside the temple. At around 4.30 p.m., the temple gates opened, and we went in along with a few other local devotees. The priest took some more time to come and prepare the sanctum for the darshan. This is a huge Shiva temple whose outer walls were very high – approx. 40 feet high. Like all ancient temples of TN, this too has a large area for circumambulation and worship. We had a blissful darshan without any jostling / pushing as there were very few people around at that time. 

Seergazhi Temple outer wall

There are three Shiva temples in three stories here but we couldn’t go to the higher stories as they were closed at that time. There is a huge, beautiful temple pond in the complex. This temple is associated with Saint Gyana Sambandar who was fed milk by Parvati Devi on the banks of the temple tank. After this, this child became a great & eloquent poet who composed innumerable songs about Lord Shiva including the famous Thevaram. Without spending much time here, we proceeded further as we had a long distance to cover after this.

From here, we proceeded towards the famous Thirukadaiyur Shiva temple. It is also known as the Amritaghateshwar – Abirami temple. Although this is a Shiva temple, it also has a Vishnu temple within where one can have darshan of Amrita Narayana and Amrita Valli (Lakshmi). This is one of the holy places of Saivism and legends of Sage Markandeya and Abirami Pattar are associated with this temple. Many people celebrate their Sashtiabdapoorthi (completion of sixty years of age) here.

Temple tank Seergazhi temple

We quickly finished our darshan and proceeded towards the next Navagraha temple in our list - Thiruvengadu Budhan Navagraha temple. This is where the Lord Mercury is worshipped by people by offering white / green coloured clothes. This Lord gives wisdom and helps sharpen the intellect. Like all Navagraha temples in TN, the main Diety is Lord Shiva only. And the planetary Lord will have a smaller sanctum within the complex. Here Lord Shiva is worshipped as Swetharanyeshwar and His consort Parvati is known as Brahmavidyambigai.

Thirukadaiyur Temple

We had a good darshan of the deities and I took the opportunity to do my evening prayers here. After this, we proceeded towards Keezha Perumpallam Ketu Navagraha temple. People affected by Ketu dosham or going through Ketu dasa come here and offer prayers to the Lord to reduce the affliction. Here too Lord Shiva is the main diety and the sanctum of Lord Ketu is within the complex. It was dark when we arrived here. We had a quick darshan of the deities and offered our prayers and prayed for all friends and family to be treated kindly by Ketu. After this, we proceeded towards Kumbakonam.

On the way, we stopped at a good restaurant in Mayiladuthurai called Annamithra. It was on the main road and the food quality was excellent. We reached Kumbakonam around 10 p.m., tired and exhausted. We checked into the Rayas Grand hotel and crashed into the bed for the much-deserved sleep. Thus ended Day 3 of our TN Yatra.

Thirukadaiyur Temple

Thirukadaiyur Temple

Tamil Nadu Yatra - Part 1

Train Journey from Egmore to Seergazhi

During one of the discourses that I attended, I had heard about the Mahatmyam (importance) of the river Kaveri, I had come to know about the importance of having a dip in the river during the Tula month (roughly 15 Oct to 15 Nov). It is stated in the Kaveri Mahatmyam that all the holy rivers come and reside in Kaveri during this period to cleanse themselves and become pure again. Anyone who has a dip at the river Kaveri, following due procedures like Sankalpam etc., are also purified and become eligible for Moksham (release from the endless cycle of life and death). Ever since I heard this, I had an ardent desire to do this and finally in 2023, with the company of like-minded yatris, we could accomplish this. In addition, we also covered various other holy pilgrimage spots which are described in this blog.

This yatra was performed by five of us (Two couples and one dear friend who was keen to come but could not be accompanied by his better half due to her other engagements. One couple was there only for part of the yatra. This took us 10 days to complete as the itinerary was big and the distance was covered predominantly by road trip.

Given below is a description of our yatra.

Day 1

Three of us took a flight to Chennai from Mumbai and reached by evening. After checking into a hotel (Shree Krishna Residency, Mylapore) and freshening ourselves, we visited the famous and beautiful temple of Sri Kapaleeshwar and Karpagambal which was situated about 200 meters from our hotel. As it was evening time on a weekday, the temple was not at all crowded and we had a leisurely darshan of all the deities in the temple. After this, we had a light dinner (snacks only) before retiring for the night.

Day 2

At Tiruttani Temple

We woke up early on this day and after the morning ablutions, we came down to the reception. A car that we had hired for the days trip was waiting for us. We first left for Tiruttani, abode of Lord Muruga, which is about 90 kms away. Tiruttani is one of 6 most holy places / temples associated with Lord Muruga. It is here that Lord Muruga celebrated His wedding with Devi Valli. It is believed that He blesses His devotees who worship Him here with mental peace and bodily happiness. This place is also known as Shantipuri (Abode of Peace).

At Tiruttani Temple

It took us nearly 2.5 hours to reach there as we had stopped on the way for breakfast. The temple (like most Murugan temples) is situated on a hillock, and one must climb 365 steps to reach the top. However, there is a road that has been constructed to facilitate devotees and we took that road to reach the temple. From the parking it was a short 100-meter uphill walk that took us to the temple. Narayan, who was part of our group, had already made arrangements with a priest for darshan etc. It was Krithika star on that day (considered holy for Lord Muruga) and there were number of people in the queue already. Luckily, we could go directly in with the help of the priest and got a nice darshan from close quarters of Lord Muruga and His two consorts, Valli & Devayanai.

After this, we left for Mangadu which is in a suburb of Chennai and at a distance of 70 kms from Tiruttani. Mangadu is known for the temple of "Tapas Kamakshi" or Goddess Kamakshi performing penance in Fire. This is the place where the goddess performed her penance to marry and re-unite with Lord Shiva. All 32 types of Dharmic rituals were performed here by the goddess. They later married at Kanchipuram under the famous Mango tree in Ekambareshwar temple there. It is believed that if unmarried girls visit the Mangadu Kamakshi Amman Devi Temple, then Devi Amman and Lord Shiva get pleased with the devotion, and they bless with a happy married life. Even childless couples also worship Devi Amman for blessings in the form of a baby.

After Darshan at Tiruttani

It took us 2 hours to reach here and when we reached there was a sudden downpour which delayed our entry into the temple. We waited for a while in the car for the rains to subside. When the rains became lighter, we hurried into the temple which was almost empty at that hour in the afternoon. We had a lovely leisurely darshan of Kamakshi Amman.

After this, we came back to the hotel and had our lunch. Post lunch and some rest, we checked out of the hotel and took the same car for a drop to Egmore Railway station in Chennai for the next leg of our trip.

At Egmore station, we were joined by the other couple who were to be with us for a part of the Yatra. From Egmore, we departed towards Seergazhi station. It was a comfortable journey by 3^rd AC which was spent in catching up with our co-yatris over tea. We reached Seergazhi by around 8 p.m. and on alighting we went by 2 autorickshaws to our hotel at Vaitheeshwara Koil (VK). The distance of about 10 kms was covered in 20 minutes and we reached Sathabhishekam hotel by around 8.30 p.m. After a quick bath and prayers, we had dinner at the restaurant attached to the hotel and then retired for the night. The rooms of the hotel were spacious and decent. The only issue was a lot of mosquitoes, but they didn’t disturb us much in the night as we were tired after a long day.