Skip to main content

Kumbakonam 1 - SwamiMalai

On the third day of our trip we reached Kumbakonam around 3pm in the evening. Searching a couple of hotels for stay, we ended up with Madhanam Inn. A 3-star hotel, it had all the required amenities and friendly staff. Following the check-in we got refreshed and left to SwamiMalai Murugan temple which is around 9 kms from the hotel.

SwamiMalai


This is another Arupadai veedu of Lord Murugar and with this we get to worship him at 4 out of the 6 temples. The temple was crowded with devotees who in green dress, wore malai for Murugar. Lord Muruga is said to have taught his father here. So he is called Swaminathan. Once we get into the temple via the east end gopuram, we get to worship Lord Ganesha as Vallabhaganapathi. As we walk towards the left hand side we see the staircase leading to the Lord on top while his parents Sundareshwarar and Meenakshi can be worshipped below. Later as we go around this temple we can worship Dhakshinamoorthy and Durga devi.

To get the darshan of Lord Muruga we need to climb up 60 steps, each step has been named after the 60 Tamil year names. As soon as we reach up, Lord Ganapathi can be seen. Then the left hand side queue entrance leads you to the inner sanctum. We took the special entrance for Rs. 50 per head to by-pass the small crowd in the temple during that time. This entry helped us gain a place near the Lord, so that we can see the deebaradhanai and stand there for sometime taking in the darshan of Lord Murugar. Since he is a guru here the Lord had one hand on his hip and pours mercy on you.

This should be the only hill temple or a temple where the main deity sits on hill top. Lord Murugar always sits on top of a hill in most of his temples. Thanjavur district is not a mountainous area  but rather a green area with plenty of fields here but all we can see are stone built temples.

Once we got a peaceful drashan we sat down in the temple and had the temple prasadam of sweet pongal which we got for Rs. 10. From here with the help of google maps we reached the hotel. Situated near the Asoor by-pass this hotel gives easy transit to the places in and around Kumbakonam without much traffic chaos.

We had a dosa in the hotel's restaurant downstairs and retired early for the day to gear up for tomorrow's Kumbakonam sight seeing.

enroute..
Labels:
Location: Swamimalai, Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

Anjaneyar Temple - Gerugambakkam, Porur

 Very recently we came to know about the Anjaneyar temple built by actor Arjun is at Gerugambakkam. On a Sunday evening we drove towards this place. We need to detour from the Kundrathur main road to reach this temple and from then on we need to face a rough and patchy road. In just 5 minutes one can reach the temple. A small residential street leads to the temple. Very near it one could see few small stalls mushroomed up to sell pooja items. The vehicles have to be parked in the street near the temple gates. First is the corridor were few trees are seen.  On taking left is the entrance to the temple and you can see the Lord Anjaneyar much ahead. Here too are few trees uniformly spaced out. There is a coconut farm adjacent to this temple. There is a shelter above Lord Anjaneyar, but for that it is a open air temple. Facing Lord Anjaneyar and to the left and right corner are two shrines - one for Lord Ganesh and the other for Lord Anjaneyar's - Lord Rama, Lord Lakshmana and God...
Post a Comment
Read more

Vijayawada trip - Part 2

 On the third day morning of our trip we were much energetic and ready to take on the day after a largely rested night. By 8:30 an we came down to the reception and was soon followed by Raju garu. He first took us to the restaurant near Vijayawada SP office for breakfast. This again was similar to the yesterday's, self-service, get your dish and eat it as you stand. As the crowd was less we for a table to place the plate. Had two maida poori, ghee dosa and coffee here for less than Rs.200.  Our first place today was the Kanaga Durga temple. Its in the middle of the city on top of a small hill. The entrance charges Rs.50 for the car. Mobile phones are not allowed inside the temple. The queues to the darshan was very huge. With the help of Raju garu we connected to one of the person inside the temple. He took us through the Rs.500 ticket queue, near to the Goddess Kanaga Durga for a much blessed darshan. In turmeric kaapu the was glowing. The temple inside was very well decorate...
Post a Comment
Read more