The entrance to the Murugeeswarar Temple, Thaiyur I had been invited to visit the Murugeeswarar temple at Thaiyur by Kaushik, a long-time volunteer of the Aalayam Kanden Trust, about three years ago. However, due to personal and COVID-19 situations, I was unable to do so. During this time, some of my blogger colleagues had the opportunity to visit and write about this temple. Generally, Aalayam Kanden focuses on temples that are not popularly featured, as I do not believe in competing with fellow bloggers. So when I was invited again a few days ago, by Mr Uma Magesh, who takes excelle ..read more

Shri Nateswara Swamy Temple, Aavarani Pudhuchery Some temples are unique and the joy one gets while visiting them is immense. The purpose of Aalayam Kanden is to identify these lesser known gems and to highlight them so that those in search of such temples can visit and experience them easily. A couple of years ago, I had written an article on the Aavarani Ananthanarayana Perumal temple in Nagapattinam district, where the gigantic 21 feet Perumal is bedecked with beautiful jewels rendered through the hymns of  Thirumangai Azhwar. The link to the article is here. Just on ..read more

  The Adi Annamalai Temple in Tiruvannamalai Come Margazhi - Tamil Households, temples and sabhas come alive to the hymns of Thirupaavai and Thiruvempavai, songs that sing the glory of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva respectively. While the former was rendered by Andal, the latter is to the credit of Saint Manickavasagar, one among the quartet of Shaiva saints who sang hymns in praise of Lord Shiva.  Thirupaavai and Thiruvempaavai have a couple of similarities - the singer along with female friends is observing the "Paavai Nonbu", a ritual followed by unmarried girls during the m ..read more

Aditya Mahadevar Temple, Anaikattaputhur Anaikattaputhur is a non-descript village in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu. Referred to as Anai Akkarai Puthur in inscriptions, the village is found along the banks of the Cooum river.  Sthalapuranam: Today the temple has very little antiquarian remains. However, the Sthalapuranam states that the Lingam was installed by Sage Bhrigu, and worshipped by Sage Sukracharya and Goddess Lakshmi. Historical Evidences : The Shiva temple now known as Ekambareswarar temple is significant from the epigraphical evidences around it. The sole inscription ..read more

Sri Sammohana Gopalan Shrine at Mohanur  It was an article by Shri A M Rajagopalan, in Kumudam Jothidam that I read way back in 2007-08 that introduced me to Sammohana Gopalan. The article carried a picture of Krishna as Ardhanari with Radha occupying the left half of his body.  The article further mentioned that worshipping Sammohana Gopalan and reciting the Sloka dedicated to him would bring about harmony in discordant couples. I pulled out the page and saved it more out of fancy for the form of Sammohana Gopala. Soon, a colleague spoke to me about a problem her niece was ..read more

Amaravathi river near Veeraraghavapuram Agraharam I had mentioned in Part 3 about how we were unable to see the Vyasaraja Hanumans in Veeraraghavapuram and Bheemaraya Agraharams as the temples were closed. Two other Hanumans are in the middle of cultivated fields and hence could not be witnessed, as there was no access. After I returned to Chennai, the Hanumans were still in my mind. When there is a very strong and genuine desire, the Universe finds a way to grant it to you. Every year, through Aalayam Kanden Trust, the Sthalapuranam of a temple is written in Tamil and Engli ..read more

This is the third in the series of articles on the ten Vyasaraja Hanumans of Dharapuram. Please click here to access Part 1 and here for Part 2. After visting the Kadu Hanumantharaya Swamy temple, which is the central temple for all the ten Hanumans, and then proceeding towards the Uttara Veeraraghava Swamy temple, where we worshipped Veera Hanuman and Kottai Vaasal Hanuman, we were in a dilemma as to which direction to proceed next. To the North was Virajimangalam, now known  as Veerachimangalam and to the South was Dalavoypattinam. The remaining five Hanumans were around ..read more

Uttara Veeraraghava Perumal Temple, Dharapuram This is the second  in the series of articles on the ten Hanumans installed by Saint Vyasaraja Theertha, (the Rajaguru of the Vijayanagara Empire during the time of King Krishnadevaraya, believed to be the reincarnation of Prahalada and the previous avatara of Guru Sri Raghavendraswamy) in and around Dharapuram in Tiruppur District of Tamil Nadu. Saint Vyasaraja installed 732 such Hanumans during his travels across India. He would draw the image of Hanuman on a piece of stone using his Angarakatti which would then become a sculpture ..read more

 Vyasaraja Theertha Source: Annie Gracy, CC BY-SA 4.0  Vyasaraja Theertha  was the Rajaguru of the Vijayanagara Kingdom. He was called Vyasaraya initially and after he took over the kingdom from King Krishnadevaraya during the time when he was affected by Kuha Yoga, he came to be called Vyasaraja Theertha. He is believed to be the reincarnation of Prahalada and the previous avatara of Guru Sri Raghavendra Swamy. As the Rajaguru and as a Dvaita philosopher, he travelled across the country extensively. During these travels, he is said to have created and installed 732 Ha ..read more

Sri Manicka Swamigal aka Satti Samiyar Gnana Peetam, Enathimangalam My father-in-law had three framed photographs in his otherwise clutter-free pristine room. A picture of his father and two saints whom he had had an opportunity to meet and interact with in his younger days - Gnanananda Swami, whose tapovanam is found near Tirukoilur and Manicka Swamigal, commonly known as Satti Samiyar, whose samadhi is found in Enathimangalam, in Villupuram district. During the early years of my marriage, my father-in-law would narrate numerous incidents about Satti Samiyar from his childhood. Mani ..read more