Thursday 11 January 2018

Tirthankaras of Enathur, Asanellikuppam, Uppukulam ( Arakkonam ), Arumbakkam and Kavanur, Kanchipuram District, Ranipet District, Tamil Nadu.

07th January 2018.
I was fortunate to join with the Jain community Ahimsa walk scheduled on 7th January 2018.  The places visited are  on the route from Kanchipuram to Arakonam in Vellore District. The Ahimsa walk was planned to visit the heritage sites related to Jainism, where Tirthankaras statues  are un earthed and installed. We know that in and around Kanchipuram Jainisam was flourished once.  Many Jain temples were constructed, when it was in peak. After 9th century Jainisam started diminishing due to raise of Saivam.

Started our journey from Chennai Adambakkam around 06.00 hrs through a van. Picked up friends on the way and reached our first stop of Enathur near Kanchipuram. In addition to us Heritage enthusiastic Jains also joined in 4 cars. Though this visit to Enathur Mahaveer temple was not planned, covered on the way to Asa Nellikuppam.

ENATHUR
This Mahaveer was unearthed near this place. Originally it was a tirthankara  and reworked on face and mukkudai. The Simha also added at the base of the statue. The Statue was little eroded condition. On the top both side only samaram was carved without samaratharis. After rework the Mahaveer was installed in a newly constructed temple and Kumbhabhishekam was also performed. We are happy to worship on the 48th day ..ie final day of mandala pooja.





ASANELLIKUPPAM.
It was told that this Tirthankara was found in a thorny bush & knee deep sludge. It was brought to the Vinayagar temple  of the village, on the previous day of our visit. After breakfast, Started our Ahimsa Walk up to the temple. Villagers also joined in the walk and Children joined at the temple. The purpose of the walk was explained to the Villagers and a interactive story was told  by our Nivedita Louis, the writer and blogger. Note books were also distributed to the students.

The Tirthankara's mukkudai, legs and hands are found damaged. In this statue samaratharis are also shown on the top of the statue, both are also damaged to some extend. It was told that the statue  may be of 1000 years old.






ARUMBAKKAM.
After the visit to Asanellikuppam we headed towards Arakkonam. In the mean time, it was came to know that a Jain sculpture is kept in a Shiva Temple at Arumbakkam. After making confirmation we reached the Arumbakkam Shiva Temple.

The Tirthankara is kept under the Bodhi tree along with Nagar and Vinayagar. The tirthankara statue is in a very good condition. The Mukkudai, Thorana, Samaratharis with their ornaments , hair style & dresses are clearly shown. It was learnt that efforts are on to construct a separate sannadhi exclusively for this tirthankara.


UPPUKULAM ( ARAKKONAM)
This place uppukulam is part of Arakkonam Town. The Tirthankara statue is behind a Perumal temple with a narrow access from the main road. This tirthankara is under open sky and it was learned that Arakkonam Jains worship this tirthankara. The statue is slightly eroded condition. This statue also has the Mukkudai and samaratharis. 3 Squatting lions are shown on the base of the statue.


In front of Tirthankara a manthira kal is also installed. This manthira kal is engraved with symbols on both side. Also it has some epigraph inscriptions, which we could not read. The purpose is not known.


KAVANUR
Reached our final stop of our Ahimsa Walk. A Parshwanath  statue is kept in the Kava Narayana Perumal Temple. This statue was taken from a dilapidated temple, which is in the midst of ground nut field. ( encroached ) The statue is in excellent condition. Parshvanath is in standing posture with 5 headed snake hood. The attendants are on both side. Visited the dilapidated temple site also. In a brief meeting at the temple, new participants were introduced  and  a book on Jain temples in Nadu Nadu was also presented.

It was learnt that this statue was stolen and was waiting in a ship to export. Three days the ship was stranded  in the port with a huge sum as demurrage   and moved after the Statue was taken out of the ship.
   






Had our lunch hosted by the owner of the Balaji bus service.  After our lunch  started out return journey to Chennai. I sincerely extend my thanks to Sasikala devi who organised this wonderful Ahimsa Walk and the participants.
---OM SHIVAYA NAMA--- 

Wednesday 10 January 2018

Sri Anupamasthini Ambal Sametha Sri Dhevathi Rajeeswarar Temple at Arumbakkam, Ranipet District, Tamil Nadu.

07th January 2018.
For a change this week joined with Jain community heritage enthusiasts  for the Ahimsa walk  at Asa Nellikuppam, UppuKulam ( a part of Arakkonam Town ) and Kavanur lead by Mrs Sasikala devi. Though this Shiva  temple visit was not planned earlier, added  in the list since it was told that a Tirthankara was kept along with nagars under Bodhi tree, which was excavated in the Village. 


Moolavar    : Sri Devathi Rajeswarar
Consort      : Sri Anupamathini Ambal

Some of the important features are...
The temple is facing east without any Rajagopuram. Dwajasthambam, Balipeedam and Nandhi Mandapam are on the east side entrance. Entrance to the Main shrine is from South. Ambal is facing south in the maha mandapam. Urchavars are in the Maha mandapam. The sanctum out side od moat type. 

In koshtam Vinayagar, Dakshinamurthy, Maha Vishnu ( in Lingothbavar place ), Brahma and Durgai. In the prakaram sannadhi for Selva Ganapathy, Saraswati, Gajalakshmi, Valli Devasena Subramaniar, Naalvar, Bhairavar, Saptamatrikas, Suryan, Chandran, Balaganapathy, Balamurugan, Arumuga and Chandikeswarar.

 saptamatrikas panel

ARCHITECTURE
The temple consists of sanctum sanctorum, antarala, artha mandapa and maha mandapam. 


HISTORY
It was told that the temple is 1000 years old. The inscriptions are not clear due to sand blasting. The temple was renovated and Kumbhabhishekam was performed on 04-06-2017.

LEGEND
As per the legend, Durvasa Maharishi gave Indira, the garland after performed pooja to Lord Mahavishnu. His vahana Iravatham destroyed he garland with it’s leg. On seeing this Muni Durvasa cursed Indira to loose his Indira / Raja position and a reduced life.  To get rid of the  curse, after visiting many Shiva temple, came to this place Arumbakkam worshiped Lord Shiva with a lotus from the moat/ akazi. Lord Shiva blessed him with full life and gave the Indra position also. Hence those who lost their job may pray Lord Shiva to get back and a good  place for conducting poojas  to increase the life like, Shastiapthapoorthi and Sathabhishekam.  To get rid of problems related to womb, abhishekam may  be performed to Ambal with 108 lemon juice.

TEMPLE TIMINGS:
The temple kept opened between 07.00 hrs to 11.00 hrs and 17.00 hrs to 20.30 hrs.

HOW TO REACH:
Arumbakkam is on the way to Arakkonam from Kanchipuram.

LOCATION:CLICK HERE


 MahaVishnu in Koshtam
 Brahma



 saptamatrika panel
 saptamatrika panel
 saptamatrika panel
saptamatrika panel

Believed to be kulothunga Chozha ?
---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---

Monday 8 January 2018

Ko Nagar Kumaran Vazhipattu Kuzhu, Annual Function, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

31st December 2017.
After Vijayanagara kings the temples in Tami Nadu are surviving because of the thirupani ( selfless service ) by the Nattukottai Chettiars otherwise called as Nagarathars. All the nagarathars comes under 9 Shiva temples and they also worship Lord Muruga/ Subramaniyar. During Thai Poosam festival they use to walk with out chappal to the Murugan Temples of Palani, Thiruthani, Thiruchendur from their residence.


In addition to this they used worship Lord Murugan at a Common place where they are presently residing  for a day or two. One of my friend of Konapet ( Ko Nagar ), invited me for their 18th year annual function of Swamy & Ambal thirukalyanam and Arupadai Murugan alangara pooja at a Sri Krishna Swamy Kalyana Mandapam, on South Boag Road, Chennai.


Though the function was scheduled from early morning 04.00 hrs with homam, I could able to attend only around 11.30 hrs. Had the darshan of Thiruthani, Swamimalai and Pazhamudir Cholai Sri Valli Devasena Murugan with beautiful sandal paste alangaram.
 
 Thiruthani- see the expression of Sri Valli 

Through out the day the bhajan was performed by the children. Enjoyed the hospitality of Ko Nagar ( Konapet ) Nagarathars  and darshan of Sri Valli Devasena Murugan.  Here are some pictures taken during my visit....

 Thiruthani- see the expression of Sri Valli 
 Swamimalai _ Muruga as Guru to Lord Shiva 
Pazhamudir Cholai 
---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---

Saturday 6 January 2018

Sri Ramalingeswarar Temple / Sri Balasubramaniya Swamy Temple, Vanniya Teynampet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

31st December 2017.
A 500 years old Shiva temple, now called as Sri Bala Subramanya Swamy Temple is on Eldams road in Vanniya Teynampet. ( The Street on the east side of Shiva Temple is called as Ramalingeswarar Koil Street )  Also this is one of the temples which has main entrance on the north side. The Alayamman temple is under the control of this management.

 Rajagopuram View from inside, Navagrahas and the Dwajasthambam on the left  belongs to Sri Balasubramaniya swamy sannadhi.

Moolavar    : Sri Ramalingeswarar
Consort      : Sri Sivakami

Some of the important details are as follows…
The temple is facing east with a 5 tier Rajagopuram on the north side. a Small Ganapathy and Bhairavar sannidhis abutting inside of Rajagopuram. Sri Valli Devasena  Sri Balasubramanya Swamy Sannidhi with balipeedam, Dwajasthambam and Vahana Peacock  is immediately after the  Rajagopuram. This temple is of about 50 years old. It was told that Peacock was made out of emerald a precious stone. Annamalaiyar and Unnamai are in front of Sri Valli Devasena Subramanya. Arunagirinathar sannadhi is in front.

Sri Ramalingeswara temple is facing east with balipedam and Rishabam. Sri Sivakami Ambal is in a separate sannadhi facing South. In koshtam Ganapathy, Dakshinamurthy, Vishnu, Brahma and Durgai. Sri Parvathavarthini sannadhi is in between Shiva and Sri Balasubramanya Swamy Sannathi facing east with a Palliyarai. The other sannadhis are Sri Raja Ganapathy, Nagars under peepal/ Bodhi  tree. A separate Rajagopuram for Shiva Temple is under construction.

Temple Tank / temple pond was reconstructed during recent years with a neerazhi mandapam in which a Nandhi is installed. Kubera Vinayagar, Saibaba Sannadhi and Kosala are on the west bank of Temple Tank / pond.

HISTORY AND INSCRIPTIONS
It was told that the temple is more than 500 years old and Lord Shiva was worshiped by siddhars. A few stone pillars of the mandapam seems to be of very old, reminds the Vijayanagara period. The temple is under the control of Tamil Nadu HR&CE Department.

POOJAS AND CELEBRATIONS
Kandha Shasti, Thaipoosam and Maha Shivaratri are celebrated in a grand manner.  

TEMPLE TIMINGS:
The temple will be opened between 06.00 hrs to 11.00 hrs and 17.00 hrs to 21.00 hrs.

CONTACT DETAILS:
The Land line number is +91 44 24351892. Clerk 9884172712 and Eo  9841053511.

HOW TO REACH:
The temple is about 10 KM from Koyambedu bus terminus and 18 KM from Central Railway station.
About 500 meters off Anna Salai on the Eldams Road in Vanniya Teynampet.
Nearest bus stop is the Teynampet signal. All the town buses between Tambaram and Broadway stops at this bus stop.

LOCATION:CLICK HERE


 Sri Parvatha Vardhini Sannadhi 
 Kubera Vinayagar Sannadhi 



Kosala 
---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---

Friday 5 January 2018

Sri Alayamman Temple / அருள்மிகு ஆலயம்மன் ஆலயம், Teynampet, Chennai Tamil Nadu

31st December 2017.
During my personal visit to attend a function at Teynampet, came across this Alayamman Temple, very close to Teynampet Signal.  This temple is under the control of Sri Balasubramanya Swamy Temple is Vanniya Teynampet. 


Main Deity : Sri Alayamman

Some of the important features of this temple are...
The temple is facing east with out Rajagopuram. Balipeedam, Dwajasthambam and Simha vahanam are in the mukha mandapam.  The sanctum sanctorum consists of a  sanctum, artha mandapam and a mukha mandapam. The entrance arch is on the road side in addition to the east side entrance.

In the artha mandapam sannidhi for Vinayagar, Urchavars and Alaimel Amarnthal, a swayambhu moortham. In the outer prakaram sannadhi for Vinayagar and Valli Devasena Subramaniar, Nagars under Neem tree and Navagrahas,

HISTORY 
It was told that the temple is few centuries old and the period is not known. 

POOJAS AND CELEBRATIONS
It is believed that this temple is equivalent to 108 sakthi peedam and worshiped by Siddhars. Devotees pray this Amman for getting child birth. Special poojas are conducted during Aadi month and Thai pongal.

TEMPLE TIMINGS:
The temple will be kept opened between 07.00 hrs to 11.00 hrs and 17.30 hrs to 20.00 hrs.

CONTACT DETAILS:
The office of Sri Balasubramanya Swamy temple may be contacted for further details and the land line and mobile numbers are  +91 44 2435 1892 or 9884172712.

HOW TO REACH:
This temple is very close to Teynampet Signal.
All  the town buses plying through Anna salai  from Guindy to Broadway passes through Teynampet Signal.

LOCATION:CLICK HERE

 Annanmar
 Vinayagar sannadhi

 Subramaniyar sannadhi

 Navagrahas Sannadhi 

 Entrance Arch on the road  side 



---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---