Mappedu Singeeswarar Temple

Site Name: Singeeswarar Temple

Site Type: Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva

Location:  Mappedu, near  Kadambattur, near Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India

Highlights: The idol of Hanuman playing Veena in front of Lord Shiva; built by Aditya Karikalan Chola

Nearest Railway Station: Chennai

Nearest Airport: Chennai

How to reach: Well connected by road from Chennai; public transport is difficult

Hotel: Go to Chennai where there are lot of options 

Restaurants: Go to Chennai where there are lot of options

Mappedu is a small village located near Chennai city in South India. The nearest landmark to this village is Kadambattur. This tiny village has an ancient temple for Lord Shiva called as Singeeswarar. It was built by Aditya Karikala Chola, the elder brother of the great king Raja Raja Chola who constructed the most popular Brahadeeswara Temple at Tanjore. 

Highlights:

• Hanuman playing Veena in front of Lord Shiva.
• Built by Aditya Karikala Chola in the 10th century CE.
• Prayers offered here helps to get the devotees skillful in music.
• The site is particularly good for those who were born with Moolam as the birth-star.
• God - Singeeswarar  
• Goddess - Pushpakujambal aka Poomulai Nayaki
• Teerth (Holy water) - Sweta Padma Pushkarani
• Holy Tree (Stala Vruksha) - Ilandai tree

Legend:

Lord Shiva danced in Tirvalankadu site; Singi, one of eight Nandis, played mrudankam; he was so devoted that he closed his eyes and missed the divine dance. He requested the Lord to dance again so that he can watch the same. Shiva fulfilled his wish in Mappedu site. As Singi got darshan of Lord Shiva's dance in this place, Shiva is called as Singeeswarar.

Hanuman played amruthavarshini raaga using his veena in this site which turned the dry land into fertile land. Hanuman idol playing veena is found in this temple.

History:

Aditya Karikalan II Chola was a great warrior who won Veera Pandian; he was the elder brother of the great Chola emperor Raja Raja Chola. His murder still remains as a historical mystery. He built this temple in 967 CE.

In 1501 CE, Ariyanatha Mudaliyar, who served as the Dalavai in Vijayanagar king Krishnadevaraya's kingdom, constructed the compound wall and the tower of this temple. To honor him, his idol in the posture similar to that of Lord Ranganatha (lying on a serpent) is found in the temple tower.

Temple Layout:

The temple which has north facing tower has the east facing main shrine. As usual, the flag post, Nandi mandapa and bali peetha are located facing the main shrine. 

Singeeswarar is found in the form of a slightly big Shiva Linga in the sanctum sanctorum. There are two Ganesha idols found at the entrance of the sanctum. The Maha mandapa has few pillars with good sculpture. 

The Goddess Pushpakujambal is found in a separate east facing shrine in the prakara. The mandapa of this shrine has good sculptures. 

The wall around the main shrine has Ganesha, Dakshinamurthy, Vishnu, Brahma, Durga and Chandikeshwarar as the Goshta idols.

There is only one prakara in this temple - wide and big. The sub shrines of Ganesha, Surya, Subramanya-Valli-Devasena, Varadaraja-SreeDevi-Bhoo Devi and Bhairava are located in the prakara. 

There is a vasanta mandapa with a lot of beautiful pillars with sculptures. Near that mandapa, there is a sub shrine for Shiva Linga - Veerabaleeswarar. Facing this shrine, the rare idol of Hanuman with veena is found.

It is worth visiting this beautiful ancient temple in "Meip pedu", which is called as Mappedu nowadays.

Happy travelling.

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Tiruvirkolam aka Cooum

Site Name: Tripurantaka Temple

Site Type: Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva

Location:  Tiruvirkolam, near  Kadambattur on the Chennai Arakkonam suburban railroad, near Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India

Highlights: One of 274 Paadal Petra Stalams (the most important temples of Lord Shiva)

Nearest Railway Station: Chennai

Nearest Airport: Chennai

How to reach: Well connected by road from Chennai; public transport is difficult

Hotel: Go to Chennai where there are lot of options 

Restaurants: Go to Chennai where there are lot of options

People of Tamil Nadu state in South India know Cooum river more as a dirty river. However, it used to be the major livelihood for Chennai city in the olden days (when it was hardly a city). Even today, the river is in good condition in its origin. The village where the river originates is also called as Cooum. It is traditional to find temples on the banks of the river. On the banks of the river Cooum also, there are two ancient temples dedicated to Lord Shiva are located. One of those two temples is called as Tripurantaka temple located in Tiruvirkolam. This small village is located near Kadambattur junction and can be reached from Chennai. It is considered as the 14th among the Tevara Paadal Petra Stalams (274 most important temples of Lord Shiva) located in Tondai country. 

Highlights:

• Sambhandar has revered the temple in his verses in Tevaram.
• The God cannot be touched even by the priest - called as 'Theendaa Thirumeni'.
• The color of Shiva Linga changes colors on its own as per the seasons.
• The demons stand at the entrance as the dwarapalaks.
• As it is believed that the frog might disturb the penance of Lord Shiva, no frog is found in any nearby tanks or Cooum river.
• God - Tripurantaka aka Tiruvirkolanathar 
• Goddess - Tripurantaki aka Tirupura Sundari
• Teerth (Holy water) - Virkola Teerth (Agni Teerth)

Legend:

There was a great Asura king (demon) named Tarakasura. He was a devotee of Lord Shiva. He had got the boon from the Lord that he could be killed only by the son of Lord. He was later killed by Subramanya, the son of Lord Shiva.

Tarakasura had three sons - Tarakaksha, Kamalaksha and Vidhyunmaali. They did severe penance towards Lord Brahma and got two boons. As per the first boon no one in Brahma's creation could be stronger than them. As per the second boon, they got three flying forts made up of gold, silver and iron which will be separate from each other and come together only rarely; a single arrow which bring all the forts together and burn only could destroy the demons. Maya, the divine architect, constructed the golden fort in the heaven for Tarakaksha; the silver fort on the skies for Kamalaksha and iron fort on the earth for Vidhyunmaali. 

The three demons happily lived in their flying forts without troubling anyone. However, the Devas were partly jealous and partly afraid of the demons. They sought the help of Lord Vishnu. Vishnu created a man and ordered him and his four disciples to preach a new religion which is anti Vedic (Jainism). They were successful in converting the demons into their religion. The demons stopped worshiping Shiva and other religious rituals. They even started waging war against the Devas.

The Devas got a reason now to appeal Lord Shiva to kill the demons. Shiva agreed to wage war against the Tripuras. He made the earth as his chariot with the Sun and the Moon as the wheels of the chariot. He got the Meru mountain as his bow and Vasuki, the serpent king, as the bow string. Vishnu became the arrow and Agni became the tip of the arrow. Brahma drove the chariots and the four Vedas became the horses. 

As the Devas missed to worship Lord Ganesha, he broke the axle of the chariot's wheel. Realizing this, Lord Shiva requested Ganesha to set it right. Tiruvirkolam is the site where this incident happened. There is an idol of Lord Ganesha in this temple which is believed to have broken the axle. As Lord Shiva took the bow and arrow in his arms, he is called as Tiruvirkolanathar in this site (Vil=bow; Kolam=posture; Tiruvirkolanathar means the Lord carrying the bow). He rose as a Swayambu Linga in this place; as the axle (Kooram) of the chariot fell in this site, it got the name 'Kooram'. It later became 'Cooum'. The village is called as 'Cooum' and the river that originates near this place is also called as 'Cooum'.

Shiva finally put the arrow to his bow and in a split second all the three forts were merged into one and set aflame. As he destroyed the Tripura demons, he is named as 'Tripurantaka' in this temple.

Temple Layout:

The 7th century brick temple was rebuilt as the stone temple by Nagarathars in the 11th century CE. The huge temple with the river Cooum alongside has the south facing small tower with Ganesha and Kartikeya idols at the tower entrance.

The main shrine is facing the east direction; a long flag post, bali peetha and Nandi idol are located facing the main shrine. The entrance to the main shrine is not at the front side but on the right side facing the southern direction. 

The sanctum sanctorum has the big Shiva Linga idol made up of sand called as 'Tirupurantaka' aka 'Tiruvirkolanathar'. It is 'Theenda tirumeni' meaning no one including the priest is allowed to touch it. It is believed that it changes its color on its own as per the season; during rainy season, it is in white color and it changes to red color during the dry season or war times. 

At the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum, there is an idol of Lord Ganesha. The two out of three Tripura demons took the form of Dwarapalakas; their appearance also slightly differs from that of typical postures of dwarapalakas. 

The wall surrounding the sanctum sanctorum has the Goshta idols of Ganesha, Dakshinamurthy, Annamalaiyar, Brahma, Durga and Chandikeshwarar. All these bas-relief images are very attractive. The vimana of sanctum sanctorum is in the form of Gaja brashta architectural style. 

Ganesha, who broke the axle of the chariot as per the legend seen above, is found with two arms in a separate sub-shrine in the inner prakara. He is named as 'Achcharutta Vinayakar' - achcharutta means "the one who broke the axle".

The sub-shrines of Brahadeeswarar, Shanmukhanathar-Valli-Devasena, Bala Murugan and Meenakshi-Chokkanatha are also located in the inner prakara.

In the maha mandapa, there is a sub-shrine which has the big bronze idols of Nataraja and Sivakami. Kali was once defeated by Nataraja (Shiva) in dance competition. In this site, Nataraja danced with pleasure to please Kali; hence, the dance form in this shrine is called as 'Rakshi Natam'. (There is a separate small temple for Kali in this village.)

Bhairava is found unusually without his vaahan dog in a sub shrine in the inner prakara. It is said that when Shiva was getting ready to wage war against the demons, he went to invite all the Devas; during that time, his dog lost its path. Hence, he is found without vaahan in this temple.

The Ardha Mandapa in the main shrine of Shiva has few idols such as Surya, Nalvar, etc. and very beautiful utsava (bronze) idols.

It is unusual to find the Goddess shrine adjacent to the Lord's shrine. In this temple, the Goddess Tripurasundari is found in a separate sub-shrine on the right side of the main shrine. It also faces the east direction. Goddess is very tall with four arms. The shrine has a front side mandapa and also there is a separate flag post and Simha (lion) idol facing the shrine.

The outer prakara is very huge; however, there is no shrine or idol found here except that of Navagraha.

When Shiva lost the axle of his chariot, Lord Vishnu helped him. He is found in the name of Kariya Manicka Perumal with his consorts - Sree Devi and Bhoo Devi, in a separate small temple. This temple is very small and found outside the main temple. It also appears to be an ancient temple. Apart from the main deity, Hanuman idol is also found in this small temple.

Happy travelling.

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Narasingapuram

Site Name: Lakshmi Narasimha Temple  

Site Type: Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Narasimha

Location:  Narasingapuram village, near Perumbakkam, 55 kms from Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India

Highlights: A Chola period Narasimha temple in a remote peaceful village

Nearest Railway Station: Chennai

Nearest Airport: Chennai

How to reach: Well connected by road from Chennai; public transport is not dependable

Hotel: A lot of options in Chennai city 

Restaurants: Go to Chennai where you can find a lot of options

Narasingapuram is a small village located at a distance of around 55 kms from Chennai, on the national highway connecting Chennai and Sri Perumbudur. The nearest landmark is Perumbakkam town. The village is popular due to its beautiful dedicated to Lord Narasimha.

As few inscriptions dating the period of Kulotunga Chola I, Vikarama Chola and Vijayanagara kings are found, it is believed that this temple could have been built during the Chola period.

This small beautiful temple is located in a peaceful location. The east facing temple is attractive. The sub shrine of Hanuman is found outside the temple facing the tower.

The main shrine has Lord Narasimha, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, as a Shanta Murthy (peaceful posture). He has four arms and carries his consort Lakshmi on his left lap. Lakshmi is unusually looking at the devotees instead of facing the God. He is also called as 'Kalyana Lakshmi Narasimhar'.

The idols of Alwars, Ramanujar and Senai Mudali are located at the maha mandapa.

The temple has a single prakara where the sub-shrines of the Goddess Maragadavalli - a beautiful big idols with four arms, Andal, Rama-Lakshman-Sita, Desikar and Chakrathalwar are found. Another highlight of the temple is that eight forms of Lakshmi called as Ashta Lakshmi are found in separate sub-shrines.

The flag post and bali peetha are located facing the main shrine. The Garuda sub-shrine is located nearby. Garudha has 16 serpents coiled in his body here. Hence, it is considered as a special temple to get rid of Naga (snake) dosha.

Happy travelling.

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