திருமண்டங்குடி தொண்டரடி பொடியாழ்வார் அவதார ஸ்தலம்

Thirumandangudi is situated few kms away from Thirupullam Bhudangudi. This is the avathara sthalam of Thondaradi Podialwaar, who gave us "Thirumaalai";" Thirupalli Eluchi" . Alwaar was born on Markazhi Kettai Nakshatram and the avathara utsavam had taken place on the 26th of December 2008.

When we entered Thirumanjanam was happening to Siriya Thiruvadi moolavar. We were carrying vasthram for perumal and we gave it here in Thirumandangudi. Bhattacharyar was telling that he was expecting new clothes and didn't buy any for Anjaneyar. Also the Utsava Murthy's were kept with the alangaram.

Moolavar Ranganatha Swamy here is seen in Nindra Thirukolam with Sri & Bhu Devi Nacchiyar's. Thaayar is very special in this temple. The importance is the flowers on the hands of the moolavar. One on the right is completely bloomed and the one on the left hand is still a bud. One of the Devotee has presented Kavacham for this Thaayar and she was astonishing with the new kavacham.

When we came out of the Thaayar Sannathi Utsava Vigraham of Anjaneya swamy was ready for Thirumanjanam with Balagopala Swamy. Please look at the beauty of them.

திரு புள்ளம் பூதங்குடி வல்வில் இராமர்

Thirupullam Boodhangudi is few minutes away from Thiruadhanoor Divya Desam. Bhattacharyar stays close to the temple. The moolavar of this divya desam is Sri Ramar in Bhujanga Sayanam. He is sleeping here after performing the final rituals to Jatayu. Since Seetha Devi was in Srilanka she is not seen here. Bhooma Devi Thaayar is seen inside the sanctum along with perumal. There is a seperate sannathi for Hemambhuja Valli Thaayar and also for Sri Andaal. This temple is also under the administration of Ahobila Mutt. Vaikanasa Agamam is being followed in the temple.

Moolavar: Sri Ramar in Bhujanga Sayanam

Thaayar: Sri Hemambhuja Valli

Utsavar: Sri Ramar with Chathur Bhujam.

Vimanam: Shobana Vimanam

திருஆதனூர்

Our Next Visit was to pateeswaram and then Sri Gopinatha Swami Temple, which is famous for the "இரட்டை ஆஞ்சநேயர் ". I will write in detail about this temple as a seperate blog.

Then we directly reached Adhanoor. Temple is under Ahobila Mutt's administration.Perumal here is seen in Bhujanga Sayanam and he is lying on மரக்கால். There is a seperate Sannathi for Thaayar and the temple is following "paancharathra" agamam.

Moolavar: Aandu Alakum Ayyan

Thaayar: Ranganayaki Thaayar

Vadakalai Sampradhayam is being followed in the temple

Vimanam: Pranava Vimanam

Theertham: Surya Pushkarani

Mangalasasanam was done by Thirumangai Alwar

நந்திபுர விண்ணகரம் - நாதன் கோயில் (கும்பகோணம்)

This is an unplanned trip of ours and I made the preparation in the last minute. We have visited lot of temples and hence I am posting them all in Individual posts with their name as the title of the temple.

நந்திபுர விண்ணகரம் - நாதன் கோயில் (கும்பகோணம்)

We reached Kumbakonam on the 27th Morning and got ready. Somewhere around 07:30 AM we started our trip. The Driver took us to " Nathan Koil" alias " Nandhi Pura Vinnagaram". this temple is under the control of Vanamaamalai Mutt. Directly we entered the sannathi of Moolavar. He is called as "Adhi Srinivasar", " Sri Jagannatha perumal", " Nandhi pura Nathan". etc. Bhattacharyar was explaining the importance of the preseiding deity. It seems that Lord Rama came here during the end of his Avatar to take Krishna Avatar, so if you worship this perumal it is as good as visiting both Rama & Krishna. Thirumangai Alwar has sung 20 songs where he had considered perumal as Rama in the first 10 songs and Krishna in the next 20 songs.

Moolavar is seated with Sri Devi & Bhumi Devi Thaayar. He looks pleasant as usual and he is seen with Prayoga Chakram and Sangam. He is twice as powerful as Lord Narasimha and his Ukram is also twice as Lord Narasimha. This Kshethram is also called as Shenbagaranya Kshetram. Thaayar is Shenbagavalli Thaayar and Sri Shuktha Homam is performed in this temple during every Sukla paksham.

Melkote Visit

It has been a long time since I have written something on my blog spot. I am here to express the experience that I had in Melkote on the 24th of November. I was blessed to be there and definitely it was his Wish that made this trip so auspicious one.

I had been to Mysore on a Official trip and had plans of Visiting melkote. Saturday & Sunday we spent time in Coorg and on Monday morning around 8 am we started from Mysore and reached Melkote around 9.30 AM. Took a Holy Bath in Kalyani Pushkarani and then had breakfast near the temple.

Around 10.30 AM we entered the Temple. I have bought Vasthram for both Perumal & Thaayar, they had asked me to handover the same to the Temple Office. Then we were blessed to see the Arathi and then we had asked them for the Sadari, they had asked us to wait for Satrumurai and then we went to the Anjaneya Sannathi, then to Thaayar Sannathi. It was getting ready for the Arathi & Satrumurai, meanwhile one of the priest took us to the Udayavar Sannathi and to Pillailokacharyar Sannathi. We came back to Thaayar Sannathi for the Arathi, then Satrumurai started first in Thaayar's Sannathi and then they moved on to Udayar, Acharyar and then to Thirunarayanan. I found a new practice being followed here. I am not sure if this is correct but just wanted to share this info. During Satrumurai one of the beram is carried in Pallaku and taken around the moolasthanam, they go to each and every bali beetam and then move into the main Sanctum. I found the same happening in Sri Ranga Patnam in the evening.

We were lucky enough to get inside the main sanctum for Satrumurai, after few of us entered they stopped entry for others. First it started with the Arati to the moolavar and then we were standing facing the Chella Pillai Utsavar. It was an memorable event in my life, I haven't experienced such a vibration getting into me so Far. It all started when they started Andal's Thiruppavai and then with "Sri Sailesha Dayapatram". The moment the satrumurai was over we could feel the vibrations surrounding us. Then we got the Theertham and Thiruthulaai. The Sadari was carried by the priest and accompanied by two of them one carrying Thandam on his hand and the other person was carrying the Thee Pandham. It was a Majestic scene to be seen.

Pls note that in Melkote Sadari will be given only during the Satrumurai and not during the other times.

After this we had prasadam from the temple and came out of the temple to continue our trip. It was around 12.00 pm and we had a tight schedule on that day so we were running out of time. We decided to skip the Narasimha temple on the hillock. So started directly to Thondanur. We also had a plan of taking bath in Thondanur but time was a constraint. Unfortunately the Narasimha temple was closed. We went to Nambi Narayana Temple. It was such a beautiful temple , but sad to see that it is being neglected by people. By the time we entered the temple satrumurai was going on. We were glad to see Satrumurai happening everywhere we went. I had been there early this year during Bhramotsavam and it was a sad scene that no one was seen around. Then we went to Venugopala Swamy temple which is infront of Nambi Narayana's Temple, but it was Closed too :(.

We started from Thondanur to Srirangapatnam, our plan was to Visit the Mysore palace and come back to Ranganatha Swamy's temple. On the way we paid visit to Ananthalwar's Avathara Sthalam. It should never be missed. This is very close to Srirangapatnam, from Melkote to Srirangapatna we can see this towards the left of the Road with a Small tank. We were so lucky that the priest here was performing Satrumurai in the temple. He gave us the prasadam and from there we went to Mysore palace and then came back to Sri Ranga Patna in the evening.

Even in Srirangapatnam Satrumurai was happening and Ranganatha Swami was astonishing as always. Got the blessings from him and reached mysore station for our train back to Chennai. It was a memorable trip to Melkote and now it has made me think of visiting the place very often.

Kind Request: Pls spread the news about Nambi Naryana Temple to your Circle. I am not sure whether every one visiting Melkote makes a trip to Nambi Narayana Temple or not. But Pls encourage your friends and others to make a visit there. It's Such a beautiful temple and only 3 of us were there inside the temple apart from the Priest. No lights were on. I could hardly see Deepam inside the main sanctum. It was disheartening to see our God in such situation.

Srirangam / Uthamar Koil / Mannargudi / Vaduvur

On Sunday I had been to Sri Rangam, Uthamar Koil, Raja Mannargudi and then to Vaduvur. This was not a planned trip. It has been a long time since I made a visit to Sri Rangam, I was thinking of making a visit and all of a sudden made a decision on Friday night and reserved my tickets. One more important thing is that my brother is getting transferred to Chennai. I will no longer have the previllege of making frequent visit to Sri Rangam.

In the morning we went to the temple. Before we could enter the temple, we saw Sri Adivan Sadagopa Swami in Thiruveedi Ula. We got his blessings then entered into the temple. It was his Thirunakshtram on this day.

First saw Garudan then got directly into the main sannathi, but it was closed after Viswaroopam. So we rished towards Thaayar Sannathi. I was the last person to see thaayar. Got the blessings from Sri Ranga Nachiyar. Then went to Desikar Sannathi, it was also closed. Then from there went to Narasimhar Temple Opposite to Kamba Ramanyana Mandapam. Next we went to Sri Venugopalan Sannathi behind Desikar's Sannathi and then to Sri Periyavachan Pillai Sannathi. We got prasadam at this Sannathi, We saw Srinivasa Perumal. Got the Sadari of the Acharya.

Next we went to the following Sannathi's in order.

Vasudevar Sannathi, Lakshmi Narasimhar Sannathi, Sri Kodhanda Ramar Sannathi, Sri Pattasbhishka Ramar Sannathi, Sri Venkateswara Swami Sannathi, Sri Venugopala Swami Sannathi, Sonna Vannam Seitha Perumal Sannathi, Sri Ranganatha Swami.

We then went to Nammalwar, Nathamunigal Sannathi, again we got prasadam there :). I really felt blessed to have prasadam from the Sri Rangam Temple. Then we came out and went to Udayavar's Sannathi, we got prasadam from there too. then went to Sri Chakrathalwar's Sannathi.

Once we came out we took an auto to Uthamar Koil, which is pretty close to Peria Koil. We had a peaceful Darshan there. Bhattar was explaining about the Seperate Sannathi for Sri Devi Thaayar apart from the Thaayar of the temple. Also the Anjaneya Swami was special over there. Uthamar Koil is the place where we have seperate Shrine for Thrimurthi's. Sri Vishnu, Shiva, Bhrama with their consorts. Post this we had plans of visiting Urayur & Gunaseelam in the evening. , I made a call to my mom and she had asked me to go to Mannargudi. I was a little bit hesitant as we have a return bus from Trichy to Chennai the same night at 10 PM.

We went to our house and then quickly decided to make a move to Mannargudi. From Trichy we took a Bus to Tanjore and from there we took another Bus. I was so tired and dozed off in the bus. At one point in time I woke up and found that we were in a place called Vaduvur, I immediately recalled that this place has a temple for Sri Ramar. Then we got down at Rukmani Kulam @ mannargudi. From there we started walking towards the temple. First the stone pillar putside the temple invited us with it's Majestic look and when we reached we were surprised at the Rajagopuram. We got inside the temple and directly went near the main sanctum. It was about to Open. First the priest went inside and performed some pooja's then we were allowed inside. Vasudeva was amazing. We could see the divine smile on his face. Then we visited all the sannathi's inside the temple and Swami Desikar's Utsavam was happening inside the temple. After Satrumurai they gave us the prasadam. We took leave from the temple and started to Vaduvur.

When we reached Vaduvur, Swami Desikar was ready for Purappadu. Then we got inside the main sanctum and surprised by the utsava vigraham of Ramar. His beauty cannot be explained and I am sure you need 1000 eyes to enjoy his beauty.

THIRUKACHINAMBIGAL AVATHARA STHALAM

29th of June 2008:

We were all set to start to Poonamalle to Visit Thirukachi Nambigal's Sannathi. Thanks to Jaya TV for telecasting about this temple in 108 Divya Desam program.

The temple was little closer to my house. We reached the temple and got some flowers to perumal. It was a Sunday and we expected a lot of crowd in the temple, but it was the other way around. Very few of them were there. As soon as we entered the temple towards the right of us we saw Sri Yamuna Muni's Sannathi. After him we went to see Thaayar. When we reached the moolasthanam there was some function in the temple. I am still not sure about the occasion.

It was a fortunate day in my life. As per one of the Bhattar he said the Utsavar who was ready for purappadu is Sri Selvar. I was asked to carry the pallakku. The purappadu started and Sri Selvar came around the temple once.

Once the purappadu was over we were asked to get inside the main sannathi. Straight towards the entrance was Thirukachi Nambigal and towards his left we have the sannathi of Sri Varadaraja Perumal. Opposite to him we have a seperate Sannathi for Sri Ranganathar.Outside the main sannathi we have a seperate sannathi for Sri Srinivasa Perumal.

The legend says that Sri Mahavishnu came here to Poovirunthavalli to provide Seva to Thirukachi Nambigal in all his 3 most important forms.

MY SECOND VISIT TO DEVADANAM

As per the plan we started around 7.50 AM in the morning from our house. Reached the temple by 9.15 AM. Immediately after we got in gave the vastrams we bought for perumal. they started working on decorating the moola vigraham with the clothes that we got him.

Around 09:45 am they started the thirumanjanam , the utsava vigraham was so beautiful and was very old, which explained the age of this temple. Pls see the pictures in my picasaweb link.

(http://picasaweb.google.com/skrkarthik/DEVADANAMTHIRUMANJANAM).

Sridhar Bhattar was explaining that whenever Thirumanjanam is performed to Perumal, he attracts a lot of crowd. Infact last Sunday there was no crowd in the temple and this week it was the other way around. It was an interesting fact and we could experience it.

Evening visit to Jaladampet / Pallikaranai / Velachery

6th of September 2008 : Saturday

I had no plans today, however felt guilty that I didn't go to any temple last week. So I went for a meeting at Office, so I thought of visiting the Sadagopan Veda Padasalai at Jaladampet, they have a sannathi for Thirunaryanan (Melkote), I have got the details about this temple through Sri Murali Bhattar's http://www.srirangapankajam.com/.

Once the meeting was over we were thinking about going to the temple, however I didn't call the person Incharge at the Padasalai. I thought that someone should be there and without calling we started, I made a call to them once we started I had no response. But I was not convinced and wanted to make a visit for sure.

So our friends helped us reach Jaldampet and we took a auto from there and reached the Paadasala. Our bad luck the place was closed, we got into the temple and couldn't see the God and no one was there at home. I was searching for someone and knocked the door of the neighbours, they had asked me to contact another person and luckily the person came out and said that Bhattar would be coming now in a while and perform Sayana pooja to the perumal and the moment we reached there he was getting inside the temple. We had Good Darshan of the perumal. Towars his right was Thaayar and to the left was Andal. We had prasadam and the Bhattar was asking us to make a visit to Sri Lakhsmi Naryana Perumal's temple at Pallikaranai.

We took the same Auto and also made a plan to Visit Sri Narasimhar at Vedasreni. He too agreed for the plan. Now we reached the Lakshmi Narayanan temple and the temple was located near the Pallikarani Bus stand.

Bhattar explained that this temple is an ancient temples and has association with Mudaliandan Swamigals Family. First he made us see the Anjaneyar in a standing posture. The speciality of this Anjaneyar is that he is seen with the Chakra & Conch and in a Standing posture. Then we went to the Sannathi of Srinivasa Perumal. Where ever he goes Lakhsmi joins him and he was seen with lot of Jewels and he was literaaly sparkling with his ornaments and it was a breathtaking sight for us. then we entered the main sannathi of Lakshmi Narayana Perumal , where we saw the main deity and Utsavar Srinivasa Perumal with Sri Devi & Bhu Devi Thaayar and Kodanda Ramar with Lakshman, Seetha and Hanuman.

There is a Sannathi for Manavala Maamunigal and Ramanujar near the main Sannathi. As per the Bhattar all the utsavams are being performed here at this temple. at last we saw kodanda ramar with Seetha, Lakshman & Hanuman. We got Sundal from this temple and started towards Velachery.

Once we reached Velachery I got down from the Auto and My friend removed his shoes and left in the auto thinking that we would be travelling back in the same auto. I realised this after I removed my shoes near the temple gate. Then he said that he might come.

We were a little disturbed because of this event and went inside the temple. The Moolavar of the temple has been closed as they have recently performed Balalayam. so had Darshanam of the Utsavar and then went to Thaayar's Sannathi. My friend was disturbed a lot and we were in Thaayar Sannathi and it was surprising to see the Auto Driver inside and the reason he came was that he found a mobile phone inside the auto. Thats when even he realised that he left his mobile phone too. then he took his shoes and the mobile phone, gave him some money.
With this experience our visit came to an end. We both had dinner and then left for the day.

தேவதானம் | DevaDanam

தேவதானம் :

Devadanam is the divya kshetram that I had visited today. It has been a long time plan of mine, but never had the opportunity to go there. Yesterday I was browsing through the web and some how got the information on Devadanam again through one of the Blog. Which made me plan for the trip immediately. I told this to My mom and others at Home, they agreed for the trip. I felt excited to see the place.

The trip was made easy by going through the blog written by Mr. Raju (http://shanthiraju.wordpress.com/2008/08/24/devadanam/) and I am thank ful to them for this blog.

The way enroute to Devadanam was beautiful and we enjoyed the trip as we felt that we are in a different world. The greenery around was beautiful and cannot be explained. We started our Journey at around 8 am in the morning and we reached the temple by 9.20 AM. Infact we had to search for the place and wasted few minutes on searching.

We entered the temple and I was really excited to see Ranganatha Swamy. First went to Thaayar's Sannathi, it was closed :-( ; then went to Chakrathalwar's Sannathi and then to Andal's Sannathi. The temple is small and is really beautiful. After making our visit to Hanuman we got into the main Sanctum Sanctorum. We could only see Bramha through the entrance. We had an amazing dharsanam of Ranganathar. He was laying down gracefully on Adisesha. The god's charm cannot be described. The statue is 18 feet in length and 5 feet in Height and is said to be made of Salagramam. The Speciality of the Idol is that we can see the salagramam's in the form of Ornaments covering the almighty. Sri & Bhu devi thaayars are seen at his foot. Also Swami Anjaneyar and Saint Mrikandu are seen Opposite to his holy feet. Since the idol is made of Salagramam stone , Thirumanjanam is performed to the Utsavar and the Kautuka Beram.
once we complete the Dharsanam we can see Acharya's and Alwars on the left side of the Sanctum. Swami Manavala Mamunigal is seen first near the entrance.

We requested the Bhattar to open the Sannathi of Thaayar, he agreed to come if there is no crowd and luckily only One family came after our visit and he came along with us Opened the Sannathi of Thaayar and Andal.

The temple is well maintained and very less people visit the place. But it's a must for every one to make a visit to this temple and enjoy the beauty of Lord Ranganatha; Get his blessings too.

I will be making another visit to Devadanam next week , as we are performing Thirumanjanam to the Utsavar.

BRIEF NOTE ON DEVADANAM:

Location: On the way from Minjur to Ponneri, we have to take a right towards vellakulam.

Moolavar: Ranganathar in Kidantha Kolam

Utsavar: Ranganathar with Sridevi & Bhudevi Thaayars

Thaayar: Sri Ranganayaki Thaayar

Vaikhanasa Agamam & Vadakalai Sampradayam is being followed in the Temple

Also there is seperate Sannathi's for Sudarsanalwar, Andal and Hanuman