The Temples

Nellaiappar Temple

Nellaiappar Temple (Tamil: நெல்லைஅப்பர் திருக்கோவில்) is one of the famous Shiva Temples situated at the heart of Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India.

[h=2]Origin[/h]The temple of Swami Nellaiappar and Sri Kanthimathi Ambal is situated in the heart of the city. The river Tamirabharani referred to by poets as "Porunai" flows round the town. In the distant past the town was a bamboo forest; hence it was known in those days as "venuvanam". One of the famous temples in Tamil Nadu steeped in tradition and history and also known for its musical pillars and other brilliant sculptural splendours, this is one of the largest temples in South India. Siva is said to have been worshipped by Agastya in a bamboo grove and by Rama after having killed Mareecha some nine miles away at Manoor. There is also a shrine to Vishnu near the sanctum, signifying the belief that Nellai Govindan (Vishnu) visited Tirunelveli to officiate the divine marriage of Shiva and Kantimathi. A little to the south of Swami Nellaiappar Gopuram stands the Gopuram of Sri Kanthimathi Ambal temple. It was here, where composer Sri Muthuswami Dik****har composed the carnatic song 'Sri Kanthimatheem' in Hemavathi ragam.


[h=2]History[/h] The Gopuram of Nellaiappar Temple




According to the puranas, both the Gopurams were built by Muluthukanda Rama Pandiyan and the other important parts of the temple were constructed by Nindraseer Nedumaran who reigned in the 7th century A.D. The mani mandapam with its famous musical pillar was built by Nindaraseer Nedumaran in the 7th century A.D. Originally the Nellaiappar and Kanthimathi temples were two independent structures with spaces in between. It was in 1647 A.D. that Thiru Vadamalaiappa Pillaiyan, a great devotee of Siva linked the two temples by building the "Chain mandapam". To the western portion of the chain mandapam is the flower garden that was set up in 1756 A.D. by Thiruvengadakrishna Mudaliar. In the centre of the Flower Garden is a square vasantha mandapm with 100 pillars. The Nandi mandapam is said to have been built by Sivanthiappa Nayak in 1654 A.D. The flag stand near the Nandi was set up in 1155 A.D.

There are a number of stone inscriptions in the temple. The most important of them are those Veerapandiyan who regained about 950 A.D. and those of Rajendran I and Kulothunga chola I. The inscriptions of Maravarma Sundara Pandiyan refer to the Lord as "Woodayar" and "Wodeyanayanar" and the Goddess as "Nachiar". From the inscriptions of Kulasekkara Pandiyan we learn that he defeated the Chera, Chola and Hoysala kings and built the outer walls of the temple with the war booty.
[h=2]Temple Architecture[/h] Nellaiappar Temple car festival




Vast in area, this temple never ceases to surprise visitors for the wealth of detail it has to offer. The musical pillars in the Mani Mandapam which produce sound in various pitches when struck (7th century AD by Nindrasir Nedumaran or Koon Pandyan), the Somavara Mandapam, the 1000 pillared hall, and the Tamra sabha with intricate wood work, and the Vasantha Mandapam are some of the noteworthy points in this temple. Lifelike sculptures adorn several of the Mandapams in the temple, noteworthy ones being in the Sangili Mandapam which links the temples of Nellaiappar and Kantimathi in this vast temple complex.
[h=2]Thaamira Ambalam[/h]Thirunelveli also is one of the five places where Lord Shiva is said to have displayed his dance and all these places have stages/ ambalams. While Tirunelveli has the Thaamirai (Copper) Ambalam, the others are the Rathina Ambalam at Thiruvaalangadu (rathinam – ruby / red), the Chitra Ambalam at Courtallam (chitra – painting), the Velli Ambalam at Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple (velli – silver) and the Pon (Gold) Ambalam at Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram.The Copper Hall of Dance is a brilliant work of art, and is housed within the inner precincts of the temple. On the occasion of Arudra Darisanam (occurring in the Tamil month of Margazhi - Dec 15 - Jan 15), the images of Nataraja and Sivakami are housed here, and elaborate worship protocols are observed during the enactment of the Cosmic Dance of Shiva. A shrine to Sandana Sabhapati (adorned with sandal paste) is located right behind the Thaamira Sabha and to a visitor walking towards the Thaamira Sabha, the combination of these, i.e. the vision of Sandana Sabhapati seen through the Thaamira Sabha presents a brilliant spectacle. There is yet another shrine to Nataraja here, the Periya Sabhapati shrine. Religious services are carried out here on special occasions, and this festival idol is never moved from this shrine.
[h=2]Festivals[/h] Picture of Tirunelveli Nellaiappar Temple Golden Car taken on Nov 2,2009



Navaratri, Tirukkalyanam in Aippasi, (Oct 15 - Nov 15) and Arudra Darisanam are some of the important festivals here. Arudra Darisanam attracts huge crowds here. The temple chariot is a massive one, second supposedly only to Tiruvarur. The Bhrammotsavam here lasts for an extended period of time during the Tamil month of Aani (June 15 - July 15). Also, a Golden Temple car (First Inaugural run of Nellaiappar Temple Golden Car is November 2, 2009) will run during important festivals like Thirukalyanam, Kaarthigai, Aaruthra Festival etc. During Thaipoosam festival in Thai, Lord Shiva and Parvathy are taken to the banks of Thamirabarani river in Tirunelveli junction called "Thaipoosa mandapam". Special rituals are undertaken there and the Lord return to the temple at night.
[h=2]Tourism[/h]Near Tirunelveli, are the nine Vaishnavite temples dedicated to Vishnu (the Alwar Nava Tiruppatis), the Krishnapuram Venkatachalapati temple with its brilliant sculptural work, Tiruchendur with its grand and imposing temple dedicated to Subramanya, and Kutralam a popular tourist resort with its charming waterfalls and abundant natural beauty. The region between Tirunelveli and Kutralam abounds in natural splendour. Mention must be made of Tenkasi, Papanasam and Ambasamudram. Further, Kanyakumari the southernmost tip of India is only a couple of hours away from Tirunelveli.

 

[h=3]Choolai Sri Angallamman Temple[/h]

Angalamman Temple located in Choolai area of northern Chennai is one of the popular Goddess temples of Chennai which is very popular, ancient and very big temple. Recently the temple is given a new look with the constructions of Gopuram.

​

Angalamman temple is originally a village temple. However, it should have been extended at later date to include various other Hindu God idols. The Goddess is very powerful. People throng the temple on auspicious occasions and during mid-night poojas on Amavasai.

Angalamman temple is divided into two main section. In one section, the main shrine houses Angalamman, a red colored big idol, carrying a kid. There is a small Angallamman idol before the big idol. The corridor surrounding the shrine of Angallamman has another Goddess idol. The entrance of the shrine has idols of some village Gods and Ganesha. The tank is also found opposite to Angalamman shrine, which is a very big tank as well.

The second section of the temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva named as Viswanathar in this temple. It is a typical Hindu temple structure. Viswanathar is in the form of a small Shiv Linga idols. A small idol of Visalakshi is found in a separate shrine. The corridor has the idols of Ganesha, Dakshinamurthy, Vishnu, Brahma, Durga, and Chandikeswarar. The shrines of Ganesha, Murugan, Sivakami-Nataraj, and Bhairav are also found.

The outer corridor of the temple has the shrines of Ganesha, Dakshinamurthy, Virat Viswa Brahmam, and Murugan with Valli and Devasena. Navagraha idols in this temple are unique as they are found along with their respective vahans. In the outer corridor, as this being a village temple, people worship bricks as temple.


Snake worship is also found in the temple. Snake hole is found along with snake idols.

​

The temple is full of stucco images depicting Shiva and Goddess in various forms and their legends.
​

 

Dear Dark-angel sister,

Thank you very much for sharing very nice temples. Pictures are wonderful.

 

Arulmigu Periya Mariamman Temple



Periamariamman Temple is situated at heart of the Erode Town. According to ‘Hindu Mythology’ Mariamman is the ‘Queen godess’ having ‘Her’ own dynasity where ‘she’ is situated further having the power to eradicate the illness due to excessive heat like small pox, chicken pox, high temperature. Hence, ‘Periamariamman’ is worshipped commonly without any caste, creed, religion differentiation.



Before 1200 years ‘Kongu Cholas’ formed this temple. The area of the temple is 3500 sq.ft. The entire temple is renovated in the year 1969 by devotees. An Every year puratasi Month Conducting 9 Days Navarathri Festival this temple. At this Time Each days Amman Dharisanam Different views.1.Meenakshi 2.Kamatchi 3.Kasi Visalakshi 4.Deepa Lakshmi 5.Sorna lakshmi 6.Sri galalakshmi 7.Sri sagambari 8.Sri Rajarajeswari 9.Sri saraswati.

Panguni Ther Thiruviza and Pongal is one of the special festival of the temple. During this festival each and every family of the town offering and respecting the ‘Godess’ through their ‘Ma-vilaku’ workship.

 

Rajagopalaswamy Temple, Mannargudi

Rajagopalaswamy temple is a Vaishnavite shrine located in the town of Mannargudi, Tamil Nadu, India. The presiding deity is Rajagopalaswamy, a form of Lord Krishna. The temple is spread over an area of 23 acres (93,000 m[SUP]2[/SUP]) and is one of the important Vaishnavite shrines in India. The temple is called Dakshina Dwarka (Southern Dwarka) along with Guruvayoor by Hindus.

The Temple

The image of the presiding deity is 12 feet (3.7 m) tall. There is a big tank at the entrance of the shrine where rain water is collected. The temple complex has 16 gopurams (tower gateways), 7 prakarams (outer courtyard), 24 shrines, seven mandapams (halls) and nine sacred theerthams (temple tanks). The utsava (festival deity) is a bronze figure from the Chola period. It shows keshabanda type of coifure and restrained ornamentaiton, atypical of the Chola bronzes of the 11th century. The temple tank is called Haridranadhi, 1,158 feet long and 837 feet broad, making it one of the largest temple tanks in India

History

The temple was first constructed by Kulothunga Chola I(1070-1125 A.D.), with bricks and mortar, indicated by various stone inscription found in the site. The place Mannargudi is termed Sri Rajathi Raja Chathurvedhi Mangalam and the town started to grow around the temple. Successive kings of the Chola empire, Rajaraja Chola III, Rajendra Chola III and kings of Thanjavur Nayaks, Achyuta Deva Raya expanded the temple. The temple contains inscriptions of the Hoysala kings and some Vijayanagara grants, and many records of the later Nayaks and Marathas. The current temple structure, hall of 1000 pillars, main gopuram(temple gateway tower) and the big compound wall around the temple was built by the king Vijayaraghava Nayak(1532-1575 A.D.). Raghunathabhyudayam, a doctrine by Nayaks explains the donation of an armour studded with precious stones to the main deity by the king. He erected the big tower in the temple so that he can view the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple from the top of Mannargudi. The Nayaks were specially interested in music and it was promoted in both the temples. Instruments like Mukhavina, Dande, Kombu, Chandravalaya, Bheri and Nagaswaram were commonly used in the temple service.

Festival

Panguni Thiruvizha is a festival celebrated during the Tamil calendar of Panguni(Mar-Apr) and is attended by thousands of devotees. The festival is celebrated for 18 days and the second day has the enactment of the famous story of Krishna taking away the dress of bathing females, the females requesting the clothes back and Krishna singing the flute. The festival deity is placed in the pinnai tree, the branches of which are hung with garments and ornaments.

Sri Rajagopalaswamy with Sri Rukmini, Satyabhama, and Senkamalvalli​

 

SRI SIVA VEERA ANJANEYAR, PORUR, CHENNAI



Temple is situated in Chennai PORUR ,enroute from Guindy to Poonamallee near Porur Police Station and Porur Government High School. The Anjaneyar statue is consecrated by Vyasaraayar (Guru of Sri Raghavendra) some 500 years ago. This is one among the 566 Anjaneyar statues concecrated by Vyasaraayar all over India. Though many of them are missing over the years very few are in tact as the above statue. Shri Maruthi Bhaktha Samajam Trust has taken the pleasant assignment of reconstruction of the Temple during January 2007 and completed the work in a record time of one year. The Ashtabandhana Mahaa Kumbabhishekham was performed on 27-1-2008 and since then the number of devotees who visit to this Temple has increased in geographical propositons. Alongwith Lord Siva Veera Anjaneyar the Trust has added another 11 deities so that the devotees need not go to too many Temples to have the Darshan of so many Deities. The Kumbabhishekham rituals were unique in many respects and the devotees who enjoyed the sacred function, would remember the same for the years to come.