Kuchanur is a small village, 20 kms. from Theni town and the temple here is dedicated to the planet Saturn i.e Lord Saneeshwarar. People flock to this temple to ward off any ill effects due to the transit of Saturn by offering worship to the deity here. This place is second to Tirunallar in Kumbakonam district which is also famous for the Saneeshwarar temple. The temple in Kuchanur is small and the idol is resembling a Lingam which is considered to be a swaymbhu. It is believed that the idol is growing in size over the years and turmeric is applied everyday on the idol. A small Utstavar is also near the main deity. Behind the temple is the shrine for Vigneshawara and here too I found a sthala vricksham. It was not crowded when we went and we could get the darshan easily. The pilgrims were lighting lamps made of sesame seeds and gingely oil, in front of the temple.
There is a small sculpture of a crow, the mount of Saneeshwarar in front of the temple. Offering food to crow is considered auspicious and is very common here.
A small rivulet, Surabhi flows near the temple and I could see many were taking bath in the same before offering worship to the deity.
After offering prayers to Saneeshwarar we went to the nearby temple of Guru bhagawan .There is also a separate shrine for Siva here. The Guru's temple is believed to be very old and it is believed that Lord Indra himself worshiped the deity. Pilgrims perform various poojas to fulfill their wishes. This temple is under renovation and there are two new small temples outside the Guru temple dedicated to Lord Anjaneyar and Pancha Mukha Ganapathi.
How to reach: Nearest railway station is Madurai which 75 kms. from Theni.
Bus services are available from all parts of Tamil Nadu to Theni and from there regular buses ply to Kuchanur.
Accommodation- Theni has good hotels and lodges for comfortable stay.
There is a small sculpture of a crow, the mount of Saneeshwarar in front of the temple. Offering food to crow is considered auspicious and is very common here.
A small rivulet, Surabhi flows near the temple and I could see many were taking bath in the same before offering worship to the deity.
After offering prayers to Saneeshwarar we went to the nearby temple of Guru bhagawan .There is also a separate shrine for Siva here. The Guru's temple is believed to be very old and it is believed that Lord Indra himself worshiped the deity. Pilgrims perform various poojas to fulfill their wishes. This temple is under renovation and there are two new small temples outside the Guru temple dedicated to Lord Anjaneyar and Pancha Mukha Ganapathi.
How to reach: Nearest railway station is Madurai which 75 kms. from Theni.
Bus services are available from all parts of Tamil Nadu to Theni and from there regular buses ply to Kuchanur.
Accommodation- Theni has good hotels and lodges for comfortable stay.
16 comments:
we had been to Kuchanur about 5 years back..... even then it was being renovated... there was a canal flowing by and we made samhith take a bath there! but i dont remember seeing the pancha mukha ganapati... must look out for it next time
Pancha mukha Ganapathi temple is a new one. There no renovation activity going on presently in Kuchanur temple only the Guru's temple is getting renovated.
All the images were simply "breathtaking"!:)
Gone through the details of Kuchanur! very nicely described... Wah wah to you too coz you are making the work of "Tamilnadu Tourism Board" easy, by projecting the crucial details of all those temples that tourists might have skipped to visit!:)
Thank you Vinesh for visiting my blog.
I've heard of statues of various Gods and Holy Men/Women that are said to cry tears or sweat blood but never one that is said to be growing - fascinating. Thanks for another interesting post.
Petty Witter
It is believed that the application of turmeric would help to reduce the speed at which it grows.Here I have come across many such temples . shall post about a similar one .
I realise there are many Shaneeshwar temples in India. Recently read about one in Ujjain in Anu's blog.
:)
Dear Bindhu
thanks for visiting my blog and posting a comment.
The two Saneeshwara temples, one in Tirunallar and one Kuchanur are most important temples as they happen to be swayambhus. Tirunallar is the place where king Nala was relieved of his sade sathi and Kuchanur comes next to Tirunallar, again an important pilgrimage centre. I would be writing about the Tirunallar temple also.
Nice to know there are many temples dedicated to Saneeshwarar. I will also update my knowledge.
I look forward to reading more, thank you.
Thanks again Petty Witter.
hi
thanks for the writeup. I am planning to visit the kuchanur in the coming week. we would be glad if some lodge contact ph no is given to me . iam N>RAVI my id is ng.ravi1@gmail.com
good info. perfectly described. i plan to visit this temple shortly. found this writeup very useful. thanks.
Muralidharan, I am happy my write up has helped you a lot.
There is a swayambu temple at SHANI SHINGNAPUR in Maharashtra. This is between Ahmednagar and Aurangabad. Amust visit place. The houses in this area does not have locks (latches). I believe there is a bank also in shingnapur which does not lock their premise.
Regards
Radhakrishnan
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