Kotilingeshwara Temple

Kotilingeshwara, as the name suggests is a temple of Lord Shiva, with about one crore Shivalingas. It is situated at a place called Kammasandra, about 5 km from Kolar Gold Fields (KGF). This place has a collection of number of Shiva Lingas spread over an area of 15 acres. More than 80 lakhs of such Lingas have already been installed here since 1974. Kotilingeshwara has the distinction of having the biggest Shivalinga (108 ft) in the world and accompanying it is a 35 ft tall Basava. The entire project involves the installation of one crore shivalingas of various sizes, hence the name 'Kotilingeshwara'.

I had been to Kotilingeshwara a couple of times, and its been one unique experience. On my first visit, we also went to Bangaru Tirupathi at Guttahalli (about 10 kms from Kotilingeshwara). Then, we went to Avani, and then to Mulbagal. Avani is believed to be the place where Seetha raised Lava and Kusa. The village is quite peaceful, and you will love the roads. On my second visit, we started quite late, and had to return after visiting Koilingeshwara only.

There are no good hotels around on the way, but if you happen to come via Mulbagal, just before the Kolar railway Bridge, you will find Hotel Woody's on the left. Its quite popular, and food is okay.

Route
From Bangalore, proceed to Old Madras Road, Kolar, then take a right to Bangarapet, and then on to Koti Lingeshwara. Then, we went on to Bangaru Tirupathi (about 10 kms from Koti Lingeshwara), then to Mulbagal and back to Bangalore.

View Larger Map

Reference Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotilingeshwara
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avani
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guttahalli
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2005/06/25/stories/2005062503540100.htm


Here are some pics that we took on our couple of visits -








Pic of Bangaru Tirupathi Temple


Here are links to some images from Panoramio

May 2011 Temple Pilgrimage

We embarked on our routine religious trip to few temples in Tamilnadu. This was a yearly affair for the last 5 years, except 2010. The planning for this visit was bit tricky and we had to alter our plans at the last minute due to fear of disruptions around Madurai and Tirunelveli due to Poll results. Our Govindan mama had predicted that we could be caught in a fire and would be standing on the road, during the trip, did it happen though?

The Start
The auto that we engaged from our home to Madivala, had a break failure, just as we neared the St. John's Signal from inner Ring Road. The first thrill was to experience a drive on a breakless vehicle for about a km :-) We stopped near the Ayyapan temple, and walked to ABT Boarding point.

The new sparkling ABTX Travels coach arrived at Madiwala at 6:15 PM and after securing our luggage at the rear, the journey began. The bus zooomed on the Elevated Electonic City Expressway, and reached Hosur around 7:10. Around 7:45, the bus stopped at A2B for dinner.

Having had an expensive feast at A2B, the bus started around 8:10 PM. Next Stop at Salem (10:30 PM) at ABT depot. the distance from Salem to Kovilpatti was about 322 kms and Google Maps showed it would take about 4 hours 32 minutes. So, at that time I anticipated that we would reach there about 3:30 or so.

My Father (along with Mother and sister) coming from Chennai, had told me that they would reach Kovilpatti by 4:00 and I had told them that we would reach around 5:00 or so. As I started to relax, I checked the map on my N8 in between. Came Namakkal at 11:15, Karur at 12:00, Dindugul at 12:30, Madurai at 1:00 and Virudhunagar by 1:30, Satur by 1:45. At this point, i got scared, and called up my Father.

In all frenzy, we got down at Kovilpatti at 2:00 AM. Can you imaging ? Yes, we were standing on the road at a ghostly time :-) Meanwhile Father had called up Driver Sakthivel, and asked him to come to Kovilpatti Bus stand as soon as he can. We had tea at the New busstand, and decided to wait.

Around 2:20 AM, another ABT bus stopped. My wildest imagination, suggested that this could be the bus from Chennai. And yes, it was. In fact my father in his doze, told me around 1:45 that he would be between Tiruchirapalli & Madurai. But, courtesy the express Highways / NH7, and thanks to the tollgates for eating about 15 mins extra, they reached stifle late at 2:30.

Can't imagine the speed of these buses on the highways, they should be cruising arround 120 - 130 minimum.

Reaching Kovilpatti
Around 3:30 AM, Sakthivel, with Tata Sumo arrived on the scene, and we proceeded to Sankarankovil. During the way, we experimented with FM transmission from my N8 and my sis' N79. But, due to the poor antenna on the car, we had to turn it off.

Sankarankovil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sankarankoil
We reached Sankarankovil around 4:30 AM, and Ramasamy Pattar was waiting for us. We had a quick sleep in one cottage, and got up around 6:00 AM, thanks to the routine power cut from 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM.

After having tiffin at a nearby hotel, in Battery operated CFL bulbs, we proceeded to the temple. We offered Archanas to Pillayar, Sankaralingeswarar, SankaraNarayanar, Gomathi Amman and Shanmugar. We also lit the "Mavilakku Mavu" and offered a 9 Gajam Saree to Lord Gomathi Amman. It was here that the fiery amman, burnt a small part of Amma's saree, but it happens, and we had to take it in our stride.

We had ordered for 3 Prasadams - Chakra Pongal, Puliyodharai and Thayir Saadham. Having settled the bills including 2 year chanda, we had prasadam in our room, and started from Sankarankovil to Tiruchendur around 12:00.

Here are some Photos taken at Sankarankovil.

Here are few photos taken on the way from Sankarankovil to Tiruchendur.


Tiruchendur
http://tiruchendur.org/
We were able to cover the ~100kms odd trip via Tirunelveli in about 2 hours. We had booked a A/C Deluxe Family Suite at Siva Murugan Lodge, via our Kattalaikkarar - Maharaja Raman. After taking rest for about 2 hours, we went to a Vishnu Durgai Temple, and lighted lemon deepam. Then, about 5:30 we proceeded towards the temple.

After taking a few snaps of the shore and having wet our feet at the divine waters, we went inside the temple and met Raman. Raman had made elaborate plans for us till about 10:00 in the evening. We had these darshans:
1. Vaira Thirunaamam alankaram (6:00 to 7:00)
2. Abhishekam (Rs. 1500) - (7:30 to 8:30)
3. Ekantham (9:00 - 9:30) followed by Chevali, where Lord Muruga is taken around for 5 rounds around the temple.
4. Palliyarai Deeparadhanai (9:40 to 10:00)

It was very satisfying darshan, thanks to Maharaja Raman. We started from Tiruchendur towards Kovilammalpuram, next morning ~7:30 after having breakfast at Hotel Mani Iyer.

Few snaps taken at Tiruchendur -



Kovilammalpuram
http://kovilammalpuram.blogspot.com/
We took the route towards Sattankulam, Nanguneri, kovilammapluram (deviation from Nanguneri to Kalakkad route). We reached there at around 10:00 AM. One of our Uncle had come from Nagerkovil, and he being a preist, performed Abhishekam and Poojas at all the temples around Kovilammalpuram.

For more details on Kovilammalpuram leg of our tour, see http://kovilammalpuram.blogspot.com/


Then we proceeded to Tirunelveli, on the way on my N8 checked the PNR status of our Wait listed ticket from Tirunelveli to Tiruchirapalli. Gosh : Chart Prepared and still wait listed. After having prepared to slug out on train, we had a brief stoppage at Chithappa's Godown, and had dinner near Junction. Then proceeded towards new busstand, to alight a bus to Tiruchi.

The Experience - Tirunelveli to Madurai to Trichy
What happened in the next 6 to 7 hours, shall remain in our memories for a long time. We were greeted by Crowds and no buses from Tirunelveli to Trichy. Chitappa adviced to go to Madurai (Mattuthaavani) and then to take a bus to Trichy. As it seemed to be the best choice at that time, we got into a bus (Non PP, Non Bye pass rider) to Madurai. A Bye pass rider would take about 2 hours, where as this bus took us to some little known towns taking a detour on every possible occasion on the cruisable NH7. After boarding the bus at around 8:30 PM, we reached Madurai Mattuthaavani Bus stand around 12:30 PM.

What greeted us here was the sprawling bus stand, with no easy marks to locate the area where buses to Trichy would be stopping. And, to cap it all was the crowd. Every bus to Trichy was filled up before the current passengers could step down. Such was the situation on that day...

Our presence of mind, suggested that its better to look out for a cab / car to Trichy, and fortunately we located a taxi stand. After some bargain, we were able to finalize a tata indica for 5 of us for Rs. 2100.

Just when we thought our plight for the night would be over, I was slowly realising (sitting next to the driver) that it wasn't to be yet. Imagine a driver dozing off when driving in 80 and speed suddenly dropping to 40 (on bare empty roads) and a Huge volvo zipping on your left, pushing the creeping car by the wind it generates.

I was trying my best to keep the driver engaged in words by asking him Qs, his response were all in one word. Even increasing and decreasing the audio volume did not help. The driver himself realized this, parked the car on the highway, and said he wanted to have tea.

After having consoled ourselves after the 10 min break, that this would be the last stop, we started off. Slightly better this time, nah... again the sleepy driver. Just when we were praying... burst and a screeching halt. Front right tyre puncture.

Thank God, he had a stepney wheel. Having cleared all our luggage from the rear and kept it on the roads, we all felt like "Standing on the road, in the midnight" had come true. After 15 minutes, he had the wheel replaced, but I could sense that he was not happy with the condition of the replaced tyre either.

He then called up his various cab driver friends who had gone to Trichy on that day, and were on their return to Madurai. One such driver, helped by providing another spare wheel. The driver was adamant to fit this new tyre, but we had to starve him saying that we were only 15 mins from Trichy and that he could do it after dropping us there. He then agreed.

Tiruchirapalli

By God's grace, and with much lesser trouble we reached Trichy Junction and Hotel Sevena by around 3:30 AM. Fortunately, our advance room booking (courtesy: http://hotels.bookingsonline.in/) held good, and we had a brief sleep till about 6:00 AM.

After a quiet BF, and 15 mins waiting, the Ambassador cab rolled in (and must say with a good driver). We started towards these temples:

Srirangam
http://www.srirangam.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srirangam

We reached Srirangam around 9:00 AM, and took the Rs. 250 ticket. Within 30 mins, we were blessed to witness the nava deeparadhana at Lord Sri Ranganadhar Sannadhi. Then after having darshan of Lord Ranganayaki, Lord Chakrathaazhwar and some Butter Milk, we proceeded towards T.V.Koil.

Few photos taken at Srirangam Temple-


Thiruvanaikovil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jambukeswarar_Temple,_Thiruvanaikaval
It was scorching heat on our heels, as we alighted from our car, and we rushed to meet Jalakandeshwarar, as it was nearing 11:30 already, and the temple would close down by 12:00. We got ourselves a Rs. 10 ticket for a darshan of Jalakandeshwarar.

Then after choosing the shadowy path to Sri Akhilandeshwari Sannathi, we had to wait till 12:00 clock, for Ucha Kaala Dharisanam. The speciality of this temple is the vishesha pooja performed by a saree clad gurukkul. We took Rs. 50 ticket and was able to enter the sanctum sanctorum and get a very close darshan of Goddess Akilandeshwari.

Samayapuram
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samayapuram_Mariamman_Temple
http://www.samayapuram.org/
If ever there was a bitter temple experience, on this tour, it was here. With crowds berserk, and in the maddest heat, we had no choice but to fall prey to a third party darshan broker. He told us that there was a long queue to the ticket counter and it would take more than 2 to 3 hours for the darshan.

Not knowing what to do we went ahead with him. As we had plans to offer a saree to Mariamman, one of the broker said that he needs to register the saree with the temple authorities and then only one can offer it to the Lord.

Then one of their guys took us via some estranged paths to the Lord Mariamman. We got a ghostly welcome from the priests and we were indeed a bit upset when they dumped the saree on Mariamman, and told us that's it. Then we were pushed forward by the crowd and completed one pradakshinam. At that time another person pretended to be very friendly and told us that he could provide us one more darshan. At the same time our original broker also said that he could offer one more darshan, and I asked my mother, wife and sister to go one more time. I got to know that they were later abused by the priests "What you all don't have any work? other than coming over again and again?"

Well having taken it in our stride, we came out of the temple. Then came the long bill by the broker -

Darshan = 5*100 = 500
Lemon Garland = 200 (We dont remember to have seen this)
Flower garland = 200
Panner Bottle = 75 (Luxurious?)
Saree Registration = 100
Coconut + Beetel leaves = 100 (Wow, the best deal?)
Salt & Pepper = 100 (Hmmm... not even organic would cost this much?)
Others = 100 (Wonder what it is?)
Total = Rs. 1375.

After some argument, we were able to settle him for Rs. 1000. Gosh, it was not so enjoyable and cherishable experience, but it is the price one has to pay in these temples. But nevertheless, the POwer that we gained on seeing the Lord, made us to forget all these...

As it was about 2:00 PM, We then decided to proceed towards a good A/C Hotel. The driver took us to Hotel Maayas (near Chathiram Busstand). After a decent lunch, and loads of butter milk, we then proceeded to Woraiyur Vekkaliamman.

Woraiyur Vekkali Amman
http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Talk:Woraiyur_Sri_Vekkali_Amman
http://www.vekkaliammankovil.org/
We lit lamps to Vishnu Durgai and amman, and also offered Saree to Vekkali Amman. The fees for saree is Rs. 7 and special darshan - Rs. 25. We had a very satisfying darshan at this temple as always.

We then proceeded towards our hotel room, and decided to take some rest. After about 6:30 PM, we spent few hours at Femina Shopping Mall, and helped ourselves to some few gift items.

The Return via ABT
We had dinner at our Hotel Cafe, and having settled the hotel bills, our cab driver dropped us at ABTxTravels office. For a 70kms ride, for about 14 hours, the trip had cost us only Rs. 1250.

Our ABT bus to Bangalore arrived at 10:45, and immediately in 5 minutes came the bus to Chennai. We reached Bangalore Silkboard at 5 AM and our parents had reached Tambaram around 4:30 AM.

Upon reflections of the trip, we had satisfying darshans at almost all the temples and our kula dheivam. And the words of Govindan Mama had also come true. Nevertheless, it was a cherishing and renewing experience.

Route Map #1 (Kovilpatti - Sankarankovil - Tiruchendur - Kovilammalpuram - Tirunelveli)

View Larger Map

Route Map #2 (Trichy - Srirangam, Thiruvanaikavil, Samayapuram, Woraiyur)

View Larger Map


Photos Slideshow

Temples Near Yemalur

Yemalur is a small hamlet behind the old HAL Airport. Yemalur is about 2 kms from the Old Airport Road intersection (near Marathahalli). For the benefit of the apartment dwellers, I am listing down the temples in the area, so that one can visit them.

Shiva Temple, Yemalur
The Shiva temple is quite big, and is built of white granite, and needless to say its quite peaceful. The temple has a scaled down version of Kempfort Lord Shiva on the lawn, and is an impressive sight indeed. The temple has idols of Lord Ganesha, Shiva Linga and Goddess Parvathi.

View Larger Map

Anjaneya Temple
The temple seems to be a very ancient one, as one can observe from the structure. The temple is quiet small, but has a pretty small "Anjaneya" idol.

View Larger Map

Renganathaswamy Temple
This temple has the idol of Lord Sri Renganatha in Anantha Seyanam posture (as in Srirangam and Srirangapatna). It is also an ancient temple, believed to be dating to 18th century.

View Larger Map

Maramma / Chamundeeswari Temple
This temple is situated about 100 metres next to Logica CMG. The temple is quite calm and powerful what with Goddess Chamundeswari on a Lion. The temple is known for the Satyanarayana Pooja, performed on every Pournami.

View Larger Map

Here are some pics of the temple -

Double Weekend - Vaanam & Ko

Yes, its been long before my movie review since Endhiran. In between these days, we watched many movies - Yuddham Sei, Siruthai, Mynaa to name a few. Those movies have done fairly well at the Box office, and were not bad, but nevertheless it did not provide me the trigger to blog about it. Not to mention, I had a forgetful experience watching the horrible Gautam Menon Movie.

Came the end of Week17'11, and already there was talks about Simbu, rechristened STR, his decision not to act in Ko and his prophecies on Vaanam. Well, we decided to see what is so special about Vaanam. First day night show - Destination: Innovative Multiplex - Not because its so good, but just because it strains a little less on your card, and fuel for my car.

VAANAM
The title music of Vaanam was quite good, and the beginning of the movie - Bharath's Rock song, gave an indication that Simbu's character is little downplayed. After the first song, came Simbu's intro, a little elaborate comic action trick sequence with Santhanam. You must be pretty familar with the story (courtesy: numerous reviews on the net). So, I am not diving into it. However, here's a brief sketch of the various sub-plots -

Plot1: Bharath, aiming to become a rockstar,
Plot2: STR, looking for Rs. 40000 to get a ticket for an elite party.
Plot3: Saranya, looking for Rs. 50000 to get her son freed from a greedy money lender.
Plot4: Prakashraj, searching for his brother who had run away after a rub with a rough police
Plot5: Anushka, looking to come out of her captive

The moments I liked
1. Title song (not when titles are displayed, but sung by Bharath) - Deivam Vazhvathu Engae, Deivam Vazhvathu Engae.. Thavarugalai Unnarum Manithan Nenjil..
2. Simbu returning money to Saranya and the old man, and the show of emotions by the actors there on. Simply awesome.
3. Prakash raj saving the life of the terrifying POlice inspector.

My Take on Vaanam
Vaanam is a different story, with commercial ingredients nevertheless, revolving on 5 different plots, and how all turns up for everyone, in a rivetting climax spread over 30 mins. The movie lacks logic at some places, but is an emotional drama about what prompts changes to one's attitude and behaviour. You must watch this to experience this.

The night's sleep was filled with reflections on Vaanam. At the same time, wanted to try out Ko, as there were good public reactions and critics citing it as better than Ayan.

We decided to book a ticket from Innovative, rather than booking online. So, grabbed the tickets, went to More megamart (for some quick shopping) and then back to Innovative by 4:15PM, in time for the 4:30PM show.

KO
Well the movie began sans the rousing noise for Vaanam. The titles were pretty slick, with clips of important journos over the last decade. Yes, it a journalist's journal sort of:-)

The initial scene of bank robbery and the subsequent chase by Jeeva are well pictured, to give an indication as to how the movie would be. The movie is based on the plot of a journalist, investigating a mystery over a state assembly polls. What keeps you engrossed is the numerous twists and turns and the 2 songs - Ennamo Yedho & Venpaniye.

The climax is a bit predictable though, but is interesting with a soft mature twist towards the end. Overall I liked it because of the presentation and racy nature of the screenplay. Its the New age Commercial Cinema, the likes specialised by very few - Maniratnam, Rajeev Menon & Gautam Menon.

Ko vs Vaanam

I've ventured to compare some aspects of both the movies, and provide my rating for these 2 movies.

Freshness
Vaanam bring in a new genre of multistarrer to tamil cinema
Ko is a commercial entertainer, but the story & screenplay make it novel.

Acting Skills
Vaanam requires the characters to display the right emotions at the right times, and all except Bharath have done well. Simbu doesn't dissapoint his fans, yes he overacts at many places, but the one place where he returns the money to Saranya, is for the purists.
Ajmal has stolen the show and so is Jeeva. Jeeva has more footage, and be it romance, action, stunts or dialogue delivery, he has done a fab job. Kartika has disappointed, esp. her 6'2" and vertical eyebrows, it really is the only damp fit.

Camera
Wo wonder its Ko here all the way. Breathtaking action sequences and teh venpaniye song picturization standout.

Music
Ko leads the way. Vaanam's overhyped songs do little to keep the viewers engrossed. The lyrics in the Vaanam title song is very good indeed.

Entertainment Quotient
Its Ko.

Emotional Quotient
Its Vaanam.

Intelligence Quotient
Its Ko

Engrossment Quotient
Ko keeps you on your seat. Only the last 30 mins of Vaanam is good. YOu must be a patient guy, if you had the guts to wait for the Climax.

Masala Factor
Well in Vaanam, there's masala throughout, expected as its a Telugu movie remake. Some make you feel irritated.
I tend to not use the word Masala for Ko, nevertheless its a commercial entertainer. Lot of the scenes blend with the screenplay (if not for the story), and keeps you guessing and entertained.

The Simbu vs Jeeva Factor
Can't understand why this STR rates himself so high. One can feel the thimuru in him thoroughout the movie. I could not see a joint interview by Bharath & Simbu on screen, but Jeeva & Ajmal seemed to have gelled well in the making of the movie.
Its STR who dropped Ko, and I must say, Jeeva made ample use of the opportunity.

My Marks
Ko - 80
Vaanam - 50

Kumbakonam Temples Visit - Feb 2011

Our Family undertook a trip to Few temples near Kumbakonam & Thanjavur on 12 & 13 Feb 2011. In this blog, I list down the brief details of the trip, the temples that we visited and places we dined.

Stay - Kodeeswara Lodge
Dine - Hotels near Bus stand. Not so good, but enough to whet your appetite, esp. if you are a fan of Pongal, Vada with Sambar and Chutney.


Places Visited on Day #1

We had breakfast at Vasanta Bhavan, near the Busstand, and started around 8:45 AM. Then we proceeded to Tirukkarugavur, via Papanasam Railway Crossing. The roads were good, and the smell of harvest was a blessing.

Thirukkarugavoor
http://www.sri-karparakshambigai-temple.com/
We reached here around 10:00, got the garlands from nearby shop. We offered archanas to Mullaivananathar and Garbarakshambika. We walked 3 rounds, around the temple, cherishing the gardens at the temple.

We started from here around 11:30 AM.

Thittai Guru Temple
http://www.dharsanam.com/2007/09/thenkudi-thittai-guru-bhagavan.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thengudi_Thittai
On the way from Thirukkarugavoor to Thanjavur, via Melattur, on the advice of the driver, we took a stop.
Unlike many other temples, here the complete temple is built using the stone. Not only for the main dieties, but also all other Sannidhi's are constructed using stones, right from floors, pillars, walls and roof.
An unique feature of this temple is a drop of water falls on the Lingam (Main Diety) exactly every twenty four minutes (1 Naazhigai) from the roof. But for a small hole, there is no source of water or anything, on the Vimana of the main diety.
The archakas were very friendly ad explained about the history of the temple. More details can be had from the reference link mentioned.
We started from here around 12:15 and proceeded to Tanjore.

Thanjavoor Brihadeeswarar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brihadeeswarar_Temple
Upon reaching here around 1:00, what strike upon me was a marvel. No words can explain the sheer magnificence of the temple. If you haven't been here, you must visit once.
The temple has a very big Nandi, at the entrace, and Lord Brihadeeswara (Shiva Linga) and Goddess Parvati. We clicked numerous snaps here, and you would still be spellbound for sure.

It was lunchtime, and the driver informed that all temples would be closed now and can be seen only after 4:00 PM. It would not be possible to go back to Kumbakonam, and then visit the other temples. So, we decided to spend some time at the Maratha Museum.

One of the hoardings provided a glimpse of the various temples around Tanjavor, thought this would be useful -


Tanjore Maratha Palace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanjavur_Maratha_palace
There was nothing to be overawed, but nevertheless we could spend some time at the bat filled palace. The darbar hall still has the throne and some rich paintings, but they are not well maintained over the years.

The palace compound also has -
1. The Saraswati Mahal Library, housing some of the ancient literature.
2. The Art Gallery
3. Museum

We then started from here around 3:30 PM and proceeded towards Papanasam.

Papanasam 108 Sivan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papanasam#108_Shivalayam
Papanasam is 18 KM away from Kumbakonam on Kumbakonam – Tanjore highway. The Papanasam 108 Sivalaya was under renovation and painting when we went. The temple has 108 Lingas in one roof. The main deity is Ramalingeswarar, installed by Sri Ramar Himself. Since the Brahma harthi dosham was following Sri Ramar because of killing the two demons Haran and Dhooshan, Ramar installed this lingam here and got His dhosham cleared off. There are 106 individual (big) lingams in a separate mandapam. There is also a separate lingam (Hanumantha lingam) brought by Sri Hanuman from Kasi. So,along with the moolavar, there are totally 108 lingams here. As the name of the place suggests, this is a place where one can get their sins washed off. Papa, meaning sins and Nasam meaning, loosing out.
This is also the birth place of great people like Poet Papanasam Sivan and Sri Sri Ravishankar of Art Of Living.

Some Pics, that we took -

There's also a video on Youtube, that I am embedding here -



Nallur - Kalyana Sundareswarar
http://kumbakonamtemples.in/nallur-temple.html
http://kumbakonam-temples.blogspot.com/2009/05/nallur-temple.html

Nallur is about 4 km from Papanasam, which is on Papanasam-Kumbakonam Road via Vazhapazhakadai.
Sri Kalyanasundareswarar temple is an ancient Shiva shrine. The Lingam is made of a shining metal which changes colour five times a day. The images of Shiva and Parvati on Rishaba with Vishnu and Brahma are worshipped in the sanctum. Masi Magham (Feb-March) is a major festival.

The archagar explained about the history and significance of the temple. Even of the devottes remarked that this was the first time the archagar has explained so deeply about the temple, and it was a blessing to hear those.

Around 6:00, we started from here and proceeded towards Patteswaram.

Patteswaram
http://www.patteeswaramdurga.org/
We were very fortunate to see less crowd, and we had a chance to have an aarthi darshan. The temple is huge and the "vruksham" (tree) behind Durga is very famous. The archagar explained the procedure to pray in this temple, and at the end of the day, we were pretty satisfied lot.

After having dinner at a hotel nearby, we went to our hotel around 8:30 PM.

Route Map for Places visited on Day #1

View Larger Map

Places Visited on Day #2
On Sunday, we had plans to visit Thirumanancheri, Swamimalai & Thiruvalanchuzhi, and were planning to return by 2:00 PM or so, as we had to catch our train back around 6:00 PM.

Thirumanancheri
http://www.thiruvidaimarudur.com/thirumanancheri.php
We reached here around 8:00 AM, and we were surprised to see the heavy rush. The temple is for people who wants to get married, and there is a belief that marriage would get settled soon after visiting the temple.
You need to get a archana ticket, and garland set. There are specific instructions to light the lamp and offer worship at the temple. Any vendor should be able to assist you.

After offering poojas here, we then decided to proceed towards Swamimalai, however, if time permits we thought we could see few temples on the way. We had elaneeru (Tender Coconut) on the way, and believe me the taste you get over those areas cannot be matched. After relishing it, the driver halted at Suriyar Koil, as it was a Sunday and very auspicious day to worship Sun God.

Kanjanur - Sukran

http://indiantemplesonline.blogspot.com/2011/02/navagriha-sukran-kanjanur.html http://www.hindudevotionalblog.com/2009/03/agneeswarar-temple-kanjanoor-navagraha.html Agneeswarar Temple at Kanjanoor or Agniswara Swami Temple at Kanjanur is one of the nine Navagraha Temples in Tamil Nadu and is associated with Lord Sukran (Planet Venus), the sixth of Navagraha planets. Also known as Sukran Navagraha Sthalam, Agniswarar temple is located around 18 km from Kumbakonam and 2 km to the east from Sooriyanayanar Kovil, on the Kallanai - Poompuhar road, in Tamilnadu.

Suriyanar Koil

http://www.suriyanarkoil.com/ Sooriyanar Temple is in East of Kumbakonam, Kumbakonam - Mayiladuthurai road. It is exactly 2Km to the north of Aduthurai and the temple is well connected from lower Anicut and Thiruppanandal. We had a brief stop at Suriyanar Koil, but as it was a Sunday, there was heavy rush. As we had to visit other temples, we had a darshan from outside the temple, and proceeded towards Swamimalai.

Swamimalai
http://murugan.org/temples/swamimalai.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swamimalai_Murugan_Temple
http://www.lordmurugan.com/swamimalai.htm
Swamimalai is well known in the area as one of the Arupadai Veedus of Lord Muruga. We took the stairs to reach the top of the hillock and took a Rs. 25 ticket to have darshan of the lord. One of the incidents I couldn't forget was that a child (with a tonsured head) had inserted his head between two steel rods on the railings. People were trying with all force to get the child off, and one clever old man, realised that there was huge gap at the bottom, and made the child to bend down, and then took his head off the rods via the bottom.

Hmmm... Then we proceeded to Thiruvalanchuzhi as it was on our list of Must visit temples. On the way we had a brief stop at the Cauvery Bridge, and took some snaps of the river bed.


Thiruvalanchuzhi, Swamimalai
http://www.dharsanam.com/2007/11/thiruvalanchuzhi-sri-swetha-vinayakar.html
This place is about 4 kms from Swamimalai, after crossing the Cauvery Bridge. The name can, in fact, be taken to represent the letter "Om". The idol here is known as "Vellai vinayakar" or "white vinayakar" as it is believed to have originated from the foam of the sea. There is a beautiful legend associated with the shrine: The Asuras and Devas embarked on the task of churning the ocean to get "Amritham" or ambrosia. They wanted this nectar which confers immortality. There are many stories associated with this episode, but this little known one tells us that before they began the churning, they forgot to pray to Lord Vigneswara, the Remover of Obstacles. This resulted in the ocean spilling out poison. The Devas and Asuras, realising their error, made a small vigraha of Vinayaka using foam. They prayed to him and started the churning again. The rest of the legend is well known.

Since many people do not know the name "Thiruvalanchuzhi", it is best to ask for the "Vellai Vinayakar kovil". The temple is immensely peaceful and lovely, and prayers to Lord Ganapathy can never go without reward.


We had lunch and then did some shopping at Lakshmi Mills, and returned to our hotel around 2:30 PM.

Route Map for Places visited on Day #2

View Larger Map

Photo Album
Here are the pics that we've taken on this trip. Though am not a pro photographer, I hope my shots would impress K.V.Anand or P.C.Sriram :-)