Mayuranathaswamy Koil, Mayiladuthurai, Tamilnadu

A tall Gopuram welcomes one to this beautiful temple situated in the midst of the Mayiladuthurai town.

The temple has a beautiful pond as one approaches the temple.

This  temple is very ancient and is a thevara sthalam.

This is the place where Lord Shiva appeared  in front of Parvati when she was doing penance taking the form of pea cock  to get rid of the curse she had incurred from Shiva. She did severe penance and  pleased with her devotion Shiva too appeared in front of her as pea cock  and performed a dance known as Mayura thandavam. Lord is known here as Mayuranathar.

Goddess is Abayambhigai Ambal and she blesses devotees  from a separate shrine.This temple is closely associated with Mylapore temple, ( check the beautiful  temple details in the link) Chennai where Parvati offered  worship to Shiva first before proceeding to  Mayiladuthurai where she was relieved from the curse.
More details here.

Temple timing- 6 am- 12 .00 noon
4 pm-8 pm

Talaichanga Nanmathiam ,Sree Nanmathiya Perumal temple- Thalachangadu, Mayiladathurai, Divya desam

The historical name of this temple is Talaichangadu Nanmathiam believed to be more than 500 years old. ( Talai sangam refers to the first congregation of Tamil poets believed to have taken place near here.)

Legend:

Chandra worshipped Lord here to get relief from a curse  he had incurred and it is believed that  devotees worship Perumal  here to overcome  adverse aspects of moon.

In this temple we find the Lord in a standing position facing East  adorning a  crescent moon on his head  like Shiva and God here is known as Nanmathia Perumal  and Chandra Saabha Harar meaning one who relieved moon from the curse .

The Utsava Moorthy  is known as Vensudar and His consort is  Senkamalli Thayar. 

The vimanam above the sanctum is known as Chandra vimanam.

This temple , a divyadesam of Vishnu is  very small and Tirumangai Azhwar had extolled the virtues of Lord here by singing beautiful hymns.

This temple is situated in a perfect village setting with lush green fields and  coconut trees  in a very tranquil  atmosphere . One  gets  peace of mind here  in the  lap of divinity.

 I doubt if there are any  regular buses plying to this place. It is better to hire a cab to visit this place..

Worship here starts only at 9 am so plan accordingly .

Please check the temple timings provided below.

                                                

Tirukannangudi Lokanatha Perumal, Damodara Perumal Sikkal, 108 divyadesam

Tirukannangudi is a Vishnu divyadesam situated 2 Kms from Sikkal on Tiruvarur Nagapattinam Highway.

The Moolavar here is worshipped as Lokanatha Perumal and His consort is Lokanayagi.

The processional deity is known as Damodara Perumal.

This is a Pancha Krishna  kshetram.

The legend is that Lord Krishna appeared as a small kid in front of sage Vasishta and he ran  with the  butter from the idol sage was worshipping. Sage got angry and  chased the kid. They ran and reached a holy place where some rishis were doing penance. The  rishis blocked the little boy and tied him on a tree. Krishna then gave them darshan and rishis requested him to stay there to bless all the devotees. Krishna accepted and stayed here as Damodara Perumal  and  this  place came to be known as Kannangudi.

Thirumamgai Azhwar has stayed at this place and there are some interesting events that took place during his stay here. Read it here

Other Panchakrishna kshetrams are Tirukoilur, Kapisthalam, Tirukannapuram and Tirukannamangai

Phone Number-04365 245 350

Do not copy pictures .

Chakkulathukavu Bhagavathy temple- Alleppey district, Kerala

Chakulathukavu is a famous Durga temple in Alleppey district,Kerala.

 Devotees   pray fervently to Mother Goddess here  and she answers all their prayers.

This temple is believed to be  3000 years old  and  Pongala festival is very famous here. During the  festival  lakhs of women devotees  converge  here and prepare Pongala and  offer  it to Goddess. They also observe  fast  during the worship and partake food and water only after the ceremony. 

Pongala  is a sweet prepared by mixing rice, jaggery, coconut and is cooked in fresh earthen pots.

  This festival falls in the month of  November -December.

Read about Attukal  Bhagavathy temple which is also very famous for Pongala festival which attracts devotees from all over the world.

Temple Timings:

04:30 - 13:00 hrs

16:30 - 20:00 hrs

Contact Details:

Chakkulathukavu Sree Bhagavathy Temple

Neerettupuram P.O., Thiruvalla

Kerala

Ph: + 91 477 2213550

Check my pictures. These were captured a few years back

Chintaman Ganesha Mandir -Ujjain

Chintaman Ganesha temple is the biggest Ganesha Mandir  in Ujjain which dates back to 11 th century. It is just 6-7 Kilometres  from Ujjain Mahakal temple and near Kshipra river.This temple was constructed by Parmar Kings and later renovated by Ahilya Bai Holkar

It is believed that Sri Ram worshipped the Ganesha  here.

The idol here is believed to be a self manifestation and here we find  Icchaman Ganesha, Siddhivanayak and Chintaman Ganesha in the sanctum. In local parlance Ganesha is referred to as Chintaman as He is  the remover of worries and tensions and no wonder the temple gets crowded here everyday.

Photography is banned and I have just one picture to share from my visit, a distant view of the temple.

This picture is from Google .The Ganeshas in the sanctum.