Bhavani - Mukkoodal

Bhavani- பவானி மூக்கூடல் 

Mukkoodal- another Prayag that I visited by the end of this year is Bhavani, where the rivers Kauvery and Bhavani merge. It is said that the river amudha Nadhi also flows invisible in this region, making it as Mukkoodal (Merge of 3 rivers). This city is also called the carpet city, the leading business of the city is carpet industry.

Wonderful sculptures on the pillars of the temple

Southern Triveni Sangamam or Mukkoodal

We booked a cab from Erode railway junction, and we reached the temple at the junction of this prayag, Lord shiva seated as Sangameshwarar and Goddess Parvathi as Vedha Nayagi.  We reached the temple at 4 PM and had the darshan of the God & Goddess offering Bilva & Arali for them respectively. God Shiva is in his usual form- Linga and Devi is cute tiny little girl with a glowing Mookuthi, an ornament worn in the nose, hence she is also called “NasikaBhushani”.

Temple Gopuram

The temple is simple & beautiful. The sculptures in the Mandapam before entering the sanctum of goddess stands proof of yet another sample for Vijayanagar art & architecture. There are sculptures of soldiers on Horse and Yazhi, it may be portrayed as part lion, part elephant and part horse, and in similar shapes in many temples. It is a mythical creature seen in many temples, might have become extinct, who knows?? These soldiers on every pillar are at the entrance of the mandapam. There are girls in the side. One among who is named “Smiling damsel” (Sirikkum Paavai). From wherever you look at this statue, she will smile at you.  

The tails and the ropes of the horses are beautifully carved and are evidence of the ancient architecture & cultural back ground and the meticulous work of the artists. The ceiling of the mandapam is yet another thing that will attract the attention of the art lovers. Me & my uncle couldn’t take our eyes of it for a long time. It is a square structure with Gods or the devathas playing Indian classical instruments like veena, Mirdhangam, Tambura & few dancing. Goddess with several hands, a women giving dance poses are seen carved in the ceiling.

The ceiling of the Mandapam leading to Ambal Sannadhi

The sanctum of Goddess vedha nayagi is simple & the praharam has the pictures of Parvathi in various forms  in tamil nadu– Akilandeswari, raja rajeshwari, Bhuvaneshwari, Abirami, lalithambal, Meenakshi, kamakshi, brahan nayaki, and many more.

The Palli arai or the bed room of the God & goddess have a cradle made of Ivory. This Ivory cradle had been signed & donated to the temple by then British collector of the Coimbatore district, William Garrow in 1804. It is said that he was staying in the inspection bungalow near the temple. It was raining heavily. The collector was sleeping in the hall.Lord vedha nayagi came in the form of young girl and woke up the collector at mid night and brought him out of the bungalow.As soon as the collector came out the bungalow, the roof of the bungalow fell down. The girl ran in to the temple & disappeared. The temple aacharya told the collector that the girl who saved his life was actually Lord Vedhanayagi ambal.The collector wished to see the ambal deity. Hence three holes were made in the eastern side compound wall viewing the sanctum sanctorium.The collector offered his prayer to Ambal through the holes. On seeing the Ambal, collector confirmed that the girl who saved his life was none but vedha nayagi herself and presented a cradle made of ivory as his gift to the temple on 11-01-1804 as a mark of his respect with his official signature engraved on it. The ivory cradle is kept in tact in the Palli arai or sayana Alayam. The three holes through which the collector worshipped the goddess are seen still in the compound wall of the temple. This is the greatness of the Goddess Lord vedhanayagi Amman who is also called Bhavani Amman.

We can still find the ivory cradle in the praharam of the Ambal sannadhi.

Another speciality of this temple is you can also see special Sannadhi for Lord Vishnu in the form of Adhi varaha perumal, Lakshmi narasimhar, Santhana Gopala krishnar and Bama Rukmini samaetha Krishnar within the temple. This is the second place nect to Chidambaram where I saw special sannadhi for Lord Vishnu within the temple premises of Lord Shiva. 

To enjoy the architecture one must definitely visit this temple. The outer Mandapam of Vishnu sannadhi has satatues of Dasavatharam, the 10 avatharas of lord Vishnu, Gaja Lakshmi, The Naalvar (Appar, Sundarar, Manikkavasagar, Thirunavukkarasar), The statue of Kannapa nayanar piercing his eyes to place on the shiva linga which is bleeding on which he has placed his leg, Chidambaram Natarajar

There is special sannadhi for Kala Bhairavar in the outer premesis of the temple.

Going to bhavani during the tamil month of Aadi will be a visual treat as one can also enjoy the beauty of the river full of water. The time we went was off the season & there was little water stagnant in few places.

Visitors & devotees of the temple are requested to keep the temple clean.Temples of tamilnadu are the evidence of the greatness of our ancestors and tamil people who have been versatile and had a rich cultural taste. Every pillar and statute tell us the time spent and skill  of the artists of those days. It also tells us the interest of the people and the more religious alignment of the people. When we understand the scientific reason behind the engineering & architecture, it really makes me open my mouth with awe. How great our ancestors have been  and we can proudly state that we are one among the richest civilization. So, may be in the years that follow, where our growth is more technology driven, we must at least take some time and effort saving all these treasures our ancestors have left us making us wonder after several centuries.

For more details refer the links below

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhavani,_Tamil_Nadu

Karumbayiram konda Pillayar, Kumbakonam

Karumbayiram Pillayar temple

This is a very famous and very old Vinayagar/ Pillayar temple in Kumbakonam. This temple is situated in the region surrounding the Adhi Kumbeswarar temple. People in Kumbakonam pray this God offering sugarcane and Coconuts.

Karumbu means sugarcane and Ayiram means 1000 (Thousand). The main deity of the temple Vinayagar named Karumbayiram pillayar. Has a story behind this naming.

A trader was travelling through the place with a cart full of sugarcane.  While passing through the border of this place, he was tired, parked his cart near the temple tank, washed his face and continued the journey.  A little boy asked for a piece of sugarcane.  The cart man refused and continued the journey.  The boy chased demanding a piece of cane.  Some people advised the man to give the boy a piece of cane and that he won’t lose anything.  The boy also looked fat as a Pillayar, they said. But the trader had no heart to give him one.

The trader simply said that the sugarcane he was carrying was something as a grass stick and it would not be sweet but salty.  He also said that unless it is crushed in the mill, it would not be sweet.   The boy said that he was lying and they would become simply grass sticks and disappeared.

The trader reached the mill and asked for crushing.  The mill man laughed at him and said that grass sticks are not crushed.  The trader realized his folly.  Returning home, the trader fell asleep.  The boy appeared in his dream and said that he was rewarded for speaking a lie.  The trader understood that the boy was but Lord Vinayaka, went to the temple and begged Lord’s pardon.   Merciful Lord changed the grass sticks into sugarcanes.  Since then He is praised as Karumbayiram Pillayar

Outside wall of the temple

The temple  has few steps at the entrance  to be climbed and has the fat Vinayagar well seated  in his usual form. The temple also has other Gods and Navagraham. The temple is simple and beautiful. The priests offer Vibhoothi prasadham. We visited this temple as family and prayed the lord to keep our lives as sweet as the sugar cane.

Maha Ganapathiye Namah!!

Ramaswamy temple, Kumbakonam

Ramaswamy temple, Kumbakonam

This is one another beautiful temple in Kumbakonam. Thi temple is  close to the main temple of Kumbakonam, Adhi Kumbeswarar temple. As the name denotes, this temple is for Lord Rama, who is with his wife, brothers and his favourite devotee, Lord Hanuman. I was

I was told by one of my teacher that the specialty of the temple is that Lord hanuman is found playing Venna, the ancient classical instrument of South Indian music. This fact attracted me to visit this temple during my next planned visit to Kumbakonam & that happened quickly. We visited the temple in the morning. The temple is yet another sample for the architecture of the Vijayanagara Kingdom. The sculptures on the pillars stand peculiar and attractive depicting various incidents of the Hindu religion and puranas. A pillar has Ramar and Anjaneyar back to back. You can see several sculptures before you enter the main sactum, inside which Lord Rama stands with his wife and all his brothers. As in the picture of the great painter Raja Sri Ravi varma,  Lord Hanuman , Rama's favourite devotee is found seated to the right side of Lord Rama's foot holding Veena in one of his hand and Rama Katha or Ramayana in another. Hanuman is Srava Vidhya Dhana Nipunar- As stated by the great Muthuswamy Deekshitar, one among the Music Trinity. It is said that Hanuman is Singing the ramayana story here.

Satrugna is on the left of Lord with a Samara fanning his brother, Bharatha holding the Royal Umbrella and Hanuman on the right and Lakshmana appears with his bow as usual.

One another attractive thing about this temple is that one can completely learn the Ramayanam or the Rama katha doing the pradhakshinam or rounds. If you do 3 rounds, you can complete Ramayana which has been depicted pictorially on the walls of the premises.

We got the Tulasi prasadam after the darshan.

Here are few pics of the temple gopuram and the great Hindu epic Ramayana on the walls of the temple.

Praharam showing the 2 other Gopurams

Ramayana on the walls of the praharam

Please visit this temple to learn more information

Few useful Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramaswamy_Temple,_Kumbakonam

Kathiramangalam Vana Durgai

Kathiramangalam Vana Durgai

Kathiramangalam is a small village on the banks of river Kaveri in the Thanjavur district. It is actually located near Mayavaram, enroute to Kumbakonam. The earlier name of this place had been Sivamallika vanam. It is believed that the great composer Kambar named this place as Kathiramanagalam.

My father in law's dad had lived in this village for quite a long time and our family's favorite deity of this place is Durga parameshwari Ambal. We always visit this temple, at least twice a year whenever we visit our family deity, Sri Vaideeswaran koil. Durgai, a form of Goddess Shakthi resides in this temple 6 feet tall. The photo below will give you detail about the temple history.

The temple is situated well inside the village and you can see a beautiful pond in front of the temple. There are lot of flower vendors in front of the temple. The entrance has a dais with artificial pond like set up with few lotus flowers. Vana durga devi is the primary deity of the temple and it is said that people whose birth star is Mirgasirusham must visit this temple. Vana means forest. Durga devi is specially worshipped during the Raghu kalam and she is the goddess of Power & Success. People light lamps with lemon during the Raghu kalam & special poojas are being done during the occasion.

Below are few pics of the temple  and the temple history. Please read it for more details on this temple.






For further reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathiramangalam_Vana_Durga_Temple