Sri Sukreeswarar Temple / சுக்ரீஸ்வரர் கோவில் – Sarkar Periyapalayam, Tiruppur District, Tamil Nadu

13^th October 2019. 

கொங்கிற் குறும்பிற் குரக்குத் தளியாய் குழகா குற்றாலா

மங்குல் திரிவாய் வானோர் தலைவா வாய்மூர் மணவாளா

சங்கக் குழையார் செவியா அழகா அவியா அனல்ஏந்திக்

கங்குல் புறங்காட்(டு)ஆடிஅடியார் கவலை களையாயே

----சுந்தரர் தேவாரம்

This second visit to this Sarkar Periyapalayam Sri Sugreeswarar Temple was a part of Kongu Heritage walk scheduled on 12^th and 13^th October 2019. 

Sundarar has mentioned this temple’s Iraivan in his Tiruvarur hymn and hence this is one of the Thevara vaipu Sthalam of Kongu Nadu. This temple is also called as Kurakkuthali Aludaya Nayanar Temple.

Moolavar    : Sri Sugreeswarar

Consort      : Sri Aavudai Nayaki.

Some of the important features of this temple are...

The temple is facing east with an entrance on the south side. Nandhi balipeedam are in the east side. Dwajasthambam and Garuda thoon / Deepa sthambam / Vilakkuthoon are missing, which are found in most of the Kongu Nadu Temples.

There are two Rishabams kept in a mandapam and one of the Rishabam's ears in broken condition. In the outer prakaram Sannadhi for Vinayagar, Ambal, Subramaniyar, Chandikeswarar, Vayu Lingam, Kubera Lingam, Bhairavar, Esanya Lingam, Bathrakaliamman and  Suryan. In Koshtam Dakshinamurthy are the latter Addition.

In the inner mandapam, No shrines and no Dwarapalakas. At the entrance of the artha mandapam, Ganesha on the left and Anjaneyar on the right.  There is a Navakanda statue in the artha mandapam and the history is not known.

Ambal is in a separate temple facing  east ( instead of South ) with Nandhi under a mandapam in front. In the mandapam, old statues of Saptamatrikas, Subramaniyar, Vishnu, Vishnu Durgai ( Poojas are not conducted to these statues).

ARCHITECTURE

The temple consists of sanctum sanctorum, antarala and artha mandapam. The sanctum sanctorum is on upana, and pratibandha adhisthana with virutha kumuda. Sugreeva and a Cow worshiping Lord Shiva is in the upana. A kabotham with karnakood is shown on the adhistanam and prastaram. A yazhivari is shown above the prastaram. Koshtam / niches are on the walls of sanctum sanctorum. The koshtas are empty now. Koshtas are also shown in the salai of the vimanam. 

 

HISTORY AND INSCRIPTION

The moolavar Lingam was claimed as 5^th century. Since this temple was mentioned in Sundarar’s thevara hymn, the original temple might have existed before 7 to 8^th Century. The oldest inscription found  belongs to 1220 CE. There are about 11 inscriptions in the temple, of which one belongs to Kongu Chozha, 9 belongs to Kongu Pandyas and one belongs to Mysore Umathur King Veerananjarayar.

As per the inscriptions this place was called as Mugunthanur which belongs to Veerachozhavalanadu and Lord Shiva was called as Kurakkuthali Aludaiya Nayanar.

Veerarajendran’s period (1220 AD ) inscription mentions about donation of  30 kazhanju gold by a Shivabrahmanan to participate in the festival, pooja  and Abhishekam, without expecting a credit.

During Sundara Pandya’s period ( 1289 AD )  inscription mentions that an order has been issued to cultivate a donated / devathana land at Sithakuruchi village and dig wells, pond / eri  and channels  for  the requirement of water and 50% of the yield has to be given to this Temple.

The 15^th Century Mysore Wodeyar king Nanjaraya Wodeyar ( 1499 AD ) created a 200 coconut farm  in a purchased land for 4 gold. The income for the coconut trees was utilized for pooja of this temple.

A Sundara Pandya’s ( 1289 AD ) period inscription mentions that an order has been issued  to regulate the water from the Noyyal river, the down stream side Eri and Noyyal Dam for cultivation at Sooralur village, donated to this temple  authorizing Perur Nattu Vetralur Sembadavan Pillaiyan.

Above all, to meet the expenses for the Vaikasi ( a Tamil Month ) festival of this Sukreeswarar Temple, an agreement was signed by the 64 merchant guilds ( and some signed in vattezhuthu, one of the oldest Tamil script) to pay taxes for the materials, like minerals, Cotton clothes, wood ( Sandal ), Elephant, Goat, Horse, etc., carried by them for sale through this Village. This Kongu Chozha Sundara Pandya’s ( 1289 CE ) inscription is the biggest and important one with 24 lines  and each line consists of 130 to 140 letters.  The merchant guilds are from various parts of ancient Tamil Nadu and Kerala ( Ernakulam ). From this we may conclude that the place Sarkar Periyapalayam was on one of the 20 trade Trade Routes passed through Kongu Nadu.

The temple is being maintained by Archaeological Survey Of India. 

The inscriptions mentions the temple as KurakkuthaLi

 Merchants agreement inscription

LEGENDS

As per the legend, when the Rishabam grazed in a farm, the farm owner cut both ears. Next day the devotees observed blood was coming from the ears. From then on wards his decedents family will born as dump. It continued for generations. To get rid of this sin, the farmers family installed a new Rishabam keeping the old on the back. As per Lord Shiva’s wish the old Rishabam came to front and New Rishabam moved back. After seeing this miracle the devotees installed both in the mandapam.

It was believed that, Sugreevan worshiped Lord Shiva of this temple, hence Lord Shiva is called as Sugreeswarar. The bas-relief is on the south side of the main sanctum sanctorum adhistanam.

 Sugreeva and Cow worshiping Lord Shiva in Upanam

TEMPLE TIMINGS:

The temple will be kept open between 07.00 Hrs to 11.00 Hrs and 17.00 Hrs to 20.00 Hrs.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Gurukkal Nagaraja Iyyar 9442373455 and Moorthi Iyyar 9489551237 who are doing pooja on rotational basis may be contacted for further details.

HOW TO REACH:

The place Sarkar Periyapalayam is on the way to Erode to Tiruppur  through Uthukuli, which is famous for butter. About 6 KM before Tiruppur.

Nearest Railway station is Tiruppur

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE : CLICK HERE

---OM SHIVAYA NAMA--- 

Sri Prasanna Venkata Narasimha Perumal Temple, Saidapet West, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

06^th November 2016.

When I stayed in Jafferkhanpet before Velachery, I tried many times but could not get a dharshan of Sri Prasanna Venkata Narasimha Perumal. This time Perumal gave me darshan on 6^th November 2016.

Moolavar  : Sri Prasanna Venkata Narasimha Perumal

Thayar     : Sri Alarmel Mangai Thayar

Some of the important features of this temple are...

The temple is facing east with a 5 tier Rajagopuram. The Dwajasthambam, balipeedam and Garudalwar sannadhi are after immediately after the Rajagopuram. In the sanctum Moolavar Venkatesa Perumal is with Sridevi and Bhoodevi. There is a Narasimhar statue  made of Impon under the feet of moolavar. 

In the outer prakaram sannadhi for Sri Alarmel mangai Thayar, Andal, Chakkarathalwar ( on the back Yoga Narasimhar), vahana mandapam.

LEGENDS

Sri Ramar Sannadhi is in the artha mandapam and Anjaneyar is in front. Alwars moortham and cheppu murtis are also in artha mandapam. It was told that originally only Sri Ramar Temple was there. In one of a Devotee’s dream Perumal appeared and asked him to construct a temple for him. Hence the moolavar is called as “Prasanna Venkata Perumal” and latter Narasimhar was added to the name. 

HISTORY AND INSCRIPTIONS

It was believed that the temple was constructed about 700 years before during Vijayanagara period. As per, hearsay the Narasimhar Vikragam along with Utsavar was found while digging a pit for new construction of the Perumal Temple.

During excavation Moolavar and Thayar are found in the pit. A group of people may be Chttiars from Cheyyar, near Thiruvannamalai installed the moolavar and Thayar. The temple has large property in Cheyyar and Saidapet area.

The 20th January, 1896 year inscription records the construction of madappalli. The was started by Jeyaram Chettiar and the same was completed by his elder son Verasamy Chettiar. As per this inscription this place was called as Raghunathapuram alias Saidapettai. Moolavar was called as Sri Prasanna Venkata Narasimha Swami. 

THE TEMPLE TIMINGS:

The temple will kept open for darshan between 06.00 Hrs to 11.00 Hrs and 17.00 hrs to 21.00 hrs.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Mr Manoharan Chettiar  9840980124 may be contacted for further details.

HOW TO REACH :

The temple can be reached from both  Saidapet Bus terminus east and West. On the west  side  route no 18K runs from Broadway bus terminus.

The sub-urban railway station Saidapet is about a KM distance from the temple.

LOCATION:CLICK HERE

---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---

Sri Kadumbadi Chinnamman Temple / ஸ்ரீ கடும்பாடி சின்னம்மன் கோயில், Saidapet West, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

 06^th November 2016.

Main Deity : Sri Kadumbadi Chinnamman 

Some of the important features of this temple are....

The temple is facing east with a 3 tier Rajagopuram. The balipeedam, Dwajasthambam and Simha vahana are in the front mandapam. In the outer prakaram sannadhi for the original anthill shrine, Varasidhi Vinayagar, Kannimar with vinayagar relief on the stone panel, Annanmaars with their weapons relief on a stone panel, Sthala vruksham Neem tree, Madurai Veeran and Kathavarayan.

In the sanctum  there are two moorthams and smaller one is swayambhu. The swayambhu moortham was found when excavated for the temple’s construction. It was told that on 23-02-1982, milk came from the trunk of the sthala vruksham neem tree.

  

Tamil Aadi month ( July- Aug ) especially on Fridays the devotees gather in large numbers and prepare pongal and offer to  Sri Kadumbadi Chinnamman.  During that time the traffic  will be diverted to the other roads. It was strongly believed that Amman will cure all the deceases and remove all obstacles.  I was fortunate to have the darshan of Amman’s abhishekam.

HISTORY 

This temple is estimated to be of more than 400 years, to prove it’s antiquity there is no inscription or evidence available in side the temple.

TEMPLE TIMINGS:

The temple will open between 06.30 Hrs to 11.30 hrs and  17.00 hrs to 20.30 hrs, on all the days except on Fridays and on Fridays it will be  between 6.30 hrs to 12.00 hrs and 16.30 hrs 20.30 hrs. This will change on function days.

CONTACT DETAILS :

The temple office may be contacted on the phone numbers 9840151094 and 24851094 for further details

HOW TO REACH :

The temple can be reached from both  Saidapet Bus terminus east and West. On the west  side  route no 18K runs from Broadway bus terminus to Saidapet west.

The sub-urban railway station Saidapet is about a KM distance from the temple.

LOCATION:CLICK HERE

---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---

Arulmigu Karaneeswarar Temple, Karaneecharam, West Saidapet, on the banks of river Adyar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

 06^th November 2016

Still I remember my last visit to this temple on the Tsunami day in 2004, when I was staying at Jafferkhanpet. After a gap of 12 years visited the temple on 6^th November 2016.  Lot of things has changed inside the temple prakaram and sub sannadhis are also added.

Moolavar    : Sri Karaneeswarar

Consort      : Sri Swarnambigai

Some of the important features are..

The temple is facing east with 7 tier Rajagopuram on the south side. The dwajasthambam, balipeedam and Rishaba mandapam are in the outer prakaram on the east side sanctum entrance. In koshtam Ganapathy, Dakshinamurthy,  Vishnu in place of lingothbavar, Brahma and Durgai. Ambal Swarnambigai sannadhi is in the maha mandapam facing south.

In the outer prakaram sannadhis for Vinayagar, Sri Valli Devasena Subramaniar, Sri Tripura Sundari samedha Sri Vedagiriswarar, Saneeswarar, Palani Andavar, Anjaneyar and Agora Veerabhadra.

In the inner prakaram 63var, Urchavars and 63var seppu thirumenikal,  Natarajar Saba and Bhairavar.

ARCHITECTURE

The temple consists of sanctum sanctorum, antarala, ardha mandapam and a maha mandapam. A Two tala stucco Vimana is on the sanctum sanctorum. Sudhai or the stucco images of Kayilai view with Shiva’s family, Thiruvannamalai, Thiruvanaikaval, Chidambaram and Thiru Kalathi are on the back side wall of the sanctum in the outer prakaram.

HISTORY AND INSCRIPTIONS

Even though it was claimed that temple is very old and no concrete evidence was found, except two inscription dated 1887 and 1919 CE. The inscriptions speaks about the donation for conducting regular poojas and functions.

The temple is under the control of Tamil Nadu HR & CE Board. The mudaliyar community had done lot to this temple and they controlled the temple before HR& CE took over.

The 18th March, 1887 year inscription records the gift of a bungalow situated at Nos 6, Parangimalai - Mount Road east side, from 15th March 1886, to this temple (  through registration ), by Arunuga Mudaliar's son Subraya Mudaliar of Sengunthar Community. The rent income from the property after maintenance has to be used to meet the Brahmotsavam and Arudra Darshan expenses. Also burning of ghee lamps at Selva Vinayagar, Gnana Vinayagar, Subramaniar and Ramaswamy temples. ( The same is recorded in Chennai Managara Kalvettukal )

Another 1919 year inscription, two houses were gifted to this temple by P. Andiyappa(M)'s wife Ammayi  Ammal in the year 1912. Since the income from one house was not regular in 1918, She had sold one house to Rs 400, and took it pledged in the name of the temple. The income  after the maintenance has to be utilized for the morning one kala pooja.

  

LEGENDS: 

As per the legend,the temple history goes like this… Indira gave Kamadhenu to Vashista  for his yagam. The Kamadhenu was not returned even after long time and understood that Kamadhenu was cursed to become an ordinary cow, because it obstructed the poojas and Homam. So as per his Gana’s advise he constructed a temple for Lord Shiva  between Thirumayilai and Thiuvanmiyur on the banks of river Adyar and prayed. He also ordered Clouds ( Kar ) to rain  in this place to become green with trees. Lord Shiva gave back Kamadhenu and granted the status of Gopathi. The pond created is called Gopathi saras.

TEMPLE TIMINGS:

The temple is kept open between 06.00 Hrs to 12.00 Hrs and 16.00 Hrs to 21.00 Hrs.

CONTACT DETAILS :

The temple web site : CLICK HERE

Telephone numbers are 044 23811668 and 23811665

HOW TO REACH :

A walkable distance from Saidapet sub-urban railway station.

Nearest bus stop is Saidapet Bus terminus and the temple is about 1.5 KM and lot of autos are available.

LOCATION :CLICK HERE

 Pattinathar

 Pathragiriyar 

 --- OM SHIVAYA NAMA---

Srimath Kulasekara Alwar Sabha, Sri Karkada Vinayagar Temple and Sri 1008 Bhagwan Mahavir Jinalaya.VIR JINALAYA, Saidapet West, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

  06^th November 2016

In the way to Sri Karaneeswarar temple and Sri Prasanna Venkata Narasimha Perumal temples, I crossed some of the interesting places on the banks of river Adyar, which has its own history.

SRIMATH KULASEKARA ALWAR SABHA, SAIDAPET WEST.

This is just 2 shops after the Dharmaraja Koil on the Dharmaraja Koil Street in East Saidapet. This saba was established during 1904  for conducting bhajans. Now one Mr Gopi, the third generation devotee is looking after the saba.

The Burst size Sri Venkatesa Perumal statue is installed at the center and regular poojas are conducted daily.

HOW TO REACH:

About a KM from Saidapet bus terminus and the temple is on the Dharmaraja Koil Street.

LOCATION:CLICK HERE  

SRI KARKADA VINAYAGAR TEMPLE, SAIDAPET WEST.

This temple is on the back side of Sri Prasanna Venkata Narasimha perumal temple. How this Vinayagar got this name, I do not know and the archakar also was not there to throw some light on this temple.

The sub sannadhis in this temple are Sri Iyappan, Sri Valli Devasena Subramaniyar and Navagrahas. In koshtam Vinayagar, Dakshinamurthy, Hyakirthi, Brahma and Durgai. The The sannadhi was built like a separate temple with Sanctum and mandapam.

HOW TO REACH:

The temple is very near to the west Saidapet bus terminus and Bus 18K is available from Broadway. 

LOCATION:CLICK HERE 

 Sri Hayakeerthi in place of Lingothbavar

SRI 1008 BHAGWAN MAHAVIR JAIN TEMPLE, SAIDAPET WEST.

This one of the Jain temple installed in a house. Sri Padmavathi amma is in the Ground floor and Sri Adinath  Sri Mahavir and Sri Bahubali are in first floor. The temple was constructed with the contributions from Jain’s community.

It was interesting to note in one of the inscription it was mentioned as Sramanapuram ( ஸ்ரமணபுரம்) for Saidapet. It is told that many Jain monks and SamaNars /தமிழ் சமணர்/ lived in this area, during Jainism was in peak. Jain monks in north Indian language are called as “SramaNar – ஸ்ரமணர்” and in Tamil they are called as சமணத் துறவிகள். Since Jain monks also lived here ( may be running a School ), the place might have obtained the name of Sramanapuram.  

HOW TO REACH:
The temple is very near to the west Saidapet bus terminus and Bus 18K is available from Broadway. 

LOCATION:CLICK HERE

 ---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---

Sri Dharmaraja Koil / Draupadi Amman Temple, Saidapet East, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

 06^th November 2016.

When I searched google map for the temples is  Saidapet East area along the banks of river Adyar, I came across this Dharmaraja Koil. Until  I had seen the temple I could not come to a conclusion, who is the deity. Yes the presiding deity is Draupadi Amman  and stucco images of Pancha Pandavas with Panchali ( Draupadi ) are in the mandapam connected to the epic Mahabharat.  Even though Draupadi Amman is the main deity the temple and the street are called in the name of Dharmar.

HISTORY AND INSCRIPTIONS

It was claimed that the temple is more than 300-400 years old. Annual festival of uriyadi is conducted in a grand manner. The Arutjothi Vinayagar Sannidhi at the entrance was added in the latter period.

TEMPLE TIMINGS

There is no fixed time for the temple pooja and an old lady takes care of the temple.

HOW TO REACH:

About a KM from Saidapet bus terminus and the temple is on the Dharmaraja Koil Street.

LOCATION:CLICK HERE

1951 

---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---