tour to divyadesams-Madurai and around

April 24, 2006

Madurai, known as temple city, is a pilgrimage centre for both

saivaites and vaishnavites and famous all over the world because of

Meenakshi temple, known even to nonhindus and foreigners. One can

finish touring the place in three days as we did.

We arrived in Madurai in the morning on 2nd April2006, at

4am and booked a room in the New college Hotel near the station

which was quite tolerable with good service and good restaurant. We

arranged for a taxi to go to Srivilliputhur at 6am and reached

Srivilliputhur after 3 hours. When we went near the temple we saw a

lot of people belonging to a political party and had misgivings as to

whether we will have good darsan. But fortunately the VIP, who has

come to take the blessing of the Lord for his election campaign, left

soon after we entered. We had a good darsan of Sri Andal and Sri

Rangamannar.Here Andal gives seva in kalyanakolam with Ranganatha and

Garuda is seen standing next to the Rangamannar, the moolavar, which

is the speciality of this temple. There was a well near the main

sannadhi where Andal used to look in after wearing the garland made

by her father for the Lord and compared herself with Him,

saying, 'emperuman azagukku ennazagu eedaagumaa?'

Outside the main temple is the nandavanam from which

Periyazvar gathered flowers for the garland to adorn the Lord and

where, under a tulasi bush Andal was found by him as an infant. Both

inside the main temple and the mandapam built in the nandavanam all

the thirty thiruppavai verses are written on the walls

It was thrilling to walk through the place where Andal had

wandered along with her father and the whole region was reverberating

with the sacred verses of thiruppavi and Periyazvar pasurams. Next to

the mandapam, which contains a sannidhi for Andal, and the nandavanam

is the sannadhi of Vatapatrasayi the original deity of Srivilliputhur

whom Periazvar and Andal worshipped..Vatapathrasayi is very nice

looking with amischievous smile in His bujanga sayanam.

The sannidhi of Rangamannar with Andal came only after Andal

was taken to Srirangam and disappeared into the sanctum sanctorum.

The Lord appeared with Andal in Srivilliputhur to please Periazvar as

Rangamannar. This is the place where Sri Ramanuja fulfilled the

prayer of Andal that she would offer butter and akkaravadisil in 1000

pots amd Andal came out callng'anna' which is why she is referred to

as 'Perumpudurmaamunikkuppinnaanaal.,' the sister of Ramanujaa. This

is the reason why no one is allowed into the ardhamandapam ,the

entrance till which Andal came to greet Ramanuja as her elder brother

and hence considered to be the part of garbhagrha.

The gopuram of the temple is grand and magestic and next only

to that of Srirangam We also bought some paalgova for which the

place was famous for.

The same day in the evening we went to pay our respects to

the queen, Goddess Meenaakshi. There was a good crowd the day being

Sunday but we did not have to wait long , having paid 10 rs. for

special darsan. The moolavar statue is quite small and we could see

only from outside the ardha mandapam . Previously there was a big

mirror in front of the sannidhi but now they have removed it.and put

it outside.We met the same VIP who was in Srivilliputhur in the

morning. We only hoped that he would not follow us to the other

temples!

We visited the temple of Koodal azagar near the bus stop

earlier and had a good darsan , There are three tiers in the temple .

In the lower the Lord Koodal Azagar is seen in sitting position,

inthe next He is standing and in the top He is in a reclining

position, the steps to which is quite challenging for a half-cripple

like me but I managed! The navagraha sannidhi is a speciality here

which is not usually seen in a vaishnavite temple.

One could imagine Periazvar mounted on the elephant, after

vanquishing all the scholars in Madurai through the grace of the

Lord, eventhough he was not equal to them and excelled them only by

his devotion, and the Lord Azagar appearing before him to witness the

glory of His devotee. On seeing the enchanting form of the Lord, the

anxiety of Periazvar, who had experinced the Lord as a mother would,

that no evil eye should be cast on Him made him sing 'Pallaandu.'

Standing in the place where this event took place, I could visualise

the whole episode in my mind's eye and felt elated to thnk about the

vatsalya bhakthi of Periazvar and the vatsalya of Bhagavan towards

His devotee.

The next day,that is on 3rd April, we left early in the

morning to Thirukkottiyur or Thirugoshtiyur , as it is known to the

locals. It took nearly 2 hours or so by taxi and on the way we had an

exilerating experience. As it was early morning the Sun rose in front

looking like a red hot iron ball quite beautiful and pleasing to look

at, a sight which we poor chennai flat dwellers can never hope to

enjoy nowadays. It was something marvellous and a never- experienced

scene, though I have seen sunrise before, several times, even in

Kanyakumari. It looked as though the Sungod is blessing us on our

journey. I recited Aditya hrdayam nine times and felt blissful.

When we reached Thirukkottiyur it was a different experience

altogether. We had darsan of the Moolavar Uragamellanaiyaan and the

Utsavar Soumyanarayanan and I expressed my wish that I wanted to see

the statue of Ramanuja at the top of the temple tower from which he

shouted the ashtakshara manthra for all to hear, without knowing what

I had in store. It was just as well, since I might have backed out

if I had known. The bhattatr said that the steps were locked but when

I told him that I have done my doctorate in Ramanuja's Sribhashya he

was very cooperative and opened the gate to the stairway.

Thirukkottiyur temple also has three tiers , Soumyanarayanan

in the ground level in sitting posture, while He is standing at the

higher tier and reclining at the top.We also had the darsan of the

Lord Nrsimha in front of whom Thirukkottiyur Nambi gave the

ashtakshara upadesa to Ramanuja .. Thrilled at standing at the place

where Ramanuja received his upadesa we started climbing the stairs.I

climbed easily the steps upto the second floor and when tried to

climb the top we were faced with a flight of steps of rock quite

steep and uneven Somehow I climbed to the last but one step but the

next one came as a shock since it was two feet high and I almost

thought of giving it up when, due to the mercy of the Lord, as I have

been chanting 'lakshminrsimha mama dhehi kraavalambham' through out

my journey, a lady who was older and stouter than me was climbing in

front and she gave me the hope that I could also do it. She heaved

herself up with the help of others who joined our party and

encouraged me to do so. I was practically hauled up by them and we

saw the Lord in sayanakkolam with words at the top 'Paramapadam',

very apt, considering our experience.

But that was not all. When we wanted to go out into the

tower to see Ramanuja we found that we had to enter into a gateway

three and a half feet high and two and a half feet feet wide. The

lady in front crawled through which I could not do. So I had to bend

double and walk carefully not to bang my head at the rock ceiling and

again my friends helped by pulling me by my hands.Lakshminrsimha had

given karavalambham!

But after going out and seeing the statue of Ramanuja at the

place where he gave his upadesa of ashtakshara to one and all and

laying my head at the feet of the Acharya I felt that all my efforts

were worthwhile and marvelled at the God's mercy through which I was

able to make it. A piece of advice for those trying to enter the

gateway to Ramanuja! Do not raise your torso until you are well out

of the entrance or you will end up with breaking your spinal column!

After we came down the same way, a little shaky but elated,

we went to Thirumayyam and had the darsan of Satyamurthi, a quite

impressive form and near the main entrance is the sannidhi of the

Lord in sayanakkolam where the moolavar is biggere than in

Srirangam. After that we visited thr temple of Vinayaka in

Pilliarpatti which was on the way back to Madurai .

` As the weather was quite hot in Madurai we rested during the

afternoon and went to Azagar hills, Thirumaaliruncholai. Up the

hill was quite a pleasant ride, abounding in greenery and monkeys

all around, where the temple of Lord Muruga ,called Pazamudhirsolai,

one of the six padaiveedus , is situated. There were lot of monkeys

around and the driver of our taxi warned us to keep our wallets etc.

tightly clasped! At the top is the noopuraganga a spring the origin

of which is not known.

On descending the hill we went to the temple of Azagar at the

bottom of the hill. We had a good darsan of the Lord and proceeded to

Thirumogur.The moolavar there is Kaamegha perumal and utsavar is

Thirumogur Aptan who is also known as vaziththunaiperumal because

when you pray to Him He will come with you as an escort when you

leave this world.

Behind the main sannadhi is that of Chakkarattazvar, who has

16 hnds carrying weapons to protect the devotees of the Lord..

Nrsimha is at the back , both having the wheel around with flames.

Last but not least was the visit to the temple of Othakkadai

Narasimha at the bottom of the Anaimalai hills. It was originally a

cave temple and made larger with prakaras and vimana and rajagopura

recently . The Lord Narasimha there cannot be described in words and

seeing Him I could only think of the words of Narayanabhattaadri, '

na hi vadhithum iso asmi,' when he was about to describe the

appearance of Nrsimha emerging out of the pillar. I have heard about

this temple from friends but I was not prepared for the magnificence

that was present there! Even to think about His form gives

horipulation! It was lifesize and appeared to be alive to my eyes. A

wonderful experience!

The next day we visited Menaakshi temple to bid goodbye and

saw the 1000 pillared mandapam which houses a museum of statues,

musical pillars etc. After browsing around the shops there we

returned to rest as it was the last day of our tour. I brought the

tour to a conclusion by buying some sungudi cotton saris for which

Madurai is famous besides its jasmine flowers!, We also bought some

thaazambu kumkum, which is so called because it is scented with

thaazambu flowers, which also you can get only in Madurai.We arrived

in Chennai on5th morning already lookinfg forward to our next trip.

<*>

Oppiliappan/

<*>

Oppiliappan

<*> Your

April 24, 2006

Adiyen dasasya vignaapanam. Having been at Madurai for three days, you could

have come to Sethu (Thiruppullani) also. Anyhow adiyen will be eagerly

awaiting for you . Please do come and please inform me

On 4/24/06, sarojram18 <sarojram18 > wrote:

>

> Madurai, known as temple city, is a pilgrimage centre for both

> saivaites and vaishnavites and famous all over the world because

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<*>

Oppiliappan/

<*>

Oppiliappan

<*> Your

April 25, 2006

Thank you for your invitation.I have been to sethu already years ago and to ThiruppullaaNIi also, I think, if that is the temple where they put adhirvettu . This time we were with others who were in a hurry to return soon and we could not cover other places. If and when I come on Navathirupathi tour I will try to come there.Saroja Ramanujam

Thiruppathy Raguveeradayal <rajamragu > wrote:

Adiyen dasasya vignaapanam. Having been at Madurai for three days, you could

have come to Sethu (Thiruppullani) also. Anyhow adiyen will be eagerly

awaiting for you . Please do come and please inform me

On 4/24/06, sarojram18 <sarojram18 > wrote:

>

> Madurai, known as temple city, is a pilgrimage centre for both

> saivaites and vaishnavites and famous all over the world because

Fund raising Beliefs Religion

Visit your group "Oppiliappan" on the web.

Oppiliappan

May god bless you,

Dr. Saroja Ramanujam, M.A., Ph.D, Siromani in sanskrit.

New Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your PC and save big.

<*>

Oppiliappan/

<*>

Oppiliappan

<*> Your

April 25, 2006

Your tour to madurai divyadesams will be really helpfull

to those who is planning to visit divyadesams in and around

madurai. As Raghuveera Swamin says that one can also make

a trip to ThirupulLani (perumal in dharba sayanam)along with

this line. The experience in reaching the ramanuja at the

thirukottiyur temple tower was really thrilling.

Adiyen prays to Acharya and emperumAn to have darshan of

ramanuja at thirukottiyur.

adiyen

senthil.b

Oppiliappan, "sarojram18" <sarojram18 wrote:

>

> Madurai, known as temple city, is a pilgrimage centre for both

> saivaites and vaishnavites and famous all over the world because of

> Meenakshi temple, known even to nonhindus and foreigners. One can

> finish touring the place in three days as we did.

>

> We arrived in Madurai in the morning on 2nd April2006, at

> 4am and booked a room in the New college Hotel near the station

> which was quite tolerable with good service and good restaurant. We

> arranged for a taxi to go to Srivilliputhur at 6am and reached

> Srivilliputhur after 3 hours. When we went near the temple we saw a

> lot of people belonging to a political party and had misgivings as to

> whether we will have good darsan. But fortunately the VIP, who has

> come to take the blessing of the Lord for his election campaign, left

> soon after we entered. We had a good darsan of Sri Andal and Sri

> Rangamannar.Here Andal gives seva in kalyanakolam with Ranganatha and

> Garuda is seen standing next to the Rangamannar, the moolavar, which

> is the speciality of this temple. There was a well near the main

> sannadhi where Andal used to look in after wearing the garland made

> by her father for the Lord and compared herself with Him,

> saying, 'emperuman azagukku ennazagu eedaagumaa?'

>

> Outside the main temple is the nandavanam from which

> Periyazvar gathered flowers for the garland to adorn the Lord and

> where, under a tulasi bush Andal was found by him as an infant. Both

> inside the main temple and the mandapam built in the nandavanam all

> the thirty thiruppavai verses are written on the walls

>

> It was thrilling to walk through the place where Andal had

> wandered along with her father and the whole region was reverberating

> with the sacred verses of thiruppavi and Periyazvar pasurams. Next to

> the mandapam, which contains a sannidhi for Andal, and the nandavanam

> is the sannadhi of Vatapatrasayi the original deity of Srivilliputhur

> whom Periazvar and Andal worshipped..Vatapathrasayi is very nice

> looking with amischievous smile in His bujanga sayanam.

>

> The sannidhi of Rangamannar with Andal came only after Andal

> was taken to Srirangam and disappeared into the sanctum sanctorum.

> The Lord appeared with Andal in Srivilliputhur to please Periazvar as

> Rangamannar. This is the place where Sri Ramanuja fulfilled the

> prayer of Andal that she would offer butter and akkaravadisil in 1000

> pots amd Andal came out callng'anna' which is why she is referred to

> as 'Perumpudurmaamunikkuppinnaanaal.,' the sister of Ramanujaa. This

> is the reason why no one is allowed into the ardhamandapam ,the

> entrance till which Andal came to greet Ramanuja as her elder brother

> and hence considered to be the part of garbhagrha.

>

> The gopuram of the temple is grand and magestic and next only

> to that of Srirangam We also bought some paalgova for which the

> place was famous for.

>

> The same day in the evening we went to pay our respects to

> the queen, Goddess Meenaakshi. There was a good crowd the day being

> Sunday but we did not have to wait long , having paid 10 rs. for

> special darsan. The moolavar statue is quite small and we could see

> only from outside the ardha mandapam . Previously there was a big

> mirror in front of the sannidhi but now they have removed it.and put

> it outside.We met the same VIP who was in Srivilliputhur in the

> morning. We only hoped that he would not follow us to the other

> temples!

>

> We visited the temple of Koodal azagar near the bus stop

> earlier and had a good darsan , There are three tiers in the temple .

> In the lower the Lord Koodal Azagar is seen in sitting position,

> inthe next He is standing and in the top He is in a reclining

> position, the steps to which is quite challenging for a half-cripple

> like me but I managed! The navagraha sannidhi is a speciality here

> which is not usually seen in a vaishnavite temple.

>

> One could imagine Periazvar mounted on the elephant, after

> vanquishing all the scholars in Madurai through the grace of the

> Lord, eventhough he was not equal to them and excelled them only by

> his devotion, and the Lord Azagar appearing before him to witness the

> glory of His devotee. On seeing the enchanting form of the Lord, the

> anxiety of Periazvar, who had experinced the Lord as a mother would,

> that no evil eye should be cast on Him made him sing 'Pallaandu.'

> Standing in the place where this event took place, I could visualise

> the whole episode in my mind's eye and felt elated to thnk about the

> vatsalya bhakthi of Periazvar and the vatsalya of Bhagavan towards

> His devotee.

>

> The next day,that is on 3rd April, we left early in the

> morning to Thirukkottiyur or Thirugoshtiyur , as it is known to the

> locals. It took nearly 2 hours or so by taxi and on the way we had an

> exilerating experience. As it was early morning the Sun rose in front

> looking like a red hot iron ball quite beautiful and pleasing to look

> at, a sight which we poor chennai flat dwellers can never hope to

> enjoy nowadays. It was something marvellous and a never- experienced

> scene, though I have seen sunrise before, several times, even in

> Kanyakumari. It looked as though the Sungod is blessing us on our

> journey. I recited Aditya hrdayam nine times and felt blissful.

>

> When we reached Thirukkottiyur it was a different experience

> altogether. We had darsan of the Moolavar Uragamellanaiyaan and the

> Utsavar Soumyanarayanan and I expressed my wish that I wanted to see

> the statue of Ramanuja at the top of the temple tower from which he

> shouted the ashtakshara manthra for all to hear, without knowing what

> I had in store. It was just as well, since I might have backed out

> if I had known. The bhattatr said that the steps were locked but when

> I told him that I have done my doctorate in Ramanuja's Sribhashya he

> was very cooperative and opened the gate to the stairway.

>

> Thirukkottiyur temple also has three tiers , Soumyanarayanan

> in the ground level in sitting posture, while He is standing at the

> higher tier and reclining at the top.We also had the darsan of the

> Lord Nrsimha in front of whom Thirukkottiyur Nambi gave the

> ashtakshara upadesa to Ramanuja .. Thrilled at standing at the place

> where Ramanuja received his upadesa we started climbing the stairs.I

> climbed easily the steps upto the second floor and when tried to

> climb the top we were faced with a flight of steps of rock quite

> steep and uneven Somehow I climbed to the last but one step but the

> next one came as a shock since it was two feet high and I almost

> thought of giving it up when, due to the mercy of the Lord, as I have

> been chanting 'lakshminrsimha mama dhehi kraavalambham' through out

> my journey, a lady who was older and stouter than me was climbing in

> front and she gave me the hope that I could also do it. She heaved

> herself up with the help of others who joined our party and

> encouraged me to do so. I was practically hauled up by them and we

> saw the Lord in sayanakkolam with words at the top 'Paramapadam',

> very apt, considering our experience.

>

> But that was not all. When we wanted to go out into the

> tower to see Ramanuja we found that we had to enter into a gateway

> three and a half feet high and two and a half feet feet wide. The

> lady in front crawled through which I could not do. So I had to bend

> double and walk carefully not to bang my head at the rock ceiling and

> again my friends helped by pulling me by my hands.Lakshminrsimha had

> given karavalambham!

>

> But after going out and seeing the statue of Ramanuja at the

> place where he gave his upadesa of ashtakshara to one and all and

> laying my head at the feet of the Acharya I felt that all my efforts

> were worthwhile and marvelled at the God's mercy through which I was

> able to make it. A piece of advice for those trying to enter the

> gateway to Ramanuja! Do not raise your torso until you are well out

> of the entrance or you will end up with breaking your spinal column!

>

> After we came down the same way, a little shaky but elated,

> we went to Thirumayyam and had the darsan of Satyamurthi, a quite

> impressive form and near the main entrance is the sannidhi of the

> Lord in sayanakkolam where the moolavar is biggere than in

> Srirangam. After that we visited thr temple of Vinayaka in

> Pilliarpatti which was on the way back to Madurai .

>

> ` As the weather was quite hot in Madurai we rested during the

> afternoon and went to Azagar hills, Thirumaaliruncholai. Up the

> hill was quite a pleasant ride, abounding in greenery and monkeys

> all around, where the temple of Lord Muruga ,called Pazamudhirsolai,

> one of the six padaiveedus , is situated. There were lot of monkeys

> around and the driver of our taxi warned us to keep our wallets etc.

> tightly clasped! At the top is the noopuraganga a spring the origin

> of which is not known.

>

> On descending the hill we went to the temple of Azagar at the

> bottom of the hill. We had a good darsan of the Lord and proceeded to

> Thirumogur.The moolavar there is Kaamegha perumal and utsavar is

> Thirumogur Aptan who is also known as vaziththunaiperumal because

> when you pray to Him He will come with you as an escort when you

> leave this world.

>

> Behind the main sannadhi is that of Chakkarattazvar, who has

> 16 hnds carrying weapons to protect the devotees of the Lord..

> Nrsimha is at the back , both having the wheel around with flames.

>

> Last but not least was the visit to the temple of Othakkadai

> Narasimha at the bottom of the Anaimalai hills. It was originally a

> cave temple and made larger with prakaras and vimana and rajagopura

> recently . The Lord Narasimha there cannot be described in words and

> seeing Him I could only think of the words of Narayanabhattaadri, '

> na hi vadhithum iso asmi,' when he was about to describe the

> appearance of Nrsimha emerging out of the pillar. I have heard about

> this temple from friends but I was not prepared for the magnificence

> that was present there! Even to think about His form gives

> horipulation! It was lifesize and appeared to be alive to my eyes. A

> wonderful experience!

>

> The next day we visited Menaakshi temple to bid goodbye and

> saw the 1000 pillared mandapam which houses a museum of statues,

> musical pillars etc. After browsing around the shops there we

> returned to rest as it was the last day of our tour. I brought the

> tour to a conclusion by buying some sungudi cotton saris for which

> Madurai is famous besides its jasmine flowers!, We also bought some

> thaazambu kumkum, which is so called because it is scented with

> thaazambu flowers, which also you can get only in Madurai.We arrived

> in Chennai on5th morning already lookinfg forward to our next trip.

>

<*>

Oppiliappan/

<*>

Oppiliappan

<*> Your

April 25, 2006

hellosir,

iam in u.s. and i have came here for my daughter delivery and i planning to return to india by august end and iam very much interested in temples and discourses,i joined the mgroups 2 days back only.I have seen about more than 80 temples in 108 divyadesham but i have not gone to north ,in case you people are going in tour please mail to us,if possible we too can join and get the blessings of the godand pass on any intersting news to me.

thanks

vasu

"B.Senthil kumar" <b_senthil2002 (AT) (DOT) co.in> wrote: