Thursday, March 10, 2016

Some great temples of Kerala and Tamilnadu


                         This time, god blessed us in a bit happier way by making us stay in Kalady, the very pious place where the Jagadguru Sri Adi Shankaracharya took birth and spent His childhood. We spent there 4 days spending time doing parayana, Pradaxinas, and visiting some temples nearby. God’s grace was miraculously showed by offering us room for 4 days in the Sringeri Shankar Mutt. Thus our dawns there were welcomed with bath in the Purna River and proceeded with some seva in the temple. First 2 days we stayed in Kalady completely and the other 2 days, we went for temples around for half a day and the rest half was again in the temple premises. There are many sevas in the Kalady temple like Ganapati Homa, Rudrabhishekam, Sahasra namarchana etc. The stay in Sringer Shankar Mutt was really a boon since we can dedicate the whole time to the sacred environment, just by the side of the temple.
                                           
 The 3 rd day, our temples visit started with the famous “Nalambalam” which consists of darshan of Rama, Bhratha, Laxmana and Shatrughna. We altered the order a bit as per the convenience of the route from Kalady. We stated with Laxmana temple of Thirumoozhikkulam which is the only Divya Desam among the four. The order continued as Rama at Triprayar, Bharata at Irinjalkuda and Shatrughna at Payammel. All are really great temples with almost similar decoration to the main deities. Namma Alwar and Thirumangai Alwar mentioned DivyaDesam Thirumoozhikkulam in their prabandhas. The Rishi named Haritha penenced here thus making it more pious. All these 4 temples have Krishna in an Upalayam since these were the idols worshiped by Lord Krishna in Dwapara yuga. 
                                    
After paying pranams to Laxmana, we moved towards Mother Mookambika of Paravur, the unique temple where a pond was surrounding the main sanctum of the temple.
                                 

 Though the idol of the mother is small in size, it looked amazing. Unlike the mother here, the goddess of the next temple Bhagavathy located in Kodungallur is really striking in size as well as appearance. Mother appears stunningly powerful here. This is a huge temple complex.
                                 
Temple - Kodungallur Bhagavathi Temple Photos
 From here we proceeded to Rama, bharata and Shatrughna temples. The temples of Shatrughna closes by 11.30AM.  Unaware of that information, we scheduled it in the last as it makes our route back to Kalady simpler. So we missed the darshan of the youngest of the brothers. But, no regrets since that was a sign that god takes us there again. Thus on 9th of February, 2016, the momentum of the tour took initiation by the blessings of the divine brothers.
                       To make us more amazed, the next day temples were also started with a Divya Desam hosting Lord Vamana, in whose name the state festival of Kerala Onam is celebrated. The Trikkakkara Vamana temple is a huge complex with Lord Shiva also worshiped inside. The rule is that one should first visit Shiva before going to worship Vamana in this temple. Luckily GPS had shown us the route in such a way that we approached the temple from the side of Shiva temple. One can see the peetham of Bali chakravarthy in the temple complex while coming from Vamana to Shiva’s place. 
                                             
The next destination was Trippunithura which is famous for its Purnatrayeeswara temple, the Lord popularly known as Santana Gopala Swamy. Here the Lord is found in sitting posture on the huge Sesha vahana. The view of the Lord with full Alankara was just stunning.
Sthala puranam: The God in the temple is believed to be Santhana Gopala Murthy . It is believed that Arjuna during the Mahabaratha days promised a Brahmin to prevent the death of the yet to be born child of a Brahmin and promised to him that if he was not able to do it , he will commit suicide. When he was not able to do it, Lord Krishna helped him to recover the soul of the baby from the clutches of God of death. After this Lord Krishna gave him his idol in the form of “Santhana Gopala Murthy” . When he neared his death Arjuna gave the idol to Lord Ganapathy and requested him to find a suitable place and consecrate it. Lord Ganapathi came across the “Poorna Veda Puram” and liked it so much that he himself sat there. It seems Arjuna hearing this pushed Lord Ganapathy away and consecrated the idol of the “Santhana Gopala Murthy there”. Due to the push the Ganapathy’s idol fell facing south and even today in this unique Ganapathi temple, the idol faces the southern direction. Later a temple got built and the Cochin kings adopted it as their family deity .        
As the place was bounded by mustard fields, Arjuna used some mustard seeds to get oil for lighting lamp. You can see a Valia Vilakku situated in front of the idol. Folks say that the burnt oil of this traditional lamp contains medicinal value. On the back side of Sreekovil, there is a small window from where devotees can get a close look at the idol of Santhana Gopala Moorthy of Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple. Devotees can also have a look at the idol of Lord Ganapathi on the extreme south side of the sanctum-sanctorum. It must be noted that, besides the idol of Lord Ganesha, no other Upadevatas are worshipped at Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple.
                                               
                   After this, now Lord Shiva called us to Vaikom to bless us in the form of Mahadeva.
Sthala Puranam: Kharan, the demon upon receiving the advice from his Guru, went to attain Moksham. He reached Chidambaram and immersed fully into deep prayer to Lord Shiva. After months or years even of undisturbed prayer, Lord Shiva was pleased and appeared in front of him. Lord Shiva gave whatever he asked and also gave three idols. The lord asked Kharan to worship those powerful idols to attain Moksham. Kharan was satisfied with that and also, Lord assured him that, He will be always present in those idols. Kharan returned to his place with three idols (Shivalingams) one in his right hand, one on left and one under his neck with his chin holding it. When he had crossed almost three by fourth, he felt tired and decided to sit for a while. After taking a short period of rest, when Kharan tried to lift those idols, they were found to be not moving from the places. Kharan understood Lord's intention and he heard from his inner soul that could be the time for his Moksha and the three idols should be taken care well by someone. Maharshi Vyaghrapaada was following Kharan all the way behind, saw him and Kharan asked the sage to worship, take care of those three idols and attained Moksham. The idol which was on Kharan's right hand is believed to be at Vaikom and the left is at Ettumanoor temple. The one which had carried is at Kaduthuruthi. Surprising but, have to believe that, the distances from the midpoint Kaduthuruthi to Vaikom and Ettumanoor are the same. Some people say that, Kharan had brought the idol at Kaduthuruthi was between his teeth and the place's name was "Kadichchiruththi" Kadichu(Bitten)+ Iruththi (Made to sit) before and, as time passed it became Kaduthuruthi. In Vrischikam, the malayalam month, on an Ashtami day, Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi appeared to Maharishi.  The Vaikkathashtami is celebrated during Vaikom temple festival in Vrischikam. Devotees believe that, Lord Vaikathappan appears in three forms. Every morning as Dhakshinamoorthy, Noon he becomes Kiratha Moorthi, Shivashakthi Panchakshari during the evening.
                                       
            We felt very much blessed to cover the other 2 Shiva temples also the same day. Thus the next stop was at Kaduthurthy Shiva temple and while going to the 3rd one Ettumanoor, the other great temple we visited was of Mahaganapathy at Malliyur.
   Ettumanoor Shiva is in fearceful form, demolishing the Durgunas in the devotees. 
                                          
After consecrating all these three temples in the same day, Khara is believed to have become a deer and was doing service to the Gods. It is believed that the God in Ettumanoor took the deer in his hand and held it there, Because of that, this place was called Udhruthaina Puram, which translated to Malayalam became Ettumanoor (The place where the deer was lifted).
The major worship in this temple is lighting of lamps. An ever glowing, very big lamp can be seen as soon as you enter the temple. The devotees pour oil on to this lamp. Lately, since the oil is being received more than needed for the lamp, a vessel has been kept nearby where if the lamp is full, devotees can pour the oil they have brought into it. There is apparently, a story behind this. It appears a brass metal worker once made a huge bronze lamp, brought it to this temple and pleaded with its management to buy it from him. They simply laughed at him and informed him that the temple had no necessity to buy a lamp since they already had sufficient lamps. Crest fallen, the metal worker pleaded with the Lord consecrated there and lo ! suddenly a big storm started around the temple. The temple management realized that God was angry at their behavior and bought the lamp and installed it there. From that time the lamp has been constantly burning in front of the deity.
                           The visit to all these temples was finished in half a day as we started at 5 in the morning. So, by afternoon, we were again at the feet of Lord Adishankaracharya and in the evening again we spent time in chanting stotras, parayana and pradaxinas as usual.
                         The next day’s visits started was a unique form of Lord Narasimha swamy. Here we find the Lion headed god in normal human form only. Lord Krishna is also worshiped here in the temple of Chelamattom located just 5 KM away from kalady.
                                           
 The next temple followed was of Bhagavathy in Irinjole where the temple is located in once a dense forest.
Iringole Bhagavathy temple, also known as Iringole Kavu, is dedicated to the Bhagavathy who, in the form of a baby girl, took the place of Lord Krishna, to protect him from the hands of evil Kamsa. It is believed that the power of the goddess still remains in the thick dense forests at Iringole. 
                                                          
              The next destination was to our family diety Lord Subrahmanya at Koottumadam. The idol of the swamy was very cute and small leaving us with a very pleasant darshan. Thogh not much information  is known about his temple,  the Lord here is worth a visit. The other temples of the day were Kallil Bhagavathy temple built on a rock, Kuvappadi Maha Ganapathy temple and Kidangoor Bala Murugan.
                                      
Sthala puranam of Kidangoor: It is believed that the idol of Subramanya Swami came out of the ‘Kamandulu’ or pot carried by maharsi Gauna when it tiled and the water lowed out. According to the legends the Gauna Nadi(Meenachil river) starts from the Kamandalu of Gauna Maharshi like the river Kaveri from Agasthya Maharshi's Kamandalu. Hence this river got the name Gauna Nadi. Gauna Maharshi filled his Kamandalu with Sapthanadi Theertham (water from the 7 holy rivers - Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswathy, Sindhu, Narmmada, Godavari and Kaveri). A beautiful idol of Lord Subrahmanya was also kept in his kamandalu. He was eagerly waiting for the Darshan of Lord Sree Rama in his return journey to Ayodhya after killing Ravana. Sree Rama was accompanied by large number of devotees like Vibhishana, Sugreeva, Hanuman and Angada in the Pushpaka Vimana. So Maharshi Gauna could not see Lord Sri Rama and Sita Devi properly. So the angry Gauna threw the kamandalu away and the idol of Subrahmanya Swami came out. These incidents occurred on a hill and since then the hill is known as Kudamuruttimala. This flow of water became a river and thus the present Gauna nadi was formed. Along with the flow of the water, the idol was carried away to the Vishnu temple in Kidangoor and was later installed in a new sreekovil. This is the present Kidangoor Subrahmanya Swami Temple. So the water in Gauna river is as holy as the Sapthanadi Teertham.
    Then by afternoon we were again in Kalady to spend the evening in parayana. Thus the visits to temples associated with stay in kalady went on very smoothly as the temple manager in Kalady agreed to extend our room there for 2 more days despite being it a busy season.
                After a very happy stay in kalady during the stating of Magha masa, we unexpectedly drove towards Trivandrum, just by god’s grace. So, by the evening of 12th of February 2016, we stepped into the holy treasured land of Lord Anantha padmanabha swamy.  
                                             
                     
Sthala puranam: The sage Vilvamangalathu Swamiyar, who resided near Ananthapuram Temple in Kasargod District, prayed to Lord Vishnu for his darshan or "auspicious sight". The Lord is believed to have come in the guise of a little boy who was mischievous. The boy defiled the Idol which was kept for Puja. The sage became enraged at this and chased away the boy, who disappeared. After a long search, when he was walking on the banks of Arabian Sea, he heard a pulaya lady threatening her child that she would throw him in Ananthankadu. The moment the Swami heard the word Ananthankadu he was delighted. He proceeded to Ananthankadu based on the directions of the lady of whom he enquired. The Sage reached Ananthankadu searching for the boy. There he saw the boy merging into an Iluppa tree (Indian Butter Tree). The tree fell down and became Anantha Sayana Moorti (Vishnu reclining on the celestial snake Anantha). But the edifice that the Lord assumed was of an extraordinarily large size, with His head at Thiruvallom, navel at Thiruvananthapuram, and lotus-feet at Thrippadapuram (Thrippappur), making him some eight miles in length. The Sage requested the Lord to shrink to a smaller proportion that would be thrice the length of his staff. Immediately the Lord shrank to the form of the Idol that is seen at present in the Temple. But even then many Iluppa trees obstructed a complete vision of the Lord. The Sage saw the Lord in three parts – thirumukham, thiruvudal and thrippadam. Swami prayed to Padmanabha to be forgiven. The Swami offered Rice Kanji and Uppumanga (salted mango pieces) in a coconut shell to the Perumal which he obtained from the pulaya woman. The spot where the Sage had darsan of the Lord belonged to Koopakkara Potti and Karuva Potti. With the assistance of the reigning King and some Brahmin households a Temple was constructed. Koopakkara Potti was made the Tantri of the Temple. The Ananthankadu Nagaraja Temple still exists to the north west of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The Samadhi (final resting place) of the Swamiyar exists to the west of the Padmanabha Temple. A Krishna Temple was built over the Samadhi. This Temple, known as Vilvamangalam Sri Krishna Swami Temple.
                             
We were blessed with pleasant company of my brother and sisiter-in-law in Trivandrum and even visited the Kovalam beach.
The next early morning, we started flying towards the most awaited Thiruchendur, the last one to be covered among Aaru Padaiveedu. On the way, the temple of Suchindram was found to be at distance of just 8KM from Nagacoil. We couldn’t miss that wonderful temple. 
Suchindram temple is unique in the whole of India in that it is dedicated to three different deities represented by one image in the sanctum and is called Sthanumalayan (Sthanu-Shiva; Maal-Vishnu and Ayan-Brahma) kovil. The temple is rich in sculpture and architecture and a visitor to this temple is amply rewarded with the sight of such exquisite art of hundreds of years old.
                                       
                             
                          
Suchindram temple history:
There are many legends associated with this temple. Anasuya, the wife of Atri Maharishi was famous for her chastity and her devotion to her husband - an embodiment of a Hindu wife. She could perform miracles by sprinkling the 'paatha theertham' (water with which she washed her husband's feet) to bring rain to a parched earth or to transform objects to her desire.
When the three Devis, - Goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswathy and Parvathy(athishakthi) heard through Sage Naradha the powers of this earthly woman they wanted to test her chastity. They approached their husbands Lords Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva to test Anasuya's devotion to her husband. The three Moorthys transformed into three old mendicants and went to the hermitage where Anasuya was living and sought alms from her. When Anasuya was about to serve them food they told her that they had taken a vow whereby they could not accept alms from a person wearing clothes. As it was a sin to refuse alms to mendicants she prayed to her Lord and sprinkled a little 'paatha theertham' on the three old beggars. They were all immediately transformed into babies and throwing off her clothes she offered them food.
The Goddesses learning what had happened pleaded with Anasuya to grant them 'maangalya biksha' (gift of married life) and to give them back their husbands. Anasuya showed them the three babies. The Devis ran to the cradle and picked one baby each. Anasuya then prayed to her Lord to restore them back to their original form. Lo and behold! Brahma was in Lakshmi's embrace, Siva in Saraswathy's lap and Parvathy cuddling Vishnu. They accepted that Anasuya's fame as the chastest woman on earth was justified. Thus the Thrimoorthy came to be represented by the Lingam at Suchindram; the bottom represents Brahma, the middle represents Vishnu and the top Shiva.
There is another lore associated with this temple. Once Indra was infatuated with Ahalya, the wife of Rishi Gautama. One night he came to the hermitage where Gautama was living and crowed like a cock indicating the approach of dawn. Rishi Gautama thinking that dawn was imminent awoke from his sleep and went to the river for his ablutions prior to commencing his prayers. Realizing that it was too dark for dawn and too early for morning to break he returned to his hut. In the meantime Lord Indra took the physical appearance of Rishi Gautama, approached Ahalya and satisfied his desire. Rishi Gautama returning from the river was enraged when he saw his wife in another man´s embrace and cursed the man's entire body be covered with 'yoni' (the female organ) and his wife Ahalya to become a statue of stone. Lord Indra in order to get rid of this curse went to Gnanaranya and prayed to the Three Moorthys to rid him of this curse. When he was rid of his curse and transformed into his original form he built a temple and installed the Lingam to represent the three Moorthy - Thanu-Maal-Ayan, and the name of the place came to be known as Suchi-Indran (the place where Indran was purified).
The temple has quite a few sculptures and art. In the 'Alankara mandapam' adjacent to the Northern corridor there are four large pillars each formed by a group of smaller pillars all carved from a single stone. Two of these large pillars have 33 smaller pillars and the other two 25 each. These are the famous musical pillars. Each of these smaller pillars produce a different musical note when tapped. Unfortunately these pillars are surrounded by iron grills to prevent vandalism.
Step out of the 'Alankara mandapam' and you come face to face with a gigantic figure of Hanuman.
                                                 
The figure is 18 feet high and depicts 'visuvaroopam'. There are other carvings and sculptures on every pillar and panel throughout the temple, which are a feast to the eye and the imagination.
                         Last and the best was Thiruchendur, the abode of Lord Subrahmanya. The puranic name or historical name for this temple is jayanthipuram.It is also one of the Arupadaiveedu (six major abodes) or Six sacred temples of Kaumaram religion. It is the only one among the Six sacred temple complexes to be situated near the sea shore. Other five are situated in mountain region.
                                        
It is one of the largest temple complexes (by area) of India and it is one of the most visited temple complex in India (devotees from countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, England, Australia). It is the only temple in Tamil Nadu which has a separate bus terminal. The sannathi street of this temple is the longest of its kind among the temples of Tamil Nadu. This is the only temple where Raja gopura is situated in western gate. This temple is the largest temple among all the temples built by saints. This temple is not constructed by Kings, it is built by three holy saints. It is one of the richest temple (by wealth) of Tamil Nadu. This is the only Hindu temple which has no Eastern gateway. This temple is the fourth Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu to get ISO certification. This is the only temple in Tamil Nadu where sanctum sanctorium is below the ground level.The 133 feet Rajagopura,built in the shores of Bay of Bengal,very near to the sea,just within 200 meters is still a mystery and an outstanding example for the Tamil temple architecture and an example for extreme civil engineering of Ancient Tamils.
STHALA PURANA OF TIRUCHENDUR
Many thousands of years back, the Tamilans worshipped Nature as Muruku (a Tamil word meaning: 'youthfulness, tenderness, fragrance, etc'). Temples were constructed in natural settings -- around forests, hilly areas, waterfalls and seashores. Tiruchendur temple is one among them, but it has a special significance. It was here that Lord Murugan arrived with his band of warriors to fight against the Asura, Soorapadma. So a temple was constructed at Tiruchendur for Lord Murugan in rememberance of this.
Soorapadma was a very powerful Asura who was causing immense hardships to Devas and mankind alike by his wicked deeds. The Devas appealed to Lord Shiva to spare them from the tortures of Soorapadma. Lord Shiva in response to their appeal told them that He would produce a Son from His Sakti to annihilate Soorapadma.
Lord Shiva generated six powerful sparks from His third eye called Netrikkan. Lord Vayu (god of air) and Lord Agni (god of fire) carried these sparks to river Ganges. Goddess Ganga carried them to Saravana Poygai, a holy pond.The sparks became six divine small male babies. By God's grace, six divine water nymphs (the six Krittikas) nurtured these babies.
When Lord Shiva and Parvati Devi came to earth to behold these babies, Goddess Parvati embraced all the six infants at once and made them into a single child with six faces and twelve hands. From Goddess Parvati Devi's anklets, nine shaktis appeared. Veerabahu and lakhs of soldiers emerged from these Nava Shaktis. These men headed by Veerabahu became the warriors of Lord Murugan. Lord Shiva for His part gave Lord Murugan a vel (spear) called Vetrivel destined to give success at all times (Vetrivel - spear of success). He also endowed him with eleven Rudras. Eleven Rudras were changed into eleven arms.
With the blessings of His divine parents, Lord Murugan came to Tiruchendur with His armed group. He immediately sent Veerabahu as an emissary to Soorapadma and asked him to release all the Devas imprisoned by him. But the Asura refused. So Lord Murugan had no option but to wage war against Soorapadma and his legions. It lasted for ten days.
Lord Murugan defeated the Asuras and converted Soorapadma into a peacock and a cock. The peacock or Mayil became the vehicle of Lord Murugan. Therefore He is also called Mayilvahanan. Ceval or cock adorned his flag.Hence,He is called Ceval kodiyon.
The guru (teacher) of Devas Lord Brihaspati, Lord Indra, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and all the Devas hailed Lord Murugan's victory and worshiped him nine times (Nava Kala Pooja). Lord Murugan in turn worshiped Lord Shiva in the form of Linga called Sivalinga. Since Lord Murugan and the devas emerged victorious at Tiruchendur, it is also called as Jayanti Nagar as Jaya means victory.
Lord Murugan blesses everyone who worships Him. He extends His arul or supreme grace to all those who pray before Him. He removes all the ills of people who come to Him. He never lets down His disciples. Worship Lord Murugan at Tiruchendur and seek His blessings. He will present everything to you. He will bless you with a blemishless and peaceful life. 


                           we came to know much about this temple Lord from the discourses of Sri Chaganti Koteswara rao garu as well as Sri Samavedam Shanmukha sarma garu. the Vibhuthi given here as Prasadam is said to posess magical and divine powers. When we went for Darshan, we were blessed to see the Lord Murugan just having finished Abhishekam with vibhuti and He appeared really divine and sacred. That was just amazing.
Thus finishing the tour, we drove towards our sweet home, packing with us blessings of God in all forms to be treasured for a life time.




Thursday, January 21, 2016

Tiruttani, Tiruvallur, Surutipalli and Nagulapuram

                      On 25th of December 2015, we started on a trip to Tiruvallur, the name which we knew from the jeevita charitra of Golagamudi Bhagavan Sri Venkaiah swami and the book by Sri P V R K Prasad garu 'Naham karta harihi karta'. This was a long time pending plan to cover Tiruttani, Tiruvallur and Surutipalli where we can find Lord Shiva in the pose of Lord Ranganatha, which sounded quite interesting. 
                      After a lot of confusion wheather to start or not, at last, by god's grace, we started on the day at around 7 in the morning towards Tiruttani, the abode of Lord Subrahmanya, one of the Aaru Padaiveedu. Earlier, we were been there once during the trip to Sholingur, but I didn't remember much about the temple and surroundings. With the guidance of Sri Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma garu through His discourse on the way to our destination, we felt blessed to step in that holy land. Here, we can see the Lord Muruga with Soola and Kukkuta Dhwaja. There are seperate mandirs for Valli and Devasena Ammavaru in the same complex.We can see the Airavatha at the entrance of the inner sanctum. The other forms of Lord present in the inner sanctum are Aapat sahaaya Vinayaka, Utsava Murty, Bhairava, Kumara Lingeswara, Durga and Shanmukha.  Some Legends say that this is the place where Lord Muruga married Valli.
                         There are separate queues for Rs 100/- and Rs 50/- darshans and there was a little more crowd due to the long weekend. But the darshan was really heart filling. The surroundings of the temple show the sanctity of the place. After fnishing the Darshan, we headed towards the next new destination Thiruvallur. Here Lord Veera raghava swamy blesses the devotees as Vaidya veera raghava, healing the ailments of body as well as obstacles in the spiritual sadhana.
                                           The Lord here is similar to Ranganatha swamy (Sesha sayana)with Golden feet and Saalihotra muni near His hand. The Goddess here is Kanaka valli Tayar. The other temples in the complex are of Andal, Namma Aalwar, Ramanuja, Sita-Rama-Laxmana, Radha-Krishna, Vinayaka, Narasimha Swamy and Chakrattalwar. Here it is a tradition to offer salt and pepper to the Lord. People also offer the idols of different parts of body where they have some ailment.
The legend says  When Sage Saalihothra was penancing here, Vishnu in the form of an old man visited him and had lunch with him and after lunch he asked the Sage where to take a nap. ‘Evvul’ means ‘where’ and so this place was initially called Thiru Evvul and later Thuruvallur. Saalihothrar showed him the Parnasala (Kutil) where he rested and gave dharshan to the Sage.
                              The next destination was the most unique one of all, Surutipalli, where Lord Shiva is in a posture similar to that of Ranga natha swamy  with His head resting in the lap of Goddess Parvathi. He is called here Sri Pallikondeswara swamy. Legend says that after taking the halahala Lord Shiva rested for a while in the lap of Goddess as seen here. The other uniqueness of this temple is that Lord Dakshinamurty blesses us here as Dampatya Dakshina murthy, with His Consort in His lap. Even the other devata murtis of this temple are also very rarely found in other temples. The Lord Shiva here is called Valmikeswara and is swayambhu. Pleased with the penance of sage Valmiki, Lord appeared here to Him. Over all, this is a must visit temple for the devotees in all perspectives. The Goddess here is Marakatambika.  The names of all the murtis are written over there for the convenience of the devotees. We felt very happy for the grace of god for showing us this temple.
                         As it was still a bright evening by that time, we decided to move further to Nagulapuram, where the Lord blesses the devotees in the form of Vedanarayan swamy and Goddess Vedavalli. The representation of Matsyavatara is found here.This is a TTD undertaken temple so well maintained. We were also lucky to have the darshan of Yadagiri gutta Jiyar swamy who came to the temple at the same time. So we all waited for Him to have darshan and come back. That was really a pleasure. The Jiyar swamy looked so energetic and sacred. We enquired there for a room to stay for that night. As the concerned person of the TTD Kalyana mantapam was busy in the Friday Unjal seva of the Goddess, we were forced to wait and witness that sacred seva too, by the grace of God again. We were allowed to stay in the TTD Kalyana mandapam just outside the temple, but we were not ready with proper arrangements. As per the guidance of the people there, we checked into the newly constructed rooms which proved quite decent.
                           Next early morning, we went to temple at 5 to witness the Tiruppavai seva of Dhanurmasam. It took 2 hours to complete the seva as well as the Darshan. Thus filling our hearts with complete grace, we started back to Bangalore and on he way, were blessed by the peaceful darshan of Narayanavanam Kalyana Venkateswara swamy and Sorakaya swami jiva samadhi Darshan.Sorakaya Swamy is a great mahatma mentioned by Sri Ekkirala Bharadwaja Master . He used to send many people whoever crossed that route to get the Darshan of this Swamy and be blessed. Thus, remembering Master once more for His grace, we went back home happily thanking God for all His blessings.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Chirala Swmi Samadhi Mandir

        The Samadhi mandir of Sri Chirala Swami is in Chirala. The mandi is not very far from Chirala railway station. One can inquire once they cross Swarna gate(railway gate) or it is clearly visible on the main road itself. The following are few pics of those surroundings.
                                             








          The samadhi of Sri Market Baba is also very nearby to this Mandir.

Some Temples of Krishna District

                                                     
                This time we were able to grab the god’s grace in Krishna District by visiting the following temples. Happy to know that many of them are Swayambhu.
   
Muvva : Popularly known as Movva, this place is the birth place of the famous poet Kshetrayya, who wrote many songs on Venugopala Swamy. As Varadayya (Kshetrayya) spent later part of his life in Tamilnadu, his verses are more famous there.
                                   
  
 As the sthala puranam says, the "muvva" of Lord Sri Krishna's anklet fell down here in this place. During the time of Dwapara yuga, on one Karthika poornima day, while Radha and Krishna were dancing in ecstacy, the 'muvva' of Krishna's anklet fell down here in this place. Then Lord ordered sage Narada to search for it but He couldn't locate it. So Narada did severe penance and Lord appeared in a very bright light exactly in the place where it dropped. Narada got the idol of the Lord made by Devendra exactly the way he got Darshan and did Prana pratishtha.
      The actual muvva which dropped down, reborn as Moudgalya, did penance for the Lord. On the day of Magha Poornima, Swami appeared here as Swayambhu Muvva Gopala and before dawn, Devathas finished building the temple for the Lord there. As the Lord descended there due to Moudgalya, He was called Mouvva Gopala, later transformed as Movva Gopala.
                              
This is the actual idol, but as it got damaged, a new idol was installed and the Shakti in this idol was transferred into the new one(Aavahana).

The consort of the Lord here is Goddess Rajya laxmi devi.

Ghantasala: As directed by the pujari in Movva temple, our next stop was at Ghantasala, hosting the temple of  Shiva called as Jaldhiswara Swami and Goddess Balaparvathi Devi. The speciality here is that both the Lord and the Goddess appear on the same platform, Panavattam. This happens nowhere in any temple.



Salient features of the temple:
  • It is the only temple in the world to have lords Siva and Parvati on a single peetam.
  • According to the temple history, the peetam was placed by Agastya maharshi.
  • Nandeeshwara is more beautiful and realistic in this temple.
  • This temple darshan has the same pious (punya phalam) effect equivalent to Darshanam of Dwadasa jyotirlingams (12) and Astadasa Shakti Peetams (18) due to the placement of Siva and Parvati on a single peetam.
  • The devotees believe that jaladeeshwara abhisheka theertham is a cure for many diseases.
Sikakulam: This place has the temple of Lord Vishnu popularly called as Srikakulandhra Sri Maha Vishnu.
                             
   It is he place where Srikrishna Devaraya dedicated his literary work Amukta malyada to the Lord. There is also one mantapa build here in this memory.

Chilakalapudi: This place is famous for its Swayambhu Panduranga Devasthanam. one can get the full information about the temple @ http://sripandurangatemple.com/aboutUs.html
                                     


Mopidevi: This is a Swayambhu Subrahmanya Kshetra where the Lord Subrahmanya took the form of a Shivalinga to bless the mankind.
    According to a legend, the Lingam is a self manifested (Swayambhu) one. Veerarapu Parvathalu was a potter, who was a great devotee. Pleased with his devotion the Lord once came in his dream and asked him to dig up the anthill to find his Lingam in the village of Mopidevi. Parvathalu told about his dream to the villagers and dug up the anthill at the place indicated in his dream. Surprisingly, they found the Lingam which was placed on the anthill and they began to worship. He prepared the idols of Horse, Nandi, Cock and Garutmanthudu which are very dear to Subramanya Swamy with clay. He also prepared the idols of great Rishis with clay. He prepared the idols and baked them in the Bhatti in such a fashion that they never lost their original forms.
                                  
                                          
       Sri Subrahmanyeswar Swamy Temple Timings: 04.00 am to 12.30 pm and 02.00 pm to 08.30 pm.
  
                              Our next stop was at Chandolu, about which I mentioned in detail in a special post.



Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Sri Tadepalli raghava narayana Sastry gari sannidhi

                    బ్రహ్మ శ్రీ తాడేపల్లి రాఘవ నారాయణ శాస్త్రి గారు ప్రముఖ శ్రీవిద్యా ఉపాసకులు. వారి స్వగ్రామం కృష్ణా జిల్లాలోని చందవోలు. శ్రీ చాగంటి కోటేశ్వరరావు గారు మరియు శ్రీ సామవేదం షణ్ముఖ శర్మ గార్ల ప్రవచనాలలో వారి గురించి విని వారు నివసించిన ఇంటిని దర్శించాలనే కోరిక బలంగా కలిగింది. ఇన్నాళ్ళకి అమ్మ వారి అనుగ్రహంగా ఆ అవకాశం దొరికింది.
                                                   
       కాకినాడ నుండి బెంగుళూరు వెళుతుండగా దారిలో ఉన్న క్షేత్రాలు దర్శించుకుంటూ మోపిదేవి అనే సుబ్రహ్మణ్య క్షేత్రం నుంచి చందవోలు గ్రామం చేరుకున్నాం. ఊరి మొదట్లోనే ఉన్న చందవోలు అనే బోర్డు ప్రక్కనే వారు నివసించిన ఇల్లు ఉంది. ఇంటి ప్రక్కనే వారి పేరు మీద ఉన్న వేద పాఠశాల కూడా ఉంది. ఊరిలోని వారికి చందోలు శాస్త్రి గారుగా వారు సుపరిచితులు.
                ఇంట్లోకి వెళుతూనే అమ్మవారి స్వరూపమైన ఒక నిండు ముత్తైదువ ఎదురొచ్చారు. వారు శ్రీ శాస్త్రి గారి కోడలు. మేము శాస్త్రి గారి ఇల్లు చూద్దామని వచ్చామని చెబితే ఆవిడ లోపలికి వెళ్ళి ఒకాయనను పిలిచారు. ఆయన శాస్త్రి గారి అబ్బాయట. వారి వయసు సుమారు 75-80 మధ్యలో ఉండి ఉండవచ్చు. వారు కూడా చూడగానే నమస్కరించాలనిపించేలా ఉన్నారు. మేము శాస్త్రి గారి గురించి విని ఆ ఇల్లు చూడాలని వచ్చామని చెప్పాక ఆవిడ లోపలికి వెళ్ళిపోయారు. ఆయన అక్కడే ఉన్న పడక కుర్చీలో కూర్చున్నారు. మేము ఎక్కడి నుంచి వచ్చామో వివరాలు కనుక్కున్నారు. తరువాత సంభాషణ ఇలా జరిగింది:
మీరు శాస్త్రిగారి కుమారులాండీ?
అవును
వారి గురించి కొంచం చెబుతారా
మీరు ప్రవచనంలో వినలేదా?
కొడుకుగా మీ మాటల్లో విందామని అడిగాము.
కొంచం సేపు ఆయన ఏమీ మాట్లాడలేదు. నేను "మాకు ఈ ఇల్లు చూడాలని ఎప్పటి నుంచో కోరిక ఉంది కానీ ఇన్నాళ్ళకి అమ్మవారి అనుగ్రహంగా కుదిరింది" అన్నాను. "మంచిది" అన్నారాయన.
మరలా కాసేపు మౌనంగానే ఉన్నారాయన. నాకు ఏమి మాట్లాడాలో తెలియలేదు.
అంతకు ముందే విన్న చాగంటి కోటేశ్వరరావు గారి ప్రవచనం గుర్తుకు వచ్చి "వారు ప్రతిష్ఠించిన బాలాత్రిపుర సుందరీ అమ్మవారి మందిరం ఎక్కడ ఉందండీ" అని అడిగాను. "తెనాలిలో గంగానమ్మ గుడి దగ్గరలో ఉంది. వారు నిత్యం అనుష్ఠానం చేసుకున్న పీఠం మాత్రం ఇక్కడే ఉంది. దాని ఆరాధన ఇప్పుడు మేము చేసుకుంటున్నాము. ఈ ప్రక్కనే ఉంది. వెళ్ళి చూసి రావచ్చు" అన్నారు. వారు కొంచం ముభావంగా ఉండడంతో ఆ సమయంలో వెళ్ళి వారిని ఇబ్బంది పెట్టామా అనే భావం కూడా రాకపోలేదు. సరే చూద్దాంలే అని ఆ అమ్మవారికే చెప్పుకుందాంలే అని లేచి ప్రక్కనే ఉన్న పూజా గది దగ్గరికి వెళ్ళాము. అక్కడ కొంతమంది పిల్లలు వేదం చదువుకుంటున్నారు. అక్కడి పీఠానికి నమస్కారం చేసుకుని కొన్ని ఫొటోలు తీసుకుని మళ్ళీ వీరి దగ్గరికి వచ్చాము. ఈ సారి మాట్లాడడం మొదలు పెట్టిన వారు సుమారు ఒక గంట సేపు చాలా హాయిగా మాట్లాడారు. మధ్యలో నేను, వారు వ్రాసిన పుస్తకాలు ఏమైనా దొరుకుతాయా అని అడిగితే ఒక 4 పుస్తకాలు అక్కడి అల్మరాలోంచి తీసి ఇచ్చారు. వారి మాటలను ఈ క్రింద పొందుపరుస్తున్నాను:
                     వారు చాలా గొప్ప తపశ్శక్తి సంపన్నులు. ఆ తపస్సు ఈ ఒక్క జన్మలోనిది కాదు. ఎన్నెన్నో జన్మలలో చేసిన తపస్సంతా కలిసి ఆయన ఆ స్థితిలో ఉండేవారు. దేవతా శక్తులన్నీ వారి చుట్టూ ఎప్పుడూ తిరుగుతూ ఉండేవి. అన్ని దైవ శక్తులు ఎల్లప్పుడూ వారి అధీనంలో ఉండేవి. కానీ వారెన్నడూ వాటిని తన స్వార్థానికి వినియోగించుకోలేదు. అమ్మవారు వారిని అనేక సార్లు "నీకు ఏమి కావాలో చెప్పు. ఐశ్వర్యం, చక్రవర్తిత్వం, దాసదాసీలు, ఏనుగులు, సంపదలు, కీర్తి ఏమి కావాలన్నా ప్రసాదిస్తాను కోరుకో" అనేది. వారు "నువ్వే నాతో ఉన్నప్పుడు అవన్నీ నాకెందుకమ్మా" అనేవారు. పూర్తి నిష్కామంగా జీవితమంతా గడిపారు.
                               ఒక సారి యమ ధర్మరాజు వారి వద్దకు వచ్చి ధర్మం చెప్పమని అడిగారట. వారు యమునితో "మీరే ధర్మానికి అధిదేవత కదా!నేను మీకు ధర్మం చెప్పడమేమిటి?" అని విస్తుపోయారట. కానీ యముడు "నేను ధర్మంలో వచ్చిన సందేహాలను తీర్చుకోవడం కోసం ఎందరినో కలిసాను. శివుడు, విష్ణువు, దేవతలు అందరినీ కలిసాను కానీ మీరు చెప్పినదే అంతిమంగా అసలైన ధర్మమని మీ వద్దకు వచ్చాను" అన్నారు. వారు యమునితో "నేను ఏమి చెప్పినా శాస్త్రబద్ధంగానే చెబుతాను. నా స్వంత అభిప్రాయాలు ఏవీ చెప్పను. కనుక మీ సందేహాలను అడగండి" అని వారి సంశయాలన్నింటికీ శాస్త్ర ప్రకారం, వేద ప్రమాణంగానూ సమాధానాలను ఇచ్చారు. అంతటి స్థితి వారిది.
             వారు ఆయుర్వేద వైద్యం చేసేవారు. దాని అధ్యయనంలో భాగంగా వారికి ఒక మూలిక గురించి తెలిసింది. అది కేవలం గ్రహణ సమయంలో మాత్రమే కంటికి కనిపించే మూలిక. అది కూడా ఒక నిర్ణీత స్థలంలో మాత్రమే లభ్యమవుతుంది. ఈ విషయం తెలుసుకున్న శాస్త్రి గారు అది దగ్గరలోని ఒక కొండ మీద లభిస్తుందని తెలుసుకుని ఒక గ్రహణ సమయానికి ఆ కొండ మీదకి వెళ్ళారు. (వారు ఆ కొండ పేరు చెప్పారు కానీ నాకు గుర్తు లేదు) సరిగ్గా గ్రహణం ఆరంభం కాగానే ఆ మూలిక వారికి కనిపించింది. పరమానందంతో వారు దానిని సమీపించి కోసుకోబోతుండగా అక్కడ ఒక చిన్న పిల్లవాడు అడ్డు వచ్చాడు. సరేలే అని వారు వేరే వైపు నుంచి వచ్చి దానిని కోసుకుందామనుకుంటే ఆ పిల్లవాడు ఆ వైపు కూడా అడ్డు వచ్చాడు. అలా ఏ వైపు చూస్తే ఆ వైపు ఆ పిల్లవాడు అడ్డు వస్తుండడంతో వారికి ఆ మూలిక కోసుకోవడం కుదరడం లేదు. ఇక విసిగిపోయిన వారు "ఎవడవురా నువ్వు? నాకెందుకు అడ్డు వస్తున్నావు? నన్ను ఆ మూలిక కోసుకోనీ. మరల గ్రహణం అయిపోతే అది కనిపించదు" అన్నారట. ఆ పిల్లవాడు "నేనెవరైతే నీకెందుకు? నీకు ఆ మూలిక ఎందుకు?" అని ప్రశ్నించాడు. "ఆ మూలిక మన దగ్గర ఉంటే మనకు విశ్వమంతా వశమవుతుందట. కనుక నన్ను దానిని తీసుకోనీ" అని శాస్త్రి గారన్నారు. దానికి అ పిల్లవాడు నవ్వి "ఆ మూలిక లేకుండానే నీకు విశ్వం వశమైందిగా" అన్నాడట. శాస్త్రి గారు "అదంతా నీకెందుకు? ముందు అడ్డు తొలగు. మరల గ్రహణం అయిపోతే నాకు అవకాశం చేజారిపోతుంది" అని కోరారు. కానీ పిల్లవాడు ఒప్పుకోలేదు. ఈ లోగా గ్రహణం పూర్తయిపోయింది, ఆ మూలిక మాయమైపోయింది. శాస్త్రి గారు నిట్టూరుస్తూ ఉండగా ఆ పిల్లవాడు మూడు ముఖాలతో దత్తాత్రేయ స్వామిగా దర్శనమిచ్చాడు. కారణం ఆ మూలికకు అధిదేవత దత్తాత్రేయస్వామి.
                              వీరు వేరే గ్రామంలో అధ్యయనం నిమిత్తం కొన్ని రోజులు ఉన్నప్పుడు ఒక సారి ఒక 6-7 యేళ్ళ పిల్లవాడు వీరిని చూచి "మనిద్దరం కలిసి ఫలానా కొండ మీద 20 సంవత్సరాలు తపస్సు చేసుకున్నాం కదా! గుర్తు లేదా?" అని అడిగాడట. వీరికేమీ అర్థం కాక ఏ కొండ మీద, ఎప్పుడు, ఎవరు అని ఏదో అడుగబోతుండగా ఆ పిల్లవాడు పారిపోయాడట. అంటే వాడు ఏ జన్మలో వారి తపస్సాహచర్యం పొందిన మహా భాగ్యశాలియో కదా! 
            తెనాలిలో ఉండే చంద్రమౌళీశ్వర శాస్త్రి గారు వీరికి, కంచి పరమాచార్యకు శిష్యులు. వీరు బ్రాహ్మీభూతులైన తరువాత ఒక సారి వారికి ఈ క్రింది స్వప్నం వచ్చిందట. శాస్త్రి గారు ఒక సారి నరక లోకం ఎలా ఉంటుందో చూద్దామని వెళ్ళారట. అక్కడ ఒక పెద్ద బాణలిలో ఏదో బాగా కాగుతూండడం చూచారు. అదేమిటా అని తొంగి చూస్తే నూనె సల సల కాగుతుండగా ఎంతోమంది పాపులు దానిలో తమ పాపాలకు శిక్ష అనుభవిస్తున్నారు. అయ్యో అని వీరు దానిలోకి చూస్తుండగా వారి నుదుట ఉన్న బొట్టులోని చిన్న గంధం పిసరు అణు మాత్రం ఆ నూనెలో పడింది. వెంటనే సల సల కాగే ఆ నూనె చల్లబడిపోయి దానిలోని పాపులందరికీ పాప పరిహారమైపోయి వారంతా ఆనందంగా పైకి వచ్చేసారట. అది చూచి యమధర్మ రాజు కంగారు పడి, "ఎవరయ్యా ఆయనను ఇక్కడకు తీసుకు వచ్చింది? ఆయనను ఏ స్వర్గానికో తీసుకుపోవాలి కానీ ఇక్కడకు తీసుకు వస్తే ఇక ఇక్కడ మన పనేం కాను? వెంటనే వారిని ఇక్కడి నుంచి తీసుకుపోండి" అని ఆజ్ఞాపించారట. వారు ధరించిన అణుమాత్ర చందనానికే అంతటి పాపాన్ని పోగొట్టగలిగిన శక్తి వచ్చిందంటే, ఇక వారి శరీరమంతా అణువణువూ ఎంత తపశ్శక్తితో నిండి ఉండి ఉంటుందో కదా! 
           వీరి ధర్మ పత్ని గారు కూడా వీరితో ఈడు జోడైన తపస్సంపన్నులు. వీరు బ్రాహ్మీ భూతులవడానికి 5 సంవత్సరాల ముందే అంటే 1985 లో ఆవిడ స్వర్గస్తులయ్యారు. ఆవిడ కూడా ఎప్పుడూ భగవన్నామం వ్రాసుకుంటూ, పాటలు పాడుకుంటూ వీరి తపస్సుకు సహకరిస్తూ ఉండేవారు. ఆవిడే స్వయంగా కొన్ని పాటలు కూడా వ్రాసేవారట. 
           తల్లి గారి గురించి చెబుతుండగానే వారి అబ్బాయి ఇలా చెప్పారు" నేను వారి సోదరుని కుమారుడిని.  వారు నాకు పెదనాన్నగారు. కానీ నా 7వ యేట నుంచీ నేను వారితోనే ఉన్నాను. వారికి కొంతమంది సంతానం కలిగారు కానీ నష్టపోయారు. ఒక కుమార్తె మాత్రం ఉన్నారు" అని చెప్పారు.
       వారు మాతో ఇంకా ఇలా అన్నారు: "శాస్త్రిగారికి ఈ శక్తంతా వారి తపస్సు వల్ల వచ్చింది. అది ఒక్క జన్మలో సాధ్యమయ్యేది కాదు. ఎన్నో జన్మలు సాధన చేస్తే గానీ ఆ స్థితిని చేరుకోలేం. కనుకనే మనమందరం కూడా నిత్యం ఏదో ఒక రూపంలో తపస్సు అంటే భగవదారాధన చేస్తూనే ఉండాలి. అప్పుడే జన్మ సార్థకమవుతుంది. నిత్యం మనం ఏమి తింటున్నా అది భగవంతునికి అర్పించి తింటే అది మహా ప్రసాదమవుతుంది. పురుష ప్రయత్నంగా మన ధర్మం నెరవేరుస్తూ మన తపస్సు కొనసాగిస్తూ ఉంటే తప్పక భగవదనుగ్రహం కలిగి మంచి స్థితిని చేరుకోగలం.
              వారి మాటల ద్వారా వారు జ్యోతిష శాస్త్రంలో కూడా ప్రవీణులని అర్థమయ్యింది. తరువాత వారు మా కుటుంబం గురించి కొంత అడిగి, వారి భార్యను పిలిచి నాకు కుంకుమ ఇమ్మన్నారు. ఆవిడ నాకు బొట్టు, పండు ఇవ్వగా, మేము వారికిరువురికీ దూరం నుంచే నమస్కరించుకున్నాం. వారు మమ్మల్ని ఆశీర్వదించి పంపారు. మనసంతా అంతులేని సంతోషంతో నింపుకుని మరల మరల ఆ పరిసరాలంతా చూస్తూ నమస్కరించుకుంటూ వెనుతిరిగి వచ్చాము.
      ఇంతటి అవకాశాన్ని ఇచ్చి అనుగ్రహించిన అమ్మవారి కృపకు జన్మంతా కృతజ్ఞులమై ఉండేటట్లుగా కూడా ఆ అమ్మవారే అనుగ్రహించాలని కోరుకుంటున్నాము.
    ఆ పరిసరాలలో తీసిన కొన్ని ఫొటోలు ఇక్కడ ఉంచడం ద్వారా మీరు కూడా ఆ సన్నిధిలో ఉన్న భావనను పొంది ఆనందంచగలరని ఆశిస్తున్నాను.
                       



 మమ్మల్ని అనుగ్రహించి ఆ మహాపురుషుని గురించి వివరించింది ఈ పుణ్య దంపతులే .

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