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.