Last weekend, I had been to some temples in and around Mayavaram. Since all of them happened to be paadal petra sthalangaL, I thought I will capture the details here. Thanks to the book ‘திருமுறைத்தளங்கள்’ that my brother had got me in the last book fair, I could get more information on the history of the places.
Does anyone know the temple that is shown in this movie? Looks real old, huge and good. May god(Not KR Vijaya) bless you!
Padavedu is a small village in between Vellore and Tiruvannamalai.
Probably the only place where there is a temple in the middle of a banana and paddy field(Will come to it at the end of the log). This place is quite famous for the Renuka Parameswari temple. But apart from that not much is known(Atleast for me). After spending a day at Vellore on saturday I was quite confused on the plans for Sunday. Initially the plan was to visit Virinjipuram and then Mahadeva Malai. Later, I happened to meet one of my project managers from my previous company at Tiruvalam. It was a very pleasant surprise, and it was he who suggested me to visit Melpadi and then Padavedu. He mentioned that there was a very old Ramar temple in Padavedu and it was something not to be missed. Later my brother also mentioned about this place. He said there were around 7 to 8 old temples in Padavedu and they are worth seeing. So I changed my plans and decided to visit Padavedu.
Sambuvarayars are from Padavedu. They ruled this place. According to history, most of the temples (Except for Venugopala Swamy and Lakshmi Narasimhar) were submerged in sand. They were discovered in 1993 by TVS family and from then they are maintaining it.
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Vilvanatheeswara temple, Triuvalam
Tiruvalam is around 25 kms from Vellore. There is a very famous Sivan temple there called as ‘Vilvanatheeswarar Devasthanam’. As the sign board says, it seems this was the place where Lord Ganesha did a pradakshanam for his parents and got the mango. And this was the place where Dakshan was doing a Yaga, which Lord Siva destroyed. It is a paadal petra sthalam.
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Gadambur Temple, Kailasagiri, Ambur
Last weekend, I went to some temples near North Arcot. I covered Ambur, Vellore, Tiruvalam, Melpadi on saturday and Padavedu on Sunday. Initially my plan was to cover Jalakanteshwarar temple, Margabandhu temple Virinjipuram, Tiruvalam and vaLLimalai. But the plans dynamically changed. I will cover them one by one.
Yesterday, myself and Ravages set out on a mini trip towards some old temples(Whats new in this? :-)).
Bheemeswarar temple, Serapanancheri:
This place is some 5 kms from padappai, on the mudichur kancheepuram road. 5 kms after padappai when you proceed towards kancheepuram. After you cross padappai, keep looking towards the right. There will be a small board mentioning ‘Bheemeswarar temple’. Ask the villager around there, if you cannot locate it. Its pretty popular there. Anyone you ask says that the temple is 3000 years old(Oh yes, 3000 years old). The temple does look extremely extremely old, and the architecture is nothing like what I have seen before.
It is in a pretty bad shape, and looks like some renovation work is happening slowly. In the left wall of the temple, the inscriptions are in a different font. And in the right wall, even older inscriptions. Definitely signs of this temple being built and renovated in 2 different centuries.
Pooja happens once a day in the morning. And do lookout for a stone containing some inscriptions, to the left of the piLLayar temple.
If any of the archaelogy experts are reading this, request you to visit this place. It will be really nice to protect this temple. And please do find the age of the temple and let me know 
Arunachaleswarar Temple, Walajabad
This is on the Chengelpet-Kancheepuram road. If you are coming from padappai, then take a left turn at walajabad cross road towards chenglepet. Some 1/2 km after the junction you will find this extremely old temple towards the right. This temple is around 4oo to 500 years old. In a highly depleted stage. It seems this temple was built by a villager, when many people in the village died to due some mysterious disease. After building a temple, everyone got cured it seems. Thats what the old man in the temple mentioned to us. It seems there is a court case on who is the owner of the temple 
In case you visit walajabad, drop into this temple for some 10 to 15 minutes. The durgai silai is very artistically done. And dont forget to visit dakshinamurthy There is a murugan temple opposite this too, on the other side of the road. It seems the kumbabishekam was bound to happen any time. Check it out, if you visit this place.
Lakshmi Narasimhar Temple, Pazhaya Seevaram
8 kms from Walajabad, on the way towards chengelpet is a small town called as Pazhaya Seevaram. There is a small hillock, and atop it a beautiful Lakhsmi Narasimhar temple. It seems the Varadarajar silai was installed here first and later on moved to Kancheepuram. Every year on the day of maatu pongal, Varadar comes here in an oorvalam. He stays here for 2 days and poojas happen here. This temple is maintained by My college trust(DG Vaishnav college). The lakshmi narasimhar statue is pretty huge when compared to other temples.
Venkatesa PerumaL temple, Thirumukkodal
Thirumukkoodal. The place where 3 rivers(seyyaaRu,paalaRu and vedavathi) converge. Near that, there is a PerumaL kovil. This temple is maintained ASI. A very huge temple, which is very differently built. Like the perumaL sannidhi entrance is from the side. And it comes very close to the outer compound. Not much gap actually. Since this is very close to the river, there are chances of floods coming inside the temple. If you carefully observe at the mandapam’s behind the main sannidhi, you will find a decent drainage system for the water to flow. This temple must be easily around 1200-1500 years old according to the priest!
On the whole it was a very satisfying trip. We started at 6 in the morning and returned by 1 PM. Covered around 140 kms on a 2 wheeler 
Do visit these temples if you get time.
P.S. Click on thumbnails for bigger version. There are some notes. Do read them. And mail me, if you want a better resolution pictures
Last saturday, had been to Uthiramerur. The initial plan was to visit Uthiramerur Sundara Varadhar temple, and then proceed to thennangur. Left chennai by around 8.30 in the morning and after 2 hrs drive reached Uthiramerur by around 11. The traffic was bit high around the airport area. Otherwise it was a cool drive and the roads were really good. After reaching there the plans dynamically changed, and visited the following temples.
Balasubramanyaswamy Temple:
This temple was right next to the Sundara Varadhar temple. So decided to visit this place first. From outside it looked like any other murugan temple. Only after stepping in, you realise how old this temple is. This temple is a suyambhu murugan temple, and was built by jeyamkoNdan chozhan. In every murugan temple, you will find mayil(peacock) as the vaaganam(carrier) for lord murugan. But in this temple you find elephant as the vaaganam. The moorthy(statue) is 5.5 feet tall.You find huge rocks, within the uL pragaram as well as outside.
A very nice temple. And what struck me was the commitment of temple priest. After our darshan, we completed the pradakshanam and came back. At that time, the priest was performing the abhisheka for the god. Not a single soul was around. The priest didnt wait for anyone to come. He just carried on with his duty. I personally have seen that in many temples, god is made to wait for the pooja and abhisheka till someone turns up. Do visit this temple if you are going to Uthiramerur
Sundara Varadhar Temple:
This is the main temple of Uthiramerur. This is one temple where you find sannidhi in three floors. In the ground floor, you find perumaL in standing position. In the first floor in the sitting position, and in the second floor in sleeping position.
The architecture is amazing. It seems that the ashtalakshmi temple in besant nagar, chennai was built after this architecture. But unlike ashtalakshmi temple, here you can easily climb the stairs and get down. Do not miss the interesting sculptures on the vimanam. Like the vimanam thaangi, dakshinamurthy(yes, a dakshinamurthy in perumaL temple), manmadhan, parasuramar, narasimhar etc. You get kalkaNdu and mundhiri/dratchai prasadham in this temple
The main statues are made out of wood. No abhishekam or flower decorations. Only thaila kaapu.
And do ask the priest to show some light behind the statues. You will find colorful inscriptions similar to ajanta/ellora caves.
Those days the Maharaja’s used to enter the temple via a VIP entrance it seems. Now they have closed it. There is a statue of Brihu Maharishi as well. (Brihu Maharishi is supposed to the rishi, who excelled in temple architecture, planning etc. And he is treated on par with god). Couple of years back, the kumbabishekam of this temple was performed. It is well maintained. But there is maNdapam in the corner which seems to have been neglected
There is a Sivan temple near the bus stand, where you can find old inscriptions. It seems that, uthiramerur was the first places to have democracy in place. More on that here.
Thirupulivanam:
I liked this temple the most. This temple is on the uthiramerur-kanchipuram road. 5 km from Uthiramerur, on the left side whilst going from uthiramerur. A very old temple vyakrapureeswarar temple. vyakrapada munivar(person with human body and tigers legs), pathanchali munivar(human body and snake legs and nandi devan were the most sincere followers of Lord Shiva. It seems Lord Shiva danced in chidambaram only on the request of vyakrapada and pathanchali munivars. This temple was built by kulothunga chozhan. Some unique things about this temple are as follows.
You get that divine feeling for sure over here. A very nice place. The priest told us another interesting info. When you see from the Siva lingam, towards the nandi you will find 7 steps. These 7 steps can be looked as 7 days of a week, and also as the 7 stages of a human life
Unfortunately this temple is not in a very good shape due to lack of funds. They are planning to have a kumbabishekam sometime next year. Please visit this temple if you can and do contribute for the kumbabishekam. I will also check with the temple priest, if they want volunteers for cleaning up the temple and areas around it. If interested, please let me know. We can take up this activity!
maagaRal:
This temple is another 10 kms from thirupulivanam on the kancheepuram road. A very well maintained beautiful temple. This temple was built by rajendra chozhan and dates back to many centuries. It seems lord appeared in the form of udumbu, and the king chased it. Suddenly the udumbu went inside a paambu putRu(Snake pit) and let its tail out. At that time, the king realised it was the lord himself. So he built a temple there. The siva linga is very small and it resembles the tail of udumbu extending out of the snake pit.
The temple is very very clean, and amazingly maintained. They could have done away with all color paintings. But thats ok. It is very rare to see such a well maintained temple. And some mega serial is being shot in this temple it seems. Rajarajeshwari or something!
In this temple, you find lord Murugan atop the elephant. And Bhairavar in arthanaareshwarar form. Ask the priest to show you the bhairavar statue and explain the sculpture. Its worth it.
Travel Details:
How to get there?
Uthiramerur is around 80 kms from chennai.
You can either go via kancheepuram (or) go from chennai on NH47 till pukkathurai and take a right turn from there. Amazing roads all the way
Thirupulivanam is 5 kms from Uthiramerur on the Uthiramerur-Kancheepuram road. Chances of you missing the temple is high. When you see the board ‘Thirupulivanam ungaLai varaverkiradhu’ keep a look out for the temple on the left.
magaRal is another 8-10 kms from Thirupulivanam on the same road. You will cross the river seyaaR on the way.
While coming back there is a short route. From maagaRal goto iLayavan velur, and then walajabad. Then from Walajabad to vandalur. Keep a watch on both sides while coming from magaRal towards walajabad. You will get to see atleast 4 to 5 extremely old and deserted temples
P.S.
Click on Thumbnail for bigger version of the picture
Mail me if you want higher resolution pictures
Each photo has some notes. Do read them too!
Yesterday I went to this architecural marvel called Somnathpur, in Karnataka. Its pretty close to Mysore. After that went to Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary for bird watching. There werent that many birds whose photograph I could have taken without permission, but there were many birds whose photograph I couldnt take without their permission
Rubic_Cube was the one who suggested me this place, when I wanted to go on a long drive. He had been there during October, and said its really amazing. Check out his post for detailed info on Somnathpur.
P.S. Click on thumbnails for better resolution pictures
Last saturday I had been to a place Tirukkachur in the outskirts of chennai. There is a very old Sivan temple there(The priest said, the temple is around 1000 years old). Only after going there, my brother told me that there were 3 Sivan temples and not just 1!
1. Thyagaraja Swamy Temple.
The first thing that struck me was, that there was no Raja gopuram in the main entrance. There is this Sivan temple in Medavaakam. I forgot its name. There also, there is no raja gopuram in the main entrance. This temple is in the footstep of the hill. The village got the name after this temple, and this is the main temple.
It seems the temple was in a very bad shape and recently restoration works started happening.
This is a temple, where Lord Vishnu worshipped Lord Siva in the form of a turtle. It is depicted in the extreme left pillar of the natchathira mandapam. In case you are not able to find it, ask the priest. He will guide you
2. Irandhitteeshwarar temple
Its not actually a temple. There is a single Siva Linga near a water tank. According to mythology(which the priest told us), Sundaramurthy Naayanaar had been to Tirukazhukundram. After that he wanted to worship Marundeeshwarar temple atop the hill in Tirukkachchur. When he reached this place, he got very tired and was hungry. He sat down. At that time, Lord Siva appeared as a brahmin and went to the village asking everyone for biksha. After that, he gave that food to Sundaramurthy Naayanaar. A Siva Linga is there at the place where Lord Siva fed Sundaramurthy Naayanaar.
There are high chances of you missing this temple. Whilst going from Thyagaraja Swamy temple to Marundeeshwarar temple keep looking towards the right. There will be a water tank. Right opposite that water tank is this Siva Linga
Since Lord Siva’s footsteps are spread over the village it is considered to be very holy.
3.Marundeeshwarar Temple
Similar to Thyagaraja Swamy temple, There is no Rajagopuram in this temple as well. I checked out with the priest and this is what he told me. ‘These temples were built by Kulothunga chozhan I. And during those days, there was no concept of Rajagopuram. The concept of Rajagopuram was introduced by Rajaraja Chozhan’ According to mythology, if you worship here, you will be cured of all ailments(if any). And this temple is atop a small hill. And People do Girivalam here as well. And very popular during Pournami days.
By the way, this temple is open only in the mornings. But if you reach there in the evening around 4.30 or 5 and request the priest, he will do the pooja. The Girivalam took us just 45 minutes, since it is a small hill. And the path is very simple.
I liked this temple of all the 3. It was very rustic and had that old look. Try to be here when the sun is setting. Its really a beautiful sight, which no camera can do justice
Location:
Tirukkachur is 4 kms from Maraimalai Nagar railway station. When you are coming from Chennai, go all the way till ford factory, take a U turn and then turn at the second left. You will reach a railway gate adjacent to Maraimalai Nagar railway station. Keep going straight for another 4 kms and you will reach the Thygaraja Swamy Temple.
I didnt see any buses there. So either go by car or bike. And call the priest Mr Nataraja Iyer before going. His number is +91-44-27463514. Do mention you want to visit the marundeeshwarar temple as well, since it is not open always!
It was a very pleasant evening. The place is very peaceful, and the temple is very beautiful. Do visit atleast once. You will really relish that experience
I met up Ravages this sunday at chennai. We were not keen to go to the beach again. Later we decided to goto kapaleeshwarar temple, and then karpagambaL mess I had never been to karpagambal mess before.
I went to kapaeehwarar temple after some 7 to 8 years. It was very interesting this time. Ravages seems to know many things about the temple architectures. He was pointing to me at various sculptures, mentioning which style it belonged to. Like whether it is pallava architecture, or chozha architecture or vijayangara architecture We spent some time at the temple, and ravages was ruing the fact that people just spoil the old architecture, by the name of renovating it And some people were looking strangely at us, since we were more interested in looking at the sculptures rather than worshipping.
After that we had a nice snack at Karpagambal mess. Nei Podi dosai and badam halwa. Wow. I have never tasted such tasty badam halwa before. Later we proceeded towards Parthasarathy Kovil, Triplicane. We went via TP Kovil street. It was very nostalgic for me, since I started my career at TP Kovil street working for a browsing centre some 7 years back
By the time we reached Parthasarathy Temple, it was pretty dark. And the temple was bit crowded. But that didnt stop us from dissecting the architecture of the temple. Like why the doors of the temples were built in such a way, and how the temple served as forts for the kings etc
Ravages told me something very interesting. There’ are only two statues of Pillayar in the world which show him with two arms. One in PillayarPatti and one in Afghanistan. Both were allegedly carved around the same time - 500-400 BC. The one in Pillayarpatti has the signature of the sculptor in Tamil Grantha script.
This i read on the Stala Puranam of the Pillayarpatti temple near Pudukottai.
I also asked JK about the afghanistan statue. he asked his sources and confirms the same.
Then we discussed about vellore fort, the subway between jalagandeshwarar temple and virinjupuram temple, shembakkam piLLayar temple, chidambaram temple, tiruvanaikaval temple, tiruvalidayam temple at padi etc.
He also told me ko(arasan)+ il(home) = kovil(kings home)
It was a very different and interesting evening.
