Panduranga Temple
On a Sunday morning we drove from Chennai to Panduranga Temple near Vandavasi, beyond Chengalpet. We started at 7 in the morning, had break near Perungalathur and reached Thenangur by 10 AM. It was a three hours drive but the roads were good. Just when we had to switch from NH to SH for less than 3 kms the road was bad, but for that it was a smooth travel.
The temple is tucked away in a small village of Thennangur. But owing to its popularity we get to see quiet a number of cars outsides. Temple and its surroundings are peaceful. The temple has typical southern Indian gopuram but once you cross the entrance the famous Puri Jagannanth or Odissa style gopuram stands beautiful in light saffron colour.
To reach the inner sanctum, we go through a mandapam whether you see pictures of various incarnations of Panduranga and statutes related to Krishna. Near the inner sanctum the roof and walls are colourfully decorated. Ladies and Gents are informed to sit on either side and once the place is occupied the remaining devotees are asked to wait. Now the seated ones can have the darshan and arti of Lord Panduranga and Lordess Raghumayee. The idols are 12 feet hence we get a heartful darshan. On that day it was silver kaappu and on top of it they were wearing silk robe. The priest briefs about the temple and the Lord. As prasadham - theertham and sandal are given.
As we walk through the corridor, there is a separate enshrine for the Goddess. From there as walk further is the Shiva temple. Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai is said to have born here. This temple houses Lord Shiva and his consort. Lord Ganesha, Lord Muruga and the navagraha. After our worship we left to Kanchipuram. Its around 30 kms from here and we can take the Sriperumbadur-Poonamalee route from there to reach Chennai.
Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram
On reaching Kanchipuram we went to the Varadharaja Perumal Temple. It was quiet crowded. On enquiry we found that for last 7 days, the temple is celebrating Pavithra Urchavam and hence thronged by devotees. On a entrance fee of Rs.5 all of us had to go through a huge queue. After worshipping the Urchavar we went to the Thaayar sannadhi and got the darshan of Goddess Perundevi. Next we stood in the queue that took us to the Perumal. It look more than an hour to get his darshan. Pavithra Urchava saw the Lord Varadharaja wearing many colourful thread beaded garlands.
By the time we came out, in the outer corridor of the temple various temple prasadams were sold. We had tamarind rice, a place box of rice is sold for Rs.50; the taste was worth it. We also bought adhirasam, muruku and Anjaneyar vadai. It was 12 by then and we could not go to any other temples as all would open back only by 4 or 5 PM. So we left Kanchipuram, had lunch on the way and reached home by 4 PM.
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