TamilNadu pilgrimage – main objective was the Navagraha – Part 2
Continued from http://allyouwannaknow.net/aroundtheworld/2009/02/24/tamilnadu-pilgrimage-main-objective-was-the-navagraha/
So…lets get onto the first day…
We reached Kumbakonam at about 5:40 AM on Friday morning. We hired a taxias the auto would not be enough for so many of us….of course with our sizes…there was no question of adjustment.
Appa as usual made some small talk with the driver and got him to get us a sumo for our use for the next 3 days.
Now….after all the research we did on the internet guess where we stayed….we stayed at a place which was the choice of the driver of the taxi 
..yes….he took us to a Dharmashala….right in front of the temple pond….the famous temple pond where the Maha magma would be conducted(which is a mini version of the kumb mela….condcted once in 12 years)..
..yes….he took us to a Dharmashala….right in front of the temple pond….the famous temple pond where the Maha magma would be conducted(which is a mini version of the kumb mela….condcted once in 12 years).. It was a decent place and cheap(payed about 300 bucks for 2 rooms for one night)……not anything luxurious…clean…had clean toilets…just 2 beds. They would give extra mat and pillow…no extra bedding…but for just a nights rest and roaming the whole day…we found it more than enough…. So we decided to settle for it.
We left at 7:30AM from the hotel to a nearby hotel for breakfast. Had a light breakfast and headed to the first temple of our pilgrimage….it was a vinayagar kovil in thiruvalanchuzhi.
The God here was called the vellai pillayar (white pillayar) or the nurai pillayar ( pillayar made of the foam from the sea)
Since the pillayar was made of foam, there was no abhishekam etc done for the pillayar. Just poojai….
Nice architecture in the temple.
For more details of the story behind the temple you can read….
The temple also had some other Gods; Kapardeshwarar, Sadaimudinadar and Ashtra dhwaja maha kali.
It is said that king Raja Raja Chola always came to pray before this Kali Goddesses before he went for a war.
I had a pen and paper with me….so I was busy writing down the stories and names of all the Gods in all the temples we went….Man…we have too many Gods and Goddesses…and same number of stories to match….Hinduism is interesting and confusing. The stories are many times very altered. Each person who says it has his own version too….so whatever I have penned down here is just what I heard… I have no proof for any of it….also I myself found a lot of gaps in the stories and had a lot of questions in mind….
Next temple that we visited was our pillayar’s brother’s temple….of course…our dear Murugan…and he was found at Swamimalai….
A temple with steep steps…we went there to find a huge crowd….there was a bus full of tourists who had made their way in before us….Also the curtain was drawn in front of the God and so everyone was waiting there without any movement.
We got a ticket that cost us 10 Rs each and went in to wait….
Once the curtain opened…we had a darshanam of swamimalai Muugan who was smeared
Next temple was to visit Patteswara durgai. There we found God Thenupureswarar and gnyanambikai. In this temple you would find that the nandi is not really right in front of Shiva which is unusual.
It is believed that the great man named Thirugnyanasambadar once came to see Shiva. Since he was an untouchable he was not allowed into the temple. He had to see God from outside. But the Nandi seemed to block his view of Shiva. He was disappointed and cried out loud to the lord “Oh God!! What are you doing…I come here just to see you and I am unable to do it….will you not heed to my pleading??”…hearing this lord Shiva asks nandi to move aside and Thirugnyanasambadar is able to see Shiva.
I had also prepared for the game of 16 questions. This was to keep us going during the constant travel. But I did not realize that we would be visiting so many temples and that each one would come so soon. We managed to play the game anyways. I had found some information about various famous personalities. P and S would ask me some questions and then guess the personality…..they anyway seemed too intelligent and guessed everyone of the personalities…
We managed a little antakshari in the middle….but again we had to keep getting down and back into the car…so we stopped any playing.
Next temple on the list was the one in Thirukarkkaoor. The God and Godess in this temple were Mulaimalarnathar and Garbharakshambigai.
Then we visited the first of the navagraha temples; Chandran (moon) temple at Thingaloor. The main God and Goddess of this temple are Kailasanathar and Periyanayaki. One thing to notice is that all the navagraha temples have the main God as lord Shiva in various names.
This temple has a story behind which can be read at http://www.pariharam.com/Temple_Thingalur.aspx?TempleID=TMPL002 .
After this we drove down to the Samadhi of Sri Thyagaraja, the father of carnatic music. This is the place where the Thyagaraja aaradhanai takes place every year. I did not quite understand why they were doing an arthi for Thyagaraja…looked like they had turned him into God…no offense…but just that we already have enough number of Gods…anyway…it does not affect me…so I have no problems. I personally deeply respect Thyagraja for what he has done for the classical music world…
Next stop was Thiruvayar temple with Lord Panchadeshwarar and Godess Dharmasamvardhini amman. After finishing this temple I realized that I had left my chappals at the thyagarajar Samadhi. So we had to go back there to get them.
Then we drove down straight to Thanjavur. First we went to the Bangaru Kamakshi temple and then went for lunch. Had lunch nicely.
Now was the closing time for all temples. So we entered the Brihadeshwara temple and simply went around the praharam (temple campus). Then we found a mandabam (resting place). We all settled there and literally dozed off.
At about 3:30PM we got up and went near the doors of the temple. The crowd was gathering here waiting for the opening. They opened the temple at 4:00PM. Immediately a push pull queue was formed and we went in.
The Thanjavur brihadeshwara temple was one temple that was different and stayed in my mind. It was huge, the Shiva lingam was also huge and nice. This temple is famously known for its architectural wonder……the shadow of the Gopuram (temple tomb) never falls on the ground….this is done so that no one ever walks over it…but this is great civil engineering…
It also has a huge Nandi in front which is carved out of a single stone.
It was wonderful. Another beautiful example of the chola architecture.
After this was a brief visit to Punnainallur Mariyaman
Then was the last temple for the day…It was in Aalangudi…it was the second of the navagraha sthalam that we visited. It was the Guru Sthalam. It is said that wearing yellow colour clothes to the Guru’s place is very auspicious. So most of us had some amount of yellow in our dresses….I was in a full yellow attire. The temple was almost closing whe we reached.
The main deity here is apathsahayeshawarar
For complete story one can refer to http://www.pariharam.com/Temple_Alangudi.aspx?TempleID=TMPL005 .
Night halt was at the dharmashala at Kumbakonam.
We had a discussion if I would have a temple for myself. We discussed it too far. I was supposed to be the main deity and then I would give everyone else also a shrine…whew…stupid discussion it was…it ended up where P said he dint agree with my principles and so would want to have a separate temple for himself….crazy… isn’t it?
[...] TamilNadu pilgrimage – main objective was the Navagraha – Part 2 TamilNadu pilgrimage – main objective was the Navagraha – Part 4 » © 2009 – Around [...]
[...] http://allyouwannaknow.net/aroundtheworld/2009/02/24/tamilnadu-pilgrimage-main-objective-was-the-nav... [...]
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first
comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep
visiting this blog very often.
Alessandra
http://www.craigslistpostingonline.info
Hi Allesandra, thanks a lot for your encouraging feedback. Its always satisfying when someone reads and appreciates the posts that we make.
Hi Vidya / Prashu,
This was a nice travelogue.. The place where u stayed in Kumbakonam Opp. to the Mahamagam tank is called Bhangur Dharmashala. A simple yet comfortable place to stay… Even I stayed there whenever I’ve been to Kumbakonam…
Good one.. keep writing more.. And thanks for quoting my blog for Thiruvalanchuzhi…
If you’d be interested in Navagraha temples of Chennai…try this link..
http://navagrahachennai.blogspot.com/
Happy blogging!!