Hi,
This is about an satisfying weekend trip we had planned and achieved visiting a few "Navagraha Temples" in the vicinity of Chidambaram.
We had made our mind to cover from Chidambaram, Thirunallar, Suriyanar Koil and few other temples. We (Swami, Jagdish, Arun and myself) started our trip on Saturday morning @ 5:30 AM from Chennai driving (Hyundai Getz) on the excellent GST road towards Dindivanam. We had planned to reach Chidambaram via Dindivanam - Pondy - Cuddalore. Arun drove @ exhilarating speeds which I did not see him driving earlier. Chidambaram was the first intermediate milestone. Even though I had been there earlier but this time it seems more satiating to me, reasons known only to the divine. We offered our prayers to the lord (Natrajar and Govinda Raj Perumal) and had an opportunity to have a look at the abhishekam done for "Spatiga Lingam". Swami told me about the "Thanga Bhairavar" varlaru.
We came out of the temple and our hungry stomachs were demanding to be fuelled. We had idlis and dosas with spicy chutneys. From here was my turn to drive :-). The next milestone was Sattai nathar temple at Sirkazhi. For some reason, there was no power in the temple but the lingam was so pronouncingly visible that I just got hooked on to it. My eyes just would not move any where else. Swami told me the temple varlar and we moved ahead to see the idol of Sattainathar. It is at a certain height and one has to climb approximately 30 steps to have darshan.
As it was a saturday, we decided to go to Thirunallar Saneeswaran Temple (the temple is open the whole day even in the afternoons). Though Sani payarchi was over about 2 weeks back, the infrastructure at the temple for managing the crowd was all available. We had darshanam of the lord Saneeswara. There was a maheswara temple in the same complex, but we were asked to buy a ticket for Rs. 250/-. Later, we understood that for every weekend these charges are levied by the temple. That seemed to be atrocious, how could there is no option for the public. Any how, we prayed to the lord and left Thirunallar.
From here we had decided to visit the temple of lord Amrithakadeswar and Abhirami. This temple had a charismatic feeling. There, I happened to see the temple elephant, I love animals and so could not resist myself spending about 5 mins watching the elephant movements. We bought a poster of lord abhirami, absolutely graceful. I could not stop myself having sweet tender coconut water there.
It was about late in the afternoon and we yet had to complete our lunch. We decided to go for Thiruvengadu (Budhan sthalam) and keezha perumpallam (Kethu sthalam) via kariakal. We had a sumptous lunch @ karaikal and proceeded. We had good darshanams at both the temples. We decided to drive back to Vaideeswaran Koil and decided to spend our night there. Evening at 7:00 PM we reached Vaideeswaran koil, prayed to gods and godesses at the temple. The day was ending. We took two lodging rooms, had dinner and laid tired in the bed. In no time, we were asleep after setting the alarm for the next day's journey.
On Sunday, Swami and Jagdish were the ones who woke up first early in the morning at 4:30 AM. Arun and I got up a bit late at 5:30 AM, freshened up, all set for a great and busy day ahead. The plan for the day was to visit Suryanar koil and Kanjanur (Velli sthalam) from Vaideeswaran koil. The route was from Mayavaram - Kuttalam - Suryanar koil. We reached Mayavaram by 6:30 AM or so, the smell of "degree Kapi" was in the air. We stopped at a tea stall to have excellent "Kapi" to recharge ourselves for the day ahead. Enroute to Suriyanar koil, we came across a place called "Thiruvidaimaruthur" having mention in "Ponnian Selvan". Arun specified the location and Swami aroused the interest in me by telling specifics of the "Mahalingam Temple" built by Cholas. We decided to pray our tributes to Mahalinga Swami once we finish offerring our prayers to Suryanar koil and Kanjanur. We reached the temple and were stunned by the mere size and the structure of the temple. Devotees with "brahma hatti doshas" get relieved from their sins after praying to Mahalingam. There was a lot of peace in and around the temple.
We returned back to Vaideeswaran Koil for Arun to quench his thirst for knowing his future through the "Oli Chudi". By the time he finished his session with the guru (reading and reciting the relevant "Oli Chudis"), it was about 2:00 PM. We decided to move towards our origin (Chennai). The decision was made to have lunch enroute at Pondy. I enjoyed driving back (with few stints I had to give to Arun because of his insistence :-)). It was about 4:30 PM at Pondy and we stopped at an Iyengar bakery, had some Veg puffs, ice creams and moved ahead. We reached at about 6:30 PM in Chennai.
The total distance covered from Chennai to Chennai (visiting all of these places) was 750 kms in two days of enchantment, delightment and pleasure of taking the weekend away from the city life to the calm towns in south of Tamilnadu. Though, we have all the essential necessities here in the city, I envy them for their simplicity and gratified living.
I am not sure if I am able to express all my feelings in words but it is one of my memorable trips...........of fun and devotion having a everlasting impact for the years to come.
Laxminarayanan S
This is about an satisfying weekend trip we had planned and achieved visiting a few "Navagraha Temples" in the vicinity of Chidambaram.
We had made our mind to cover from Chidambaram, Thirunallar, Suriyanar Koil and few other temples. We (Swami, Jagdish, Arun and myself) started our trip on Saturday morning @ 5:30 AM from Chennai driving (Hyundai Getz) on the excellent GST road towards Dindivanam. We had planned to reach Chidambaram via Dindivanam - Pondy - Cuddalore. Arun drove @ exhilarating speeds which I did not see him driving earlier. Chidambaram was the first intermediate milestone. Even though I had been there earlier but this time it seems more satiating to me, reasons known only to the divine. We offered our prayers to the lord (Natrajar and Govinda Raj Perumal) and had an opportunity to have a look at the abhishekam done for "Spatiga Lingam". Swami told me about the "Thanga Bhairavar" varlaru.
We came out of the temple and our hungry stomachs were demanding to be fuelled. We had idlis and dosas with spicy chutneys. From here was my turn to drive :-). The next milestone was Sattai nathar temple at Sirkazhi. For some reason, there was no power in the temple but the lingam was so pronouncingly visible that I just got hooked on to it. My eyes just would not move any where else. Swami told me the temple varlar and we moved ahead to see the idol of Sattainathar. It is at a certain height and one has to climb approximately 30 steps to have darshan.
As it was a saturday, we decided to go to Thirunallar Saneeswaran Temple (the temple is open the whole day even in the afternoons). Though Sani payarchi was over about 2 weeks back, the infrastructure at the temple for managing the crowd was all available. We had darshanam of the lord Saneeswara. There was a maheswara temple in the same complex, but we were asked to buy a ticket for Rs. 250/-. Later, we understood that for every weekend these charges are levied by the temple. That seemed to be atrocious, how could there is no option for the public. Any how, we prayed to the lord and left Thirunallar.
From here we had decided to visit the temple of lord Amrithakadeswar and Abhirami. This temple had a charismatic feeling. There, I happened to see the temple elephant, I love animals and so could not resist myself spending about 5 mins watching the elephant movements. We bought a poster of lord abhirami, absolutely graceful. I could not stop myself having sweet tender coconut water there.
It was about late in the afternoon and we yet had to complete our lunch. We decided to go for Thiruvengadu (Budhan sthalam) and keezha perumpallam (Kethu sthalam) via kariakal. We had a sumptous lunch @ karaikal and proceeded. We had good darshanams at both the temples. We decided to drive back to Vaideeswaran Koil and decided to spend our night there. Evening at 7:00 PM we reached Vaideeswaran koil, prayed to gods and godesses at the temple. The day was ending. We took two lodging rooms, had dinner and laid tired in the bed. In no time, we were asleep after setting the alarm for the next day's journey.
On Sunday, Swami and Jagdish were the ones who woke up first early in the morning at 4:30 AM. Arun and I got up a bit late at 5:30 AM, freshened up, all set for a great and busy day ahead. The plan for the day was to visit Suryanar koil and Kanjanur (Velli sthalam) from Vaideeswaran koil. The route was from Mayavaram - Kuttalam - Suryanar koil. We reached Mayavaram by 6:30 AM or so, the smell of "degree Kapi" was in the air. We stopped at a tea stall to have excellent "Kapi" to recharge ourselves for the day ahead. Enroute to Suriyanar koil, we came across a place called "Thiruvidaimaruthur" having mention in "Ponnian Selvan". Arun specified the location and Swami aroused the interest in me by telling specifics of the "Mahalingam Temple" built by Cholas. We decided to pray our tributes to Mahalinga Swami once we finish offerring our prayers to Suryanar koil and Kanjanur. We reached the temple and were stunned by the mere size and the structure of the temple. Devotees with "brahma hatti doshas" get relieved from their sins after praying to Mahalingam. There was a lot of peace in and around the temple.
We returned back to Vaideeswaran Koil for Arun to quench his thirst for knowing his future through the "Oli Chudi". By the time he finished his session with the guru (reading and reciting the relevant "Oli Chudis"), it was about 2:00 PM. We decided to move towards our origin (Chennai). The decision was made to have lunch enroute at Pondy. I enjoyed driving back (with few stints I had to give to Arun because of his insistence :-)). It was about 4:30 PM at Pondy and we stopped at an Iyengar bakery, had some Veg puffs, ice creams and moved ahead. We reached at about 6:30 PM in Chennai.
The total distance covered from Chennai to Chennai (visiting all of these places) was 750 kms in two days of enchantment, delightment and pleasure of taking the weekend away from the city life to the calm towns in south of Tamilnadu. Though, we have all the essential necessities here in the city, I envy them for their simplicity and gratified living.
I am not sure if I am able to express all my feelings in words but it is one of my memorable trips...........of fun and devotion having a everlasting impact for the years to come.
Laxminarayanan S
just linked this article on my facebook account. it’s a very interesting article for all
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