Temples Of India

Divyadesam 46 - Tiruvallikeni - Triplicane - Chennai - Parthasarathy Temple

noreply@blogger.com (Srikanthiyangar) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:12:00 +0000

A king by name Sumathi, showered his love toward the Balaji of Thirumala. But he wished to worship Balaji as Krishna. For the sake of him, Balaji Appeared in front of the king as Krishna, at this place in the pose which he stood in the Mahabharatha war. At the end of that war he decided not to hold any weapons, so he appeared here only with a conche in his hand. hence this temple is known as parthasarathy temple.

The great seven Munis (Saptha Rishis) - Brighu, Atthiri, Mareeshi, Markandeyar, Sumathi, Jaabali and Saptharomar performed Tapas (thavam) here and as a result of this, the sthalam is also called as "Brindaranyasthalam". This sthalam is also known as "Panja Veerathalam".

Mahathyam

Seven Shrines in one Temple

1. Venkata Krishnan

The Moolavar of this sthalam is Venkata Krishnan. Along with Rukmani Piratiyar, he holds sword in one hand, Varadha Muthirai on the other hand and his brother Balaraman on his right, Sathaviki on his left, son Prathyumnan, Grand son Aniruthan are also found near the Moolavar. This is one of the Sthalam where the Perumal shows his seva along with his three generations. He is found in standing (Nindra thirukkolam) position and facing his Thirumugham towards East direction.

Moolavar : Venkatakrishnan with Rukmini
Nindra Thirukolam - Facing east
Uthsavar : Parthasarathy

2. Lord Narasimha Swamy / Thellia Singhar

There is separate entrance and flag post ( Dwajasthambam) for Lord Narasimha Swamy. Moolavar is in Veetrirundha “Yoga” thirukola,

Utsavar Thellia Singhar with Acwana hastham (Azhithu saranalikkum thirukkolam).

Moolavar : Yoga Narasimhar Vetrirundha Thirukolam - Facing west
Utsavar : Thellia singar

3. Sri Ranganathar

We can have Dharshan of Sri Ranganatha Swamy while we pass in the queue to get dharshan of Sri Venkata Krishnan. Not all but some who are basically from Thiruvalli keni would know that Sri varaha swamy and Narasimha swamy are seated and giving dharshan along with Sri Ranganatha Swamy Sannithi.

Moolavar : Ranganathan - Bhujanga sayanam - Facing east

4. Vedhavalli Thayar

We can have Dharshan of Sri Vedhavalli thayar in her separate Sannithi on the right, when you come out of Sri Venkata krishanan sannithi. Thayar ithalathilum thani utsavangalum nakshathirua purappadum kandu magizndhu nammai magizvikkindral. Every Friday evening Vedhavalli thayar will have separate purappadu inside temple along with Madal Goshti.

5. Kodhandaraman

While we pass the queue to have dharshan of Sri venkatakrishnan, on the right after crossing the Manikkadhavu we can have dharshan of Sri Kodhandaraman along with Sri Seetha Devi, Sri Lakshmanan & Hanumar (as well opposite to his Sannithi).

Moolavar : Kodhandaraman - Nindra Thirukolam - Facing south

6. Gajendra Varadahar,

Once done with Dharshan of Sri Vedhavalli thayar while stepping down on the left of Sannithi we can have dharshan of Sri gajendra varadharaja Swami, Sitting on Garuda bahavan in a ready to fly position to help jeevathama.

Moolavar : Varadharajan - Garuda vahanan - Facing east
Varadharaja Perumal in Nithya Garuda sevai.

7. Sri Andal

On the right side to Sri Narasimha Swamy sannithy is sri Andal Sannithi, Sri Andal ithalathilum Thani utsavangal Kandu magizndhu nammai Magizvikkindral. Thennacharya Sri Vaishnava Azhwar Acharyargalum ithalathillum Thani Sannidhi galai kondu ezhundharuli irukindranar.

Theertham : Kairavini saras (Allikeni)
Vimanam : Anandha Vimanam, Pranava Vimanam,
Pushpaga Vimanam, Sesha Vimanam &
Daiviga Vimanam
Prathyaksham : Rukminiprati, Thondaiman, Sumathirajan,
Arjunan, Bhrugumaharishi, Markandeyar,
Madhuman Maharishi, Saptharoma,
Athrimaharishi, Jajalimaharishi, Anirudhdhan,
Pradhyumnan & Balaraman.
Mangalasasanam : Thirumangai Alwar, Peiyazhalwar &
Thirumazhisai alwar (12 pasurams)

Namavalli Thayar, Narasimha Swamy and Anjeneya Temples - Namakkal

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:30:00 +0000

This was an unplanned trip. I hardly had the time to do any research on the place nor did I get any driving directions.

Last week I decided to visit the Narasimha Swamy and Namavalli Thayar shrine in Namakkal a small town near Salem (Tamilnadu, India). I wanted to buy Vastrams for the presiding deities and went to Mani Sunker's near the erstwhile Flower Bazaar with a colleague. (He's now a co-blogger on this site, we'll see some posts from him soon). I picked up a saree for Namavalli Thayar, A 10X6 Veshti for Narasimha Swamy and 24x12 Veshti for Anjeneya Swamy. I had doubts if the length of the Veshti would be sufficient for Narasimha Swamy and asked a few people who were familiar to check but then every answer was evasive. Nevertheless I went ahead with the 10x6.

Saturday (30tH jan 2010) morning we left home by 8am filled Diesel and hit the NH 4 at Maduravoil at 9:05. Though the distance is a bit more, I choose to go via Krishnagiri - Salem instead of Dindivanam - Ulundurpet because after you take a detour at Ulundurpet towards Attur the road is being laid and there are trenches on either side of the road and heavy vehicles plying from the opposite direction force you off the road, On the other hand the Krishnagiri route is a NH till Namakkal. The roads are so good that we overshot the Namakkal exit!

At about 10:00 am we stopped by the roadside and had the breakfast that we had packed from a local hotel in Kilpauk. We then hit the road and by 2:35 pm we were at the Golden Palace Hotel in Namakkal. The hotel is on the Namakkal Tiruchy road and is decent. I had made reservations the day before and so check-in was quick. There is a Nala Hotel right opposite to this property but I am not sure about the ambiance inside though I should say the exterior facade is impressive Victorian style strutted columns.

We had a late light lunch (extremely spicy) and some tea, freshened up and left the for the temples. The temples is about 2kms from the hotel and right opposite each other. We first visited Namavalli Thayar shrine and after Archana and Deepa Aarathi visited Narasimha Swamy Shrine. Narasimha Swamy here has a red tint on his right ring finger and as legend has it is the blood stain from slaying Hiranyakashipu. As is my practice I read the Shri Suktam and the Vishnusahasranamam before leaving to see Anjeneya.

One thing disappointing about the place is that there are no good garlands available at any of the shops in the vicinity of the temple the Thulasi garlands that sell for Rs. 20 hardly have an Thulasi leaves, only the stalks and stems are prominent. So I bought a betel leaf garland for Anjeneya Swamy. That costed me about Rs. 60 after hard bargaining.

The Anjeneya Swamy shrine is right opposite the Narasimha Swamy shrine. The belief is that the idol is still growing in height hence though there is a proper building around Anjeneya Swamy there is no roof over his head! We had to wait for an hour since there was a Sandanam Kaapu that day for Anjeneya Swamy. So I handed over the Veshti to the chief priest, had darshan and deepa aarathi, prasadam (puliogare) and returned to the hotel by 8pm. As I write this I have just realised that my visits to all Narasimha Swamy temples were on Pournami (Full Moon) day. were tired and so had a quick dinner and called it a day.

The next morning we had the complimentary breakfast and hit the road for Chennai. We stopped for lunch at 1:00 pm at Vellore and reached home by 3:45 pm. My regret is that I couldn't click any snaps since my Sony Cybershot is misbehaving while the camera on my Palm Treo is just a VGA camera. I am still not on cutting edge! Maybe when I am in Namakkal in April 10 I'll use my better half's Nikon Coolpix to capture some snaps. My Grand Punto has now clocked 7695 kms in 4 months!

Sabarimala Trip - 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 06:19:00 +0000

The evening of 13th Dec I set out with many other "Swamis" to Sabarimala. An annual pilgrimage trip that most South Indians take during this time of the year.

The trip was preceded by a strict regime of pious behavior and adherence to religious routine for 41 days: Cold water bath twice daily, Tea and breakfast only after prayers, mandatory attendance at various Bhajans etc.

We took the "longer" route this time. The "longer" route is the most religiously appropriate route to take and is a trek of 41 kilometers. During the trek I clicked a few snaps of the Tropical forest terrain. Take a look.

These places are frequented by wild animals once the Pilgrimage season is over (mid Jan) though sometimes they stray in even this time if the year.

It took us two days to reach sannidhanam (sactum sanctorum). I was fortunate enough to have several darshans of Lord Ayappan. Did the usual shopping - Diaries, picture cards, Arana payasam etc. Returned to Chennai on the morning of 18th Dec. While on the move i was tweeting! Ofcourse posts were delayed by several hours due to lack of GPRS coverage in the forest hills.

The tweets are here.

Overall a spiritually gratifying trip.

Sabari Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:50:00 +0000

This morning I wore the mala (Garland) and was initiated for the Sabari Trip. I plan to click snaps of important sites during the trek. Will post them here on my return.

Haridwar and Rishikesh - Return

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:50:00 +0000

This morning we brushed, had tea , bathed and hit the road towards NOIDA. We planned to have breakfast at the Sheetal Grand. We drove and in about 45 minutes reached Roorke, I wanted a snap of the Name Sign of the Indian Institute of Technology for nostalgia, having attempted the entrance exam unsuccessfully once after my high school. Content with having got the snap we took the narrow road that ran by the Ganges canal. Along the road we passed several kavariyas and took snaps. We drove for about an hour before we stopped to relieve ourselves. Our stomachs were growling! We had to be content eating the plantains that we carried. No sign of eating joints as we were deep inside the country surrounded by farmlands and rural folk

We drove further along the tributary till we reached Cheetal Grand at Khautali only to find it closed. Funny! and disappointed we drove further till Meerut and stopped by Haldirams to have our first real meal. The restaurant was deserted except for a few guests who were waiting for Idli's. The girl just ahead of me at the counter queue was disappointed that the Idli's were finished when it was her turn to order! So disappointed that she was cribbing to me!

After an hour or so we hit the road and drove for about two hours and reached our Guest House at NOIDA at about 1 pm - tired and happy. Its been a mixed bag for me this trip. Missed the shrines but still the sight of Kavariya's was mood elevating. I hope to return sometime to make up for all that I've missed this trip.

Rishikesh - Day 1 and Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 10:38:00 +0000

Rishikesh is about 20 kms from Haridwar. We were booked in one of the numerous Ashrams that line the shore of the Ganges. There was a slight drizzle when we arrived and the weather was sultry. We checked into our modest rooms (no Airconditioner only a Cooler) unpacked . The room was comfortable with three beds but had a cramped toilet that its unlikely for you to step in without knocking on any of the fixtures! My colleagues wanted to take the स्नान (Snan - Holy Dip) and we stepped out. I clicked the Rudraksha Tree that you see on the left and then followed them. Took a quick snap of the Ganges that you see in the second snap. After the स्नान we returned had some lunch and took some rest to save our energy for the evening walk.

We planned to see the Lakshman Jhula, Jhula, Triyambakeshwar Temple and the night Aarathi and the Triveni Ghat.

We left for Lakshman Jhula at about 4 pm fearing that the Kavariyas would pour in and we might miss the chance to walk across. The Ganges winds its way into Rishiskesh and there are two bridges one being the Lakshman Jhula and the other the Ram Jhula. Depending on the road you take your are likely to approach one of them first.

Lakshman Jhula is believed to have been erected by Lakshmana the brother of Lord Rama to cross the Ganges. In its present form the Lakshman Jhula is a steel rope suspension bridge with wooden planks. During this time of the year the authorities allow you to walk across towards the Triyambakeshwar temple. You are not allowed to cross back but asked to use the Ram Jhula to return. Pilgrims walk across the Lakshman Jhula to symbolically mimic Lakshman's actions. We did click a few snaps but the poor lighting and a bad flash gave us no images. Having spent most of the time getting to Lakshman Jhula that we missed the Aarthi at the Ram Jhula. Unlike the Lakshman Jhula the Ram Jhula has no religious significance and has been erected by the government a few years back.

Disappointed, we decided to return and grab a meal on the way. We sat by a roadside Dhaba amidst honks and people scurrying and had a light dinner of Naan, Roti (types of Indian Bread) and came back to the Ashram, packed and retired for the night.

The night was terrible sultry weather and a bad cooler kept us sticky and rolling on the mattress. We woke up the next morning with a red eye!

Haridwar - Shrines

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 04:43:00 +0000

If there is anything confusing about Haridwar, it is locating the authentic shrine of Gangamma and the shrine that houses the foot step of Hari (Vishnu) who is set to have stepped here on his way to Vaikuntam and hence the name Hari-ki-Pauri. Every temple has the words "Ancient Ganga Temple" scrawled across the wall and had me flummoxed. I visited the first one that I encountered (See picture). The shrine had two priests one at the main diety Gangamma's Sanctum Sanctorium and the other at Lord Narasimha's shrine which is located on the wall adjoining the entrance. I offered my prayers to Gangamma, the priest muttered some sanskrit verses and we repeated them verbatim, deposited Rs. 50 in the preist's plate and while circumambulating was dragged by the second priest who rather forced us to visit the other shrines. Ofcourse we had to follow the ritual of muttering some more sanskrit verses and part with about Rs. 40 for the services!. I retrieved my footwear and wanted to stroll around a bit to see the other sights when Iwas stopped by a official saying that footwear was not allowed beyond this point, Its only then I realised that I might have visited the many storefront temples that throng every religious place. This insipte of the research before the trip. I still wanted to visit the other shrines but the constant pull of my colleagues accompanying me and the heavy drizzle that started we were forced to return to our car. I strongly suggest that you read through the phto esaays available here and here before visiting the shrines. As for me I plan to return sometime next year for another pilgrimage. Here are some snaps from the trip. This is the place I had my snan (holy dip). You can see this bridge in the James G. Lochtefeld's second photo essay. In the first photo of the essay you can see the bridge in the background while the last photo does show the bridge on the left the flight of steps that lead to the bridge is missing indicating that it has been constructed recently.

The "Store Front" temple that I visited. It had "Ancient Ganga Temple" inscribed on it. Apparently this temple is not the ancient one! It is infact a private temple See the last photo in James G. Lochtefeld's second photo essay.

The Brahmakund and the Lakshminarayana Temple with the Ganagamma temple on the left.

The unfinished Gangamma temple. Considered to be the oldest temple and the bathing ghat to the left is considered to be the holiest and most important bathing place. Construction was halted due to a law suit!

Haridwar - Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:50:00 +0000

My Treo's alarm woke me up at 4am. I quickly freshened up and completed my prayers in about a hour and half. I then woke up the attender and asked him to prepare tea. My friend were also up and ready we all sipped some tea before our car arrived. We left NOIDA at 6:15 in the morning on 11th July 2009 we crossed Ghaziabad, Murad Nagar and then drove onward to Modipuram, the town established by the Modi family, we stopped by an ATM and I withdrew some cash before hitting the road towards Meerut, Trafiic was moderate, we drove further and stopped by Cheetal Grand at Khautali for Breakfast at 9:00 am. I ordered Idli, Masala Dosa my friends wanted the Cheese Omlette and Masala Omlette too. Being a vegetarian I just had the Idli and Dosa, surprisingly they tasted good looks like the Cheetal Grand has a good Cook from the South. My friends had the Omlettes as well. I took a stroll through the garden and noticed some exoctic fowls crackling at the person feeding them. I was surprised at the variety of Chilly plants neatly potted lined up in the garden. The fiery red chillies standing out in a foliage of dark green leaves made for a very pleasant sight.

We then hit the road and drove towards Muzaffarnagar only to encounter a police barricade asking us to take a diversion. We pleaded asking for us to be let through the standard route and a kind police man relented and then we drove on only to encounter a hugh traffic jam with a line of trucks parked to the left of the road. We negotiated our way through small gaps and took the dirt roads only to discover that this trucks were lined up by the side for over 5kms! This sight set us thinking on what could be the reason. We contemplated and discussed various theories - maybe it could be a terrorist threat, maybe it could be a local violence while our driver patiently drove and about two hours later we reached Roorkee. Its here that we discovered the reason behind those lengthy traffic jams and the reason why the trucks were lined up near Muzaffarnagar - This was the season of Kavad or Kavadi as we call it in the South of India.

Kavad is a tradition of going to Haridwar and returning with Gangama (actually Ganga Jal) for the village. People from villages and towns the neighbouring states flock to Haridwar during this season. People travel by all modes Train, Bus, Car and of course by Foot, now you see I meant it when I said you can travel by foot to Haridwar in my first post. However down south a Kavadi as it is called is usually undertaken to some holy temple.

We stopped by the Cafe Coffee Day and sipped our Capuccinos while we watched the Kavariyas take a nap under the trees with their Kavad perched in parallel bars erected by the roadside for the purpose. After paying for the capuccinos and succumbing to the waiters repeated pleas for buying a can of cookies (he was kind to bill only two capuccinos instead of three) we set forth for Haridwar.

The road was taken over by the Kavariyas returning from Haridwar, only one half of the road was available for both sides of the traffic. An hour later we reached Haridwar and sought directions from heavily armed police men to find a parking place as close as possible to Hari-Ki-Pauri. It was a madenning crowd that thronged Haridwar during this time we concluded that we made a mistake comming here during this time of the year but then quickly consoled ourselves that its probably the most auspicous time to visit this place because so many Kavariyas cannot be wrong!

I quickly picked up my new Veshti (Dhoti), Shirt, Vest and brief and we walked towards Hari-Ki-Pauri. We could see frenzied people scampering to take a dip, buy Rudraksha and Spatika and visit the temple. In about 10 minutes we reached Hari-ki-Pauri and picked a relatively quiter spot for me to take a Snan (Bath), My friends wanted to take a bath in rishikesh since they felt the water was cleaner there!. After changing to my new clothes I took some Ganga Jal and sprinkled it on my head before stepping in to take the customary three dips. I fould the river was in full force and had to catch my breath after each dip. I stepped out towelled myslef dry and wore my trousers and shirt. A old women approached me for my wet clothes (its customary to leave your clothes behind after you have a dip in the Ganga) and I gladly gave it to her considering that it was a good omen. We then set out to Visit the shrine of Gangama.

Haridwar and Rishikesh - Research for the Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:52:00 +0000

This past week myself and two other colleagues made a much awaited trip to Haridwar and Rishikesh. My earlier attempt to visit these places the week before last was foiled by a rather unexpected development in my Project. I had set out do some research for the trip and seek directions from other colleagues in Delhi (I have been based out of Delhi since April 09) when it first occured that we had to undertake this trip. We drew a blank whenever we asked anyone questions on how to plan the trip but then we did find two colleagues with some excellent knowledge of both the places one was a frequent visitor and the other hailed from Dheradun and hence both were a treasure trove of information, the knowledge was of immense value to us. Combined with my readings from Guide Books and research on the internet, which incidentally doesn't have much information on these two places, I have compiled my experiences in this post.
Haridwar or Hardwar means the Gateway to Hari or Har, i.e. Vishnu or Shiva depending on whether you are a Vaishnavaite or Shaivaite. It is the entry point to Char Dham the four holy places of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangothri and Yamunotri. It is here that River Ganga (called Ganga-ma) touches the plains after travelling 253 km from its origins at Goumukh in the Himalayas and hence Haridwar is also known as Gangadwar. In Satya Yuga the legendary King Bhagirath is said to have brought Ganga from Heaven through years of penance for the salvatyion of this ancestors from the curse of Saint Kapila. Every three years the Khumbh Mela is celebrated in one of these four places and every twelfth year the Maha Khumbh Mela is celebrated at Prayag in Allahabad.
According to our Hindu mythology this is one of the four places where a drop of Amritha (Nectar of immortality), that was obtained by churning the ocean, fell when it was being carried to heaven by Garuda. The other three places being Ujjain, Nasik and Allahabad.The spot where the Nectar fell is called the Brahma Kund at Hari-ki-Pauri. It is believed that having snan here will wash away your sins and you'll attain moksha. Agastya is said to have done penance here. Sage Kapila is said to have had an Ashram here and hence Haridwar is also known as Kapilastan. Haridwar also finds a mention in the Mahabharatha.
Apart from the rich mythological History I couldn't find any other details on the net I was keen to get some travel advice. Nevertheless I set out scouring every travel source I could lay my hands on - Books, Humans! I wanted to first figure out how to get there. Apparently you can either get to Haridwar by Train, Road (Bus and Car), Air and as I learned later even by foot! I am not joking, read on and you'll know. Trains to Haridwar leave from Delhi. A one way ticket from Delhi to Haridwar by Shatabdi costs Rs. 435 and the journey would take four hours and thirty five minutes. The latest fares and details of other trains can be obtained from the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Company website at http://www.irctc.co.in/. But this meant that to get around at Haridwar and Rishikesh we would have to engage a cab or rely on the tuk-tuk (autorickshaw) and being tourists its highly likely that we'd be fleeced by the cab and rickshaw operators. I then made enquiries if there were any bus services and yes there were travel agents running Volvo buses to Haridwar and the fare was about Rs. 370 and the journey time would be seven and a half hours. We checked out the Cab rates and it was costing us Rs. 3300 for the two days and the intervening night. (Haridwar is 186 kms from NOIDA). Since we were three of us a quick arithmetic revealed that the cheapest option was to travel by A/C Cab and could also have the flexibility of moving around in Haridwar and Rishikesh without having to rely on the local transport.

So we booked a Cab through a local Cab operator.

Tirupathi - Alipiri to Tirumala by Foot

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:00:00 +0000

I took these snaps when we walked up to Tirumala sometime in 2007.

1. This is the plateau after you cross the Gaali Gopuram. We usually rest here for a few minutes and have a cup of tea and then continue on our walk.

2 and 3. The spotted deer in the deer sanctuary. Most of us feed the deer with cucumbers and carrots bought from the lady who sits close by.

Birla Mandir - Hyderabad

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Here is something from my Trunk. I discovered this rather old (3 years) snap of Birla Mandir, Hyderabad while organising my album on Picasa. We had stopped by Hyderabad when returning from Kolkatta. I always make it a point to pay a visit to this temple while in the city. The other must stop destinations are the Salarjung Museum and the Golconda Fort. We were fortunate to see the exhibition of the nizams Jewels during our visit.

Thirunelli Temple - Wayanad

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:00:00 +0000

TTD Digitises wall inscriptions

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:27:00 +0000

On each visit to Thirumala while in the Darshan queue I always attempted to make sense of the inscriptions on the walls. Though a lot of it was in Tamil I've noticed Telugu and Kannada as well. I've been very curious to know what our predecessors wanted to convey to future generations. This has been made possible with TTD digitising the wall inscriptions and plans to load them on to the internet for public viewing.

This news item appeared in the last page of this morning's "The Hindu". The Archeological Survey of India has completed the job of taking imprints of the scripts on the walls of the Temple. Read the complete news item here.

Sabari Yatra - Some Snaps

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:57:00 +0000

Ahobilam - Snaps during Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 09:46:00 +0000

I found some snaps in my digital photo basket that didn't make it to the blog posts. The first is a few snaps I clicked on my Journey to Ahobilam by Bus. The bus had the old style seating, a long seat on the right side of the bus that's supposed to seat three and the shorter seat that supposed to seat two now available only on rural routes. Having got used to push-back seats and air conditioned travel the was difficult with these uncomfortable seats and no leg space. We couldn't catch some sleep either. In the middle of the night the bus stopped by a temple and we were served food. Yes it was cooked and carried along. The cooks travelled along. These snaps were clicked with my Palm Treo. The resolution is low.

The second set is a few clicked on my Sabarimala Yatra. I've posted this seperately.

Next Narasimha Swamy Yatra

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:08:00 +0000

I am planning my next Narasimha Swamy Yatra. I plan to visit the following places
1. Polur near Thiruvannamalai
2. Singar Kovil near Vellore

And the following places in the subsequent trip
1. Palayasevaram - On the road from Chengalpet to Kanchipuram
2. Avaniyapuram - Near Kanchipuram
3. Narasingapuram - Near Kanchipuram

Except for Palayasevaram my research on the web hasn't yielded much on the other places. I am comfortable with Narsingapuram because I have several relatives who belong to that place. Planning to hit the road in two weeks time. Hoping to complete gathering the sthala puranam and other details before hand.

Shri Pathala Pratyankara Devi Temple, Morattandi, Puducherry (Pondicherry) - One year Later

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 10:23:00 +0000

I have bee here every month over the last 15 months. Little has changed except that I see a lot more visitors , this time around I saw westerners. We did the Abhishekam 7th Feb 09. Close by someone is building a Navagraha Temple with large idols of the Grahas. Loking forward to another 12 months of darshan.

Travel Tools

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 04:30:00 +0000

Apart from the many Lonely Planet guide books I use several web resources. Here are three of them that I use very often

Wikitravel - An exhaustive resource of information for travellers by travellers. This is a must read before embarking on any journey.

Tripit - A social networking site with a travel theme where you can update your travel itinerary. Tripit will inform you if it finds any of your close friends in the vicinity

Travel Advisor -I often use their Localpicks application on Facebook to update my views on restaurants. The site gives you a great deal of information about cities. Their commercial tieups offer you deals and discounts depending on your country of residence.

Singaperumal Kovil - Chengalpet - Tamilnadu

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 04:26:00 +0000

Took a road trip to Karur this past Tuesday (27th Jan 09). Stopped by Singaperumal Kovil. Waited for an hour an half for the temple to open. Here are a few snaps that I clicked. Not much is know about the Shalapuranam except that Lord Narsimha is with his consort Ahobila Lakshmi. Wonder if fellow bloggers and blog followers could throw some light.

Ram Mandir in Maurutius

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 07:57:00 +0000

As an aside I though I should post this. A temple in Maurutius. A colleague clicked this snap (April 2007) while travelling in the bus.

Karur by Road

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:04:00 +0000

I went on a business trip to Karur by Road this past Thursday (11 Dec 08)- Karthikai Pournami (Full Moon day of the month of Karthikai). On the way we stopped by at Singaperumal Kovil to visit the Lord Narasimha Temple, legend goes the idol is swambu or rather it appeared (nobody has installed it). Lord Narasimha here is with his consort Ahobila Devi.

There on we drove to Dindivanam and stopped for a tyre change (yeah we have been driving with a faulty tyre). Then onward to Villupuram, Ulundurpettai, Perambalur and took a right off the GST road to Turaiyur, Musiri crossed the Cauvery and reached Kulitttalai and then onward to Karur. The drive took about 7 hours cosidering that the GST road is being paved and there are lot of detours with cobbled stones. Have some interesting snaps will post them soon.

Thirunallaru - Sthala Puranam

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:14:00 +0000

I picked up a few books, mainly Sthalapuranams, during my visits to Kumbakonam. Its only last week that I sifted and picked a few to read, I chose the ones that were in English and left the ones in Tamil for later reading since my proficiency in Tamil isn't as good, having picked the reading and writing skills during my summer vacations at Madras while in School. So let me start with the story of Thirunallaru.

Thirunallaru is known to people as the holy place of Sani Bhagwan (Saturn). However there are other deities who adorn the temple , and this is something very few of us are aware.

This is the only place where Lord Shiva is known as "Dharparanayeswarar" after Dharpa or Kusa Grass which is considered as the holy plant of the temple. See my earlier posts of the temple and the Dharpa Grass. Thirunallaru Temple is situated between the Arasalaru and Vanchai River. At the end of the east street of the temple Saint Thirugnansambandar's statute is housed in a separate Mandapam.

The temple has several Mandapams - Sopana Mandapam in the first corridor, Vidanga Thiagar Mandapam near the Sanctum Sanctorum, Ardha Mandapam, Sabha Mandapam, Pandigai Mandapam and Mukti Mandapam.

The glory of this temple and the most sought after deity is Sani Bhagwan. He is facing east unlike in most temples where he faces South. He is usually depicted with four hands however in Thirunallar he is depicted with just two. At the beginning of the southern corridor is the line up of the 63 Nayanmars and 4 saints. These four saints promoted Tamil literature. Adhi Vinaayaka is situated at the very end of the Southern corridor. On the western corridor you'd find Lord Muruga and Goddess Lakshmi in two forms "Sila" and "Sudha". On the western side is Lord Elangothpavar with Thirumal and Ayan. On the North is the Dharpai bushes and an idol of Pitchatanamurthy (partly seen in my photograph) and the Sannidhi of Goddess Durga. In the north east you'll find the Sannidhi of Lord Bairavar.

No Sabarimala Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:09:00 +0000

Our Mahaguruswamy passed away recently. In this period of grief for the family and all Swamy's the Sabarimala trip was cancelled.

Tiruvallikkeni - Triplicane - Sri Parthasarathy Temple

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:34:00 +0000

I not sure if there is any particular order in the divyadesams but nevertheless yesterday was my first visit to Sri Parthasarathy Temple at Triplicane. Our day started at 4am in the morning and we left Kilpauk by 5:00 am and were in the Temple by 5:15 am! We noticed several waywards using the temple premises to sleep. Devotees trickled in slowly with மஞ்சள் (Turmeric) Paste and கோலம் மாவ் (Rangoli Powder) and the guards woke those sleeping and chased them away. We were told that the temple would open at 6:00 am and so we had time for coffee at the modest "Krishna Bhavan" just opposite the temple.

The temple doors opened at 6:00 and all devotees assembled at the Sri Parthasarathy shrine for a first glimpse of the lord. A temple official led a cow which appeared restless, up to the sanctum sanctorum and tied it to the rails. The Purohits then went in with some water and burning Camphor and let the curtains down for the waiting devotess to have a first glimpse. Amid cries of Krishna... and Govinda, Govinda we had the first glimpse of the moustached Sri Parthasarathy. The devotess were then allowed into the shrine.

Sri Ashtalakshmi Sametha Sri Lakshmi Narayana Swamy - Vepanjeri

noreply@blogger.com (Sridhar Pandurangiah) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:10:00 +0000

Drove down to Vepanjeri a small village near Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh to visit the Sri Ashtalakshmi Sametha Sri Lakshmi Narayana Swamy Temple. We started from Chennai in the evening at 5:30 pm and we were given very brief directions. I was aware of the route till Sholinghur, a Divyadesam, having driven (or rather my driver drove! I enjoy the ride) to that place several times. So after stopping by several villages and being misguided this is how we reached Vepanjeri.

We started from Kilpauk took the Anna Nagar Main Road, Tirumangalam Signal and onto Ambattur Estate and filled the tank ofthe Esteem Vxi. Then onto Ambattur OT, Thirumalvoyal, Avadi, Pattabiram to reach Thiruvallur and then to Thirutanni and took the route to Sholinghur. After driving for about 30 km's we reached R.K Pet where the road splits the one on the left leads to Sholinghur and the one on the right leads you to "I don't know where!" but then after about 6 kms we reached "Balijagandiga" and took a left onto "Thookondram" which is about 20kms drive through a narrow stretch of road through lush green ground-nut and sugar cane fields. "Vepanjeri" is about 4 kms from "Thookondram" and is easily recognisable by a temple (Ashtalaksmi) on your right . I guess when you drive from Chittoor its about 19kms from the old bus stand.

The temple has a rich history of about 1500 years and draws a large number of devotees. The temple is well maintained by the trustee, K.S. Sridhar who was an advocate by profession and hails from Vepanjeri. Afer his retirement he wanted to give back something to his place of birth and the result is the renovation and maintenance of this beautifiul temple and the పుష్కరిణి (Pushkarini, Temple Tank). Vepanjeri has about 75 families and you are unlikely to find even a tea shop so pack food if you plan to visit this place, However if your are lucky there could be an అన్నదానం (Annadhanam, Offering food to the public). There are a few cottages and you can opt to stay over the night (which we did) amidst rustic village surroundings and enjoy the pure unpolluted cool air void of any humidity, the chirps of insects, the ocassional moo of a cow. The dogs on the street are surprisingly friendly.

Of particular interest is the garden near the పుష్కరిణి (Pushkarini, Temple Tank) which the associated tree of all the 27 నక్షతిరం (Birth Stars) it also contains the Trimuthis and their associated trees. Also see the 6 trees (Banyan, Peepal, Neem, Tamrind, Vilva..) growing together entangled.

Mr. Sridhar maintains a informative web site at Vepanjeri.com