Amanosan Kongoji Temple

Name : Amanosan Kongoji Temple aka. “Nyonin Koya”

Location : 

The Japanese seaside town of Rikuzentakata (of Gojo, Nara Prefecture)  is home to a tiny temple called Kongoji. It's perched on a hillside and is one of the few structures still intact after recent Japan's earthquake and tsunami of 2011.

Description :

Amanosan Kongoji Temple, was founded by the venerable priest Gyoki in the Tempyo era (729–749) on the order of Emperor Shomu. Amanosan Kongoji is the main temple of the Omuro school of the Buddhist Shingon sect, where the monk Kukai (Kobo-daishi) is said to have undergone religious training in the Konin era (810–824).

The temple buildings and pagodas became dilapidated later. However, since the temple was worshiped at and supported by the ex-emperor Goshirakawa and his sister Hachijo-nyoin in the late Heian period (12th century), the temple buildings were reconstructed by the holy priest Akan from Koyasan (a mountainous, sacred place where the headquarters of the Shingon sect is based).

Hachijo-nyoin received from the Koyasan headquarters the image of Kukai drawn by the princely priest Shinnyo, and enshrined it in Amanosan Kongoji’s mieido (hall in which the image/statue of the sect founder is enshrined). In contrast to Koyasan, where women were not admitted, Amanosan Kongoji Temple allowed women to worship Kukai inside the temple. This is the reason why Amanosan Kongoji was dubbed “Nyonin Koya” (literally translated as “women’s Koyasan”).

In the Northern and Southern Courts period in the 14th century, the temple was used as a temporary abode for Emperor Gomurakami, and was called Amano-angu. Amanosan Kongoji Temple possesses a number of national treasures and important cultural properties. The temple’s garden, created in the Muromachi period (1336–1573), brims with seasonal beauty throughout the year, such as cherry blossoms in spring and colorful foliage in autumn.

Open Hours :  9:00-16:30

Admission Fee :  Free (400 yen for entry to treasury/garden)

Websites :

www.osaka-info.jp/en/search/detail/sightseeing_205.html

Kalpeshwar

Name : Kalpeshwar

Location :

Kalpeshwar the Shiva Temple located at an elevation of 2,200 m (7,217.8 ft) in the picturesque Urgam valley in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand state in India. The temple’s ancient legend linked to the Pandavas, heroes of epic Mahabharata eminence is the fifth temple of the Panch Kedars (five temples) of Shiva’s five anatomical divine forms; the other four temples in the order of their worship are Kedarnath, Rudranath, Tungnath and Madhyamaheshwar temples; all in the Kedar Khand region of the Garhwal Himalayas.

Legend :

1) The epic legend narrated on the creation of the Panch Kedar temples is that Pandavas of Mahabharata epic history, while chasing Lord Shiva to seek his pardon for the fratricidal sins committed by them during the Kurukshetra war, realized that Shiva, in order to distance himself from the Pandavas, took the incognito form of a bull. But when this form of Shiva was discerned by Bhima, the second of the Pandava brothers, tried to hold on to the bull's tail and hind legs. But the bull vanished underground at Guptakashi. Subsequently it reappeared in five different forms: His hump appeared at Kedarnath, his bahu (arm) was spotted at Tungnath, his head surfaced at Rudranath, the stomach and navel were traced at Madhyamaheswar and his jata (tress) was divined at Kalpeshwar.

2) Another legend states that this place was much preferred by sages of folklore for meditation. Particular mention is made of sage Arghya who through his austere penance created Urvashi, the famous apsara (nymph) at this place. Durvasa, an ancient sage, son of Atri and Anasuya, considered an incarnation of Shiva, known for his short temper did penance and meditated under the Kalpavriksha, the wish fulfilling divine tree in the precincts of the temple. Further, it is said that Durvasa had given Kunti, mother of Pandavas, a boon that "she could invoke any of the forces of nature and they would appear before her and grant whatever she desired". Once, when Pandavas, were in exile here, in order to test them Durvasa visited them along with his desciples and desired to be dined by them. Unfortunately, there was no food available with in the house to feed the surprise guests. Draupadi, wife of Pandavas, sought Lord Krishna's help. Krishna materialised on the scene and solved the problem

Description :

Kalpeshwar is the only Panch Kedar temple accessible throughout the year. At this small stone temple, approached through a cave passage, the matted tress (Jata or Hair) of Lord Shiva is worshipped. Hence, Lord Shiva is also called as Jatadhar or Jateshwar. It is approachable only by 12 km (7.5 mi) trekking from the nearest road head of Helong on the Rishikesh-Badrinath road. On the bridle path from Helang to Kalpeshwar, the enchanting confluence of the Alaknanda and Kalpganga rivers is seen. Kalp Ganga river flows through the Urgam valley. The Urgam valley is a dense forest area. The valley has apple orchards and terraced fields where potato is grown extensively.

The temple priests at this temple also are the Dasnamis and Gossains, desciples of Adi Shankara. At Tungnath also the priests are Khasiya Brahmins. These priests hail from South India; the Namboodiri brahmin sect who worship at Badrinath and Kedarnath from Kerala, the Jangamas are lingayats from Mysore and the Dasnami Gossains belong to Adi Shankara’s group. The priests at the Rudranath temple are Dasnamis and Gosains.

Websites :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalpeshwar

Temple of Jyeshteswara [Shankaracharya] on the Takht-i-Sulaiman Hill

Name : Temple of Jyeshteswara [Shankaracharya]

Location : 

Shankaracharya Temple is located on the summit of Takht-i-Suleiman (Throne of Solomon), near Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.

Description :

'The Takt-i-Sulaiman Hill overlooks Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir; standing 1000 feet above the plain, it commands a noble view of the Valley and its surrounding ridges of snow-topped peaks. On its crest, 6950feet above the sea, stands the most ancient in building in Kashmir, the temple of  Jyeshteswar, which according to tradition, existed since B.C.220 and to have been built by  Ashoka's son Jhaloka. What exists now is  possibly a 7th century structure which replaced the earlier Buddhist monument of the third century BC traditionally ascribed to Ashoka's son Jhaloka. Now it is popularly called Shankaracharya after the 9th century Hindu philosopher-sage who visited Kashmir and is associated with it.

The Temple of Jyeshteswara rests on the solid rock, and consists of an octagonal stone basement twenty feet high, on which is supported a square building: on each of the four sides are two projections which terminate in a pediment and a gable, the latter intersecting the main roof half-way up its slope. The terrace surrounding the Temple is reached by a stone staircase encased between two walls, and a doorway , exactly opposite, leads to the interior, which is a small and dark chamber, circular in plan. The ceiling is supported by four octagonal columns, which surround a Basin containing a Lingam encircled by a snake.'

Commanding a panoramic view of the city of Srinagar and Dal Lake, this temple with its square plan, recessed sides and circular inner sanctum is one of the earliest Hindu shrines extant in Kashmir, dedicated to Shiva.

Websites :

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/k/019pho0000981s1u00002000.html

The Uspensky Cave Monastery

Name : The Uspensky Cave Monastery

Location :

Founded in the 15th century, the orthodox monastery is built in caves in the limestone walls of a spectacular valley leading to the ancient `cave city of Chufut- Kaleh, Crimea, Ukraine

Legend :

1) In the old days in the valley shepherd named Michael tending the herd. Suddenly he saw a wonder: a rock in seven yards from the ground - the icon of the Virgin and the lighted candle in front of her. Michael hurried home and told about the miracle of the owner. The local prince ordered the icon to be carefully moved to his palace, but when he awoke the next morning he found that the icon had returned to its position on the cliff.
A further attempt to remove the icon met with the same result, and the people realised that they were meant to leave it where it had appeared. Accordingly they built a small chapel in a cave about 20m up in the cliffs and a flight of steps to reach it. The icon was placed in the chapel.

2)  An alternative, and certainly older account of the founding of a monastery here tells how a huge snake or dragon appeared in the valley, preying on both cattle and people. The Greek and Genoese inhabitants at the time were christians and prayed to the Most Holy Mother of God to free them from the monster. One night they saw a candle burning high up on the cliff. When they went to look, they found steps hewn in the rock leading to the candle, which illuminated an image of the Most Holy Mother of God, and nearby the corpse of the dragon. The people cut the corpse into pieces and burnt it, and from that day the place became a holy shrine.

Description :

As any other Orthodox monastery, it is very beautiful inside, but it is also unique since it is built inside the rock. You can also find a spring water downstairs in front of the monastery.
It is likely that the site of the existing monastery had religious significance well before the 15th century, and there is evidence of monastic activity here from the 9th century AD. The valley was originally settled by the Greeks and later by the Genoese, and there are Christian graves in the area dating from the 6th century.
The monastery continued to function during the centuries of Tatar rule, and some of the Russian prisoners held in Chufut-Kaleh higher up the valley were allowed by their Tatar captors to attend services there, and to meet the Russian envoy there too on occasions. It fared less well during the soviet period and 7 years after the 1917 revolution it was closed by the government.

During the Crimean war the hospital was settled in it and till now graves of the Sevastopol defence participants lying at the ancient monastery cemetery.
In 1921 the monastery was closed by Bolsheviks, and little by little it had fallen into a state of neglection and began to collapse. Over the past years the main monastery church has been partly restored named after The Virgin Mary Assumption, and in 1993 the male monastery was opened here.

Websites :

http://www.blacksea-crimea.com/Places/uspensky.html

http://www.restcrimea.com/en/article/show/id/39/

Venguneswarar Temple at Vengundram

Name : Venguneswarar Temple at Vengundram

Location :

Just a km from Thennangur enroute to Vandavasi this Shiva temple at the top of a big and steep hill can be seen from the road itself.

Description :

It’s a tough hill to climb most part of it don’t have proper steps. It will really be a thrilling and adventures trip for anyone to go there. Make sure to go in a group or atleast minimum of 2 people and avoid children and aged people. Nobody and nothing is available at the top. It seems there is no priest for the temple but a person comes to do pooja once in a month. It is an open temple with a Shiva lingam, Murugan, Vinayagar and some other deities. You can do pooja yourself. The ideal time to visit is in the early morning.

Websites :

http://shanthiraju.wordpress.com/thiruvannamalai/

Mandagapattu

Name : Mandagapattu

Location :

It is 20 kms from Villupuram and 17 kms from Gingee in the Villupuram – Gingee road.

Description :

Thirumurthy Temple :

This shrine, called the Trimurti Temple, is generally considered as the first of the Pallava cave-temples and was commissioned by Mahendra I in the early 7th century on a 100ft hillock. The Pallava temples along with a similar group by the Chalukyas of Badami represent the earliest Hindu stone temples in southern India. The temples were a significant architectural innovation as they marked the transition from wooden structures to stone. An inscription on the temple calls it the Laksitayatna and dedicates it to Brahma, Isvara, and Vishnu. “Mahendravarman showed leanings towards Jainism before he gravitated towards Hinduism — which is probably why one finds Jain settlements near his cave temples.

Steps at the end of a wide stone courtyard lead up to an uncovered porch before a simple rectangular mandapa with four massive equidistant pillars. The pillars of the mandapa facade have square bases, octagonal central sections and square capitals with curved corbels. Inside, another row of similar pillars divides the mandapa into three aisles. The aisles lead to the Trimurti shrines, deep plain niches cut into the rear wall.



Satrumalleswarar Temple (Dalavanur)

At Thalavanur, close to Mandagapattu, The central mandapa pillars have large medallions carved on each face of the square sections at the base and top. Steps lead to the entrance between these pillars. Above the entrance is an elaborately carved lintel. The temple houses door guardians flanking a linga. Above this, a gently curved eave has a row of equally spaced candrasalas with carved faces. On either side of the mandapa facade are deep niches with gently-leaning Dvarpalakas.

A small flight of rock-cut steps carved on the hill takes us to the shelters of Jain monks who probably meditated and rested there.

Websites :

http://www.fulcrum.in/mandagapattu.htm

http://ramanchennai.wordpress.com/category/archaeology-history/