Chetti Thambiran Temple & Konganar Siddhar Samadhi (Karur - Tamil Nadu)

 

Name : Chetti Thambiran Temple & Konganar Siddhar Samadhi (Karur - Tamil Nadu)

Location :

From Trichy: 73km via Kangeyam. Break journey via Kangeyam via Vellakovil.
From Tiruppur: 40km via Kangeyam. Break journey via Kangeyam.
From Dharapuram: 19km towards Kangeyam. Frequent buses are available.
From Kangeyam: 14km towards Dharapuram. Frequent buses are available.
Nearest Bus Stop: Uthiyur aka Pon Uthiyur

Legend :

When the great Ramayana war happened between Rama and Ravana in Ceylon, Rama’s brother Lakshmanan was attacked by an arrow sent by Ravana which made him almost dead. So to cure him, Jambavan asked Hanuman to get a Sanjeevani herb from the Himalayan range in between the peaks of Rishabam and Kailasa. And Hanuman followed suit. But in the specified location in the hill between the 2 peaks he couldn’t find the herb. So frustrated he felt like breaking the hill into pieces. But he suddenly came up with the idea of lifting the whole hill and taking it to Jambavan and he did it. When he flew across the whole length of India from Himalayas to Ceylon a few pieces of the hill fell in several places along the length. One of it was in Uthiyur, where the sage Konganar Sithar meditated in a small cave at the top of the hill. Once Hanuman reached, Jambavan took the Sanjeevani herb from the hill and gave its juice to the whole battalion and saved everyone's lives.

Description :

It was a pretty small village with a hillock at one side. Not just a hillock, there were atleast 3-4. There was a little temple after a flight of 100 steps from the ground, which is the base temple ‘Uthanda Velayudhasamy Thirukoil’ with a huge water-well as well and the little path with few rocky steps beside the temple lead us to the base of a hillock and the steps ended there as well. There were few more little mandapams in a dilapidated condition.

 

This hill, till date, is considered to have all those medicinal plants including Sanjeevani. Though the program didn’t give any details about the medicinal plants in this it gave a decent coverage about the place on a whole with interviews from several locals. Though the program said that the place is near Kangeyam, I had no clue where in Kangeyam is this place. After searching the net for pretty long time, I found some details about this place. It was spelt Uthiyoor by some other site and atleast I got the info that its midway to Dharapuram from Kangeyam. We started off and were there at Uthiyur shortly.

There were few sculptures here and there, and also some hero-stones. But I couldn’t make out the era it could have been from. Must be Chola period with regards to its location, but which Chola king or which century, I had no clue.

From that point there was no proper path as well. The little temple like structure at the peak of one of the hillocks is destination. There is a little muddy pathway that is rocky at most of the places. Also there are several smaller pathways that lead to the hillock. The route is rocky and the hill is pretty vertical. Many places the muddy pathway will be missing. Filled with several plants that formed a decently thick forest-like area, several among these huge number of plants must be medicinal which would include the Sanjivani as well.

A route will be divided into 2 and there is a little board that shows an arrow to a route that reads “Route to Chetti Thambiran Temple”. A little more trek and will lead to the Chetti Thambiran Temple. This is a small temple formed by the space in between 2 rocks. The sounds heard here were freaky at times, thanks to the several rocks and boulders and heavy winds that blow through them. A little more climb from there will take us to the hill top and there was a little temple of Lord Ganesh.( Uchi Pillayar Temple)

 To reach Kongana sithar cave, we have to climb another hill with boulders atop (as you see in the picture below).

 

  To go there we have to use the other pathway where we were directed to Chetti Thambiran Temple. The other path leads to the peak of the hill to go to the Konganar Caves. Care had to be taken not to go to the edges of the boulders there. A fall from there could definitely prove fatal. Here again there is a little room created by the space between 2 boulders. It was here that Sage Konganar Sithar meditated and lost his physical self. Sithar’s are yogists who are in the high meditative state and lose their physical state and attain divinity.

There is a pathway to enter this cave from the rear as well. It could be entered from the rear side through a small tunnel like opening and crawled down into the cave. Else in a simpler way you could enter it from the huge front opening.

Food: There are a few local messes here. Nearest place for good restaurants and hotel is Kangeyam.

Contact number of Konganar cave Priest : +91 99425 32193

Websites : https://travel.bhushavali.com/2010/05/uthiyur-hills-aka-pon-uthiyur-konganar.html

Thalamalai Sanjeevi Perumal Temple

Name : Thalamalai Sanjeevi Perumal Temple aka.,Nallendra Perumal Temple

Location :

At a distance of 5 km from Sevinthipatti, 39 km from Gunaseelam, 34 km from Namakkal, 95 km from Erode, 65 km from Trichy & 354 km from Chennai, the ancient and famous Thalamalai Perumal Temple is situated on a unique rock on the peak of Thalaimalai Hill. It is a renowned Vaishnava temple.

Legend :

1. In Ramayana, great of the two great epics of Hindu mythology, Lord Rama on his way back to Ayodhya with Sita after rescuing her from Ravana in Lankan lands, he had to stay at this Sthala, a spring by name Ramar Sunai was made and there is water flow always. When a person goes close this spring, he can breathe the pleasurable smell of turmeric.

2. In Ramayana, the Yuddha Kanda, Indrajit, son of Ravana and the primary of army of demons showered deadly weapons (the Brahmastra.) to kill his enemies - Rama, Lakhmana and vanaras and they were unconscious. Jambavan sent Hanuman to fetch the Sanjivi, a powerful life-restoring herb to revive the unconscious. Unable to find the specific herb before nightfall, Hanuman brought the entire mountain Dronagiri which was full of medicinal plants, to the fight field, thus helping find the herb and even with the approach of the Sanjivi hill, (fragrance of the herbs) Rama and Lakshmana and the Vanaras felt the darts slip off their bodies. Their wounds healed. Jambavan told Hanuman to replace the Sanjivi Hill but Hanuman was tired to go back to the spot and he tied the hill in his tail and threw it with full vigour. The top portion of the hill fell and that place came to be known as Thalaimalai.

Description :

 The temple is open only in the Tamil month of “Puratasi” (Mid of September to Mid of October). During this period, people from surrounding areas would come to this temple and worship. The temple is  atop nearly 2300 Feet above sea level.

This hill gets its name because it resembles the head of a person. This hill is also known as Siragiri.

The presiding deity of the temple is Nallendra Perumal, a form of Lord Vishnu. One can find shrines of Venkatachalapathy, Alamelu Mangai Thayaar, Goddess Mahalaxmi, Sri Devi, Bhudevi, Lord Anjaneya, Garudazhvar, and Karupanna Swami. If one takes a holy dip in the Kannimar Sunai and pray to Lord Nallendra Perumal, they would be void of the bad effects of Lord Shaneeswar. This temple was built by Madurai Nayaks.

There is a spring called Ramar Sunai with water flowing all the time.

Visitors need to trek for about 4 kms through rocky path running through steep stretches at times. It usually takes about 2 hours to trek upwards. The trekking starts from Thalamalai foothill, which is about 10 kms from Appananallur. From Trichy, the route goes through Guanseelam, Musiri, Manamedu and Appananallur.

Devotees walk around on a narrow path around the temple for pradakshinas. People strongly believe that going round this rock temple would give them successful marriage, wealth and child birth. Doing this ritual is now banned after an accident.

One can find Sanjivi herb spread in this hill and the pilgrims who workshopped this temple would be guarded against the sting of poisonous insects and snakes. There is no threatening to their lives.

Festivals :

Annual festival is celebrated in Tamil month of Puratasi (September / October), once in three years poojas for Edi Bhagavan (Thunder) are performed here.

Timings: 6 AM to 9 PM on Monday to Saturday and 6 AM to 2 PM on Sunday

Websites :
http://www.gconnect.in/guestarticles/thalaimalai-hills-unseen-serene-beauty-of-nature.html

http://amudhasurabi.com/tour/Trichy/ThalamalaiTemple

https://www.trawell.in/tamilnadu/tiruchirappalli/thalamalai-perumal-temple

Bijasan Mata Mandir, Ujjain

Name : Bijasan Mata Mandir

Location :
This place is situated at dewas road 15 minutes drive from tawar and about 9 km from the Railway Station in village hamukhedi ujjain District of Madhya Pradesh.

Description :

There is an Tekri which is situted in gram Hamukhedi near Ujjain on Dewas road. On top approximately 1000ft above ground , there is a temple of Bijasan Mata. Bijasen Tekri: This hillock (tekri) has a small temple of Bijasen Mata, built in 1920. Mela is held here during Navaratri.

This Tekri has been given on lease to Dharma Vigyan Shodh Trust to devlop over 10 Lakh Plants and build nature temple where medication of various disease would be possible. Nakshtra Vatika would be build on this tekri for this purpose. This place is 11 km from  away from city.

That is also a sort of picnic spot where people used to come from all over the country. We can have a nice aerial view of Ujjain from the temple. The best thing about the temple is the huge  and marvelous statue of LION sitting in front of maa Bijasan. Lion was  looking extremely powerful and energetic. Mela is held here during Navratri.

Websites :

http://shashankshivhare.blogspot.in/2012/07/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html

Subramanya swamy Temple - Sivan Malai

Name : Arulmigu Subramanyaswamy Temple

Location :

Sivanmalai is located in the Tiruppur District, Tamilnadu. It is 5 kms away from Kangeyam town towards Tiruppur. This Sivanmalai is located in 25 Kms away from Tiruppur and 76 Kms away from Coimbatore.

Legend :

One of the well known myths associated with Siva is his conquest of Tripuram – the three celestial cities which the Asuras (demons) had taken over, and wreaked havoc over them. The Devas ( celestial gods) appealed to Siva for help and asked him to save them from the demons. Siva made mount Meru his bow, and Vasuki the serpent his bow-string and prepared to wage war against the Asuras. The very tip of Siva’s bow ( Mount Meru) fell on earth and that became Sivamalai according to legend. It is also known as Sakthimalai because Parvathi the goddess did penance once on this hill.

The sage Agastya came to this mountain and performed penance in order to gain knowledge about the Agamas. He also created a natural spring on this mountain from the waters of the Ganga which he brought in his Kamandalam. It is said this miracle took place on Karthigai Pournami day ( full moon in the month of Karthigai) and thus it is venerated by devotees as a special day.

Hanuman too prayed here after being directed to Sivamalai by the sage Vyasa. He was accorded as much power and strength as Vishnu-Narasimha after his penance in Sivamalai. Hanuman, it is believed, even carried flowers from the banks of the Ganga to worship at Sivamalai. Many miracles are said to have taken place in Sivamalai involving celestial beings like Indra whose kingdom was restored to him after a battle with the Asuras. Cursed by Agasthya, king Nakutan became a snake. Sage Dhurvasa asked him to pray to Sivamalai Murugan who restored his original form.

Murugan is said to have gone to Vallimalai on the advice of Narada and married Valli there and brought her to Sivamalai to make it their beloved abode. Like Parvathi in Kancipuram, Valli also did penance in Sivamalai, which included thirty two sacred duties. Later Murugan went to Tiruthani and brought his consort Devayanai also to reside with him in Sivamalai.

Innumerable Tamil Scholars have immortalized Sivamalai with their songs of praise. Sivamalai is featured in the Tiruppugazh, Sivamalai Puranam, Sivamalai Pillai Tamizh, Sivamalai Mayil Vidu Thoothu, Siva Thangaratha Sadakam and Thanipadal.

Description :

The other names of Sivanmalai are Sivachalam, Sivathri, Shakthi Sivamalai. This town Kangeyam is famous for business coconut products like oil, nutshell charcoal products etc. The main deity of the Sivanmalai is Lord Subramanya Swamy it is the another name of Lord Murugan. The favorite deity of the Tamil people is undoubtedly Murugan, the son of Siva and Parvathi. This temple was build by Sivavakkiyar a famous Sidhhar. It is believed that this temple may be constructed in 12th century.

The presiding deity in the sivanmalai is Lord Murugan,Valli and Deivayanai. This murugan temple located in a hill top which can be reached by 450 footsteps or by 2 Kms hill road. This temple premises is calm and clean, which provides soothing serenity to the mind and body. Sri Arunagirinathar a famous Tamil poet has sung the song about this Sivanmalai in his Tiruppugazh.

God’s order box is placed before entering mulavar sanctum. Devotees coming to the temple needs to check what object is placed in the order box. After checking this devotees needs to enter the main sanctum. Lord Muruga is appearing to the devotees dream and ask them to place one object in the order box. (Those objects may be Water, Cloth, Sand, Soil and Gold) That person will bring that object to the temple. To find out that information true or false, they will place the flower in Mulavar sannadhi. Once it is confirmed, that object will be placed inside the God’s order box until the arrival of next object. Pooja’s will be performed to that object on daily basis. This procedure is followed for several hundred years.

The “Theerthas” (holy waters) of Sivamalai :

Once upon a time the Chola king Muchukunda was afflicted by leprosy. He heard from the sage Gautama that he would be cured if he took a dip in the holy theertha(waters) of Sivamalai. He did so and was miraculously cured, giving credence to the sanctity of Sivamalai. The various theerthas are : Agasthya, Anuma, Indra, Brahmananda, Mangala and Veera theertha.

Beautiful landscapes and seasons have always inspired great Tamil poetry and songs. One of the ancient forms of dramatic poetry is the Kuravanji Natakam. The Sivamalai Kuravanji describes the beauty of this place. It says that it is a mountain covered with medicinal and curative herbs and other fauna. Thus it is not surprising that it attracts important visitors like Nadi and Siddha medicine men (Vaidhiyars). They have found medicinal herbs for conceiving children, and also making the aged young. Many incurable wounds, and scars left by weapons have been cured by these herbal remedies. Some creepers grown here are even used to tame wild animals. There is a special type of grass called “jothi pullu” which lights up in the dark. Remedies are also found for prolonging one’s youthfulness, and fertility.

Sivanmalai Temple Timings and Festivals

This temple is opened for dharshan from morning 6am to 11am and in evening 4pm to 8pm. Kartikai asterism and new moon days in each month are considered to be of significance at Sivanmalai. Skandasashti is celebrated in great splendour as in other Murugan temples. Other festivals here include Thai Poosam, Aadi Kritikai and Pankuni Uthiram.

Website :

http://www.sivanmalaimurugan.tnhrce.in

http://www.anupamablog.com/sivanmalai-murugan-temple/