Rajendra Iron Bridge, Thiruvalam, in Vellore District, Tamil Nadu.

10^th March 2019.

This bridge was constructed on the Neeva/Ponnai or Bahuda River. This bridge is on the National Highway 40, from Chennai to Mumbai, before Thiruvalam. This 500-meter-long iron bridge ends at Sri Vilvanatheswarar Temple, one of the 276 Thevara Padal Petra Shiva Temples at Thiruvalam.

The Iron Bridge construction was started in 1935 and completed in 1939 by a company called J.H. Tarapore, Madras. The Iron Bridge was built with 11 spans, and tons and tons of iron channels were used. The members are firmly joined with rivets (a permanent fastener, since bolts and nuts were not popular in those days for constructing steel / Iron bridges) and give a long life compared to bolt & nut joints. Each joints are done at the spot. Most of the works are done through manual laborers employing around 1200.

The bridge was declared open by the then Premier of Madras Presidency, Shri C Rajagopalachari, an elected Premier from the Indian National Congress Party. He also served as the Last Governor General of India and the first Chief Minister of Madras State.

J.H.TARAPORE

The late Mr. J.H. Tarapore, the founder of Tarapore & Co., was born in a humble Parsi family in July 1901 and graduated from Madras Christian College. His ancestors, who worship “FIRE,” migrated to India from Iran during the 8^th to 10^th centuries. He had led his company to excel in the field of construction in almost every corner of the country in a career spanning more than half a century. Some of the major buildings in Madras, now Chennai, were built by J.H.Tarapore & Co.

A born leader, ambitious, stern yet compassionate towards people. He was loved and respected by one and all. Children were his first love, and his thirst for knowledge created in him a desire to set up educational institutions. The Institutions are spread throughout the country, especially in Jamshedpur and Chennai.

LOCATION:12.985574, 79.269201

PC: Google Web site

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Hero Stones / Sati stones / Veerakallu / Nadukarkal / நடுகற்கள், with Harichandra / Arichandra, Thiruparkadal, Ranipet District, Tamil Nadu.

10^th March 2019.

After the "Thiruparkadal Temples Visit", on the way to Kaveripakkam, we happened to see the Hero Stone, Sati Stones, and Harichandran bas-reliefs. I was a little curious to know how this Harichandra relief stone had come here at the entrance of the village, since there was no burial or cremation ground nearby. The villagers said that the deceased's body would be brought here, a pooja would be done to Harichandra, and then the body would be taken to the cremation/burial ground. (It is believed that Harichandran is the authority or the God for the cremation ground, and with his permission only the body has to be cremated.

In the sati and Hero stones, the heroes are holding weapons, and their wives are holding pots (மது குடுவை) in their hands. The details could not be seen due to the turmeric and kungum paste applied on the faces of the reliefs.

LOCATION:  12.887037, 79.456067

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Sri Pancha Lingeswarar Temple, Kondapuram, near Kaveripakkam, Ranipet District, Tamil Nadu.

10^th March 2019.

When we were about to wind up our Heritage visit with the Thiruparkadal Vishnu temples, Mr. Ramesh told me to drop me off at Toll Gate to catch a bus to Chennai. Further, Mr. Ramesh said that there is an old temple at Kaveripakkam, which is usually kept locked, and let us try our luck this time. It was around 13.00 hrs when we reached the temple, and to our surprise, the temple was kept open and the Gurukkal was preparing for the Pooja.

Moolavar    : Pancha Lingas 

Main Deity  : Chidambaram Akasa Lingam

Consort      : Sri Kamakshi

 

Some of the Salient features of this temple are…

The sanctum sanctorum complex consists of  5 Linga sannidhis for Prithvi - Earth, Appu – Water, Agni – Fire, Vayu – Air, and Agaya - Space are installed in separate sannadhis. Agaya – Space (Chidambaram) Linga was considered the main sanctum with Palipedam, Dwajasthambam, and Rishabam. This sannadhi is facing east. Vinayagar, Dakshinamurthy, Vishnu, Brahma, and Durgai are in the main sanctum, devakoshtam. The Temple Pond is on the south side of the temple complex.

 

In addition to this, there are sannadhis of two Kamakshi Ambals, Natarajar, Ganapathy, Sri Valli Devasena Subramaniar, and Navagrahas in the temple complex.

 Chozha / Pallava period Pillar with capital

HISTORY AND INSCRIPTIONS

The original temple was reconstructed in recent years. The mandapa around the sannadhis is a mixture of Chozha, Pallava, and Vijayanagara pillars. Some pillars of the Capital/pothyals look like the Pallava period. There are no inscriptions found in the temple adhistana, but we had seen a fragment of an inscription stone near the well, which belongs to the Chozha period, 11^th to 12^th Century.

Rajendra Chozha-I's period inscription stone

The inscription starts with Chozha King Rajendra Chozha-I’s meikeerthi as "திருமன்னி வளர விருநில மடந்தையும் போர்ச்சயப் பாவையுஞ் சீர்த்தனிச் செல்வியுந் தன்பெருந் தே.. . The inscription records the endowment of burning a perpetual lamp for which 90 sheeps are gifted.

As per the Rajagopuram recent period inscription speaks about the legend associated with the temple. This place, Kondapuram, is a part of Kaveripakkam, also called Saiva Puram, on the banks of the river Palima was called “Thiruveni Chaturvedi Mangalam” in ancient times.  

LEGENDS

Ambal Kamakshi installed 5 lingas and worshiped before she had done the penance on the banks of the river Kamba. Hence, this place was considered a sacred place for the Munis and Rishis to do dhabas and worship Pancha Lingas.

 

TEMPLE TIMINGS:

As per Gurukkal, the temple will be kept open between 07.30 hrs to 11.00 hrs.

CONTACT DETAILS:

The mobile number +91 95977 12495 may be contacted for further details.

HOW TO REACH:

Kondapuram is a part of Kaveripakkam, and the temple on the roadside

Kaveripakkam is on the Chennai to Bangalore National Highway before the Toll Plaza.

Kaveripakkam is 16.4 km from Ranipet, 17.6 km from Arcot, 32.2 km from Kanchipuram, and 38.1 km from Vellore.

 

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE

Vijayanagara period mandapa pillars

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Sri Athi Ranganatha Perumal Temple, Thiruparkadal, near Kaveripakkam, Ranipet District, Tamil Nadu.

10^th March 2019.

After the darshan of Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal, we went to the Sri Athi Ranganatha Perumal temple at Thiruparkadal.

Moolavar   : Sri Athi Ranganatha Perumal

Thayar      : Sri Ranganayaki

Some of the salient features of this temple are….

This is one of the twin temples of Thiruparkadal village on the banks of the river Palar or Vegavathi. This temple is also facing east with an Anjaneyar temple. A three-tier new Rajagopuram is in front. Dwajasthambam and balipeedam are immediately after the new Rajagopuram.  

Moolavar is swayambhu in Adhi tree wood in Sayana Kolam on Adiseshan of 9 feet in length and 3 feet high.  Sridevi and Bhudevi are by his side, and Brahma is on his naval. All the Murtis are made out of Athi wood. Once Thaila Kappu is done, during that time, only the face will be visible for darshan. Sri Ranganatha Perumal's face (during our visit, Sri Athi Ranganathar was in Thaila kappu and we could see only the face). In the prakaram sannadhi for Thayar Ranganayaki, Andal. 

ARCHITECTURE

The sanctum sanctorum consists of a sanctum, antarala, 24-pillared artha mandapam, and a 24-pillared mukha mandapam. Sapthaka or the Ashtanga Vimana is in the sanctum. 

HISTORY AND INSCRIPTIONS

The adhistana has Telugu and Tamil Inscriptions. As per the inscriptions, the temple was built at the beginning of the 16^th century, Krishnadevaraya period. As per the inscriptions, this place was called Narayana Chaturvedi Mangalam.

Maha Kumbhabhishekam was conducted in 2022.

Inscriptions 

LEGENDS

The legend applied to Kanchi Athi Varadaraja Perumal Temple, and Palli Konda Perumal temple near Vellore has also applied to this temple since all three temples are on the banks of Palar River/Vegavathi River (The legend goes like this... When Brahma was doing a yagam without Saraswati, she got angry and took the form of the Vegavathi river and flowed with full flow to destroy the yaga. At the request of Brahma, Vishnu lay down and stopped the flow of the Vegavathi river.

It is believed that one’s “sins” in the account of Chitra Gupta will be removed if one prays to this Ranganathar. Ladies used to pray to Thayar for getting married, and Childless ladies for a Child. The temple sthala purana says, mangalasasanam was done by Periyalwar, Andal, Kulasekara Alwar, Thirumazhisai Alwar, Thondaradippodi Alvar, Bhoothathalvar, Peyalwar, and Nammalwar. Hence, this Ranganathar temple is considered an equivalent to the 107^th Divya Desam.

POOJAS AND CELEBRATIONS

Apart from regular poojas, special poojas are conducted on Tamil & English New Year Days, Revathi Star Day, No Moon and Full Moon Day, Purattasi Saturdays, Navarathri Days, Vaikunta Ekadasi, Panguni Ekadasi Day.  

TEMPLE TIMINGS:

The temple will be kept open from 07.30 hrs to 12.00 hrs, and from 16.30 hrs to 19.30 hrs.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Battar Sri Nandhakumar may be contacted with Pooja's details. The contact numbers are 04177 254442 / 9442313789.

HOW TO REACH:

This temple is about a km from Thiruparkadal village and about 3.5 km from Kaveripakkam.

Kaveripakkam is on the  Chennai to Bangalore National Highway before the Toll Plaza.

Kaveripakkam is 16.4 km from Ranipet, 17.6 km from Arcot, 32.2 km from Kanchipuram, and 38.1 km from Vellore.

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE

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Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal Temple, Thiruparkadal (Kaveripakkam) Near Arcot, Ranipet district, Tamil Nadu.

10^th March 2019.

After visiting the Chozha Temple in ruins near Thiruvalam,  our next plan was to visit Kanchana Giri. It was said that there is a special stone that gives a bell sound when tapped. Afraid of climbing the hill under the scorching sun, I dropped the idea and decided to visit the Thiruparkadal Vishnu Temples on the banks of the river Palar. We had the darshan of Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal and Sri Ranganathar before the closure of the temple after Uchi kala pooja.

Moolavar   : Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal

Thayar      : Sri Alarmel Mangai

Some of the salient features of this temple are…

The temple faces east with a temple pond (Pundareeka theertham) and Dwajasthambam. Mandapam with a small two-tier Rajagopuram is at the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum. There are no images in the koshtams. Pundareeka Vimana is over the sanctum with stucco images of Gajendra Varadar, Dakshinamurthy, Lakshmi Narasimhar, and Brahma. 

Moolavar is standing on a Shiva Linga Avudayar. (It was said that Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal is standing on the Shiva Lingam to signify that Shiva and Vishnu are both one.) Two utsava murtis are in the sanctum, of which one will be going out for the procession.

In the praharam, Alarmel Mangai Thayar (a large Sri Chakra is installed in front), Andal, Navaneetha Krishnan with Bama & Rukmini, Bhakta Anjaneyar, 9 Nagadevas on a pedestal, Nagaboosana Garudalwar (holding 9 snakes).

ARCHITECTURE

The sanctum sanctorum was built with the sanctum antarala and ardha mandapam. The sanctum was built with pada bandha adhistana. 

HISTORY & INSCRIPTIONS

It is believed that this temple was built in the early 16^th Century during the Krishnadevaraya period. His bas reliefs, along with Dhavalan Naiken and Rani Mangammal, are there in this temple. As per the inscriptions, this place was called "Narayana Chaturvedi Mangalam"

There are three entrances to see the moolavar, and there is no separate Sorga vasal.

LEGENDS

As per the legend, Pundareeka Maharishi, after attending Brahma’s yagam, proceeded to Thiruparkadal to worship Lord Vishnu. Since it was a little late to reach Thiruparkadal, he landed here, took a bath in a temple pond, and went inside the temple to worship Lord Vishnu. To his disappointment, it was a Shiva temple and came out. An old man (Vishnu) met outside the temple and asked him to go once again to see Vishnu in the sanctum. When he entered the sanctum, to his surprise, Lord Vishnu was in a standing posture on a Shiva Linga Avudayar with his right hand in abhaya hastam. Since this happened on Thiruvonam Nakshatra - Vaikunta Ekadasi day, this temple is considered as Thiruvonam Star Temple. Hence, Thiruvona Star devotees pray to Lord Vishnu of this temple.

POOJAS AND CELEBRATIONS

Apart from regular poojas, special poojas are conducted on Pradosham, No Moon Day, Full Moon Day, Vaikunta Ekadasi Day, etc.

TEMPLE TIMINGS:

The temple will be kept open from 07.30 hrs to 12.00 hrs, and from 16.30 hrs to 19.30 hrs.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Battar Sri Venkat Rangam may be contacted for pooja details. The contact numbers are 9486877896, 9486139289, and 8015114344.

HOW TO REACH:

This temple is about a km from Thiruparkadal village and about 3.5 km from Kaveripakkam.

Kaveripakkam is on the  Chennai to Bangalore National Highway before the Toll Plaza.

Kaveripakkam is 16.4 km from Ranipet, 17.6 km from Arcot, 32.2 km from Kanchipuram, and 38.1 km from Vellore.

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE:    CLICK HERE

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A Chozha Temple in ruins at Sikaraja Puram- Kambarajapuram near Ranipet District, Tamil Nadu.

10^th March 2019.

After the Sri Vishwamithriswarar Temple visit, we went to this Chozha period temple in ruins at Kambaraja Puram, about 2 km from Thiruvalam on the banks of the river Neeva (Ponnai). There is no approach road/path to this temple. We have to walk on the boundary or the bund of the paddy fields. Since the stones are black, the local people call this temple as Black Temple (Karuppu Kovil - கருப்பு கோயில்). The temple land was completely encroached upon by the farmers, and the structure alone is left. The temple is about 4 feet below the outer ground level.

The temple is facing east. The original temple had with sanctum, an antarala, and an artha mandapam. Due to vegetation growth, the sanctum was completely destroyed. We could see that the mandapam is still standing to date, but it may also collapse shortly. On the west side, fragments of statues are strewn around. The Dakshinamurthy statue is lying in pieces without the head. Muyalakan looks cute. On the way to this temple, we had seen some broken pieces of the temple. It was said that some statues are also buried under the earth.

The antarala side niches have the makara toranas. In the dancing scene, Rishis, A King worshiping Lord Shiva, beating of a drum, etc, sculptures are in the makara torana. Inch sculptures are also seen on the pilasters. We couldn’t move around the temple due to high vegetation growth. The Rishaba was moved to the sanctum side to give way for the field activity. Along with the fragmented stone, we see an inscription stone that belongs to 12^th 12th-century Vikrama Chozha (1118 to 1135 CE), which is recorded in "The Inscriptions of Madras Presidency (Volume-I)". The Mandapa pillars are simple,  round in shape, and the capital looks similar to the Pallava style. The temple might have been built during the 10^th to 11^th Century.

In the Thiruvalam Shiva Temple inscription, Ganga King Vijyanthi Vikramavarman's name is mentioned. Hence, this place, Kambarajapuram, might have been called "Ganga Rajapuram" and later turned into the present name of  Kambarajapuram.

Another sad part is that the mandapam is being used for doing Black Magic / Pillisunyam / Eval, etc.

HOW TO REACH:

The temple in ruins is on the banks of the river Neeva (Ponnai), about 2 km from the Thiruvalam. (Very near Brick Kiln)

Thiruvalam is about 20 km from Vellore and 12 km from Ranipet.

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE 
Latitude 12.96 4472 and Longitude 79. 26 1545

Inscription

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Sri Viswamithiriswarar Temple, Navlock, Puliyankannu near Arcot, Ranipet District Tamil Nadu.

10^th March 2019.

After Veppur Shiva Temple visit Mr. Ramesh took me to the north side of the river Palar. The place is called Pulliyankannu, a part of Navlock near Arcot. Since there is no direct approach to this temple, we have to trespass through the government and Private coconut farms. After about 2 km of mud road, a passage was given to approach this temple.

Moolavar    : Sri Viswamithiriswarar / Sri Vishwamitra 

Moolavar    : Sri Abirami

Some of the important details are…

This temple is also one of the Shada Aranya Kshetram, installed and worshiped by the Sage Viswamitra. The temple is on the northern banks of the River Palar and opposite the Veppur Shiva Temple. The temple is facing east under a meta-color sheet shed. Both moolavar and Ambal are facing east. Moolavar is swayambhu. Sage Viswamitra is also under worship.

This temple was once with a sanctum & mandapam, etc. The old temple structures, ceiling panels, Kodungai, Pillars, Pothiyal, etc,  and statues are strewn around the temple. Happened to see a Vishnu statue about 2 km away from this temple under a tree. 

Initiatives are taken by some devotees to reconstruct this temple. Regular poojas are conducted, and the recent MahaShivaratri is also celebrated grandly. Since this temple is one of the six temples installed and worshiped by the Munis and Sages, devotees started coming to this temple.

A fragment inscription stone is kept in this temple. Based on the inscription, this temple may belong to 12^th 12th-century Chozha period.

TEMPLE TIMINGS:

Since the actual time of opening and closing is uncertain, devotees are advised to contact before visiting this temple.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Mr. Goutham 9655282857 and Mr Sekar 9994978926

HOW TO REACH:

This temple is at Puliyankannu and can be approached through the Government and Private Coconut farms or through the village of Karai.

This temple is about 8.3 km from the Arcot bus terminus and 6 km from the Ranipet bus stop  through Karai.

Autos are available from Ranipet and Arcot.

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE

  Keerthi mukha on the belt 

A 12th-century Chozha period inscription

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