Karaikudi and Nearby Temples

Pillaiyarpatti KarpagaVinayagar temple -

Pillaiyarpatti is situated 12 Kms. from Karaikudi which is the prime town of Chettinadu. As there is a famous Pillaiyar temple, the village takes it name as Pillaiyarpatti. The temple is a rock cut temple and the sanctum sanctorum is inside a cave. This temple 1600 years old. This deity is believed to be the benefactor of all the business community and every one from this community apportion a small percentage of their income as their offering to this deity and they also ensure excellent maintenance and up keep of the temple through regular contributions and care. The main deity faces the North and it is considered, a worship here bestows prosperity as he is facing the direction of god of wealth Kubera hence the attraction for the business community.

The mammoth idol of Vinayagar is a bas relief, more than 6 feet in height and is in a sitting posture. The uniqueness of this deity is that it has only two hands compared to the other Vinayagar idols and the trunk is curved to the right and he is known as Valampuri Vinayagar. Another name for this deity is Karpaga Vinayagar. The Sivalingam, Tiruveesar is also a bas relief. Nine lamps always glow around the Vinayagar idol as it is believed to be representing the Navagrahas. The Lord Vinayagar looks magnificient in his golden kavacham and people flock to this temple to seek his blessings.

There is a beautiful temple tank in front of the temple and there is an entrance from the east side also. There is a small shrine outside the temple above a small rock.

Other deities of the temple are Siva, known here as Marundeshwar and his consort Vadamalar Amman. There are niches for Lingodbhavar, Dakshina moorthy, Muruga and Navagrahas. The sthala vriksham is also inside the temple. The small road leading to the temple is lined with shops selling various items related to worship, devotional books and idols of Ganesha made of granite.

The main festival in this temple is Vinayaga chathurthi and during the festival period the temple gets thronged with pilgrims. The Karthigai festival is also very important and special buses ply during these periods to help the pilgrims. On April 1 st also this temple attracts lot of crowd as that is the beginning of the financial year for the business people.

Last two pics.  Pillaiyarpatti idol , pictures courtesy Wikipedia.

Kundrakudi

Enroute to Pillayair patti from Karaikudi 3 Kms before, is a Murugan temple atop a small hillock.This place is called Kundra kudi . One has to climb a fleet of stairs cut in the rock itself to reach the temple. It would take about 10 minutes to reach the top . The temple is about 1000years old and is situated at a height of 200 feet from ground level. The famous violinist Kunnakudi Vaidya nathan hailed from this place.

Then Tirupathi- .Ariyakudi

Ariyakudi is 5 Kms. from the town of Karaikudi is famous for the Venkatchalapathi koil known here as Thiruvenkadamudayian. This temple also very old and was recently renovated. When we went there some special pooja was being conducted to the deity. This is considered to be an important abode of Lord Balaji. It is believed a worship here is equivalent to that of a worship a Lord Balaji at Tirumala and hence it called Then Tirupathi meaning Southern Tirupathi. There is a special Garuda's idol here on the Norther side of the temple known as Kalgarudan. Some pictures which I captured during my recent visit.

Vairavar Koil

Two Kms. from Pillaiyar patti ,on the way to Tirupathur there is a temple dedicated to Lord Vairavar, another incarnation of Lord Shiva. The Vairavar idol is beautiful and is always decorated with a golden kavacham which is around 1000 sovereigns, There are separate shrines for Siva known here as Varalori Nathar and and his consort known as Vadivudai Amman. This temple is small and the ceiling of the temple is painted in myriad colours. Near the entrance of this there a shrine for Vinayagar.

Tirupathur Koil

Thiruthali Nathar Koil is an ancient temple near Tirupathur bus stand. This is on Karaikudi- Madurai route in Sivaganga district. It is 12 Kms. from Pillaiyar patti.This temple is under renovation and here, there is a seperate shrine for Yoga Bhairavar. Of the 64 forms of Bairvar, Yoga Bairavar is considered to be the most important as he is the Moola Bairavar meaning he is the first. All other Bairavar's came off him. We could not approach the Amman sannidhi as it was under renovation. It is believed that sage Valmiki stayed at this place  and also took care of Sita, Rama's wife when she was banished from the kingdom. The Lord  Siva here helped his devotee to win rewards from the king by helping him by composing a poem.



A word about Chettinadu
Chettinadu is famous for Sir Raja Annamalai Chettiyar, Sir Raja Muthiah Chettiar, Dr. Alagappa Chettiar etc. who contributed to their well being of their community and founded many educational institutions like Annamalai University , Alagappa University, A.C.Tech in Karaikudi and Chennai and many schools in Chettinadu and Chennai . Even now the Chettiyars community people who do business in other parts of the country and outside India make it a regular habit to come back to their roots at regular intervals and they have built palatial buildings with best accessories imported and each house is a store house of antiques and arte facts. Most of the houses have open central courtyard with rooms arranged on all four sides. The Chettinadu cuisine is very famous , would be attractive for people who like spicy food. Chettinadu saris are also very famous and is a definite attraction for women.

How to reach Karaikudi

Can be reached from Madurai and Trichy which are at 70 Kms and 82 Kms respectively. Both the cities have airports and railway stations. Karaikudi also has a railway station.

Buses ply from all the towns in Tamil Nadu to Karaikudi and all the above temples are on regular bus routes and are easily reachable.

Karaikudi town has good number of hotels for boarding as well as lodging.