Tiruvarur - Kamalapuram/Kamlalayam

  

              మనకు పెద్దలు చెప్పిన ఒక శ్లోకం ప్రకారం- కాశ్యాంతు మరణం, దర్శనాత్ అభ్రసదసి, స్మరణాత్ అరుణాచలం, జననాత్ కమలాలయే- ఇవి ముక్తి ప్రదములు. అనగా కాశీలో మరణం, చిదంబరంలో స్వామిని సరైన విధంగా దర్శించగలగడం, అరుణాచల స్మరణ, కలమలాలయంలో జననం ఇవి ముక్తిని ఇస్తాయి అని అర్థం. వీటిలో చెప్పబడిన ఈ కమలాలయమే ’తిరువారూర్’.

                     

                                   

  ఇది తమిళనాడులోని కుంభకోణానికి సమీపంలో ఉన్న ప్రసిద్ధ పుణ్య క్షేత్రం. దీనినే కమలాపురం అని కూడా అంటారు. ఇక్కడి ప్రధాన దైవం త్యాగరాజేశ్వరుడు అని చెప్పబడుతున్నా ఎన్నో పురాణ గాథలు దీని వైశిష్ఠ్యాన్ని ప్రస్తావించే సందర్భంలో ఇతర ముఖ్య దైవ స్వరూపాలను కూడా విశేషంగా పేర్కొన్నాయి. వల్మీకేశ్వరుడు, సోమాస్కంద మూర్తి, కమలాంబిక...ఇలా మరిన్ని స్వరూపాల గురించి ఇక్కడ మనకు దొరికినంత సమాచారాన్ని తెలుసుకునే ప్రయత్నం చేద్దాం.

                 ముందుగా మాకు మా గురుదేవులు బ్రహ్మశ్రీ సామవేదం షణ్ముఖ శర్మ గారి ’షణ్ముఖ వైభవం’ ప్రవచనంలో ఈ క్షేత్ర ప్రస్తావన, దీనికి సంబంధించిన ఒక  గాథ వారి అనుగ్రహంగా తెలియచేసారు. దానితో పాటు ఇతర గాథలు కూడా కలుపుకుని మరిన్ని వివరములు సేకరించే ఈ ప్రయత్నానికి మా గురువుల ఆశీస్సులు పరిపూర్ణతను ఇస్తాయి అని వారి పాదములు పట్టి ప్రార్థిస్తున్నాను.

           ఒక సారి ఇంద్రునికి రాక్షసులతో యుద్ధం రాగా ఆ సమయంలో ఇంద్రునికి ముచికుందుడు సహాయం చేసాడు. దానికి ప్రతిగా ఇంద్రుడు అతనికి ఏమి కావాలని అడుగగా, ఇంద్రుడు పూజించే సోమాస్కంద మూర్తి కావాలని కోరుతాడు ముచికుందుడు. కొంతకాలం విష్ణువు పూజించి తరువాత ఇంద్రునికి ఇచ్చిన సోమాస్కందమూర్తి అది. దానిని ముచికుందునికి ఇవ్వడానికి ఇష్టపడని ఇంద్రుడు రాత్రికి రాత్రి దేవశిల్పి విశ్వకర్మను పిలిపించి ఆ మూర్తిని అచ్చంగా పోలి ఉండే మరో ఆరు మూర్తులను తయారు చేయిస్తాడు. కానీ శివుని అనుగ్రహంతో ముచికుందుడు అసలు మూర్తిని గుర్తించగలగడంతో ఇంద్రునికి దానిని ఆయనకు ఇవ్వక తప్పలేదు. అలా పొంది పూజించిన సోమాస్కందమూర్తినే ముచికుందుడు తిరువారూర్‍లో ప్రతిష్ఠించాడు. ఈ మూర్తినే ’వీధి విడంగర్’ అని పిలుస్తారు.

         మిగిలిన ఆరు- తిరునల్లార్‍లోని నాగర్ విడంగర్, నాగపట్టణంలో సుందర విడంగర్, తిరుకువలయైలో అవని విడంగర్, తిరువాయిమూర్‍లో నీల విడంగర్, వేదారణ్యంలో భువని విడంగర్, తిరుకరవసల్‍లో ఆది విడంగర్ పేరుతో త్యాగరాజ స్వామి ఈ ఏడు ప్రాంతాలలో పూజలు అందుకుంటున్నారు. వీటినే సప్త విడంగ స్థలములు అంటారు.

            ఈ క్షేత్రం పంచభూతాలలో పృథ్వీ స్థానం. ఇక్కడ జన్మించిన వారికి మోక్షం తథ్యమని ప్రగాఢ విశ్వాసం. శివ భూతగణాలే ఈ ప్రాంతంలో జన్మిస్తారని విశ్వాసం. సుందరార్ తన తేవారంలో ”తిరువారూర్‍లో జన్మించిన వారందరికీ నేను బానిసను”అని ఈ స్థల ప్రాశస్త్యాన్ని కీర్తించారు. తొమ్మిది రాజగోపురాలు, ఎనభై విమానములు, పదమూడు మంటపాలు, పదిహేను పవిత్ర బావులు, మూడు పువ్వుల తోటలు, మూడు పెద్ద ప్రాకారాలు, వెయ్యికి పైగా ఉపాలయాలతో ఈ దేవాలయం ఎంతో విశాల ప్రాంగణంలో కొలువై ఉంది. సాధారణంగా శివాలయాలలో ఉండే విధంగా చండికేశ్వరునితో పాటు యముడు తనకు ఇక్కడ ఏమీ పని లేదని చెప్పడంతో ఆయనను కూడా చండికేశ్వరుని స్థానంలో ఉండమనడంతో యమ చండికేశ్వరుడు అనే పేరుతో కొలువై ఉన్నారు.

            ఇక్కడి అమ్మవారు కమలాంబికా అమ్మవారు కాలుపై కాలు వేసుకుని ఠీవిగా కూర్చుని ఉంటారు. ఇటువంటి భంగిమలో అమ్మవారు మనకి ఇంకెక్కడా కనబడరు. ఈ స్థితిలో కూర్చుని అమ్మవారు శివుని ధ్యానిస్తూ ఉంటారని, కామంపై విజయం సాధించిన దానికి ఇది నిదర్శనం అని భక్తుల విశ్వాసం.

  వాల్మీకనాథుడు అనే పేరుతో ఇక్కడ కొలువైన శివుడు ఒక పుట్టలో వెలసిన స్వామి అని, దేవతల ప్రార్థనననుసరించి ప్రత్యక్షమైన ఈ స్వామికి ఏ విధమైన అభిషేకం ఉండదు. అనంతీశ్వరుడు, నీలోత్పలాంబ, అసలేశ్వరుడు, అడగేశ్వరుడు, వరుణేశ్వరుడు, అన్నామలేశ్వరుడు మొదలైన ఉపాలయాలు కూడా దర్శించుకోవచ్చు. ఇతర శివాలయాలలో మాదిరిగా కాకుండా ఇక్కడి నంది స్వామి పట్ల తన గౌరవాన్ని చూపుతూ నిలబడి ఉంటారు. ఇక్కడి మరకత లింగ అభిషేకం నేత్రానందం కలిగించేదిగా ఉంటుంది. ఆరు కాలాలలో ఇకడి శివునికి ఆరాధన జరుగుతుంది.

                         శివుడు శివ భక్తిని ప్రజలలో విస్తరింపచేసే సంకల్పంతో తన ప్రతిరూపంగా సృష్టించి భువికి పంపిన సుందరార్ అనే భక్తుని వృత్తాంతం ఈ క్షేత్రంతో ఎంతో ముడి పడి ఉంది. ఆయన మొదటి భార్య పరవై నచియార్ ఈ ఊరి నివాసి. ఒకనాడు శివుడు సర్వాలంకార భూషితుడై ఉంటే చూడాలని తపించిన దేవతల కోసం, అమ్మవారి కోసం ఆ రూపంతో వారి ఎదురుగా వచ్చి ఆనందింపచేస్తాడు. పార్వతీ దేవి చెలికత్తెలను ఇద్దరిని చూసి కాసింత మోహానికి గురి అయిన సుందరుని, ఆ ఇద్దరు చెలికెత్తెలను భూమిపై జన్మించవలసిందిగా శాపానుగ్రహం ఇస్తాడు శివుడు. అలా జన్మించినవాడే సుందరుడు. ఆయన ఆ చెలికత్తెలలో ఒకామె అయిన పరవైను వివాహం చేసుకున్న అనంతరం తిరువొట్రియూర్‍లో జన్మించిన సంగిలి (శృంఖల) నచియార్‍ను రెండవ భార్యగా స్వీకరిస్తాడు. ఆమెకు చేసిన ప్రతిజ్ఞను ఉల్లంఘించి తిరువొట్రియూర్ వీడి వెళ్ళి తన రెండు కళ్ళు పోయి అంధుడైపోతాడు. కంచి ఏకామ్రనాథుని అనుగ్రహంతో ఎడమ కంటి దృష్టిని తిరిగి పొంది మరల తిరువారూర్ చేరుకున్నాడు. ఇక్కడి త్యాగరాజేశ్వరుని అనుగ్రహంతో రెండవ కన్నుకు కూడా తిరిగి దృష్టిని పొందాడు కానీ మొదటి భార్య అయిన పరవై నచియార్ అతని ముఖం చూడడానికి కూడా ఇష్టపడదు. అప్పుడు సాక్షాత్తు శివుడే ఒక పురోహితుని రూపంలో వారిద్దరి మధ్యలో దౌత్యం నడిపి, అది ఫలించకపోవడంతో తన స్వస్వరూపంతోనే పరవై వద్దకు వెళ్ళి చివరకు వారిద్దరినీ కలుపుతాడు.

           ఈ వృత్తాంతం అంతా ఈ క్షేత్రం చుట్టూనే తిరుగుతుంది. ఇప్పటికీ దీని ఆనవాళ్ళు ఈ ఊరిలో చుడవచ్చు.

    ఈ దేవాలయంలో కనిపించే కొలనునే కమలాలయం అని పిలుస్తారు. ఇది అతి విశాలమై సుందరమై దర్శనమిస్తుంది. ఒక సారి సుందరునికి వృద్ధాచలంలో దేవాలయానికి చేసిన సేవలకు గాను పన్నెండు వేల బంగారు కాసులు బహూకరించగా వాటిని దొంగల బారిన పడకుండా తిరువారూర్ తీసుకుని రావడం ఎలాగా అని ఆలోచించాడు. శివుడు వాటిని వృద్ధాచలం ఆలయ కొలనులో వేసి తిరిగి తిరువారూర్ ఆలయ కొలనులో తీసుకొమ్మని ఆజ్ఞాపిస్తాడు. తిరువారూర్ చేరి కొలను వద్ద పత్తికాలు పాడుతూ ఉన్న సుందరునికి ఆ కాసులు యథాతథంగా తిరిగి చేరుతాయి, కాని సుందరుడు వాటి నాణ్యతను శంకిస్తాడు. సాక్షాత్తు శివుడే చెప్పినా నమ్మక తన వద్ద ఉంచిన ఒక కాసుతో ఈ కొలనులో తీసుకున్న కాసులను పోల్చి పరీక్షిస్తాడు. ఈ దేవాలయంలో కొలువున్న మాతృ ఉరైత వినాయకుని ఈ పరీక్షకు సాక్షిగా ఉంచి కొలనులో తిరిగి వచ్చిన కాసుల నాణ్యత తక్కువగా ఉందని చెబుతాడు. తనకు అసలు కాసులు కావాలని కోరుతూ తిరిగి పత్తికాలు పాడడం మొదలు పెడతాడు. సుందరుని నోట పత్తికాలు పాడించాలనే ఉద్దేశ్యంతోనే శివుడు ఈ లీల చేసి తిరిగి అతనిని కోరిన రీతిలో అనుగ్రహిస్తాడు.

    తిరువారూర్ ప్రాంతాన్ని మనునీతి చోళుడు అనే రాజు కొంతకాలం పరిపాలించాడు. అతని కుమారుడు రథంలో వస్తుండగా ఒక దూడ అతని రథం క్రింద పడి మరణిస్తుంది. రాజు వద్దకు వెళ్ళి న్యాయం కోరిన ఆవుకు అభయం ఇచ్చిన రాజు దూడ ప్రాణాలు తీసిన పాపానికి ఆ రాజకుమారుని కూడా రథ చక్రాల క్రింద చంపవలసిందిగా శిక్షను ఖరారు చేసి అమలుపరుస్తాడు. ఆ రాజు ధర్మ నిరతికి ప్రీతి నందిన యముడు తన స్వస్వరూపంతో ప్రత్యక్షమై రాజును అనుగ్రహిస్తాడు. దీనికి గుర్తుగా ఇప్పటికీ రాతి రథంపై ఈ గాథ అంతా కళ్ళకు కట్టినట్టు చెక్కి ఉండి దర్శనమిస్తుంది.

   ఈ దేవాలయంలో ఉన్న రథం తమిళనాడులోనే ఎంతో ప్రఖ్యాతమైనది, అందమైనది. 

                         

                 మహాలక్ష్మీ దేవి విష్ణువును పెండ్లియాడాలని ఇక్కడి మూలస్థానేశ్వరుని ఉద్దేశించి తపస్సు చేసింది. అందుకే ఇక్కడి కోనేరుకు కమలాలయం అని పేరు వచ్చింది. ఈ కోనేరు ఆలయమంత పెద్దది, ముప్పై మూడు ఎకరాలలో విస్తరించి ఉండి దేశంలోనే పెద్దదిగా ప్రసిద్ధినొందింది. కొలను మధ్యలో ’నాదువన నాథుని’ ఆలయం కూడా ఉంటుంది. ఇక్కడి ప్రదోష అభిషేకం చాలా విశేషంగా ఉంటుంది. 

                        

మొత్తం ఇక్కడ ఉన్న అరవై నాలుగు తీర్థాలు ఒక్కొక్కటీ ఒక్కొక్క ప్రశస్తిని కలిగి భక్తులను అనుగ్రహిస్తున్నాయి. వాటి వివరాలు ఆయా ఘాట్‍ల వద్ద వ్రాయబడి ఉన్నాయి. పడమటి గోపురానికి ఎదురుగా ఉన్న ’దేవనీర్థ కట్టం’ అన్నింటిలోకి విశేషమైనదని ప్రశస్తి.

            సంగీత త్రయంగా ప్రసిద్ధినొందిన త్యాగరాజు, ముత్తుస్వామి దీక్షితార్, శ్యామశాస్త్రి ముగ్గురూ ఈ గ్రామంలోనే జన్మించారు. వారి ఇండ్లను కూడా మనం వెళ్ళి దర్శించవచ్చు. 

                  

  సాయంకాల సమయంలో ఇక్కడ జరిగే ప్రదోష పూజా చాలా విశేషమైనది. సాక్షాత్తుగా దేవేంద్రుడే ఆ సమయంలో ఇక్కడకు వచ్చి స్వామిని పూజిస్తాడని, మొత్తం దేవ గణమంతా దానిలో పాల్గొంటారని భక్తుల ప్రగాఢ విశ్వాసం.         

Akkamahadevi caves

The story of Akka mahadevi goes like this: She was a very beautiful lady who was a great devotee of Lord Shiva from the childhood. She never felt like getting married as she was worshippping the Lord,as her husband. But the king of the place got attracted towards her beauty and convinced her father to marry Akkamaha devi. She took it as the divine will and married the king on 2 conditions that the king , who was by then in a religion which was not vaidika should convert himself as a follower of sanatana dharma and the second that he should not touch her till she finished her Shiva dixa. As the king was very keen in marrying her, he immediately conveyed his acceptance for the 2 conditions and had the task fulfilled.

                     After few  months passed post the marriage, and she was still in her dixa, the kinig couldn’t control his desire to own her as wife and went and touched her. She was so upset with that action of him and said “ as you are attracted towards  this mere body bcoz of the beautiful covering it has, come, and satify your craving”. Saying so she removed her outfit and threw it on his face to stand nacked covering her body with her long hair. At this completely unexpected reaction, the king got shocked and seeing her bear bodied, remembered the the gurus of the religion he followed and just prostrated before her with all respect and devotion. He thus became her first desciple. She then left that place and became the desciple of Basaveswara, the great Shiva bhakta and spent the rest of her life in complete Shiva worship.

                                                   

                                                                                       

                                                    

                    

                                              

                              The caves we see today in Srisailam are the place where she did penance for Lord Shiva for 40 years. Later she went to Kadalivanam and got kaivalya there by becoming one with the Shiva there.  Looking at the caves, one can understand how deep her penance was, since there was not even proper place in the cave to sit comfortably and the way to reach the cave was not so easy to access, especially in those days. She could do penance for a long time there as she was already a grat soul requiring nothing as per bodily comforts.

As the cave appears to be so narrow that a single person can go in at a time, care should be taken that not a big crowd enters the cave at a stretch. This can lead to suffocation due to lack of oxygen.  One should enter inside the cave with proper light in hand and should be able to walk with heads bent. The one hour boat ride to reach the caves is definitely a feast to the eyes and nature lovers.  The same bot rides takes one to kadalivanam too, but one has to walk 8 more km to reach that place, which is a treck up the hills. 

  The boat ride starts from patalaganga and drops at the caves.  

Narsobawadi

                                       Narsobawadi in Maharashtra, located near Kolhapur is the land sanctified by the penance of Sri Nrusimha Saraswati swami for a period of 12 years. He is the 2^nd incarnation of Lord Dattatreya in this Kaliyuga. He blessed the devotees here with neumorous leelas and teachings. The detailed description of these leelas can be found in Sri Guru Charitra. This land is still pious due to the presence of the sangam of the river krishna with 5 other holy rivers, namely, Siva, Bhadra, Bhogavati, Kumbhi and Saraswati. Many saints in the Datta sampradaya performed their sadhana and penance here, making this land still rich in spiritual power.  The samadhis of few saintsare located in the premises of the temple itself with names indicated on the boards.

            The author of the book Sri Guru charitra and the very famous datta parampara saint Sri Vasudevananda Saraswati swami, alo known as Tembe Swami sanctified this land by staying here for many years during His sadhana and Yatras.

                  Near by to Narsobawadi are the places which are related to the leelas of Sri Guru charitra. Audumber, Bhilavati, Amarpuram and Shirola are the place we were blessed to visit when we happenend to step into that land for 2 times. To reach the first 2 places, we have to cross the river Krishna or one can reach there by road way also. Audumbar is adorned with Datta padukas where as there is temple of Sri Bhuvaneswari Devi blessing the devotees inn Bhillavati.

               Amarapuram is the place where there is a temple dedicated to Amareswara and the house where Sri Guru received Bhiksha and blessed the family with a hiddden treasure under a tree is just adjascent to the temple. There is a mandir for Sri Vasudevananda saraswati swami too located here. This place is locallu called as Aurwad here.

                         Shirol is the place where one can witness the handprint of Sri Guru on a rock. It is believed that after Sri Guru received bhiksha from a house here, He put His hand on a rock here and the image of the hand got imprinted on that rock as a blessing. That rock is still worshipped as a pious remeniscence of the Lord. One can have the darshan of the hand print during the morning abhishekam and during the latter paart of the day it is covered with a kavacham and decorated with flowers. Even the actual padukas, known as Manohara padukas at the sangam also can be seen directly durin the morning abhishekam only.

                                     

Satara Uttara Chidambaram

                               We felt very much blessed to have the grace of the Lord to step into the land of Satara where stands the dream temple of Kanchi Paramacharya which was stated by Him as “the temple close to my heart”, on june 24th, 2017. The great Sadhaka whom we were blessed to get introduced there in the temple , Mr.Jagadish Bhat, explained us in detail how Paramacharya made this temple take shape by giving prerana to the many hands involved in completing the Dream Temple.

                                            

                                             

                  When Paramacharya visited Chidambaram of Tamilnadu for the first time, He had it in mind that He should get a temple build in some place which would be a replica of Chidambaram before He leaves His mortal body. But that was not revealed to anyone at that time. As time passed and Paramacharya was travelling vigorously throughout the country, it so happened that He came to Satara on Padayatra and stayed there for 11 months long time.

Near by to Satara is the place named Mahabaleshwar, where the River Krishna originates along with 5 other rivers. Out of them, 3 rivers flow towards East and 2 towards west. Satara is considered as the most sacred place as per the direction of the rivers flowing there along with Krishna river. As Paramacharya halted here, He fixed His mind that this is the best place for the temple of the king of the dance, Nataraja.

                                That was the Daiva Sankalpa, so other arrangements for the temple construction were done as per the Eeswara prerana to the required people at the proper time. As we can see now, the four gopurams of the temple were built by the four different states’contribution Andhra, karnataka, tamilnadu and maharashtra and the entire teak wood was supplied from kerala state. Even the other amenities were donated by the respective departments to give the final form to the temple as we witness it today.  The blessed devotee Shamanna Shanbag who donated the entire land for the temple was asked to get the measurements of the actual Chidambaram temple to get the replica properly.

                              A Sphatika lingam brought from Kailasam by Sri Adi Shankaracharya is worshipped with Abhishekam in Chidambaram twice a day even today. Sri Paramacharya handed over a Marakata lingam here in Uttara Chidambaram to be offered Abhishekam daily. The timings of the Abhishekam are 10 AM and 7 PM. Those are the ony time during which one can have the darshana of the Marakata lingam since after abhishekam it is enclosed in a silver container placed before the main idol of the Lord. Aarati is followed after the Abhishekam in both the times.

             The person playing the key role in the management of the temple Sri Jagadish Bhat was a very impressive sadhaka who explained us in detail about how he was sent by Paramacharya from Kanchi to Satara to take care of the temple and its management. He was a gold medalist in Rigveda who finished his course of veda in just 4 ½ years, which typically takes 8 years, just by his guru’s as well as Paramaacharya’s grace. His guru was an ardent devotee and close associate of Parmacharya. He used to wash clothes of Paramacharya, help in cooking the suitable food for Paramacharya and other sevas, being one in the aantarangika parivaram of Paramacharya.  We were lucky to have the darshana of Padukas of Paramacharya at his home, which he used to carry in his own hands while travelling with Paramacharya.Sri Jagadish bhat even accompanied Paramacharya in many of His Pada yatras in the state of Maharastra. As he described, Paramacharya considered this as His dream temple and the place is mentioned to be very powerful.

                 During His pada yatra in Maharastra, Paramacharya went on top of the Sajjanghad Hill to reach the samadhi sthal of Sri Samartha Ramadaasa Swami, but as per His Ashram rules, He didn’t have the darshan of Samadhi. Paramacharya had also met a family in King Shivaji’s family and payed His heart felt respects to the great Maratha king who saved Hindu dharma and our country from the avaidika people and their attacks.   

     

The divine Dance stage-Chidambaram

                 After listening to the discourse of Sri Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma garu named "Chidambara Rahasyam", Sreeram was very keen to visit Chidambaram. I don't know when The Lord had said "Tathastu", but, soon after finishing the series of those pravachanams, we had a blessing to touch that holy land. The 3rd day of the 3 day tour was that lucky day.
                             The temple has a very big complex and a very big tank named Shiva ganga. Before starting the trip, we felt like taking a dip in the holy water, but time didn't permit us. Anyways, this time we were satisfied with the sprinkling of water on the head.
                                         
There are many Upa-alayams in the very huge temple complex. We see few of them adorned with golden dome. That sanctum houses the Natraja Murthy, Amman and Chidambara rahasya sthanam. One can take ticket and go to the top stair to see the Lord from a lesser distance. There is Sphatika Lingam also receiving worship here which is believed to be brought by Adi Shankaracharya from Kailasam directly presented by Lord Shiva. The other Lingas brought along with this were placed and being worshipped at other temples.                                                     
                     
                       There are particular times of the day when they perform Aarathi to the Nataraja murthy. At the same times, they open the veil to bless with the Darshan of Aakasa Lingam. We find jut a Vilva mala hanging on the wall, which is also not clearly seen through the holes of the door. Legends say that as there is no limit to the sky, we can't limit the form of God thus indicating the Aakasa Tatwam of the Lord Shiva. Thus this is the one among the Pancha Bhoota Lingams. If a person is knowledged enough to witness the God in such a way spread all over the universe, then that is the correct way of living and that is believed to be the state of Moksha referred in the sloka which states "Darshanat Abhra Sadasi".
                              We were lucky to be present in the temple close to the time when the curtain was opened. Though we are not capable or eligible to understand the concept and pursue Darshan in that way, we just offered Pranam and proceeded further to cover the remaining part of the temple.
                                       The idol of Govinda Raja Swamy in the same complex tries to teach the devotees the oneness of Shiva and Kesava for the Sadhakas. If we stand at one point, we can see both Nataraja and Govinda raja at a time. This was explained to us by an elderly person in the temple, who patiently explained us a lot about the temple and it's history. We were lucky that he could speak English.
                      The back side of the sanctum of Nataraja hosts the actual Moolasthana lingam which is Swamyambhu. The 2 great devotees related to the sthala purnam of Chidambaram Patanjali and Vyaghra pada did penance here at Moolasthana linga to receive the grace of the Lord. Many divine souls did penance here at this place as per the directions of the almighty in their sadhana. If we request the Pujaris of the temple, they can take us to the top floor to have Darshan of Sthoola Aakasa Lingam. The Aagama Sastra of this temple is totally different from the other Shiva temples. So, the management of the temple is also separate and maintained by an individual trust. So the Pujaris keep asking us to subscribe for some sevas.
             There is a separate complex for Siva Kama Sundari and a very huge Vinayaka. There are many other prakaras hosting all the swaroopas that appear in the story behind this temple, like Thiru Jnana Sambandhar, Appar, Lord Subrahmanya and many more. There are actually 5 Sabhas mentioned in the puranam. If you are lucky to be a Telugu person, please do listen to Sri Samaedam Shanmuhkha Sarma garu's discourse before you visit this temple. That really keeps us on a truly happy and satisfactory note.
                    The temple of the Tillai Kali Amman is located in the outskirts of the village where the are 2 forms of the Goddess, one shanta murthy and the other being the roudra Murthy.
                             
                         We have to stay a longer time to actually get the total contended Darshan in Chidambaram. May god bless us to progress in sadhana to make Darshanam in the proper way in the Abhra sabha.

Thirukkarugavur, Thiruvarur and many more

                          Almighty is the only power that decides when, where and how things should happen. Though we came to know about the temple of Thirukkarugavur very long back, we were waiting for the Goddess's call for visiting the temple. At last the destined time arrived and we, along with our friend's family arrived at this holy place on 28th of May, 2016.
               We started early in the morning at home and on the way had the blessings of Sri Prasanna venkatachalapathy at Gunaseelam. The Perumal here is believed to be equally powerful as the Perumal of Thirupati.  Being Saturday, there was a little crowd, but the Darshan was very great. The next stop for us was at Thirukkarugavur.

    The Temple of Garbha Rakshambika here is famous for granting progeny as well as securing the infants when women face pregnancy related problems. The name of the Lord here is Mulaivana Nathar, which is Swayambhu. The temple reopens in the evening at 4PM, so we were waiting in the ousude Prakaram. There are separate tickets and puja kits for devotees depending the type of seva one wants to perform.  We took the one for granting progeny, which contained some oil lamps, a little container of ghee, flowers and other puja items. We were asked to lit some lamps at the Lord and the remaining in the presence of Goddess. The couple after having Amman's Darshan, wife should apply some ghee on the mahadwara in the Goddess' presence and should draw a small rangoli on that as per the priest's direction. After the puja gets finished, the couple will be given the ghee which should be consumed for 48 days continuously. The directions were given in the booklet given in the puja kit. 

      The Goddess Garbharakshambika is one of the most beautiful forms of all the Goddesses witnessed till date. It feels as if a very beautiful traditional housewife (muttaiduva) is standing before our eyes. The charm just left me spellbound. Even the Lord Mullaivana nathar murthy is a beautifully decorated swayambhu murthy bearing the sign of a jasmine's creep on Him. Thus the darshan of the Adi dampatulu left us in boundless joy. 

                                 
                             

          Thus finishing all the darshans in this temple, we headed towards Kumbhakonam for the night stay. As this was the 2nd time we were halting in Kumbhakonam, we could find a decent hotel quickly. By that time, all the temples were closed and as we decided to leave in the early hours of the next morning, we were not able to visit any temple in the town of temples this time.
                     Early in the next morning, we started and the first halt was at Swami malai for the blessings of Lord Subrahmanya swami. The darshan was very peaceful and heart-filling. We spent considerable time in the temple and took leave for the next glorious place Thiruvarur, Kamalalayam being its name in the spiritual terminology. As per the Shastra, taking birth in this place grants Moksha,the other 3 being, Death in Kasi, Smarana of Arunachalam (Thiruvannamalai) and Darshan of Chidambaram. (Jananat Kamalalaye)
                        This is a very big temple hosting Lord Shiva as Tyagarajeswara and the Goddess Kamalambika. The sangita trayam Tyagaraja, Shyama Sastry and Muttu swami Deexitar all 3 were born in this place indicating that they are the divine souls. We can spend minimum 2 hours to study the temple in detail. We were even blessed to touch the holy birth places of the sangita trayam now monumented in the same village. Out of the 3, we were explained in detail at the house of Sri Shyama Sastry garu and that in-charge person felt really happy that we turned up there even in such hot summer. But that was our luck that we could step on that holy land. The houses of the other 2 legends were locked. but we could go there , do pranam and proceeded further.
   The keys of the 3 houses were kept t the neighbor's places for the convenience of the visitors. So, though the door looks locked, one can inquire with the neighbors to get that opened.
             Thiruvarur is well known for its biggest chariot of the temple. We could see the dismantled Ratham in the streets that is going to be assembled during the Rathothsavam. The other unique feature I noticed was the posture in which the Gddess is seen. Goddess Kamalambika is found sitting cross legged like no where else.
                                      
                                       
 The next temple was Nachiyar Kala Garudan temple about which I mentioned in detail in a previous post of our Tamilnadu trip. Thirukkadayur was our next destination where the Lord and Goddess bless the devotees in the form of Amrutha Ghateswara and Abhirami amman respectively. We missed the darshan of teh Lord the previous time we visited this place, but this time we were so blessed to have great and divine time in this temple. Shiva is also found as Kala samhara murthy and anugraha murthy in the same premises indicating the story of Markandeya. According to some myths, this is the place where Markandeya was saved from the jaws of Yama to be blessed with Deerghaayu. So people come here to perform the Shashti purthi function to be blessed with a happy and healthy life further.
           The next place Sirkazhi was again a revisit. This is the abode of Sri Thiru Jnana sambandhar. The very huge temple complex has Lord Shiva and Parvathy and Hari Hara murthy on the top depicting the Shiva-Kesava abedha. Even we can find Lord Shiva in a big idol form here which is very rare. More details about Sirkazhi are available in my previous posts of Tamilnadu tour.
   The next unexpected destination was the abode of Ketu, Keezhaperumpallam. This is again a beautiful and divine place where we could attend the Aarathi and alankara seva by the grace of God.
                                          
Thus concluding the day's visits and darshans, we headed towards the most awaited "Darshanat Abhra sadasi'' place, Chidambaram for a night stay. Details of that kailasa in the next post......

Kamalashile and Sringeri with Sri Samavedam Shanmukha sarma garu

                           This time, the tour was initiated with the blessings of Goddess at Kamalashile. This place was found very interesting by my husband and as we were planning for a stay in Sringeri for a week, to listen to the purifying pravachanams of Sri Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma garu in the divine presence of Sri Saradambal, we included this place in that itenary.

              The surroundings of the temple really left us speechless. The beauty of the nature around was just awesome. Sreeram immediately planned for another visit to this place. We reached there in the late evening and were lucky to participate in a special seva arranged by some devotee that day. 

The goddess here is Durga parameshwari and the details are as follows:

Sthala puranam:

According to Skanda Purana of Sahyadri Kanda, a Beautiful lady by name Pingala was a court dancer who performed in front of Lord Shiva & Goddess Parvathi in Kailash Mountain. One day because of her ego, she refused to dance and was cursed by Goddess Parvathi. She lost her beauty and was born as ugly women(Kubja) in Bhu-loka.

  Realising her mistake, when Pingala pleaded for mercy, Goddess Parvathi told her that She will be coming down to Bhu-Loka to put an end to all the evil deeds of Khararatasura and she will be showing up in the form of Linga in front of Raikwa Rushi ashram in sahyadri forest and the linga will be in the form of Kamalashile.

  Goddess Parvathi told Kubja to go near suparshwa cave and do penance  till goddess gives her moksha. Later Pleased with Kubja, Goddess Parvathi appeared in the form of Kamalashile (linga) at the Sangam of River Kubja & Naga theertha in front of Raikwa Rushi ashram. Kubja was told to go to Mathura and wait for Sri Krishna and she would get relieved of her curse by the touch of Lord Sri Krishna. Goddess also told her that the river which originates from sahya forest & flows towards western coast to be named after her (Kubja) and the river to flood every year to clean the Linga. 

It is said that Kamalashile (Goddess Sri Brahmi Durga Parameshwari) Linga appeared
at the same time when the world was created.
Initially the Kamalashile (Linga) was worshiped as Brahma Lingeshwara, Later people
got to know that it was actually Sri Brahmi Durga parameshwari. 
                                        

                         
                      That night we stayed there and enjoyed the annadana of the temple like nowhere else. The head of the temple was an old man who supervised the dinner arrangements personally to see that everyone was served well. The hot and delicious food with numerous varieties was incomparable with any other temple. Thus the day’s strain of driving long was vanished with great darshan of the goddess as well as great prasadam served.

                   The next day, on 27^th of March 2016, we had a good darshan of all the deities in the temple complex and set out for the other sacred places around. Our first destination in this stretch was Kollur where Goddess Mookambika blessed us with all her grace. From there we proceeded to the unique Vinayaka temple in Hattiyangadi.

Hattiangadi is well known for its Siddivinayaka Temple, which is supposed to have been constructed around the seventh or eighth century. The Lord Ganapathi Temple is situated on the bank of River Varahi. It is the only Temple in India, where the idol of Lord Vinayaka sports a jata-hair. The idol itself is carved of a Saligrama stone and is 2.5 feet high and Vinayaka’s curly hair is left loose at the back. The trunk is bent towards the left.
                                

It is believed that the idol may be in standing posture. The deity’s right hand is situated inside the basement and holds a vessel full of Modakas in its left hand. According to experts, the deity is of Bala Ganesha, which has just two arms and various ornaments are also found on the idol. The statue grows in size every year and this is visible from the fact that it has outgrown the silver casting. The entire shrine is carved from black marble. Since the God is supposed to grant the wishes of the devotees, the title ‘Siddi’ is conferred on Lord Vinayaka.

The next form of god was Lord Shiva at Koteshwar followed by Anegudde Vinayaka. The vinayaka temple is in the village Kumbhasi. This is a very famous place in Karnataka the details of which can be found at http://www.anegudde.in/
                                    

After saluting Sri Krishna at Udipi, we left for Sringeri for a stay of a week there. 
                          The stay in Sringeri was a memory for a lifetime for us. God blessed us to the fullest by making us come in contact with the great scholar Pravachana karta Brahmasri Samavedam Shanmukha sarma garu. He is such a down to earth person that we really feel surprised if this is the same person who roars like a lion on the stage preaching the tatwam of God in the best way. He is an ocean of knowledge and flow of energy, but while talking personally, He is just affection personified. I was searching for words how to express our gratitude for blessing us with such great discourses. 
               There was a group of people accompanying Him from Hyderabad and other places. So, every morning, when we went for Saradambal's darshan, it was a feast for eye to see His devotees sitting in every corner of the temple doing japam of the Mantras, doing Anushtanam and other parayanas. That was really inspiring. The whole day was just spent in thought of the next session's pravachanam. The discourses were arranged twice a day and during the other time, we went for darshan of the peethadhipatis. We were very lucky that both the sadgurus were in Sringeri for the entire period of the week and blessed with their divine presence daily. We were blessed to attend the Chandramouleeswara puja for almost 4 days. Sri Shanmukha sarma garu attended that puja every day without fail, such was His devotion to the Jagadgurus.  The last session of His discourse was conducted in the divine presence of both the Jagadgurus and that ended up in an awesomely divine way. Sri Sri Sri Bharati Teertha swami gave Anugraha Bhashanam and blessings to the scholorly Shanmukha sarma Garu. I was excited to see the child like joy of Sarma garu when He was informed about how well the session went on and the response of the Jagadgurus. Such humility made us bow down at His feet.
           We were very fortunate to get introduced to many elderly couples spending their lives in just Bhagavat seva. They all really inspired us a lot to transform our lives in more spiritual way. Every day, we visited the local temples of Sringeri taking along with us an old couple. That at last left us build relation with godly people. The best part was, Sri Shanmukha sarma garu boarded our 'ratham' to bless us with the chance to take the pujya dampatulu around all the 4 temples and the very attracting Surya narayana temple. Guruvu garu really liked all the temples and we both were just on 9th cloud for this enexpected grace. I was just speechless. I followed them in an auto, not to miss the chance to visit those powerful temples along with such a powerful sadhaka. This is the best part of our life, in fact, best of all our journeys. I was just falling short of words when He was enquiring "are you happy?", "is it ok?", "hope you are totally happy" etc..... Everytime when He looked with a smiling face, He reflected divine affection which was leaving me totally content. 
                                     
        Whatever I write in this regard is just a drop of the ocean of happiness we experienced. 
    The last day, accompanied by one more couple, we drove back to Bangalore, on the way paying our pranams to Annapurneswari in Hornadu and Kalaseshwara in Kalasa. 
   Thus, the trip left us with uncountable memories to be treasured for a life time. That ecstasy  lasted for a long time for both of us. We are indebted to God all the time for all such grace and blessings.