nimmijay

Monday, December 11, 2006

Pilgrimage to Kumbakonam

Pilgrimage to Kumbakonam.

This pilgrimage was undertaken by both of us, with the aim of Anu’s soul attaining peace and for protecting all our children ( Aish,Dee,Rahul,Mahesh ) grandchildren ( Jui & future ones) from any harm. This was also to invoke God’s Blessings for a life full of happiness with peace of mind for the whole family.It is said that if we visit these temples in our lifetime ,from now on five generations will be protected from all evils.Believe it or not, These Temples are as old as 3000 to 3500 years old .Huge temples ,beautifully carved .each one special than other ,well maintained .
Poojas/Archanas were done in all temples,lamps were lit for all including Jay, Nirmla, Aish, Rahul, Jui, Dee, Mahesh, Anu, and future generations also. Special extra poojas were done for names mentioned in brackets .
Temples visited on 5/12/06- by autoricksha from 8 a.m. till 6 p.m
Swami malai.( Jay,N,Aish,Rahul)
One of the 6 important temples for Lord Muruga, 5 kms from Kumbakonam. surrounded by lots of greenery. Muruga gave the meaning of OM to Lord Siva. You climb steps, not too, many to reach the temple. On the way to Alangudi from here, don’t miss seeing Udaiyalur agraharam, an old village with old world Tamilnadu houses normally seen only in movies now.
Alangudi ( Jay,Rahul,Mahesh )
This the temple of one of the navagrahas, Guru. It is 17 kms from Kumbakonam. Special shrine for Dakshinamoorthy is also famous.
Thiruppuvanam ( Anu)
Lord Sarabeswarar- a wonderful temple. The idol of deity is almost animal. Very huge temple. Kanjanur ( Mahesh)
This the temple for one of the 9 planets, Shukran. Small temple , believed to be very powerful.
5. Thirunageswaram( N)
This is temple for one of the 9 planets, Rahu. Pooja was done during Rahu Kalam ( considered inauspicious to start anything in life). Wonderful temple, well organized, poojas done by priests very piously and nicely.
Thiru mangalakudi (N)
This is 17 kms from Kumbakonam, temple devoted to Siva Parvati. Special yellow thread is given to ladies after pooja.Gave Annadhanam in the name of N.

Suryanar koil ( Jay,N,Mahesh)
This is one of the most important temples dedicated to Lord Surya, along with mini temples for all the 9 planets. If you do pooja here, you need not visit all the planets temples. 9 archanas, 9 lamps, 9 circumbulations, 9 poor feedings were done for each one.Most beautiful temple .




Temples visited on 6/12/06 ( by car). Started by car after breakfast at at 7 a.m. We traveled nearly 175 kms today with stopover for lunch at Vedaranyam.




Nachiar koil.
This Vishnu temple( unscheduled stop) is on the way to Sri Vanjiyam. Nice temple town , almost full of muslims, with a huge hindu temple. This is a temple for Tirupathy Lord Balaji’s elder brother. Uppiliappan .The idol is as good as it is at Tirupathy. There is a big bird Garuda ,called Kal Garudan, believed to remove all enemies of your life just by looking at it.
Sri Vanjiyam ( Jay,Aish,Anu)
This Siva temple has a special temple for Yama, Lord of death. We washed our feet in temple tank and did poojas for Yama for all. This is a big temple with not many people around. Lord Siva is called Vanchinatha Swamy .
3 .Vedaranyam( Anu)
We reached this Siva temple only by 1 p.m. after passing Velankanni and seeing the effects of Tsunami ( remembered Anu). Talked to Aish and Dee from a booth. We had a peaceful nap on the lawns of the temple after lunch at a nearby mess.
We had to wait till 5. 30 P.M. for the temple to open.
Sikkal. ( Rahul)
Temple of Lord Muruga. Small but nice temple. The carving and figures on gopuram are fantastic here
Thiruvarur.( Anu)
This is birth place of many saint including Lord Thyagaraja, our ancestor. We visited his house, where he was born and lived.. Very huge wonderful temple. If you have time,see Sri Guru Dasamurthy Swamigal Madam in Madapuram , 1 km from temple. This place is famous for getting children for childless couple and for curing many incurable diseases connected to stomach.( told to us by a swamy in Vedaranyam)
Thiru nallaru.(Aish,Rahul,Dee,Mahesh)
This temple is dedicated to one of the most powerful and destructive planet Sani.
We did very good poojas here, lighting lamps for all. There was a special ceremony of deity being taken around the temple on a Garuda vahana in the presence of Chief of 27 temples of the area.We completed this by 8 p.m. took dinner in Murugan Mess, very homely, family managed affair. Left for Thirukadaiyur, through Keelakarai( birthplace of all muslim smugglers including Haji Mastan ).


Temples visited on 7/12/06.

1.Thirukkadaiyur ( Jay,N,Aish)
We visited early morning at 7 a.m. This Siva temple is also big with special temple for Markandeya, who was given the boon of living the age of 16 for ever. It is also a place where husband and wife perform 60th birthday marriage celebration. We found 6 of them going on the same time at 7 .30 a.m. Here dad was so tempted and asked me “will you marry me again “I was as usual very shy like a coy bride.
2.Ananda Mangalam ( N)
A very small village temple of Anjaneya, with one of the most beautiful idol of Hanuman with 10 arms.Temple priest performed the puja very well in the morning.gave 200 Rs for the Yearly Anjaneya aradhana.



3. Keezha Perum Pallam (Jay)
This temple is dedicated one of the planets Kethu. Another small village temple
4. Thiru vengadu ( Jay,Dee,Rahul)
This temple is dedicated to one of the planets, Budhan. This is quiet a big temple.
5. Sirkazhi.(Rahul)
A very huge Siva temple in a big town, with three layers of temple one on top of other. It contains in the second level a big idol of Siva and Parvati( usually Siva is in the form of linga only, but here in the form of idol.priest asked us to look at the idol and ask for whatever favours you want .you will defenetely blessed ,he said.; Parvati looks at you from the corner of her eye called Kadaikan). The third level Siva is called Sattanather.
6. Vaideeswaran koil
This is a famous temple( unscheduled stop) for Siva with special temple for one of the planet Sevvai ( Tuesday). They give you Jaggery to be dissolved for each of the family to remove all diseases of the body, put salt and pepper in a big urn to get rid of evils. This is the place where Siva removed sickness of Sevvai planet acting as a doctor(Vaidya). This is the place of Nadi Sastra, where 20 Valluvar family members practice for the past hundreds of years, reading a persons past life, present and the future life, including telling the poojas to be done to get rid of problems in the present life.

Thiru pampupuram.( Aish,Rahul,Mahesh)
A very small village temple dedicated to Siva with a special temple for Rahu/Kethu in one rare idol. This temple is fully dedicated to Snake God.
( Pambu). We meditated under a tree for 15 mts (good for the family).priest gave us a special vibuthi and said that after 40days see what good changes will happen.
.
Thiru vadaimarudur.
This Siva ( Maha linga swamy) temple is really big.An unscheduled stop to see a beautiful temple. The evening Aarti at 5.20 p.m. is one of the best I have ever seen in my life, worth going all the distance.





Temples visited on 8/12/06.
Thiru vaiyaru.( Anu)
This Siva temple is special for Anu, as all of us spent 5 days on the banks of Cauvery river listening to music day and night during the world famous Sri Thyagaraja aradhana Festival a few years ago.The temple itself isvery old and very big. There is a special meditation Mandap where Panch bhootas
( earth,water,fire,air,space) Lingas are kept. This is a place where sages meditated. The vibration and peace is phenomenal.We meditated there.
We visited the samadhi of Sri Thyagaraja swamy (our ancestor).by the cauvery river side.

Tips :
. Note that all temples in Tamilnadu are closed from 12 noon till 4 p.m. Use this time for lunch and travel between temples.

Unforgettable moments

Drive through green field in auto
Muruga idol at swamy malai
Udaiyalur agraharam
Animal like Sarbeswarar idol at Thiruppuvanam.
Loveliest home lunch on plaintain leaves at Mami’s Mess.
Divinity and organized way pooja and abhishekha done by priests at Rahu temple at Thirunageshwaram
Power of Surya at Suryanar koil.
Early morning pooja at Nachiar koil. And Kal Garudan
Small,but powerful Sri Yama temple at Srivanjiyam
Scenes of effects of Tsunami, remembering Anu
Nirmala sleeping on the lawns of temple at Vedaranyam, after lunch at Mamis mess.Butterflies and birds ( parrots, myna,wagtails, hoopoe) around her.
Holiness of Thiruvarur, where all musical trinities ere born, land of our ancestors. Did we all live there in our earlier Janmas ?
Garuda vahana utsav at Thiru nallaru, at 7 30 p.m. and subsequent family dinner.
Seeing joy in the faces of 60th birthday couples getting re-married at Thirukkadaiyur.
Beautiful idol of Anjaneya at Ananda Mangalam.
Siva/Parvati idols at Sirkazhi.
Sitting in front of idol at Vaideeswaran koil.
Meditation under a tree at Thiru pampu puram.
Evening aarti at Thiru vadai Marudur.
Meditation in mandapa at Thiru vaiyaru.
Sitting on parapet on the banks of Cauvery at Sri thyagaraj samadh at Thiru vayyaru.
The beauty of carving on many temples.
The holiness in the atmosphere of the land itself
The sheer huge size of temples, making us feel insignificant in the Grand Plan of God, the same feeling we got in the Himalayas.
The good , pollution free atmosphere, good tasty food everywhere, good quality of rice, milk,vegetables. The goodness, helpful, simple nature of people, missing in cities.The green fields. Clean and well maintained temples.


How to go ?

Best way from Bangalore is by Mysore Mayiladuthurai express leaving Bangalore at 7 p.m.and reaching Kumbakonam at 6 AM .or even you can go upto Mayiladuthurai.
( also called Mayavaram)

Where to stay ?

Kumbakonam : Hotel Sri Selli in TSR Big street , Kumbakonam, the cleanest in town ( 0435-2431118).

Thirukkadaiyur : The hotel Mookambikai residency at Thirukkadaiyur Tranqubar Taluk, Nagaui Dist 609311- Tel 04364- 287515/ 287748, is really 4 star with gas water heaters (like the ones we used to have at TCC Dammam). Contact person : ms.Rajeshwari or Mr. Asai
Where to eat ?
Kumbakonam : Hotel Archana for light refreshment. Lunch at Mami Mess ( ask any auto guy)

Local travel ?
Kumbakonam : ask for auto Swaminathan at Kumbakonam railway station, a good guy

For taxi : Sri Swaminatha Tourist-Ph 98658-62712- Mr.M.Nagarajan-owner.- Rs 1300/-. Per day for 200 kms.

Priests :

Thirubhuvanam : Contact Sri.G.Sundaramurthy Gurukal 44/101,Sannidhi street, Thirubhuvanam 612 103, via Kumbakonam- Tel 0435-24610540, cell 9840080089

Sri Vanjiyam : Contact Sri RajaGurukal, Chief gurukul of the temple,young, used to work in Delhi, has settled down here with his wife and small child., lives in Sannidhi Street Srivanjiyam Ppin code 610110- cell phone 9442403926

Keezha Perum Pallam : Mani Pattu Gurukal, Kethu Sthalam, Naganathan koil, Keezha perum pallam, Vanagiri 609105, Tamilnadu- cell 94428 60605 land line – 04364-260582

Thirukkadaiyur : For 60 th birthday Kalyana Utsavam etc
R.Muralidhara Sastrigal- Landline: 04364-221184, cell 9842671302
Or
T.R.Vishwanatha Gurukal, 04364-287461/287325

Thiru Vengadu : T.A. Dakshinamurthy, Sannidih Street, Thiruvengadu 609114, - phone04364-256531/275931

Thiruvayyaru ; Sri Thyagaraja Asramam – S.Thyagarajan s/o. T.R.Srinvasa Bhagavathar, Sri Thyagaraja Asramam, Thiruvayyaru 613204-



Temples :
Thiruvayyaru :
Donations to be sent to The suerintendent, Sri Pancha Nadeshwara Swamy Devasthanam, Thiruvayyaru 613204 – phone 04362-260332

Thiru Nageswaram – Sri Naganatha swamy thirukoil, Sri Rahu sthalam, Thirunageswaram , Tanjore Dist 612204 Tamilnadu, phone – 0435-2463354

Thiru Vengadu- Arulmigu Swetharanyeswaraswamy Temple( Budhan sthalam) Thiruvengadu 609 114 Tamilnadu phone – 04364-256424

Thiru Varur- Sri Thyagaraja swamy Thirukoil
Phone- 04366-242343
Ananda Mangalam : Sri Rajagopalaswamy temple
Anandamangalam, Kazhiappa nallur P.O. 609307
Tarangambadi Taluk, Tamilnadu
Tel- 04364-289888

Thiru Pampupuram- Arulmigu Pampunathar Thirukoil
Tel – 0435-2469555