Mundakanniyamman temple- Mylapore , Chennai

 Mundakanniyamman, the name is unique,so is the  Goddess in this  temple, which is situated in the Northern side of Mylapore Kapaleeshwarar temple.

The main idol in the sanctum appears small but is considered to be very powerful.  Since the manifestation is just  like a head resembling a lotus - the deity bears the name Mundakam which means lotus in Tamil. There is also a big image of Goddess etched in silver above the manifestation with huge sparkling eyes .

The Goddess here, is believed to be Saraswathi, and she has thousands of devotees flocking to her  abode with fervent prayers to protect them from various problems and also to ward off curses, occult, illness and influences of bad spirits. A major chunk of her devotees are women and they offer her milk, fruits, flowers, silks with fervent prayers  she in turn grants their wish.

A huge banyan tree behind the sanctum provides shade to Goddess and she is happy sitting under a thatched roof in natural surroundings . There is an ant hill under  the tree,and it  is believed to be the place of temple nagam. Offering prayers here also removes Nagadosham. 

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This temple is considered to be more than 1300 years old.

Aadi month festival is very famous and women flock here seeking Her blessings.
This temple is just a 10 minute walk from Kapaleeshwarar temple.

Sri Vedanta Desikar Devasthanam-Mylapore, Chennai

A small walk from the Mylapore temple tank towards Chitrakulam will take one to the Vedanta Desikar temple. He is considered as the reincarnation of Divine bell of Lord Vishnu.

The temple is situated very close to  Peyalwar temple.
Desikar was a  great Acharya who mastered all sastras and became a scholar. He has written thousands of stotras on Lord Srimannarayana.

All Acharyas walked the length and breadth of the country extolling the beauty and grace of Lord but in case of Mylapore temple, Lord Srinivasa  with his consort came in search of Desikan ,to be with him.

The main sanctum has Lord Srinivasa's idol ; a beautiful one which would give one a feeling of visiting the Tirumala temple and outside on the left side we can find  Lakshmi Hayagreeva and an idol of Desikan in a small shrine.
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 A detail history of Desikar here
There also shrines for Anjaneyar, Garuda,Peyazhawar,Hayagrivar, Lakshmi Narasimha, Sudarshana and Lord Lakshmi Narasimha and Sri Andal.

Aadikesava Perumal Peyalwar Tirukoil , Mylapore, Chennai

Adikesava Perumal  Peyalwar temple is situated near Chitrakulam in Mylapore.

It is one among the 108 divyadesam and this temple along with Tiruvellikeni is considered as one divyadesam.

This temple is believed to be 5000 years old and also  believed to be in existence from dwaparayuga though it has undergone renovations many times.

This is the birth place of Peyalwar; one of the first 3  Alwars ( saints)of the 12 Alwars

In the sanctum of the main temple there is the beautiful idol of  Adi Kesavaperumal ( Lord Vishnu). Facing the God is Garudar sannidhi and dwajasthambha.

 His consort Mayurvalli thayar  blesses all the devotees from a separate shrine.Here at this sacred place Peyalwar received blessings from Thayar. On her advice he worshiped Kesava Perumal here.Every Friday a special worship known as  Vilvarchanai is performed to the Goddess  Mayuravalli  by devotees and she makes everyone happy by granting their wish.

Andal is also enshrined within the complex  and there are also idols of Alwars here.

It is also believed that Sri Rama while returning from Lanka got attracted to this place and stayed here for sometime before returning to Ayodhya.

Poigai Alwar and Booththa alwar also sang mangalsanams ( hymns)to Lord here.

Peyalwar goes in a procession to Tiruvellikeni during Tamil  month of Purattasi , and enters the sanctum there, offers worship there by singing hymns.

 More details can be found here about the temple.

One needs special permission to use camera.

I have just a couple of pictures.

Please refer the link for more pictures.

                                    
                                            

Madhur Madhanantheswara Siddivinayaka temple Kasargod.

Madhur temple is about 7 Kms from the town of Kasargod in Kannur  district of Kerala and is nestled in a small serene village and river Madhurvahini flows right in front of the temple.

An ancient place of worship, the presiding deity here is Lord Shiva, Madhananteshwara.

Though Shiva is the main deity, the temple is more famous for the Ganesha  known here as Madhur Siddhivinayaka,and has a separate niche  just outside the sanctum of Lord Shiva on the right side of the sanctum.

The temple structure is a three tired structure in grihaprishta style, meaning resembling the back of an elephant.

It is believed that a boy while playing drew a picture of Ganapati on the walls of sanctum and it started growing fatter and fatter. Later worship started to Ganesha.

This is one of the famous six temples of Ganesha in Tulunadu. Other five are Sharavo Maha Ganapathi, Annegude, Hattiangadi, Idagunji , Gokarna.( check trhe links for other ganesha temples I have visited)

Madhur  Ganapati here, loves sweet appams  and Appa seva is famous here.
Thousands of sweet appams are offered here during worship.