Ratha Sapthami 2012

Ratha Sapthami 2012

This years Ratha Sapthami falls on 30th January 2012.      The sapthami during waxing phase of moon, Sukhla Paksha in the month of Magara is the day celebrated as Ratha Sabthami.   According to Hindu belief, Sun God rides a chariot with seven horses and a single wheel.  The Pooja for him on this day is carried out especiallly in Maharastra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu.    In orissa, the day is observed as Maha Sapthami.   Though the celebration varies from region to region, a kolam of surya is made generally at all places.    It is said that the earth's inclination is the highest towards the Sun on the Ratha Sapthami day.  The temperature in South India increases steadily from here and heralds spring and the new years of Ugadi and Tamil New year.     In Tamilnadu, the practice is to take bath with Erukku (Arka patra) leaves.  The sloga told at this bathing time is:


“Saptha Saptha Maha Saptha, Saptha Dweepa Vasundara, Sapth Arka Parna Madaya, Sapthamyam Snana Machareth”. 

Thiruvallarai Pundarikasha Perumal temple

Thiruvallarai is famous because of the beautiful temple of Pundarikasha Perumal.      The temple is at a good distance of a kilometre from the bus stand in the main road, that is connecting Mannachanallur and Thuraiyur.        Town buses with no.27B, from Trichy chathiram bus stand go to this temple itself.       Frequencies may force people to take up long distance buses and some of these operators do not take in passengers going to Thiruvallarai.      Vellarai means white stone and the temple is atop of a very small hillock and the colour of the hill is white.  Hence the place is called Vellarai.     This can also be reached from Thirupangneeli side.   The picture below shows the road leading to the temple and temple's dilapidated Gopuram.

   

Thiruvallarai is approximately 27 kms from Tiruchy and can be reached via Mannachanallur.    This temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams and supposed to be 4 yugas old.     Once Markandeya Rishi was in Penance at this place when Maharaja Sibi Chakravarty came with his warriors and put up tents and stayed here.   Once a white boar (Swetha Varaham) crossed and the raja chased it and it entered into a hole.      When the Raja told this to Markandeya Rishi, he asked the Raja to perform Milk Abhisekha to the hole.   While performing the Milk abisheka to the hole, Lord Vishnu appeared from the hole.   Markendeya Maharishi asked the Raja to bring in 3700 Vaishnavites from the north and build a temple here.   Raja Sibi Chakravarty followed what Markendeya Rishi said.    But as he was building the temple, one of the vaishnavites among 3700 died, and Vishnu himself came as a vaishnavite and asked the worrying Raja to count him, to have the desired number.   A closer look of the dilapidated entry Gopuram is in the following photo.

Efforts are on to renovate the temple and attend to it, by the devotees.     The Moolavar of this sthalam is Pundarikashan and Thayar is Shenbagavalli.      Urchava thayar is known as Pankajavalli.      The lord have prathyaksha darisanam to Garudan, Brahma, Sivan, Markandeya Maharishi and Sibi Chakravarty.      The temple has the Sudhai images on the wall of Pundarikashan, Sridevi, Bhooma Devi, Surya, Chandra and Adiseshan.  There are sannidhis for Krishnan and Anjaneya also.     The Lord is in Nindra kolam here.     There are 2 entries of Uttarayana and Dakshinayana vasals to the sanctorium.    The temple has 7 theerthams.

ANBIL SATHYAVAGEESWARAR TEMPLE

Anbil Sathyavageeswarar temple or Brahmapureeswarar temple is an ancient Siva temple and a padal petra sthalam.   This can be reached from Tiruchy via Lalgudi.   Though there is a lot of interesting things to be seen in the temple, practically  no devotees were seen at the time I had darshan, a Wednesday at around 04.30 PM.   The temple is situated in Kezha Anbil. and between the perumal and mariamman temples of anbil.     The temple has a majestic 5 tiered entrance gopuram.

On entering the main entrance, before entering to the temple proper, there is the entrance with the Sudhai of Siva and Parvathi seated on the bull, Nandhi.  

The Siva here is a Swayambumurthy and worshipped by Brahma once and hence The Lord is known as  Brahmapureeswarar.      Vagheesamuni worshipped here and hecnce the lord came to be known as Sathyavageeswarar.      Ambal is known as Sowntharanayaki.     Besides there are sannadhis for Bikshadanar, Kasi Viswanathar, Visalakshi, Subramanyar with Valli and Devayanai, Sapthakanniars and Bhairavar.     The Vinayagar here is lending his ears to the hymns being sung by Gnanasambandar and is known as Sevisaitha Vinanyakar.  
Apart from this aspect, the Navaghraha of this temple is Special as Surya Bhagawan is facing west and all the other grahas look to Surya Bhagawan and hence the grahas are not as per the order normally you will see in other temples.      Besides on the entrance wall shown above, by the side of it, there are Chola time inscriptions.

The thevarams sung by Thirugnanasambandar and Thirunavukkuarasar are on the wall of the temple with an inset of a granite stone.

There are 2 outer prakarams for the temple.   The temple's Gurukkal on the day was Sri Muthu and was very coperative though I went earleir than the opening time of the temple.

ANBIL VADIVAZHAGIYA PERUMAL

On 18th January 2012, after having darshan at Koviladi Appakudathan temple, I proceeded to Anbil.   As wanted to go by a bus, I took the bus to Poondi from Koviladi and getting down at the Entrance arch of Poondi Matha Church.    From there, buses from Thirukkattupalli to Lalgudi can be taken to reach Anbil, because of the new bridge over Kollidam between Poondi and Sengariyur.(See Anbil visits posting for photograph of the bridge).     A town bus from thirukkattupalli to lalgui arrived and I reached Anbil at 12.55 PM just in time for the darshan.    The temple was open upto 01.20 PM to enable a few people who had come at that time.   The photo of the temple was taken from the bus stand which was very nearby.

    The temple is in  around an acre of land, and the sanctum is facing east and  with one prakaram.
The entrance gopuram is 3 tiered.      The sundararaja perumal is in kidantha kolam facing east and thayar is Soundaranayaki.    The pictures of Urchavars are shown above.   This is one of the 108 divya desams and Thirumazhisai Alwar in a pasuram refers about 7 reclining vishnu's at Thirukudanthai, Thiruvegkaa, Thiruvallur, Thiruvarangam, Thiruppernagar(Koviladi), Anbil and Thirupparkadal.      For  panchranga keshtras (see posting on Koviladi and Indaloor also).  Legend has it that Brahma and Valmiki worshipped Vishnu here.     Also Mandooka Muni during an underwater penance failed to notice the presence of Sage Durvasa who cursed Mandooka Muni to take the form of a toad and he got cleared of the curse by workshipping the Lord here and the pushkarani is known as Mandooka purshkarani.      
From Lalgudi side, the temple is only 8 kms but the road has been damaged because of the frequency of lorry traffic taking sand from kollidam between Ariyur and Anbil.

ANBIL MARIAMMAN TEMPLE

The above picture was taken by me on 18th January 2012, in the evening hours.       The Mariamman temple at Anbil is at a walkable distance from the Arulmigu Sathyavageeswarar temple (See Arulmigu Sathyavageeswarar temple, Anbil posting) and the temple comes under the administration of Srirangam Ranganathar temple.   The beautiful vigraha of Mariamman, is by sudhai and a Astabujanga Amman and of about 5 ft tall.   The Gurukkal of this temple and Siva temple alternate duities in these temples every fortnight.  They live very near to the temple and can be called anytime.   But this temple draws fairly large devotees from in and around Lalgudi, Thirukkattupalli and Thanjavur and hence opened at darshan times.   It is said that the Amman here is the elder sister to Mariamman of Samayapuram temple.      The amman is such a beauty and the temple is very well maintained, this temple should be a must, for those would like to have darshan at Anbil temples.

Thiruppangneeli near Mannachanallur/Tiruchirapalli

GNEELI VANANATHAR of TIRUPPANGNEELI

Tiruppangneeli is about 7 kms from Mannachanallur and around 15 kms from Tiruchirapaali.    Town buses connect this temple as well as the Thiru Pundareekasha Perumal at Thiruvallarai.       The two temples are connected by road and can be reached by that route not touching Mannachanallur again.   From Tiruchy chathiram bus stand, town buses connecting to Moovanur can be taken to reach Tiruppangeeli.   Siva in this temple is known as Gneelivaneswarar and a Swayambu linga.     Gneeli is banana, hence the lord also is called as Kathali Vasanthar.     The Shiva in this temple is also referred with the other names such as Aarania Vallavar, Paramasambu etc.,   The Ambal is Visalakshi and there are two sannidhis for her.   It is said that the first ambal statue had a defect and it was removed and new one installed.   Ambal appeared on the dream of Thuraiyur Zamindar and asked would he throw his mother, if she were handicapped.  Hence the removed statue was reinstalled.  The Ambal is also known by the tamil name- Neelnedunkan Nayaki.
This temple gets its importance with reference to prayers by a whole of Gods and devas.      Mahavishnu, Adiseshan, Indiran, Kamadenu, Vayu and Agni, Ramapiran, Arjunan and also Vashista, Sudhamamunivar and Saptha Rishis worshipped this Lord.   Siva who vanquished Yama at Thirukkadavur to save Markandeyan restored the powers to Yamadharmarajan here so as to continue the dharma of death.     Hence Siva here is also known as Adikaravallar.   There is a Yama Theertham in the temple.    The Yamadharmarajan sannidhi is outside the main temple and one has to pray first here and wash the legs well and then only proceed to the main temple.     There is no Navagraha statues in the temple but nine kuzhis (blind holes) near the Nandhi represent Navagrahams.

Ratna sabha
 Since Lord Siva fulfilled the wishes of Vashista, (Since in Chidambaram the wishes of Viyakirapada and Padanjali Munis were fulfilled) performing the cosmic dance at thirupangneeli, this place also has a Ratna sabha similar to Chidambaram and Thiruppangneeli is also called by the name Mela Chidambaram.
Kailasam
On a dispute of superiority between Vayu Baghwan and Adiseshan, the latter encircled Kailasam.   To remove this, Vayu Bhagavan created santamarutham (twister) and because of that, 8 parts fell from Kailasam in different parts.  They are Thirugonamalai, Thirukalahasti, Thiruchiramalai, Thirunenkoimalai,  Rajathagiri, Neerthagiri, ratnagiri and Swethagiri.   Swethagiri is Thirupangneeli and also called as Thenkailasam.

Thiruvellarai Senthamarai Kannan
It is said that the Lord Vishnu at Thiruvellarai wanted to worship Thirupangneeli Lord with 1000 lotuses and as one lotus was missing, he used his one eye as the 1000th lotus and did the Pooja.   Pleased with this, Siva gave him the Chakrayutham and asked Vishnu to stay nearby Thirupangneeli and Vishnu stayed at Thiruvellari with the name Senthamarai Kannan or Pundarikasha Perumal.  (See also posting on Thiruvellarai).   

Appakudaththan temple at Koviladi

APPAKUDATHTHAN TEMPLE, KOVILADI

The appakudathan temple is one of the 5 rangams along the Cauvery, the others being Srirangapatna, Srirangam, Kumbakonam sarangapani temple and Mayiladurai Indaloor temple.    This temple is called the Madhya rangam.   Koviladi is in the southern bank of Kollidam and can be reached from Kallanai dam easily and can also be reached from Anbil via Sengariyur and Poondi.     For both Tiruchirapalli should be the main starting point.   If one goes by a four wheeler, without break at Kallanai, cross the road over the dam and take the route to Koviladi.      Only heavy vehicles cannot pass through this road over the dam.     Those who take the bus should get down at Kallanai, cross the road over the dam and on reaching the other side, proceed on the road behind the Karikal cholan statue, which is the road leading to Koviladi.   The bus stand is nearby and buses from Kallanai to Thirukattupalli via Koviladi, Poondi is to be taken and it is only 10 minutes drive from kallanai.    For those, going via Anbil, the route is Lalgudi, Anbil, Sengariyur and Poondi.    
This is one of the 108 Divya desams and is also called as Thirupernagar.       The Lord is known as Appalarenganathar and Thayar is Kamalavalli.     The perumal is in a lying posture on adiseshan and with the left hand bless Indra and chandra and right hand blesses Markendeya Maharishi.    A Saligrama garland adorns him.    Bhoomadevi is seated at his feet.   A little distance away from the right hand is the appakudam, which is fairly large.    The Neivedyam of Appam is offered from this kudam every evening.    In the garbha graha, there is santhanagopalan.   The picture of the urchava murthy is shown above.    Entrance gopuram, dwaja sthamba are shown below.

Appakudathan:
This place also was called Palasavanam once.   Once Durvasa cursed a king called Ubhamanyu.   To redeem from the curse, the King built a palace near this place and fed everyone coming to this place.   Lord Narayana visited this place and partook in the feast.  He asked for more food and specially a kudam of appams.   The king offered a kudam of appams and got rid of the curse.   The lord is hence called as Appakudaththan and the Kudam is seen at a little distance of the right hand of the lord in the garbhagriha.
Srinivasa bhattar who is performing the pooja in this temple is very cooperative and said the problem of reaching this place gets solved with the new brige on kollidam between Poondi and sengariyur (See Anbi visits post) and people can see both Koviladi and Anbil Vadivazhagiya Perumal on the same day easily.
Yes true.  Those who go by four wheeler no problem at all and those who take a bus now it is connected through the new bridge to see both temples on same day. 

Temples around Anbil

Temple visits - ANBIL

Anbil is 15 kms southeast of Srirangam and stretches about 2 kms from 8 kms from Lalgudi.     There are some famous temples around Anbil.     They are:- Anbil Vadivazhagiya Nambi perumal or Sundararaja perumal temple, Thiru Sathyavageeswarar temple, Mariamman koil (Keezha Anbil), Kaliamman Koil and Vinayagar and Murugan temple (Mangammalpuram), Achiramavalli Amman ( J K Puram) and also temples like Pampada Amman Koil.       The greatness of the place is that Lord Siva, to clear the curse from Brahma after praying at Uththamar Koil visited this place before going to Kumbakonam.      Anbil is on the northern bank of Kollidam.
Bus no.93 connects this place from Chathiram Bus stand Tiruchy and moffusil buses from Thirukkattupalli to Lalgudi pass through this place.   The travel from Thirukkattupalli side has been made easier, after the recent opening of the new bridge on Kollidam from Poodi to Sengariyur.  So Much so, the Koviladi Appakudathan perumal temple which is on the other bank of Kollidam is accessible through the New bridge.   Earlier, one has to visit the appakudathan temple from Kallanai side and have all the problem of retracing and back the entire distance to Trichy and enter Anbil.    Conversely after visiting Anbil, to go to Thanjavur and  have darshan at Koviladi.   The suggested traverse of Kollidam river to avoid this is not that easy.   After the new bridge, from Koviladi take transport to Poodi Matha koil entrance arch, from where buses are available to Anbil through the Bridge.   Still when going from Poondi, one has to suffer the inordinate delay due frequent and queueing lorries taking sand from Kollidam and the road on the Lalgudi/Anbil side also is damaged due to these lorries.   Still these temples are a must to be seen and have darshan.    I visited the temples on 18/2/2012 and 19/2/2012.   More information on individual temples on separate posts.
Picture on top:  A View  of Kallanai   Picture in bottom:    New bridge on Kollidam between Poondi and Sengaraiyur.