15th
March 2020.
The
visit to this Ekambareswarar Temple, Thammanur was not a part of the Shiva, Vishnu, and Amman Temples Visit on the banks of river Cheyyar / Palar, scheduled on
15th March 2020. After Ilayanar Velur, Sri Balasubramanya Swamy Temple’s Visit,
on the way to Chennai we came across this temple. Thammanur is in between Palar
and Cheyyar, a tributary to the Palar River.
Moolavar : Sri Ekambareswarar
Consort : Sri Kamakshi
Some
of the salient features of this temple are...
The
temple faces west with a temple tank with a small entrance. The entrance arch
is on the east side. Balipedam with Mayil vahana mandapa ( Peacock -Mayil is
missing ) of Murugan / Kandhappar temple is after the entrance. Navagrahas are
in the mukha mandapa of Murugan Sannadhi. The main Shiva temple is on the north side of Murugan Temple. Balipedam and Nandhi are in front of the main temple. The entrance to the main
shrine is from the south side with an open mukha mandapa. A sandstone Vinayagar is
kept in the mandapa. Also, the Peacock
vahana and Rishaba Vahana in bad
condition are also kept in the same mandapa.
Vara Siddhi Vinayagar sannidhi faces east on the southwest of the main temple.
Sandikeswara is also in the prakara.
It
was told that the Moolavar is made of sandstone and no abhishekam is done. In koshtam Durgai, Brahma,
Dakshinamurthy and Vinayagar. There is no image on the back side of Koshtam. Sri Kamakshi Amman is in a separate sannidhi in the mandapa facing south with a stucco vimana.
ARCHITECTURE
The
main temple consists of sanctum sanctorum, antarala, arthamandapam, a mahamandapam
and a mukha mandapam. The sanctum sanctorum is on a simple padabandha
adhisthana with tripatta kumuda. The prastaram is of kapota style with nasi
kood. A brick Ekathala vesara Vimana is on the sanctum sanctorum with Sala and
karna kood. Maha nasis are on the sikaram. The stupi is also built with stucco. A small bas-relief Panel of Rama, Lakshmana, Hanuman, and Sukreevan can be
seen on the east wall of Amman sannidhi
HISTORY AND INSCRIPTIONS
As
per the iconography and construction of the main temple, the temple may have been built during the 12th to 13th Century by the latter Chozhas. The temple was expanded
with mandapas during the Vijayanagara/Nayaks period. Couldn’t trace any inscriptions.
TEMPLE TIMINGS:
Since Oru kala pooja is conducted, the opening and closing times are unpredictable.
CONTACT
DETAILS:
Gurukkal
Rajan may be contacted on his mobile at +91 9629540348, for further details.
HOW TO REACH:
Kanchipuram
to Ilayanar Velur Govt. Bus route no T-86 and a SRS Private bus passes through
this Village.
The
place Thammanur is about 5 KM from Walajabad, 21 KM from Kanchipuram, 27 KM
from Chengalpattu Junction, and 70 KM from Chennai.
Nearest
Railway Station is Chengalpattu.
LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE
Murugan / Kandhappar Sannadhi
A Relief block at the entrance
A Pallava period Sandstone Vinayagar
Maybe donor sculptures
Vahanas
Ramar, Lakshmanar, Hanuman & Sukreevan...?
Mandapa pillar reliefs of Nayaks
---OM
SHIVAYA NAMA---
So Beautiful and informative
ReplyDeleteThanks Yogi..
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