The Sarpa Samskara puja in Kukke Subrahmanya Kshetra

                                 The Sarpa samskara puja performed in Kukke subrahmanya Kshetra of Karnataka is believed to be very powerful and as per my knowledge, this is the only temple where this kind of puja is performed. I'll try to explain in detail about the process and background of this puja as I understood from the explanation of the pujari.
                      Generally it is believed that a person gets sarpa dosha in his life due to 3 main reasons:
 1) Anyone of our family members killed a snake.(As per sastras, if snake, monkey and cat are killed or died, one has to perform Dahana samskaras to relive the soul)
 2) A snake might have died in the land or plot where we are living or having cultivation, which didn't have funeral rites.
3) A snake might have died under the wheels of our vehicle unknowingly.

                               The result of the sarpa dosha in a person's life is seen in many ways like delayed marriage, delayed issue, skin diseases, financial growth obstructed and some other diseases. So this puja is meant for all such problems which is addressed to calm down the effect of Rahu, Ketu and Kuja Grahas at a time.
This puja can be performed only by those who are performing pitru karma because here as a part of the puja one has to do dahana samskara and pinda pradanam to idol of the snake just in a similar way performed for human beings. If you are a brahmin and did pitru karma, you can perform this puja on your own as per the instructions given in the mike by the main pujari. If you are a non-brahmin, a priest is appointed to perform the puja on your behalf and you have to book for this in advance by sending the DD and the appointment is fixed depending on the dates available.
                      On the destined day of the puja, one has to wake up early in the morning (preferably 5 AM) and take a dip in the Kumara Dhara river (located in the entrance of the Kukke) and make yourself ready to stand in the queue for the ticket by 7 AM. There will be given a seat no on the ticket. Go to the Adi Subrahmanya temple and be present there at your seat no. by 9AM on the same day. Everyone will be given a Deeksha vastra which must be preserved and worn during the 2 day puja session.
     As far as i understood, the puja process follows like this.
              Two idols of snakes are made out of flour, one male and the other female.(The female can be made out with two or three eggs on its side). With the mantra chanting the soul of the unrelieved snake is transferred to the male idol (Aavahana) and with systematic puja, that idol is put into fire so as to perform the Dahana samskara. The female snake idol, again with proper mantra chanting, is left in the presence of the male snake Vasuki, referring that we wish to see our family too grow in the same manner as the snake family grows by bringing together the male and female. After this, all the persons of the family are asked to take dip in the pool there as it is common when we do such rituals to humans.
                          This finishes the first session of the puja and in the afternoon, lunch is provided in the same Adisubrahmanya temple complex. One is instructed not to go inside the temple for darshan till the puja is totally finished. The dinner too is provided by the temple itself and it is must that one should not eat outside food for these 2 days. Dinner is provided a bit early in the night.
           The day 2 puja consists of pinda pradana and tarpana for 64 times which is meant to relieve the soul completely and send it to pious lokas. Don't forget to bring the deeksha vastra given to you the previous day. Be there on time as prescribed, as the late comers may have to wait for one more day to finish the puja. The puja consists of Brahmachari puja as well as Gopuja (worshiping a cow). The 2nd day breakfast is also provided by the temple authorities. By the afternoon of the 2nd day, you are done with the total procedure of the puja which ends with Naga pratishta in the main temple of Subrahmanya. Even Sankalpam(with one's Gotra and nama) is done in the main temple before Naga pratishta. The nagapratishta prasadam is distributed from 12 in the afternoon. This finishes the puja.
             Generally it is believed that it is better to directly go home after this puja (without visiting any other place) and it is preferable not to take cooked food out side for these 2 days. Fruits, juices, coffee, tea, milk like things are fine.

Points to be noted:

Price of the ticket Rs 2500/-
Dont eat outside food for those 2 days
Non-brahmins should book for the puja in advance.
Person performnig pitrukarma is only eligible to perform the puja.
Don't go for darshanin the main temple till the puja is finished.
Don't forget to bring the Deeksha vastra on the 2nd day too.
Be on time for the 2nd day puja.
Directly go home after finishing the puja.
                                                   

            

One more time into the forests of south karnataka

             Though god showered His grace on us quite earlier in this regard, we must say that this is the most fulfilling trip since we had the chance to take our parents with us to all these great places. Starting on Tuesday, 22nd of Jan'2013, the first day of the tour covered 3 major temple sites namely Kalasa, Hornadu and Sringeri. This is the first time even we two had the darshan of Lord Kalaseswara and goddess Sarvanga sundari in Kalasa which is on the way to Hornadu from Bangalore. The temple is seen just on the side of the road with big sign board as we enter Kalasa. By lunch time, we were present in the presence of Goddess Annapurneswari in Hornadu and were blessed to get the Prasadam there.

                                               
Relaxed with a nice meal and a little rest, we were again on the way to Sringeri. After taking accommodation of the Samsthan rooms, we searched for a doctor for my Mother-in-law, for she had continuous vomiting through out the journey till that time. By that time, she was very week and we both were a bit tensed to continue the further trip since the other section is having a bit bigger ghats. But after taking some rest and getting the Darshan of Sri Sarada matha, she looked alright and we felt we can go ahead with the actual plan. We all were really lucky to be in the temple exactly at the time of the Goddess' Pallaki seva which was a feast for the eyes as well as heart. Circumambulating the Sanctum along with the Palanquin left me with great bliss.We reached the peak of satisfaction as we were there till the moment the sanctum closed. The darshan was extraordinary. Thank God!
                                The 2nd day started with the Darshan of Sarada matha, Vidya Shankara alayam and the remaining portion of the temple. Informed by one of our relatives, we were on road to reach the Rishyasringeswara temple where the Rishi Rishyasringa and His wife Santa Devi merged with Lord Shiva in the form of Lingam. This place is Just 8 KM away from Sringeri. We enjoyed the serenity of Sirimane falls too which is just 4 KM from this place and as we finished this, it was time for the temple to reopen. So thus God planned not to send us back empty handed. The Lingam here has Lord Shiva on the back side and Rishyasringa on the front side (of course, it was not very clearly visible.)

                                                   
Then we headed towards Kollur which was sanctified by the touch of Sri Sankaracharya and the Goddess Mookambika. The little and cute idol of Mookambika is a pleasure Darshan. Travelling with sea on both the sides of the road, we reached Gokarna by late evening and proceeded for the darshan of Lord Mahabaleshwara. Being a week day, there was very nominal crowd and we had a peaceful darshan. We thought of halting there for that night, but there was not at least one good option. So we were on the road towards Murudeshwas and halted at Kumta where we stayed in a hotel during the previous trip.
                             The room and food at Hotel in Kumta proved worthy and we had enough of relaxation. So the next day trip was initiated with the darshan of Lord ganesha at Idagunji followed by Murudeshwar.

                                                       

                                     
My in-laws liked this place very very much. They enjoyed thoroughly the architectural and scenic beauty of this place. We even enjoyed the sea-side lunch in the hotel here. Next was the call from Chinni Krishna of Udipi with special diamond decoration for that day.  We then hurried to Dharmasthala and then to Kukke for night halt. The darshans at all the places were very peaceful and joyful as there was very least crowd in all the places.
                          It was a 2 day stay in Kukke since we took the ticket for the Sarpa Samskara puja. After finishing the puja, we were instructed to directly reach home. That was thus a 5 day trip with great darshans and powerful surroundings and still powerful grace of God.

Route:

DAY-1
Bangalore-Chennaraya patna- Hasan- Belur- 1st left at Belur petrol bunk- Kottigere-Kalasa.
Kalasa- Hornadu
Hornadu- Kalasa- Balehole- Magundi- Balehannur- Jayapura- Sringeri.

DAY-2
Sringeri- Kigga (Rishyasringeswara Temple)
Kigga- Sirimane falls
Sringeri- Agumbe- Mudabadri- Vandse- Kollur
Kollur- Baiyandur-Shiroor- Murudeshwar- Gokarna
Gokarna- Kumta

DAY-3
Kumta- Idagunji (take left after 10KM from Honnavar to reach this Ganapathi temple)
Idagunji- Murudeshwar
Murudeshwar- Udipi
Udipi- Dharmasthala
Dharmasthala- Kukke

DAY-4
Sarpa samskara puja at Kukke

DAY-5
Finished the Puja and were back on road to Bangalore
Kukke- Gundya- Hasan- Bangalore.

Srisailam-The place where Shiva comes down every evening

                         In the holy month of Karthika masa, nothing else can be considered a greater gift from god than visiting the kailasa on the earth, Sri sailam. I was really surprised when i happened to know that my husband was planning a surprise tour to Srisailam during my Bday. I felt, I was really blessed. He knows well, nothing else can make me more delighted than being in a holy presence. Thank god for blessing me with such a great soul mate who considers my interest to that extent. In one way that is a combined journey towards the path of devotion.

                                         

           And there we were on the roads early in the morning on Saturday, 8th December at 4.30 and were at the destination by 1.30 in the after noon. Credit of the joyful tour even goes to my sister's family who booked a room in advance for us there since it was very tough to get accommodation on the spot, it being a combination of 2nd Saturday, Sunday and the last Monday of Karthika masa. Depositing the luggage in the room of Karikala Satram and having our lunch, we headed to the temple for Dhooli Darshanam which is believed to be very significant in this particular kshetra. (No matter whatever you did during your journey, i.e; attending nature calls, sleeping, eating or anything which is generally believed to make us unfit for darhan of god; even without washing your feet or changing the clothes, one has to proceed to the main temple sanctum to get the darshan. This may denote the intensity of your desire to see the god, irrespective of how we are, exactly like the way we do when we go to meet a very dearest person).
                   When we went into the main temple, the queue was stopped some time for some reason and we took the Rs 100/- ticket and finished the darshan in not more than 1 hour.
      The lingam of Lord Shiva is tiny in size, (not in power) but the Darshan was very heart-filling. Then we even had the darshan of Goddess Bhramarambika and returned to the room to relax for some time since it was a long and continuous drive for my husband.
                        During the night, we were in the long queue to get the ticket for the next day's Abhishekam and Kumkuma puja. After around 2 hours of waiting, we were left with the right to worship the Lord the next Day, it being Ekadasi. We again went for a darshan of the Lord, this time we went one step nearer to the god.
                              The time slot we were allotted is at 7.30 AM and out serial no. is 299 for the Abhishekam. After being present in the very big hall in the group of samuhika Abhisheka performed with a big Kalasa, we were allowed into the main Garbha ghiha to pour the Abhishekam water on the Lord personally and were allowed to touch Him. What a joy it was to touch the head to the Lingam that fits in both the hands thus taking us into the protection of his hands! The Kumkuma puja to the goddess was also samuhika and here too we were left with immense joy to get the feast of Bhramaramba's Darshan. Thank god for everything.
                         That evening was a visit to the remaining local temples. The first spot was Sakshi ganapathi where one has to register his gotra and name so that Lord Ganesha remains a witness to the Srisaila Darhan. Next was Phala Dhara- Pancha Dhara, the holy place where Lord Adi Shankaracharya performed his penance.

                               
 The most popular Sikhara darshan was the next and it took a lot of time there due to the rush. Since we were still not in a position to clear all our prarabdhas, we were unable to see the sikhara and we're sure to have punarjanma as the saying goes "Srisaila sikharam drushtwa punarjanma na vidyate".

                                      
                        The next spot was the most awaited Punananda Ashram in Sunnipenta, few KM's away form the main temple. The very peaceful surroundings in the ashram leaves anyone with lightened hearts and we were surely blessed to step in such an environment. In one room there was the samadhi and statue of Sri Purnananda swami and another room consisted of the pictures of his Parama guru and Paramesthi Guru Sri Rakhadi Baba and Sri Nityananda Bhagavan respectively. The photos of Swami placed in the Yaga sala really left me spellbound. They were simply amazing. even the statue of the Swami looked awesome and especially the feet of Him were imprinted in my heart, I can still see them before my eyes.

                                        

     The temple of Veera Shankara (Sikhareswara) was very peaceful thre next day morning and we felt the darshan of the sikhara here mentally and left for the remaining drive.
                           The 3rd and the last day of the tour was no less powerful, we being in the presence of Lord Tripurantakeswara and Goddess Bala Tripura sundari. The goddess here is incarnated in a well.

                               
 With the blessings and grace thus collected, we were back at home at 10 in the night with a very memorable and happy bday and one of the best tours as a gift form my husband.

Route: Bangalore-Kurnool-Nandikotkur-Atmakur-Dornal-Srisailam
          Dornal-Tripurantakam distane is 40KM
 Road is excellent except for a stretch of 15 KM Appriximately near Atmakur.
 The road to Tripurantakam too is very good.

The sloka to be recited during the sikhara darshana:
   Vrushasya vrushanam sprishtwa Sringa madhye sivalayam
   Drishtwa kshanam naro yati kailase siva sannidhau

       Not to forget to remember that Srisaila is still sanctified by the touch of Sri pada Srivallabha and Sri Nrisimha Saraswathi and many other saints too.

Palani and Kodai-Finishig the long tour

Day 6:

      This is the day of our marriage anniversary and we were in the holy presence of Lord Subrahmanya in Palani.  One can witness great scenic beauty while going up through steps which are roughly 700 in number. There is also the facility to go up by winch. The Lord here is called Dandayutha pani. Some people even carry a Kavadi as an offering to the Lord while going on foot.

                                                         

  There is one Uchchi Kala puja that starts exactly at 12 in the afternoon. The Rs 150/- ticket is issued from 11.30 and one can be in the presence of the Lord for around 40 minutes in this seva. We can see the Abisheka, Alankara, Archana, and aaratis of different varieties during this seva. This is really a nice seva to enjoy the presence of the Lord. Thus finishing the darshan of the Lord in all possible ways, we came down the steps and were on the way to Kodai kanal that was 60KM from Palani.

                                        

               The last destination came to be Kodai which offered a wonderful weather and a very pleasant drive through the ghat. The beauty around is far beyond the description. Simply awesome.

   We stayed the night there in Raahat inn hotel and did a little shopping in the night. For vegetarian food, the Astoria and woodland restaurants offer a good choice.

Day 7:

      The finishing day started with the sightseeing in Kodai kanal and was ended with boating in the beautiful Kodai lake. All the points to be seen are in an easy root and there is no need to waste money on guides here. After having spent a considerable time there, we planned to leave for Bangalore the same day so that 2 days could be reserved for relaxation. And yes, we were at home at 12 in the night to mark a full-stop to our long tour.

  THANK GOD FOR GIVING US COMFORT IN ALL THE WAYS THROUGH OUT THE TRIP AND GUIDING US IN THE PROPER WAY EACH MOMENT.KEEP SHOWERING YOUR GRACE ON US ALL THE WHILE.   

DRIVING THROUGH CAUVERY DELTA -Day 5

Day 5:

      This day started in a relatively leisure way since we were in the company of relatives, Pavan-Mallika and Pavan’s father. We decided to limit the day to Madhurai local darshan so that Sreeram could relax a bit. Lord Venkateswara at the Azhagar Kovil was the first to bless us on that day. This very old temple is around 20KM from the town and is very well maintained and kept sacred. The main idol of Vishnu is very beautiful. His consort is Sundara valli Thayar. The sannidhi of Lord Narasimha is excellent, the roof of which has been left open so that his anger may be let out. The Chakrat Alwar, Lord in Sudarshana Chakra, is a fulfledged murthy and the Pujari here impressed me a lot. He was reciting the mantras in a very clear and understandable way which we generally can’t find. Round the sudarshana chakra are the idols of different Gayatri mata. There are as many monkies as the devotees.

                                               

                 Climbing a small hill takes us to the shrine of Amman where people queue for the sacred water that comes from far forests carrying medicinal values. Coming down a little, we found the Pazhamudircholai, the last of the Aru Padiveedu. It is the only Padaiveedu where the main altar is with both his consorts Valli and Devasena. After lunch, we did shopping for steel items and were back at home in the afternoon.

                                          

                         In the evening, we started to reach the first of the Aru Padaiveedu, Thiruparankundram, which is just 8KM from the town. This is the place where Lord Subrahmanya married Devasena, the daughter of Indra. The lord is found seated on ground here. Late in the evening, on this day of Dasara, we were blessed to be in the presence of Goddess Meenakshi devi who welcomed us with beautifully decorated mantapas and lighting. Since Abishekam was going on at that time, we were forced to wait there and we stated reading the Lalitha Sahasra namam. As we finished, the goddess was ready with great Alankaram to grant us her darhsan and blessings. The joy of the darshan was simple far out of description. I was just speechless. How graceful the Lord is to us to take us to such a presence on such a special day!  We were blessed.

               Next we went to the presence of Lord Sundareswara and were there for a considerable time and then finished visiting all other important places in the temple complex. We were back at home with memories to cherish for a lifetime.

DRIVING THROUGH CAUVERY DELTA -Day4

DAY-4:

      Vaitheeswaran is more popular for its Nadi Jyothisham than the Lord Vaitheeswarar and the adobe of graham Mars (Angaraka). It is believed that Shiva came down to this sthala to heal 4448 ailments, including those of mind. Along with him came the goddess Theiyyal nayaki, bearing a pot of healing oil, the sanjeevini herb and the mud from the roots of Vilvam tree (Indian Fig), all of which have curative powers.

   The Lingam in the main sanctum is tiny one but its power of healing is believed to be amazing.

          One of the Navagrahas, Angaraka, worshipped here is believed to be a fiery graham. But in this temple he appears to be smiling and benign.

For those interested in Astrology, this is an interesting place since it is the center for the practitioners of Nadi Jyothisha. I was a bit curious about that but since Sreeram has got no interest in that, we were out of that place with total happiness after the darshan of Lord Shiva.

At around 8.15 in the morning, we started our drive towards Chidambaram and on the way we were at Seerkazhi, the temple of Sattanatha swami.

Sthala puranam:

This is the place where the 3 year old Thiru Jnana sambandhar sang his first Thevaram (set of 10 verses). The toddler has been left on the banks of the temple tank, Brahma Teertha, while his father went to bathe there. The hungry child wept for milk. Legend goes that Shiva sent Parvathi to feed the child. The Goddess drew the milk from her breast into a golden cup and fed the child from it. Instantly Sambandhar was enlightened. When his father returned from his bath and, seeing the dribble of milk around his son’s mouth, asked him who had fed him. Sambandhar pointed to the sanctum of the temple and burst into song “thodudaiya seviyan….” (he wore an ear ring, rode the bull, the moon was in his hair and all over his body he had rubbed the ash from the funeral pyres- he who stole my heart…..).

                                                     

                There are 3 sanctums of Shiva in this temple-the main sanctum had Brahma pureeswara and is at ground level. Climbing steep steps to a higher level, we reach the sanctum of Thoniappar. Here are seated impressively large idols of Lord Shiva and Parvathi. Thoniappar is Shiva rowing a boat through the floods of the pralaya. Climbing further flight of steps takes us to the sanctum of Sattanathar. The sanctum is not kept open all the times. The forms of Lord Shiva and Vishnu can be seen incarnated on the same stone here.

We can find a small sanctum for Jnana sambandhar too which makes us recall the importance of the kshetra.

                   The next milestone was Chidambaram, the temple of cosmic dancer.

This is again a feast to watch. The temple complex is very huge and has got lot of specialties to witness. The sanctum having the idols of Shiva as Nataraja, Shiva kama Sundari and the Aakasa Lingam is very comfortably seen even from a distance. Standing exactly opposite to that a little far, if we move our head a little left, we can see the very amazing Thillai Govinda Perumal in the laying pose. This really stole my heart. The sanctum of Urdhwa pada Shiva is again a wonder. Near to this, the sthala puranam of Thirukkadaiyur, where the Lord Shiva rescues his young devotee Markandeya from Yama is depicted in pictures in an interesting way. We can go to the top to go still near to the main idols and watch them carefully. Then at particular time, the screen is drawn aside to show us the Aakasa lingam which has literally nothing except a garland of golden Bilwa dalas hanging to the wall. This symbolizes that the lord is infinite just as the sky and he can’t be fitted into a small limited rupa. The natya mantapa in the temple complex tempts the dance practitioners and its beauty is worth watching.

                                          
                     The temple of Tillai Kali Amman is located few miles from this main temple. Legend says that as per the rule of their competition, whoever loses the context of dance between Shiva and parvathi should go out of the village. Then Shiva, as a last refuge, lifts his leg high into the sky and Parvathi was thus declared the loser and she went to the outskirts. Here are 2 idols one ugra and the other depicting the Shanta murty. Ugra rupa is called-Thillai Kali and tha Shanta Rupa is called the Brahma Chamundi.   

               After having spent a considerable time in these temples, we turned around towards Vaitheeswaran. On the way, we tried our luck and drove towards Thirukkadaiyur. Here the goddess proved more kind towards us and blessed us with a great darshan but the Lord Amrita Ghateswara wanted us to come there again so hid himself behind the doors. This was a chasing seen for us since the temple closes at 1 o’clock. We were able to reach there by 12.50 but, the sanctum of the lord was already closed by that time. Even then, we had a very fulfilling darshan of the goddess Abhirami.

Sthala puranam:

     When the devas and asuras carried away the pot of nectar from the churning ocean, they set it down in this kshetra to bathe. When they returned from their ablutions, they found that the pot had turned into a lingam and had grown so deep into the ground that its base reached the netherworld. So the ‘Lord of the pot of nectar’ stayed in this kshetra and it came to be called (thiru) divine, (kadai) churning, (ur) place-thirukkadaiur.

Many people come here to celebrate their 60^th or 80^th birth days. It was here that the ideal son of a pious couple, Markandeya doomed to die at 16, embraced the lingam in the fear of death. Yama threw his rope at this boy. It fell around the lingam. An incensed Shiva emerged, slew yama and granted immortality to Markandeya.

                                                     
            The shrine of Goddess Abhirami is in separate enclosure. Abhirama Bhattar was a poet and devotee of the goddess. Once, Bhattar was meditating on the moon like radiance of the goddess’ face on an Amavasya day. At the same time, the chola king of that place came there and asked him what day it was. Still meditating on Abhirami’s face, the poet replied without hesitation, ”it is a full-moon day.” The incensed king ordered him to prove him that it was a full-moon day, or else he was to be put to death. It was near the flagstaff that the poet sat, above a pit of burning coals, singing his Antadi to move the deity to make the full-moon appear in the dark night. As Bhattar neared the desperate end of his 100 verse Antadi, Goddess Abhirami flung her Thatankam (ear ring) into the sky where it shone radiant as the full moon and her devotee was saved.  (Antadi means every slokam starts with the word with which the previous slokam ends).

After having a spectaculars grace of the Amman showered on us, we went back to the hotel at Vaitheeswaran, had lunch and started at 3 PM to reach Madhurai at 8.30PM.

Route: Vaitheeswaran-Mailaduthurai-Kumbhakonam bye pass-Tanjore-Madhurai.

DRIVING THROUGH CAUVERY DELTA -Day 3

AROUND KUMBHAKONAM       

  The yatra of day 3 started at 5.30 in the morning and the first shot was at Swamimalai, one of the Aru padaiveedu (6 sacred subrahmanya kshetras in Tamilnadu).

Sthalapuranam:

       Swaminatha swamy is Jnanam personified. Here even his vel (spear) is not a weapon of war but a tool of enlightenment. There was a lovely legend to explain this. It is in Swamimalai that Subrahmanya , Shiva’s younger son, explained  the meaning of Pranava mantra, OM, to his father. Once, as a child, Subrahmanya asked Brahma whether he knew the meaning of OM. As Brahma had no answer, Subrahmanya imprisoned him in a fit of anger and took over the work of creation himself. A perturbed Shiva ordered his son to release Brahma. The boy-god did so, but only because he could not disobey his father. A mollified Shiva then asked Subrahmanya to tell him the meaning of OM. As it was a secret, Subrahmanya asked his father to come close. Befitting his status as guru, Subrahmanya sat at a higher level while, as a student, Shiva sat at a lower level and brought his ear close to his son’s lips and was thus preached the meaning of OM. As Subrahmanya, at that moment, became the Nathan(Lord or teacher) of Shiva(Swami), he is Swaminathan. In Tamil, this is Thagappan Swami (the lord of the father).

                                 
    The idol of Swaminathan in the main sanctum is majestic. The statue holds the Dandayutham (staff or club) in the right hand and the left rests lightly on the thigh in a pose of great strength and calm. The inference is that Shiva and Swaminatha have merged in this idol.

            We next stopped at Thiruvalanchuzhi. (Note that ‘zh’ in the word is pronounced as ‘la’ in common). The principal deity here is Kapartheeswara and his consort is Brihan nayaki. Over time, however, it has come to be known as Vinayaka Sthala. A tiny white vinayaka murthy welcomes us into the temple at the entrance. This is believed to be made from the sea foam during the ksheera sagara mathanam.

                                                  

Our next destination was Patteswaram, where the lord Dhenupureeswara with Maa Durga takes shelter and showers his grace.

Sthala puranam:

 Here Parvathi did penance, standing on one leg, in order to marry Shiva.  The heavenly cow Kamadhenu too did worship Shiva here thus giving the lord the name Dhenupureeswara. Kamadhenu’s daughter Patti worshipped Shiva by showering her milk on the lingam, thus comes the name Patteeswaram. The more recent legend says when the child saint Thiru Jnana sambandhar walked here on a hot day, to visit the temple Shiva bid his invisible ganas to hold a pearl canopy over his head, to shelter his devotee from heat. Then, eager to see how beautiful this most beloved of his devotees looked under the pearl canopy, Shiva ordered Nandi to move aside so that he could see sambandhar walk towards him. And yes, the nandi moved aside; so, in fact, did all three nandis in a row.

                                                   

       The idol of Durga is unusually tall and has a great presence. She stands, one foot forward, atop the head of buffalo-faced Mahishasura. Her mount, the Lion, crouches behind her. She is 8 armed and carries weapons in all hands, save one, in which she holds a parrot.  

                         Then driving again towards Kumbhakonam, we encountered Darasuram which is famous for its Airavateeswara temple. This was declared as a UNESCO world heritage site. The hall of the main sanctum has been built at a height in the shape of a chariot.

                                                    

Legend has it that Indra’s elephant Airavatha worshipped shiva here and the lord took the name of the devotee. The goddess here is Periya nayaki. We met a guide there who explained us in detail about the ruins of the sculptures placed in a room that were the result of the attacks by the muslim rulers in olden days.

                       The next stop is at Thirunageswaram, the famous navagraha temple for Rahu. Lord Shiva is worshipped here as Naganatha swami with consort Artha Chandra Gujambika and Giri gujambika. The Rahu graham is adorned with 2 consorts Naga valli and Naga kannan. The idol of Girigujambika is as described in the namam “Sa chamara rama vani savya dakshina sevitha” which means she is flanked by Lakshmi and Saraswathi.

                                            

   The milk poured in Abhishwkam to Rahu is said to turn blue as it flows over the body and regains its white color once it reaches his feet.

The next very interesting temple we visited was that of Uppiliapan. This is also known as Venkatachalapathi swami temple whose name Uppiliappan means he who eats no salt.

Sthala puranam:

Long ago goddess Mahalakshmi was incarnated as a beautiful 2 year old girl in the Tulsi grove where the temple now stands. She was named Bhumi devi and was brought up by Rishi Markandeya. When the girl reached marriageable age, one of the suitors who approached the sage for her hand was an elderly and frail brahmachari. The dismayed sage tried to put off the wholly inappropriate proposal by saying that his daughter would be unsuitable as she was too young to even know how to put salt in the food. But the stubborn suitor said, “Never mind. I still want to marry your daughter.” The desperate sage closed his eyes and prayed to Vishnu to deliver him from this terrible situation. When he opened his eyes again, the old man had vanished. In his place, stood a youthful, handsome Vishnu himself. After the wedding was performed in a heavenly manner by the devas, the bridegroom announced that since his wife was too young to know how to put salt in the food, he would partake of only saltless food in this sthala. This tradition continues even today.

                                                   

The idol is flanked by the kneeling figures of Bhumidevi and Markandeya Rishi, the only place where the father-in-law is seated and the son-in-law stands in respect before him. (Just kidding)

                              While searching the way for the next point Ayyavadi, we were on a way wrong route and were blessed by the darshan of another very important temple which is one of the 108 Divya Desams. That is Nachiar Kovil. Here in this place, the goddess gets more priority than the Lord so she was seen straight from the mukhadwara and the Lord is seen standing a bit aside.

                                     

 Speciality:

The impressive idol of Kal Garuda is the speciality of this temple. Twice during the year the Kal Garuda is taken out of his shrine to serve as Srinivasa’s mount in the procession. It takes 4 men to carry the garuda out of his sanctum. As they carry him out, he seems to become heavier and they need 8 men, then 16 and so on until 64 men are required to carry him out of the temple and 128 to move him in the procession. His weight seems to decrease in the same proportion on the return journey until only 4 men are required to carry him back into his sanctum. Huge crowds turn out at the festivals to see this phenomenon.    

    The last point for this section of the day was Ayyavadi, the adobe of Sri Pratyanga devi, an ugra devatha. This goddess is believed to be worshipped by Indrajit, son of Rvana and even Pandavas. The Homam performed here is the interesting thing where at the end of the homam, chillis are thrown into the fire which results in no odor or inconvenience. No Abhishekam is performed to the deity here only punugu is applied. (a kind of oil)

                            Can you believe, the above all took only half of the day since they are all located very near to each other.

                 After a power nap in kumbhakonam hotel, (filling bellies with good food at Murugan hotel needs no mention) we were again ready for attack to Tirubhuvanam at 3.30PM. This place is famous for handmade silk sarees, but the actual range starts from Rs 6000/-. So we just had the darshan of the Lord Sarabha murthy which is a mix form of Kali, Shiva, Narasimha and Durga. This Lord is known as Kampa hareeswara.

                                            
The next location is Thiruvidai marudur, known as Madhyarjunam(from Sri Chaganti Koteswara rao gari speeches).

The deity here is Mahalingeswara and his consort is Brihat sundara kuchambal. Muukambika is also having a separate shrine here in the same complex.

Sthala puranam:

     This kshetra is in the middle region between Varanasi and Rameswaram and is considered as holy as the other two. The mode of worship is believed to be laid down by Lord Shiva himself. The massive nandi facing the main sanctum is said to have been much smaller once but began growing to alarming heights. Devotees then hammered nails on its head to stop its growth.

            A bit high up in the wall before the entrance is located the “Brahma hatti sila” the shape of which can’t be understood easily. A chola king who killed a Brahmin got Brahma hatya dosha and he got rid of that dosha by entering the Mahalingeswara temple. People here believe that the brahma hatya dosha clinges to those whoever passes through it again after the darshan of the Lord. So people leave the temple of Mahalingeswara, go to get the darshan of the Amman and go out, not to cross the sila twice before leaving the temple.  
                 After having heart-filling darshan of the aaratis at Madhyarjunam kshetra, we vacated the hotel at Kumbhakonam and headed towards Chidamram via Mailaduthurai. Noticing a nice hotel Aksharadham at Vaitheeswaran, we halted there for that night. That proved a wise decision since the service, food and location proved to be very pleasant.