PRANAVA MALAI

Location : Tirupporur is 45 km from Chennai

I have no details about Pranava Malai. Anyhow i have the legend associated with it described as below.

It dates back to the times of Pallavas and Tirupporur is known by different names like Poriyur or Yuddhapuri or Samarapuri. There are many legends related to Tirupporur and one of them relates to Lord Shiva relieving Lord Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi from the curse of Kanva rishi. This Lord Shiva and his son Murugan are worshipped here. According to the Sthalapurana, it was here that Lord Murugan with his consorts Valli and Devayanai granted protection to the demi-gods and explained the true meaning of Pranava or the real truth to them and Agastya Muni. Thus, the hill behind the temple is known as 'PRANAVA MALAI ', where Lord Vishnu is said to have worshipped Lord Shiva. Legend also has it that Skanda worshipped Shiva as Vanmeekeswara to rid himself of the sin of having killed Soorapadman.

Tirupporur got lost into oblivion until it was rediscovered in the 17th century and was renovated by Chidambara Swamigal. The idol of Lord Murugan is said to be the 'Swayambhu Murti', (not made by the hands of a man) and was found by Chidambara Swamigalin in an anthill. The temple enshrines Skanda in several forms based on the legends of Skanda Puranam. To the east of the temple the the 'Palmyra' tree and the anthill where the image of Skanda was found can be seen. The anthill is now covered with Kavacha (armor) and other jewels. The other things enclosed in the temple premises are a 24-pillared hall, a 30-pillared circular hall, a shrine to 'Vembadi Vinayaka' under a Neem tree

Stala Theerthams : 'Saravana Poigai' and 'Valliyar Odai' to the south of the temple, and another Teertham known as 'Pranavamritam'.

Kumaran Kunram, Chromepet

Name : BalaSubramaniyar Koil - Kumaran Kundram

Location :

The Subramanyar temple at Kumaran Kunram in Chromepet (near Chennai, Tambaram). The Subramanyar shrine is located on top of the hill and is visible over a distance and commands an impressive view of the surroundings.

History :

Way back in 1956, when Paramacharya visited Chromepet, looking at the hill, he said a temple for Murugan would come up there. It happened 20 years later. The temple for Siddhi Vinayakar was the first to be built in 1956. While clearing the hill side for a path, a lance (Vael) was found and this inspired the devotees to speed up work. The Swaminathaswamy temple took shape and consecration was performed in 1979. Gradually the hill acquired more shrines and the temple has been expanded and consecration conducted at regular intervals

Description :

At the base are shrines for Vinayaka, Sri Kaliswari, Idumban and navagraha. The steps, 108 in number, are well-laid. The rugged path that devotees once used runs adjacent. A few steps above is a small temple for Meenakshi-Sundareswarar with niches for Nataraja, Sarabeswara and Chandikeswara. Nataraja has his right foot up in the classic Cosmic dance pose.

On top is the shrine of Swaminathaswamy. The Moolavar is a lovely granite idol set in serene surroundings. There is a niche for Durgai. A perennial spring called Kumara Tirtham supplies water meeting the needs of the temple. Beneath the shrine is Dhyana mantapam. Considered pariharasthalam for Chevvai and Ketu, the temple draws a steady stream of devotees, it is said.

The view from top shows Chromepet and its neighbourhood spread out as a vast expanse. Silhoutted in the distance is the gopuram of the Tiruneermalai temple. Also distinctly visible is the Trisula hill.

Festivals :

Festivals are conducted with great fanfare. Maha Skandasashti is celebrated on the lines of the Tiruchendur temple. Soorasamharam is an elaborate affair, complete with fireworks. The young and old participate with great enthusiasm. Programmes for the entire year are charted out on a huge board at the entrance.

The Kartikai deepam festival when the temple is illuminated with a number of lamps rendering it visible all around, is of great beauty is data about the temple.

Websites :

http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/hill-temple-in-chennai-city/article2301891.ece 

VENNAI MALAI

Description : The Balasubramanyaswami temple at Vennaimalai is an ancient one, revered by the Tiruppugazh hymns of Arunagirinathar, although its current structure is a recent one.

Location : Karur near Tiruchirappalli. The temple is built on a small hill and it enshrines Balasubramanyar, Kasi Viswanathar and Visalakshi.

Festivals : Skanda Sashti in the tamil month of Aippasi, Thai Poosam and Aadi Krittikai.

KUMARAR KOIL - TiruMalai

Description: Sri Kumarar Koyil is located in Ilanji near Tenkasi. Nearby, in the village of Panpoli is the hill temple of Tirumalai Kumarar. Ilanji is located at a distance of 5 km from Tenkasi and 3 km from Kutralam.

The name ilanji stems from the stala vriksham magizha maram and also from the richness of the land abounding in water resources. Arunagirinathar has revered this shrine in his tiruppugazh hymns. Ilanjimurugan Ulaa, and the Kutralanathar Puranam speak of the glory of this temple. Several other literary works also speak of the glory of this shrine.

Legends: This temple is closely linked to Kutralam, in terms of the legends associated. Both these temples are associated with the legend of Agastya muni, proceding to the southern lands from the Himalayas, following Shiva's command - to balance the tilt of the earth with his weight; the earth had tilted dangerously following the assembly of all living beings at the Himalayas to witness the divine marriage between Shiva and Parvati.

Following Shiva's bid, Agastyar is believed to have reached Kutralam, the site of the present day temple to Kutralanathar, which then was a Vaishnava temple, into which he was refused entry.

Agastyar is then believed to have worshipped Murugan at Ilanji, and then proceded to Kutralam in the guise of a Vaishnava devotee and by a miracle converted the image of Vishnu to that of a Shivalingam. The name Kutralam comes from the legend that the image was shrunk (kurukkudal) into that of a Shivalingam.

The Temple: This east facing temple has 2 entrances, 2 prakarams, an ardhamandapam, mani mandapam and mahamandapam. Also here are shrines to Surya, Dakshinamurthy, Saptamatas, Jwarahareswarar, 63var, Venugopalar, Kasi Viswanathar, Visalakashi, Kutrala Nathar, Shanmukhar.

Iruvaalukanathar's shrine is to the left of Skanda's shrine. This temple was renewed in early 15th century.

The presiding deity here is Kumaran, enshrined in the central sanctum, flanked by his consorts Valli and Deivayanai. There are also major shrines to Iruvaluga eesar (believed to have been worshipped by Agasthyar) and Iruvaluga Eesarkiniyaal. There are also shrines to Kanni Vinayakar, Shenbaga Vinayakar, Kuzhal Vaimozhiamman, Chandikeswarar, Bhairavar, Venugopalar, Suryan, Saneeswaran, Agasthyar, the Saptamatas, the 63 Nayanmars and Ayyanar.

This temple with 2 prakarams has two entrances. The sanctum faces the east; there are the Ardha mandapam, the mani mandapam and the maha mandapam in front of the sanctum. A three tiered gopuram covers the entrance to the innerprakaram. Shiva's shrine faces east while Ambal's shrine faces south. Much of the current structure of the temple dates back to the 15th century.

The name Iru valuga Eesar arises from the fact that Agasthyar made a two Shivalingams out of the white sands (valugam) of the Chitra nadi flowing nearby and then combined the two into one Shivalingam, which now adorns the sanctum. Since the Shivalingam is fashioned out of white sand, no abhishekam is performed. Offerings of Shenbaga flowers to Shiva are considered to be very special here.

Stala Theertham : Idumban Sunai and Kuvalai Poonchunai are the theerthams here. The Kuvalai Poonchunai consists of the Soma, Surya and the Agni theerthams.
No of Steps : 540

Festivals: Six worship services are offered each day here.The procession bearing Skanda stops at the Kutralanathar shrine to receive offerings during the annual Bhramotsavams.

Skanda Sashti is celebrated in great splendour here. During this festival, Subramanyar is portrayed as Bhrama, Vishnu, Shiva, Maheshwara, Sadasiva and finally again on Shiva on the 6 days of this festival. The final day of this festival involves the enactment of Surasamharam.

This portrayal is tied to the legend that Subramanya here manifested himself as the trinity Bhrama, Vishnu and Shiva - when asked by the sages Kapila, Kashyapa and Durvasa the question as to who was the greatest among the trinity. Chittirai Vishu (Tamil new years day) and Kartikai asterism in the month of Aadi are also celebrated here.

KUMARAN KOIL - Velli Malai

Description: This ancient temple to Murugan known as Kumaran Koyil is located at Padmanabhapuram, home to the palace of the erstwhile Travancore Maharaja, on the slopes of the Veli hills. It is located in a commanding position, visible for miles around.

Legend : Murugan married Valli here and hence the name Velimalai, Manamalai or Kalyanamala.

Deities: The main deities worshipped here are Subramanyar and Valli. A majestic 10 feet high image of Subramanyar of great workmanship adorns the sanctum. The festival image of murugan here is Manavaalakumaran and this image is taken in procession everyyear during Navaratiri to Tiruvanandapuram, along with Saraswathi and Bhagavathi from the padmanabapuram palace. Manavaalakumaran is also taken in procession to take part in the annual festival of the Suchindram temple.

Festivals: Kerala Tantram is a protocol of worship offered in this temple along the lines of most other temples in Kanyakumari district. Fridays, especially the last fridays of every tamil month are considered to be very sacred here. The Kanji which is distributed here on fridays as prasadam is believed to have miraculous healing properties.

Murugan’s and Valli’s marriage is celebrated with great splendor in the month of panguni. This Thirukkalyanam is an enactment of the divine wedding and is attended by thousands of pilgrims from allover the state.

The 7 day festivities begin in the star of Anuradha in the month of Panguni. Vaikasi Visakam is celebrated for 10 days and as in other Murugan temples Skandasashti is celebrated for 6 days.

Pushpabishekam is celebrated on the last friday in the month of aavani when the image of Kumaran is completely covered with hundreds of baskets of flowers contributed by the congregating pilgrims.

Website : http://murugan.org/temples/kumarakoil.htm

Sabarimalai Ayyappan

Name : Ayyappan, Manikandan, Sabarivaasan, Pandalaraja

Location : Sabarimalai, High up in the Sahyadri Mountains of Western Ghats, Kerala

No. of Hills : Five

Stala Purana : Sabarimala Sri Dharmasastha Temple is the most famous and prominent among all the Sastha Temples. It is believed that "Parasurama Maharshi" who retrieved Kerala from the sea by throwing his axe, installed the idol of Ayyappa at Sabarimala to worship Lord Ayyappa.

There are three ways for reaching the temple.

(a) The Erumeli route - the most arduous - the pilgrims cover about 61 km on foot through forest and hill track.

(b) The Vandiperiyar route - starts at 94.4 km stone on the Kotayam - Kumili road.

(c) The Chalakayam route - the easiest of all. Chalakayam is near Pampa river. Sannidhanam is just 8 km from here.

Pilgrimage Regulations :
Sabarimala pilgrims have to observe several austerities and regulations to undertake the pilgrimage.

The vritham can be undertaken only after getting permission from one's parents and Guru. It should be undertaken in such a manner as to cause no inconvenience to one's family.

The day before the vritham begins one has to offer prayers to ones' family deity and present a yellow cloth with coins within to the family deity.

The devotee must shave, clip his nails, trim his hair and bathe before the vritham. The holy garland should be cleaned and smeared with sandal paste and placed before the portrait of Lord Ayyappa. The devotee should also buy a new pair of coloured dhoti and towel or shawl.

On the day of the vritham the devotee rises early, bathes, prays to the family deity and performs a pooja to the holy mala. He will be accompanied to the temple by his Guru and recieve his mala from him.

Wearing the mala denotes that the devotee becomes Lord Ayyappa and must thus lead a pious life.

The devotee must keep away from all social activities and spend his time praying and singing bhajans and in worthy causes like visiting temples, cleaning temples, feeding the poor, helping the poor and sick and attending religious discourses.

He must eat only vegetarian food and abstain from meat, physical or verbal violence, alcohol and tobacco and intoxicants in any form. The devotee must sleep on the floor, use a wooden block for a pillow and walk
barefeet.

The devotee is obligated to treat all co-devotees as Lord Ayyappan and serve them in every way. He must be humble despite the respect and privileges accorded to him as a Sabarimala pilgrim.

The devotee must treat all women like his mother and strictly follow celibacy. He must not oil his body or his hair and must always carry a tulsi leaf with him to keep away evil thoughts

18 Holy steps :
Pathinettapadi (18 divine steps) to the sanctum sanctorium is divine in all aspects. The first three steps depict "Bhoomi, Agni, Vayoo & Akash", 6 to 9 steps for Karmendriya, 10 to 15 for Jhanandriya, 16th for mind 17th Intelligence and 18th Jeevathma Bhava. Those who cross all these steps are believed to achieve "Punyadarshan". The steep steps are so important and holy that no one can climb them without fasting for 41 days and carrying the holy irrumudi on ones' head.There are many mythological stories associated with the holy Patinettampadi. Some believe the eighteen steps denote the 18 puranas. Some say that 18 weapons with which Lord Ayyappa destroyed the evil denotes the 18 steps. Others are of the belief that the first five steps denotes the indriyas (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin). The next eight steps signifies the ragas (tatwa, kama, krodha, moha, lobha, madha, matsraya, and ahamkara. The next three steps signifies the gunas (satwa, rajas and thamas). The seventeenth and the eighteenth denotes vidhya and ignorance.

Trekking attractions :
KariMalai - Highest peek on the way to temple. The sand here is Black and hence the name Karmalai. On the top of karimalai there is a Sunai with Drinking water. It is said that Lord Ayyappan created this with his Bow & Arrow.

Website : http://www.sabarimala.org/ayyappanlegend.htm

http://pullart.blogspot.com/2009/04/pilgrimage-to-sabarimala-14th-17th.html