Mukkadeswarar Temple - Kanchipuram

பூமிமேல் புகழ்தக்க பொருளே உன்னை
என்னானாய் என்னானாய் என்னின் அல்லால்
ஏழையேன் என்சொல்லி ஏத்துக்கேனே!
- Devaaram

Yet another drive to Kanchipuram. Headed straight to Kamatchi Amman dharisanam. Being a Wednesday morning and summer vacation, it was sparsely crowded so had a quiet long dharisanam of the goddess with half moon alangaram. Came out of the temple with in 45 minutes this time. Visited Kumarakottam next and here again had a fulfilling dharisanam of Murugarar. This temple does Annadhanam every day from donations received from devotees, its INR 1250 per day.

With ample time in hand, decided to explore some of the lesser known temples. So we headed to Mukkadeswarar Temple which is just on the way out of Kumarakottam. Covered by various shops, a small entrance leads to this age old temple belonging to the Pallava dynasty. Similar to Kailasanaadhar temple this temple too is under the Archaeological survey of the Indian Government. The main deity morning dharshan time is very limited, so not able to visit for prayers.

There is no gopuram to the temple hence the narrow entrance. Nandi is the first to welcome us. On either side of the Nandi, its green. Beyond this is the sanctum of Mukkadeswarar.

This sanctum is on a high raised platform. Few steps climb will take us to the main deity. On either side of this are the carved scripts and statues.

On either side of Mukkadeswarar we can see sculptures as in the below picture. Also the sanctum is supported by finely carves pillars.

This board in the temple clarifies that the temple was erected by Nandivarman in 800 - 900 A.D. as per the stone inscriptions. Though small every small detail is minutely craved by the sculptural talents of the Pallava era.

Temples like this stand testimony to the talents of the ancient Tamils. We have to take this opportunity to admire and appreciate them.

Comments

Aadi koozh vaarthal

Aadi koozh vaarthal is a religious occasion for most Tamil house holds. In the month of Aadi raagi koozh is served to all thirsty people around the neighborhood. Koozh is prepared and offered to Amman followed by the distribution. While offering koozh there are also other heathly eatables included in the Padayal. The koozh preparation starts a day earlier. Rice is cooked first and raagi flour mixed in water is added to it and cooked till ragi gives a glazed look to the koozh. This is then left over night to ferment. The next day water is added to the koozh to get a drinking consistency. To this we add finely chopped onions as topping and curd to give that cooling effect. Once the koozh is all set we go about the padayal to the almighty Amman. Aadi, the Tamil month solely dedicated to Amman is for celebrating her and her kindness to her devotees. So we first offer the koozh to her in the Padayal followed by white rice and other items. The USP of Aadi koozh is that...

Mannargudi - Day 2

On the next day at Mannargudi, we had an early start. After having tea through room service we left to the Rajagopalaswamy temple. The temple gopuram can be seen at a large distance as the from the space was allocated for parking. Early morning we could see only 2 cars before us. After paying the parking fee we went inside the temple. Due to the maintenance work we were devoid of enjoying the beauty of the temple gopurams. We got to see the temple's famous elephant - Sengamalam as soon as we got in. This temple is called as south Dwaraka, there is small Krishna statue inside which we can worship by taking in our hands. The main deity Lord Vasudevaperumal is seen here along with his cow. Next to his the baby Krishna idol which can we worshipped by devotees for their special prayers. We had a good darshan of the Perumal. Had theertham, jadaari and then walked towards the Goddess. The consort of Lord Rajagopalaswamy is Goddess Sengamala Thaayar. We had a very peaceful...

Hyderabad Trip - Part 2

Swarnagiri Temple In the morning after the complimentary breakfast at Treebo we left to the Swarnagiri Temple. During the partition the Tirupati temple stayed with Andhra Pradesh so Telangana needed this Venkateswara swamy temple. This is some 50 kms away from the Hyderabad city. We wanted to visit Yadagiri gatta temple after this but decided other wise due to the traffic and delay at fuel station. This temple is build by the Srivari trust under the guidance of Chinna Jeeyar swamigal. Bhuvanagiri were the temple is situated is a village developing now owing to the temple. As it was a Saturday, the queues were very long. So we had to go for Rs.500 special darshan ticket per head. We were let to workship the Lord Venkateswara right the entrance of the sanctum. A laddu and a red scarf was given while giving the ticket itself. A laddu prasadam was provided after the darshan like in Tirupati. The next complex is where the Lord sleeps in water. After this we went to the Annap...

Our wanderings and perceptions

Search This Blog