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Sunday, November 29, 2015

Gangaikonda Cholapuram, Ariyalur

Gangaikonda Cholapuram, Ariyalur
Gangaikonda Cholapuram – General Information
Gangaikonda Cholapuram – Greatness of the Temple
Gangaikonda Cholapuram – History
Gangaikonda Cholapuram – City & Fortifications
Gangaikonda Cholapuram – Gangaikondacholan Lake
Gangaikonda Cholapuram - Architecture
Gangaikonda Cholapuram - Sculptures
Gangaikonda Cholapuram – Chalukya & Kalinga Sculptures
Gangaikonda Cholapuram – Maalikai Medu (Ruins of Rajendra Chola Palace)
Gangaikonda Cholapuram – Minor Shrines
Gangaikonda Cholapuram - Bronzes
Gangaikonda Cholapuram – Epigraphs
Gangaikonda Cholapuram – In Literatures
Gangaikonda Cholapuram – Rajendra Cholan Site Museum
Gangaikonda Cholapuram – Daily Pooja Timings
Gangaikonda Cholapuram - Pictures
Gangaikonda Cholapuram - Connectivity

Krishnarayapuram Tirukkanmalleswarar Temple, Karur

Krishnarayapuram Tirukkanmalleswarar Temple, Karur 
Tirukkanmalleswarar Temple is located in Krishnarayapuram village in Karur is a famous temple. This place is also called Sithalavai. The presiding deity is Lord Shiva. The temple has a beautiful small sanctum sanctorum. The distance between Krishnarayapuram to Karur District is 24.3 km.
Connectivity
By Road: Buses are available from all places in Karur to reach this temple which is 24km away.
By Train: After reaching railway station is Karur Railway Station which is 29km away to reach Tirukkanmalleswarar temple. From here Buses and Taxis are available.
By Flight: The nearest airport is Tiruchirapalli International Airport which is located at a distance of 77 km from the town. After reaching Madukkarai, Buses and Taxis are available to visit this temple.

Vasantha perumal Temple, Kadavur, Karur

Vasantha perumal Temple, Kadavur, Karur
Vasantha perumal Temple is located in Kadavur village in Karur is a famous temple. The presiding deity is Lord Vishnu. The temple has a beautiful small sanctum sanctorum. The distance between Kadavur to Karur District is 57.1 km.
Connectivity
By Road: Buses are available from all places in Karur to reach this temple.
By Train: The nearest railway station to Kadavur is Valyampatti which is located in and around 14.8 kilometer distance. After reaching railway station in Valyampatti travel up to Kadavur. Buses and Taxis are available to visit this temple.
By Flight: The nearest airport is Tiruchirapalli International Airport which is located at a distance of 77 km from the town. After reaching Kadavur village, Buses and Taxis are available to visit this temple.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Pazhuvur Shiva Temples, Ariyalur

Pazhuvur Shiva Temples, Ariyalur 
Pazhuvur region has four Shiva Temple Complexes from the times of the Pazhuvettarayars and the Chola kings. This clan was ruling the area under the bigger umbrella of the Chola Empire. Pazhuvur is situated on the Tiruchi – Ariyalur highway, the Pazhuvur Temples can be found in three sectors called Keezha Pazhuvur (lower area on the east), Mela Pazhuvur (upper area on the west) and Keezhayur.



All the three temples are said to have been worshipped by Sage Jamadagni and his illustrious son, Parasurama, the wielder of the axe and sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Pazhuvettarayar (Paluvettaraiyar) became famous in the modern world through the famous Tamil author and editor Kalki’s Tamil classic called ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ This serialized novel is full of royal intrigue and vengeance and the Pazhuvettaraiyar brothers were behind all the treachery.




History
Paluvettaraiyar were petty chiefs who ruled the present Kila-Paluvur and Mela-Paluvur, in the Udaiyarpalaiyam taluk of the Tiruchirapalli district, during Chola kingdom with the title Paluvettaraiyar. They were responsible for a number of benefactions to the temples at this place and were known to have been related to the Cholas by marriage. About a dozen records pertaining to this dynasty have been found.




When Uraiyur was the capital of the Chola kingdom, many local kings became their supporters and vassals. One of them called Pazhuvettarayar was the king of Pazhuvoor. The name of Periya Pazhuvettarayar was Ambalavaanan and is mentioned in the ASI board displayed outside the Keezha Pazhuvur Temple. Another famous general, Paluvettaraiyar Maravan Kandanar served Uttama Chola. A battle-hardened old warrior and a powerful nobleman, he was Sundara Chozhan's treasurer as well.  His son, Kumaran Maravan also served Uttama Chola.




Ambalavan Pazhuvurnakkan (also known as Vikramachola - Maharajan of Kuvalalam) features during Uttama Chola's rule and continues into Rajaraja I's reign. The Pazhuvettaraiyars, related to the Cholas by marriage, were responsible for a number of donations to the Pazhuvur Temples. Inscriptions say that in the 12th year of Parantaka Chozhan, Paluvettaraiyar Kandan Amudanar fought a victorious battle at Vellore against the forces of the Pandya king and his Ceylonese ally, in which the Pandya lost his life.




Keezha Pazhuvur’s Alanduraiyappar Temple finds mention in the hymns of Thevaram sung by Thirugnana Sambandar, the poet-saint of Tamil literature. The hymn says that the temple rituals were conducted by priests from Kerala who settled down in this area. Legend says that Parasurama, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu and creator of the land of Kerala, brought them to conduct the Poojas and rituals of Alanduraiyappar Temple. Some scholars say that the Pazhuvettarayars, who belonged to the land of Parasurama, may have encouraged their migration.




This shrine was rebuilt in granite during the reign of Paranthaka Chola I. It contains inscriptions of the Emperor describing his victory at Vellore over the Pandyas. Another inscription of Parakesarivarman says that the temple was reconstructed by Pazhuvettarayar Maravan Kandan. A third important inscription says that the temple originally built with bricks had to be rebuilt as it was facing ruin. It was rebuilt by Ilangesan during the period of Kulothunga Chola and renamed as Kulothunga Choleeswaram.




Ambalavan Pazhuvur Nakkan figures very often in the records of the kings Parakesari and Rajakesari. His Chola overlords were Uttama Chola and Rajaraja I. Vikrama Chola was the title of Uttama Chola and his subordinate Ambalavan Paluvur Nakkan also bore the same title. Similarly, when he figures in the records of Rajaraja-I, he is known as Ambalavam Puluvur Nakkan alias Pazhuvarayan and he figures as one of the noble men of the king's council. He was a devotee of Shiva. Both Melapazhuvur and Keezhayur were collectively known as Perum Pazhuvur during the Chola reign.
Inscriptions
Paluvettaraiyar, a Chera Mutharayar figures largely in the inscriptions copied at Kila-Paaluvur and Mela-Paluvur in the Tiruchchirappalli District. A.R. No. 231 of 1926 dated in the 12th year of Parantaka, that Paluvettaraiyar Kandan Amudanar fought, on behalf of his Chola overlord, a victorious battle at Vellur against the forces of the Pandya king and his Ceylonese ally, in which the Pandya lost his life. To commemorate this success the Commander Nakkan Sattan of Paradur made a gift of a perpetual lamp to the temple of Tiruvalandurai-Mahadeva at Siru-Paluvur. It is perhaps this Amudanar who is referred to in the Anbil Plates of Sundara Chola as a Kerala prince whose daughter was married to Parantaka I and bore him prince Arinjaya By ‘Kerala prince’ should be meant a relation of the Chera king.


Kandan Maravan figures in two inscriptions, dated in the 4th and 7th years of Rajakesarivarmna identified with Rajaraja I, and is also mentioned in two epigraphs of the 15th and 16th year of Parakesarivarman Uttama-Chola, similarly records are found of Maravan Kandan covering about the same period in the 10th and 12th years of Rajakesarivarman Sundara-chola and between the 9th and 15th years of Parakesari Uttama-Chola.


It appears as though these two chiefs were brothers who are stated in a record of the 12th year of Parakesari (Uttama-chola) from Udaiyargudi to have made a gift of land to the temple on behalf of his own younger brother Kandan Satrubhayankaran. It is also likely that he was known by the name Vikramaditya, whose wife Raman Koviyar is recorded to have made a gift of sheep for a lamp to the temple at Kila-Paluvur in the 8th year Uttama-Chola Parakesari.

Temples
Shiva temples from the times of the Pazhuvettarayars and the Chola kings can be found in the Pazhuvur region and listed as below;
Alanduraiyar Temple, Keezha Pazhuvur:
For brief details, please refer below link;
Srinivasa Perumal Temple, Keezha Pazhuvur:
For brief details, please refer below link;

Ganga Jadeswarar Temple, Govindaputtur:
For brief details, please refer below link;
Keezhayur Twin Temples:
For brief details, please refer below link;
Sundareswarar Temple, Mela Pazhuvur:
For brief details, please refer below link;
Connectivity
This place is located at a distance of 15 Kms from Ariyalur, 35 Kms from Thanjavur & 53 Kms from Trichy.
By Road: This place is well connected to Ariyalur which is in turn connected to major cities in Tamilnadu
By Train: Ariyalur is the nearest Railway Station
By Air: Trichy is the nearest domestic & International Airport. 

Vaidyanatha Swamy Temple, Thirumazhapadi, Ariyalur

Vaidyanatha Swamy Temple, Thirumazhapadi, Ariyalur
Vaidyanatha Swamy Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in Thirumazhapadi Village near Thirumanur in Ariyalur Taluk in Ariyalur District of Tamil Nadu. Presiding Deity is called as Vaidyanatha Swamy / Vajrathambeswarar / Vajrathampanathar / Vairathoonnadhar / Mazhuvadeeswarar and Mother is called as Sundarambigai / Azhagammai & Balambigai. There are two Ambika shrines in this Temple.





It is one of the shrines of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams - Shiva Sthalams glorified in the early medieval Thevaram poems by Tamil Saivite Nayanars TirugnanasambandarTirunavukkarasar and Sundarar. This Temple is considered as the 108th Devaram Padal Petra Sthalam and 54th sthalam on the northern side of river Cauvery in Chozha Nadu. The Kollidam river flows northward here in the vicinity of the temple.




For brief details, please refer below link;
History
For brief details, please refer below link;
The Temple
For brief details, please refer below link;
Temple Opening Time
The temple remains open from 6.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and from 4.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.
Festivals
For brief details, please refer below link;
Literary Mention
For brief details, please refer below link;
Prayers
Those suffering from severe diseases, bathe in the sacred spring and pray to Lord Vaidyanatha Swami. Those suffering from high fever offer boiled rice with rasam to Jurahareswarar and get relief. It is also believed that by visiting this temple unmarried will get married soon. Devotees firmly believe that praying at this temple will result in transfer and promotion.
Contact
Vaidyanatha Swamy Temple,
Thirumazhapadi, Ariyalur Taluk,
Ariyalur District – 621 851
Phone: +91 4329 292 890
Mobile: +91 98433 60716 / 85259 38216 / 97862 05278
Connectivity
The Temple is located at about 700 meters from Thirumazhapadi Bus Stop, 9 Kms from Thirumanur, 15 Kms from Thiruvaiyaru, 17 Kms from Kallakkudi Palanganatham Railway Station, 17 Kms from Pullambadi Railway Station, 17 Kms from Pazhuvur, 27 Kms from Thanjavur, 30 Kms from Ariyalur and 60 Kms from Trichy Airport. One has to travel from Thiruvaiyaru towards north and cross Kollidam river and turn left at Thirumanur to reach Thirumazhapadi. One can reach Thirumazhapadi from Ariyalur also. Bus facility is available from Trichy and Thanjavur. Bus facility is also available from Thirumanur.

Kothandarama Temple, Ariyalur

Kothandarama Temple, Ariyalur
Located in the heart of Ariyalur 1 km west of the bus stand is the Kothandarama Temple, where the bronze idol of the handsome South Facing Rama is believed to date back over 1000 years to the Pallava period with later renovation during the Chozha rule. The East facing Venkatesa Perumal, a later creation, is now the main Moolavar deity at this temple.
However, to this day, the temple continues to be known after the original deity as the Kothandarama Temple of Ariyalur. Rama is seen along with Sita and Lakshmana in a single peedam. 

An interesting feature at the temple is the exquisite over 6 feet tall Dasavaratha idols on either side of the Dasavathara Mandapa, one that was constructed by Vijaya Oppila Mazhava Raya. In recognition of this, one finds his idol at the entrance of the mandapa.
Ariyalur also bears its name from the presence of Lord Vishnu here. ‘Hari Iruntha Oor’, the place where Lord Vishnu resides, in course of time became ‘Ari’ yalur.
History
There are two inscriptions and one Copper plate in this temple. The earliest record is dated to A.D. 1635 and it is engraved in the south base of the main temple. It is damaged and refers to an order of Ariyalur Arasu nilaiyitta Oppila Malavarayar who agreed not to collect some taxes in anju parru nadu in Vitta parru. A Copper plate charter dated to A. D. 1729 and issued during the reign of Arasu nilaiyitta Rangappa Malavarayar refers to the decision reached by the shepherd community (called Ayppadi Gopala vamsattar) to contribute one panam per head and house of their community to this temple during the time of marriages in their families.
Lastly an inscription of A.D. 1742 of Vijaya Oppilada Malavarayar son of Rangappa Malavarayar and grandson of Vijaya Oppilliada Malavarayar mentions a brahmana Venkatapathi Ayyan. However the last two records now disappeared from this temple.

The above records show that this temple came into existence during the period of Arasu Nilaiyitta Oppilada Malavarayar. The portrait sculptures in the Dasavaratara mandapa may be that of this Chief and his Queen. The beautiful ornamental workmanship of the adhishtana, kumbapanchara in the sanctum, Dasavathara sculptures and the Gopura – all make this temple as a beautiful centre of the architectural achievements of the Ariyalur Chief.
Architecture
A Vishnu temple called Kondandaramaswamy Koyil exists in Ariyalur. Though the presiding deity in this temple is Srinivasa perumal it is popularly called as Kondandaramaswamy Koyil because of the existence of a shrine in which Rama, Lakshmana and Sita are enshrined.
The temple faces the east. The main shrine is dedicated to Srinivasa Perumal and His two consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi. It has a garbagruha (15 feet square) and ardhamandapa (17 feet long) and Mahamandapa.
The Kodandaramar shrine is a later addition which is built of chalk stone and attached with the ardhamandapa of the main temple by facing the south. Inside the shrine is installed the stone sculptures of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita on a Pitha and bronze images of them are also in the shrine. It is said that the idols were found from the Kollidam river bank near Vikramangalam and brought here by a Chief of Ariyalur who built a shrine and installed the deities in it.

In front of the main temple is built a spacious mandapa called Dasavathara mandapa. Four rows of pillars (20 feet height) with 10 pillars in each row are set up in the mandapa. In these pillars the figures of the ten avatars of Vishnu are carved out. The figure is about 6.6 feet high. At the entrance of the row, the sculptures of a Chief and his Queen are also carved out.
The whole complex is surrounded by a raised compound wall and a 6 storied Gopura (90 feet height) is built at the entrance. The basement of the Gopura is built of chalk stone and the upper stories are built of brick and mortar. A shrine for Garuda is built in front of the Gopura. A tank called Kodanda pushkarani is excavated in the southern side of the temple.
The Alarmelmangai Pushkarani (sacred temple tank) on the southern side of the temple, which is in a dilapidated state with thick vegetation inside, will also be spruced up.
But for the Garuda vahanam, all the vahanams including that of horse, hanumantha and elephant are still found in the vahana mandapam in a dilapidated state. Festivals that were once celebrated in a grand manner at this temple including Brahmotsavam in the Tamil month of Vaikasi have become sedate over the past several decades with the Vahanas in a broken state. With the construction of new vahanams, plans are to revive the Brahmotsavam and also celebrate the annual festivals including the Theppotsavam inside the big temple tank.
The temple chariot is also in a state of disrepair. In decades gone by, the annual chariot festival used to take place on the Shravanam day in the Tamil month of Vaikasi. Plans are on to reconstruct the chariot and the temple is hopeful of reviving the chariot festival within the next few years. Pavitrotsavam, another sacred festival, which was also an annual feature here, is also being revived.
North Facing Lord Narasimha is seen in four forms inside the Dasavathara Mandapa- Lakshmi Narasimha, Yoga Narasimha, Hiranyavatha Narasimha and Prahalada Narasimha. One finds Lord Narasimha with sharp finger nails that tore apart the Asura, while his foot is placed on the slain Asura King Hiranyakasipu whose son Prahalada is seen in a calm, devoted standing posture.
Dasavathara idols:
An interesting feature at the temple is the exquisite six ft tall Dasavaratha idols, on either side of the Dasavathara mandapam, one that was constructed by Vijaya Oppila Mazhava Raya. In recognition of this, one finds his idol at the entrance of the mandapam.
Lord Narasimha, who is facing north, is seen in four forms inside the Dasavathara mandapam - Lakshmi Narasimha, Yoga Narasimha, Hiranyavatha Narasimha and Prahalada Narasimha. One finds Lord Narasimha with sharp finger nails that tore apart the Asura, while his foot is placed on the slain Asura King Hiranyakasipu, and Prahalada is seen in a calm and devoted standing posture.
While the Dasavathara idols are a few hundred years old, the Kothandarama Sannidhi, originally facing south, with the beautiful bronze idol of a smiling Rama is believed to date back to over 1,000 years (to the Pallava period) with later renovation during the Chola rule. To this day, the temple continues to be known after the original deity as the Kothandarama Temple of Ariyalur even though the East facing Venkatesa Perumal, a later creation, is now the main Moolavar deity at this temple. There is also a separate Sannidhi for both Vishwaksenar and Manavaala Maamunigal on the Northern side.
Festivals
·        Vaikunta Ekadesi with Swarga Vaasal opening
·        Rama Navami  
·     Garuda Sevai Procession on Vaikasi Visakam day is a big highlight at the temple
·        Plans are to revive the Brahmotsavam and Theppotsavam
·        Chariot Festival on Shravanam Vaikasi
Quick Facts
·        Moolavar: Venkatesa Perumal East Facing Standing Posture
·        Thaayar: Alarmel Mangai Thaayar (Separate Sannidhi)
·        Time: 730am-1030am and 5pm-830pm
·        Contact:  Krishna Kumar Bhattar @ 97501 31328
Connectivity
Ariyalur is on the Chennai - Tiruchirapalli rail route. Auto from Ariyalur Railway Station to the temple will cost Rs. 40/-. When here, also visit Kaliyuga Varadaraja Perumal temple at Kallankurichi, 6kms east of this temple.

References