TRAVELLOGUE-

PILGIRIMAGE IN FEBRUARY 2025

 

When my brother in law Parthasarathy proposed to make a pilgrimage to temples in and around Kumbakonam for three days, I was reluctant as off late I feel damn tired by travelling in road on long distances due to my old age..  But my wife Mythili suggested that we make it as she feels (intuition) that there is a call from our devoted deity to visit him and receive his blessings.  I consented and visited temples in and around Kumbakonam for three days from 23^rd to 25^th February. 

Before I commence my details over the temples covered, I should admit that intuition of Mythili came true at Uppiliappan Koil.  On Monday morning, a devotee from Coimbatore presented diamond studded kreetam for Uppiliappan and he was decorated with it after installation in a religious manner.  We are told that the kreetam will adore the deity till the evening and after which it will be stored in the treasury for safety.  Only on some special occasions (which is yet to be decided by the temple authorities) it will adorn the deity.  We are really blessed by Uppiliappan on that day and he called us from Chennai to visit him on this special day.  I mean this as a miracle only.

We left on Sunday the23rd after lunch and first visited the Thillai Kali temple ( Chidambaram).  I have visited Chidambaram more the once in the last many Years and never knew there exists a temple for Parvathy in the form of Kali.  The temple is located  on the outskirts of the town of Chidambaram,  built by Chola King Kopperunjingan who ruled between 1229 and 1278.

 

Kali dancing with Shiva (Nataraja) in Urdhva Tandava posture, sculpture in Chidambaram Nataraja temple. Legend says that the goddess Kali (a form of Parvati) moved here after losing to the god Shiva in the celestial dance contest. It was an argument that who is superior, either Shiva or his wife Parvati. In order to resolve thus, they performed a dance program at Chidambaram in front of Vishnu, Brahma and other deities. While they were playing dance, Shiva was about to be defeated.^[1]

Shiva performed the Urdhva Tandava posture, i.e. raising one leg above his head and challenged Parvati to replicate it. Due to her modesty and shyness, Parvati refused and agreed her defeat.

Parvati in anger assumed her ferocious form Kali and left Chidambaram (Thillai) and settled outside the town borders. Thus, she is worshipped as Thillai Kali here. Her anger was pacified by Brahma by chanting the Veda and praising her.

Kali was pleased and assumed a benign form with four heads similar to Brahma and known as Thillai Amman (Mother of Thillai) or Brahma Chamundeeswari. There are two main shrines in the temple. The west-facing shrine depicts the goddess in his benign four-faced form Brahma Chamundeeswari.

In the east-facing shrine, the goddess appears in her ferocious form called Thillai Kali.

Next visit was to Thirumeichur Lalithambigai temple. It is located at 18 kms from Myiladuthurai and 34 kms from Kumbakonam in Tamilnadu. Lord Meganathaswami is in the form of swayambu Linagam .This temple is having another inner temple with Lord Siva and His consort. Another specialty and unique feature of this temple is in this temple  we can worship – Lord Siva, Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma –all at outer pragaram  But in this temple more importance is given to Goddess Lalithambigai-Lord Siva’s Consort. A beautiful and majestic Goddess sitting like a queen, with her right leg bend and placed on her left thigh. With all ornaments bedecked she looks Majestic with all power. In this place Goddess Lalithambigai gave angels called vasini from her mouth and they sung Lalitha Sahasharanam – 1008 recitals of Goddess. Sage Agastiyer sung Lalitha Navaratnamalai on seeing Her appealing stature and godliness. A wonderful temple for any Hindu devotee to have dharshan here.
Goddess Durga in outer praharam, with a parrot in Her hand, is another unique sight here. As per the legend, devotees requests being taken to Goddess Lalithambigai by this parrot. Lord Siva as kshtrapuraneeswarar is seen pacifying His consort when she was very angry and she became Shanthanayagi. This sculpture depicting both angry and smiling Shanthanayagi, in single figure is another important feature not to miss. If you see the sculpture from one side She is seen with angry face and if you see from other side , She is seen smiling. Wonderful workmanship.

One of the latest miracles happened in this temple in the year 1999-a devotee from Bangaluru had recurring dreams of Ambal asking her for a gold Kolusu (anklet). This woman went in search of the Goddess and visited various temples. By chance she saw an issue of some magazine in which Lalithambigai Temple appeared as the cover story and immediately recognized the Ambal as the one from her dreams. She had the anklet made and visited the temple. She told the priest about her dreams and wanted to offer the Goddess the kolusu. The priest said that is not possible since there is no way for the kolusu to go around Her feet. The devotee was persistent and the priest decided to have a look and to his astonishment could find a hollow place in the idol’s ankle and he could actually pass the kolusu through it. This is the power of Goddess Lalithambigai.

It is said that this is the only shrine dedicated for goddess Lalitha.  Lalitha Sahasranamam was composed by eight VAAG DEVIS ( Vasini, Kameswari, Aruna, Vimala, Jayani, Modini, Sarveswary and Kaulini, upon the command of goddess Lalitha herself. It is in Brahmananda puranam in the chapter on discussion between sage Agasthyar and Hayagriva- the incarnation of lord Vishnu with horse head.  It describes shrimataha praises Lalitha known as THIRUOURASUNDARI.

We reached Kumbakonam for the night halt.

 

Next morning we commenced our pilgrimage by a visit to Uppiliappan Temple which  is one of the famous Vishnu shines of Tamil Nadu. Also hailed as Thiruvinnagar, this ancient temple is located at Thirunageswaram village, in the outskirts of Kumbakonam town. The main deity is worshipped here as Lord Uppiliappan, and his consort is Goddess Bhoomi Devi. The Azhwar saints have revered this Lord in their Divyaprabhandham hymns, and hence, this shrine remains a celebrated Divya Desam, a particularly holy abode of Vishnu. He is said to have appeared here for sage Markandeya, Goddess Bhoomadevi, and Lords Brahma and Shiva. The name Uppiliappan – Uppu Ili Appan- can mean 'the one without salt.' And true to this interpretation, Neyvethyams, the sacred food offering made to the Lord in this temple, are always cooked without salt. But it is generally accepted that his original name was 'Oppiliappan'- Oppu Ili Appan- 'the one who has no comparisons or equals,' but later it got distorted to Uppiliappan. The presiding deity is also known in other names like Thiruvinnagarappan, Srinivasan, and Venkatachalapathy. This Lord is often treated on par with Lord Venkatachalapathy of the famous hill temple Tirupathi and is considered by some as his elder brother.

It  is believed that this temple structure was built in the 8th century CE by the medieval Cholas, while the Thanjavur Nayaks contributed to its expansion. The entrance tower, Rajagopuram, is 5-tiered, and the temple complex with all its shrines and the sacred tank is enclosed within a granite wall. The imposing idol of Uppiliappan is standing majestically in the sanctum sanctorum, while sage Markandeya and Bhoomidvi are squatting near his feet. The gold-plated roof above the sanctum is Suddhananda Vimana, meaning 'pure joy.' There are separate shrines for Krishna, Rama, Hanuman, Garuda, Azhwars, and saints Ramanuja and Desika. The spot where Bhoomidevi is said to have been born is also there in the temple. Ahoraathra Pushkarini, the temple tank, also remains part of the temple complex. There are also spacious pillared halls, with intricate carvings and stucco images. The temple has 2 chariots, rich in artistic designs and wooden carvings.

 

Nachiyar Kovil or Thirunarayur Nambi Temple is a Hindu temple in Thirunarayur,very near to Uppiliappan temple, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu and her consort lakshmi. Nachiyar koil is one of 2 divyadesams were Lakshmi is  main deity over Vishnu. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Srinivasa Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Nachiyar. The temple is the place where god Vishnu is believed to have initiated Pancha Samskara (religious initiation) to Thirumangai Alvar. The temple is one of the Pancha Kshethram where Maha Lakshmi was found as girl child Vanjulavalli - the daughter of Maharishi Medhavi. The other four temples of the Pancha Kshethram are Sarangapani temple, Kumbakonam, Oppiliappan temple, Sundararaja Perumal Temple, Salem and Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala.

The temple is believed to have been built by Kochengat Cholan of the late 3rd century CE, with later contributions from Medieval Cholas and Vijayanagara kings. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines, while it has a five-tiered rajagopuram, the temple's gateway tower. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Vishnu is believed to have appeared to the sage Medhavi and married his daughter at this temple, witnessed by Brahma and other gods..

As per Hindu legend, the sage Medhavi was doing penance at this place. While taking a bath in the river, he found an image of Chakratalvar entwined with Yoga Narasimha. A divine voice asked him to install the image in his hermitage and worship it. The goddess Niladevi, the aspect of Lakshmi, and a consort of Vishnu chose to grow in the hermitage and appeared to the sage in the form of a small girl under a tree (Vanjula Tree) and hence Madhavi Maharishi named her "VANJULAVALLI". Vishnu traveled in search of Niladevi (Vanjulavalli) on his vehicle Garuda, the demigod-eagle. Garuda found the presence of Niladevi in the hermitage. Vishnu appeared to Medhavi, pleased by the latter's devotion and asked his daughter to be married to him. The sage happily married Vanjulavalli to Vishnu and requested him to stay in his place, which Vishnu accepted. There is another local legend that king Kochengat Cholan was once defeated and he was advocated to seek the blessings of Vishnu, which he obliged.

Kal Garudar (Stone Garuda) procession

Kal Garuda, an image of Vishnu's mount - Garuda, is the most prominent feature of the temple. As per local legend, the sculptor who sculpted the idol of Garuda got frustrated as the bird flew away each time, a new image was prepared. In frustration, he threw a stone at Garuda, who got injured and decided to stay at the temple as Kal Garuda. The image of Kal Garuda is made of saligrama and is housed in the shrine outside the main sanctum. During festive procession during the Tamil months of Margazhi (December–January) and Panguni (March - April), the festive images are carried out in procession in Kal Garudar.    It is strongly believed that performing archanai every Thursday for seven weeks will grant the prayers of the devotee especially for marriage and growth of business.

The Kal Garudan would step out of its Sanctum by around 7 PM and now the magical event takes place. Only 4 people are required to carry the Kal Garudan from its sanctum. He would be draped in a new silk dhoti, decorated with glittering jewels and with a huge flower garland. Later when he advances further out of each layer of the Prakaram, his weight would increase exponentially demanding 8, 16, 32 and 64 people to carry Him. Finally, when he comes out of the Vahana Mandapa His weight would have dramatically increased and totally 128 people were required to carry. Even He would sweat profusely so that his clothes get drenched in the sweat. We could even see the droplets of sweat on His Nose. Interestingly, when He returns to the temple after the procession, the Stone Garuda would decrease its weight in the reverse order so that only 4 people would be required to carry Him back at the sanctum.

 

Thiruccherai – Sri Saranathan Perumal Temple, Kumbakonam

Sri Saranatha Perumal Temple is about 24 km from Kumbakonam on the way to Thiruvarur and 10 km from Nachchiar Koil and situatd in between the banks of river Mudikondan and Kudamurittiyaru.

After the fall of the Vijayanagar empire in Tanjore, Azhagiya Manavala Naicker who ruled Tanjore planned to erect a temple for Rajagopala swamy in Mannarkudi. He appointed his minister Narasa Boopalan for this job. He was to get Blackstones from all possible places.This minister was a great worshipper of Saranatha Perumal of Thirucherai and wanted to erect a temple for him too. So he ordered his men to unload one stone from each cart which passed Thirucherai. A spy of the king caught hold of this and informed the king. The angered king came for an inspection. But before that in overnight Narasa Boopalan constructed this temple and to please the king he added a sannathi for Rajagopala swamy too and his plan worked and he was away from kings anger after that the king ordered to complete the temple with his money.

When time came to destroy the world and finish the yugam, Brahma was worried a lot. He pleaded Lord Vishnu to tell him a way to keep the tools necessary for Srishti and all vedas safely. Lord ordered him to put all these things in a strong mud pot and after trying mud from all places Brahma finally made a pot out of the sand taken from Thirucherai and saved all vedhas and all necessary aids for srishti. Hence as this place gave the magical mud which held a lead role this place became the reason for all living things to live even after the Maha pralaya so this place is called “Sara Shetram”.

River Cauveri wanted her status to be equal to river Ganges and performed a hard penance. She laid 3 wishes before the god. (a) O! Lord you should stay in this place for ever and ever (b) all the Jeevans in this place should attain your lotus feet (c) I should be treated as pious as river Ganges. Lord Vishnu granted all her wishes and to improvise her status further among all the other river he accepted her as his mother and crawled as a child in her hands.

Lord Hanuman blesses as from the west end of the pushkarani and Lord Vianayaka from the North eastern side.

 

AVARANI ANANTHANARAYANAN  TEMPLE

 This temple in Avarani, very near to Sikkal is dedicated to lord Ranganathar ( Aabaradhari) and one of the five narayana temples.  The other four are Damodara Narayana Temple in Thirukannangudi, Varada Narayana Temple in Vadakalathur, Devanarayanan at Therur, Yadava Narayana Temple in Kil Velur.  All these temples are in and around SIKKAL, Thiruvarur.  The deity in Avarani can be seen through two holes one for the feet and another for the head.  The body can be seen from the main door.  It is around 22 feet in length. (Srirangam Ranganathar is 18 feet only)  The deity is resting on seven headed Aadiseshan.  The name of the thayaar is Alankaravalli.  Constructed in 13^th century by Chola King.  It was a chadhurvedi mangalam, where pundits of all Vedas lived in the village.

 

Sikkal Singara Velar Temple is one of the most popular Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Muruga and a contender for the not unofficial seventh Padaiveedu of Muruga, along with the popular Arupadaiveedu (six abodes of Lord Muruga). It is one of the rare traditional Hindu temples that has both Shiva and Vishnu deities in the same complex. The temple is located in the village of Sikkal, near Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu,India. It is 5 kilometers in the West from Nagapattinam and 18 kilometers in the East from Thiruvarur on the way to Nagapatptinam.

It is believed in Hindu mythology that this place was once a jasmine forest and due to its pleasant smell, the semi-human goddess with cow's trunk, Kamadenu lives here. Once upon a time, Kamadenu was cursed by lord Shiva, when it ate meat. Later feeling guilty of its action, it got rid of its sin by taking bath in the holy water point of this temple and worshiped here, as told by Lord Shiva. After getting rid of the sin, Kamadenu offered its milk which later became Parkulam (literal meaning the milk pond), which is located behind the temple. It is this holy water point (The Parkulam) of the temple where Vashistha Maharishi performed a pooja here, by making a lingam with the butter from the Parkulam. After completing the pooja he tried to move that lingam, but it stuck to that place, and never moved. As a result, Vashistha Maharishi regarded this place as Sikkal.

It is also said that Lord Murugan had got his Vel (weapon) from his divine mother at Sikkal, to kill the asura, Soorapadman in Sri Lanka. He performed Soora Samharam (literal meaning: killing Soorapadman) by setting up the base camp in Thiruchendur.

Another specialty of this temple is that devotees can worship Vishnu, Muruga and Hanuman together here.  Similarity can be found in other 4 paces – Ettukudi, Vadapalani, Hanuvavi and Kurundamalai.

The most important festival is Soora Samharam associated with Lord Muruga getting the weapon Vel from his divine mother, Parvathy to destroy the demon king, Soorapadman. During this time, it is believed by the devotees that the idol sweats and a major event is conducted.

Thirukannangudi

The Loganatha Perumal Temple in Thiurukannangudiis located  2 km away from Sikkal, Tamil Nadu, India on the Tiruvarur-Nagapatnam highway.^] Praised by  Alvar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshiped as Loganatha Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Loganayagi. The temple is believed to have been built by the Medieval Cholas of the late 9th century CE, with later contributions from Vijayanagara kings and Madurai Nayaks..

The deity Loganatha is believed to have appeared to Brahma, sages Gautama, Uparivasu, Vashista, Bhrigu, and Madarar ..This temple is one among the five Panchakanna kshetrams .  The others are: Gajendravaradan at Kabisthalam, Neelamega Perumal at Thirukannapuram, Bhakthavatsala Perumal at Thirukannamangai and Ulaganatha Perumal at Thirukovilur.

This temple is one of the Panchakanna (Krishnaranya) Kshetrams. Kannan refers to Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu, while pancha means five and Kshetrams refers to holy places. Four of the five temples are situated in Chola Nadu, in modern times, in the region surrounding Kumbakonam and Nagapattinam and one of them in Nadu Nadu.

There are five similar temples located in North India, called Pancha-dvarakas. Krishna is not the presiding deity in any of the temples. The processional deity, Krishna, led to the derivation of the names of these places.  It is believed that while Krishnan is heading for dwaraka from Mathura, he stayed in these pancha dwarakas for a while.

PATTEESWARAM

Thenupuriswarar Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva located in the village of Patteeswaram, around 6 kms from Kumbakonam, Tamilnadu. Though the main deity is Shiva, Durga Devi is famous here and devotees throng to get her blessings.The temple has been praised by the hymns of Tirugnana Sambandar and is classified under 'Paadal Petra Sthalam'.

As per the legend, Tamil poet and Saint Thiru Gnana Sambandar came to Thirusattimutram with other saints for worshipping. Then he travelled towards Patteeswaram. Since it was peak of summer causing oppressive heat waves, the child saint Sambandar became very tired. Lord Shiva sent his 'bhooda ganas'(servants) to decorate the streets with beautiful pandal (canopy) laced with pearls. Sambandar enjoyed the shade offered. It is said that in order to give Sambandar a view of the main Sannadhi (Sanctum sanctorum) from outside, Shiva ordered the Nandi to shift position. That is why we can see the Nandi placed a little away and not in direct line of the sannithi.The Lord is revered by the hymns of Tirugnana Sambandar.

It is also said that Sri Rama did a penance here and was relieved of Sayagathi dosham for killing Vaali. Goddess Parvathy performed penance here.Sage Viswamitra became a Brahma rishi in this place. Markandeya is said to have worshipped here.

The shrine of Sri Durga Devi is very powerful and popular here. The Durga here is said to be a Shanta swarupini (very soft in look and grace). Sitting on a Lion, with a foot on the head of Demon Mahishasura, the Goddess appears in a Tribanga pose (tri-bent pose) with eight hands, three eyes and jewels in her ears. Usually in other Durga temples, the Lion of Kali would be looking on the right side. But the Lion here faces the left side. In her hands, the Goddess holds a conch, a wheel, a bow, arrow, sword, shield and a parrot.

We were fortunate enough to participate in the abhishekham of Durga Matha during our visit.

SWAMIMALAI

Swamimalai is a Suburb near Kumbakonam Llies on the banks of river Kaveri and is the site of the fourth of the six abodes of the Hindu deity Murugan (Kartikeya). Aarupadai temples

According to Hindu mythology, Kartikeya is described to explain the meaning of pranava mantra (Om) to father Shiva, the site of which is regarded to be Swamimalai in regional tradition. In the Murugan temple of the town, Kartikeya is depicted as a guru (teacher) and Shiva listening as shishya (disciple) in the gopuram of the temple complex. The form of Kartikeya is known by the epithet Swaminathan and Tagapan Swami in this site. There are 60 steps one has to climb to reach the shrine.  The steps indicates 60 Years and name of the Year is mentioned in each step.

Halted at Kumbakonam for the night stay.

Next day morning we visited Sarangapani Temple in Kumbakonam, Mariamman Temple in Veerasingampettai, Kalyanapuram Srinivasa Perumal and Panchanadeeswarar temple in Thiruvayyaru.  Al these temples are the regular ones that we visit almost every Year.

Regarding Sarangapani temple, the legend says the Vaishnava deity, Sarangapani, an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, appeared for a sage Hemarishi, who performed penance in the bank of Potramarai tank.^[3] Once, sage Bhrigu wanted to meet Vishnu at his residence, the Ocean of Milk. The sage did not get the attention of Vishnu and in his anger, he kicked Vishnu on his chest. Lakshmi, who resides in Vishnu's chest, got angered as Vishnu did not show his anger towards the sage. She left Vaikuntha and reached earth and took the form of Padmavati. Vishnu followed her and married her. Padmavati got her memories and was still angry with Vishnu. To avoid her anger, Vishnu resided in the underground chamber in the temple as Pathala Srinivasa. In the meanwhile, the sage Bhrigu sought his apology and requested Lakshmi to be born to him as Komalavalli in his next birth. The sage was born as Hemarishi and performed penance to attain Lakshmi as his daughter. Vishnu was pleased by the penance and he wished the sage to get Lakshmi as his daughter. Lakshmi emerged from the Potramarai tank among thousand lotuses and was thus named Komalavalli (the one who emerged from lotus). Vishnu descended to earth as Aravamudhan in a chariot drawn by horses and elephants from his abode Vaikuntha. He stayed in the nearby Someswaran Temple to convince Lakshmi to marry him and the couple eventually got married.

Veerasingampettai

Mariamman in this emple is worshipped by everyone without any caste or creed and very powerful in ranting the prayers of the devotees.  It is belived that this mariamman is called as ILAMARIAMMAN as the last of 7 mariammans. Festivals ae conducted twice a year and thousands of devotees participate I it.  Situated at just a kilometer away from Kandiyur on the road leading to Kumbakonam.

KALYANAPURAM

 Located in between Thanjavur and Thiruvayyaru and  dates back a 1000 years or so. One finds reference to this temple in the verse relating to Kandiyur Divya Desam which is about 2 kms South of Kalyanapuram. This place was once referred to as the Srinivasa Kshetram. Centuries ago, the direction to this temple, was given as 4miles North of Vannar Banks, South West of Aaduthurai Perumal Divya Desam and East of Srirangam.

Talking about the historical importance of Kalyanapuram, Thirumeiyam Shri. S. Satyamurthy, who has been here for the last 6 decades says, “Shivaji Nayakkar, who was ruling Thanjavur, took a trip to Kasi and was quite impressed with the surroundings there around the Ganges. He came back and built bridges across the five famous rivers between Thanjavur and Thiruvayaru. This serene place- Srinivasa Kshetram- was dedicated to his wife Kalyani Bai and this became the hub of educational and vedic learning. This place came to be called Kalyanipuram after her name, and over time became Kalyanapuram.”

One can find inscriptions relating to the construction in the old river bridge on the Thanjavur Thiruvayaru road.

 

THIRUVAYYARU

The vast temple in this town, known as "Dakshina Kailasam" (Southern abode of Siva), built in an area of approximately 60,000 square meters, has five prakaram (outer precincts used for religious purposes) and many 'mandapams' (great halls). Several inscriptions in the temple affiliates the temple to the Cholas, Pandyas, and other rulers. Karikala Chola, Rajaraja the Great, Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan, and Krishna Devarayar are associated with Thiruvaiyaru. The temple has two distinct divisions called 'Uttarakailasam' and 'Dakshinakailasam'. Uttarakailasam was built by Rajaraja Chola's chief queen Dantisaktivitanki alias Lokamahadevi in the late 10th century who also made several endowments.^[1] It was called Lokamahadevi Isvaram Udaiyar Mahadevar after the queen herself.^[2] She endowed several musical instruments during the time of Rajaraja while his daughter Gangamahadevi alias Arumoli Chandramalli gifted several fly-whisks to the presiding deity.^[3] Dakshina kailasam was renovated by Rajendra Cholan's queen. The Tevaram trinity (Appar, Sambandar, and Sundarar) have composed more than 100 songs on the presiding deity of this temple town. The town is called as "Ai-aaru" (ஐயாறு), meaning five rivers, by them. It dates before 6th century a.d. the temple was built by karikala choran whose chariot got stuck in mud around this place. when the king dug the chariot using spades , it is said blood came out of the pit. a bemused king then unearthed the shiva lingam and built a stone structure. It is the  105th  padal petra sthalam in the thevaram temple list. it is categorized as a temple belonging to cauvery north bank.thirunavukkarasar , sundharar and gnana sambandhar sung songs in praise of the god here. 

Thirunavukkarasar known as appar wanted to see kailash with his physical body. he travelled all the way to the foot of the mountain when shiva appeared to him as an old man and said one cannot reach the abode with physical body. refused to budge , appar continued his journey with foot and when he got tired , would crawl with blood coming out of his body.  pitying his plight , swami told him to dip in a pond nearby and said he would come out in thiruvaiyaru. the pond where appar came out is to the north west of this temple and

Dharmasamvardhini is the presiding deity having a separate Sannadhi in the temple.  She is considered as Vishnu Durgai and worshipped by all the caste.  During the Aadi Pooram day, special alamkaram is done and all the four vedas are chanted by vedic pundits.  She is taken on that day for procession in all the four mada veedhees ( Strets) of the temple.  She is considered as the one who safeguard the VEDAS.

We left for Chennai from Thiruvayyaru via Ariyalur and reached late in the evening of Tuesday

 

His is another memorable pilgrimage in our life especially for visiting Uppiliappan temple when the deity was wearing his diamond kreetam for the first time.  Worshipping the Thillai Kali is another milestone in our life. Worshipping Ranganathar in Avarani was unexpected and  boon given to us.