Puri Jagannath Temple at Uthandi

This day, the 18^th of June, I’d been to the Puri Jagannath Temple in Uthandi, Chennai, Tamilnadu. The temple is situated about 16 kms from the Thiruvanmiyur Bus stop. It’s a straight drive from the Thiruvanmiyur Bus Stop along the East Coast Road, ECR.

The temple is in a beautiful location at a 300-400 feet from the shore. Built in the architecture very similar to that of the Puri Jagannath Temple, in Puri, Orissa, it stands apart from many other temples one can see in Tamilnadu. Temple architecture varies from place to place and changes gradually from North to South India but the final architectural comparison between northern and southern styles is drastic in variations.

I had been to the temple in the evening around half past six when it was still bright outside. There’s a large “Dhvajasthambha” or the Flag Post at the entrance that’s sculpted as standing on a tortoise. Such a structure is termed “Meru” in Temple Architecture. The flag post had also carved on it the “Dasavathars” or the Ten Incarnations of Lord Vishnu. It also had various divine creatures sculpted on it.

First is the Shrine of Ganesh. Then Kasi Viswanath, Maa Vimala, Maa Laxmi, Lord Jagannath and the Navagraha. The main Sanctum Sanctorum has the presiding deities of the temple, “Lord Krishna, Lord Balabhadra(popularly referred to as “Balram”) and their sister, Subhadra”. There is also the “Kalpatharu”, the tree under which are installed the Vahanas of the deities in the temple.

The Mooshika of Ganesh
The Peacock of Karthikeya
The Nandi of Shiva
The Simha of Shakthi
The Swan of Saraswathi
The Garuda of Vishnu
The Owl of Lakshmi
The Airavat of Indra

It was a full moon day. It coincided with the “Snaan Poornima” day (the Full Moon day on which Snaan(Bathing) takes place) in the temple wherein the main deities are brought forth out of the Sanctum Sanctorum and bathed and prepared for the Rath Yathra or the “Tour of the Chariot”, that happens every year. The priests performed the Mangal Arthi for the deities. It was a wonderful experience.

The moon was slowly going up the sky. Sitting at the steps, looking at the moon, with the wind from the seashore adding a comforting element to the already beautiful ambience of the temple was more than just beautiful.

The spire of the Temple was so majestic when looked at from beneath it. The hall beneath the Sanctum Sanctorum has paintings of the Zodiac and the Ramayan on its ceiling. There are three sculptures on the outer wall of the Sanctum Sanctorum. One was the Varaha Avatar, (the avatar of the boar), then Narasimha Avatar(the avatar of half-man, half-lion) and the scene where Lord Vishnu measures the three worlds with His all pervading form as Thiru Vikrama Perumal. The inner ceiling of the Sanctorum is vivid with a lot of beautiful paintings.

Uthandi is a place on the ECR. There are also buses running from Thiruvanmiyur to Kovalam, that’ll take you to Uthandi.

Marundeeswarar Temple, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai

This evening, I went to the Marundeeswarar Temple at Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai, Tamilnadu. Its about a 3 minute walk from the Thiruvanmiyur Bus Stop. Its a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. He is worshipped as Lord Marundeeswarar and His Consort, Shakthi is worshipped as Goddess Thripurasundari. This is one of the very ancient temples in Tamilnadu. It had recently been renovated and the Kumbabhishekham performed last month in May. Today was a Sunday. I reached the temple at about 4:30, around the beginning of the Rahu Kaala.

First was the deity who is always worshipped first, Ganesha. Then Valli Devasena Sametha Subrahmanya. Then I entered the inner sanctum sanctorum of the Lord Marundeeswara. Purana says that Kamadhenu, the cow of eternal prosperity offered milk and showered the Linga. The darshan was a very nice one.

Around the shrine of Lord Shiva, are a variety of other idols. To the direct left of the Lord, facing him is a Pillayar. Then on the pradhakshanam or the clockwise round, comes the King of Dance, Nataraja. To the north is Chandeswarar facing the Lord and Goddess Durga facing North. In the far north east corner of the inner shrine, is the Guarding Deity Bhairavar. In the same corridor as Bhairavar, is an array of Shiva lingas totaling to a 108. Further on the pradhakshanam comes Vishnu, the protector, facing east. Opposite Vishnu in the corridor pedestal, are Lingas of Badrinatheswarar, Jambulingeswarar and Arunachaleswarar. On the pradhakshanam along the south comes Lord Dakshinamurthy, the bestower of knowledge and the eradicator of ignorance followed by another Pillayar. Opposite Dakshinamurthy, start the idols of the 63 Nayanmars or Shaivite Saints.

The shrine of the Goddess Thripurasundari is outside the Shrine of Lord Marundheeswarar. Outside Her shrine, in one of the pillars is present a carving of Lord Sarabeswarar, an incarnation of Lord Shiva initiated in order to control the rage of Lord Narasimha, after the latter consumed the blood of an asura named Hiranyakashipu after killing him and hence went out of control. Worshipping Lord Sarabeswarar in the Rahu Kaala is very sacred. I also got to worship Him in the special hour.

The temple is situated in the ECR. There are also many other temples along this road. They include Shirdi Sai Baba temple, Puri Jagannath Temple, Thiruvidanthai Nithya Kalyana Perumal Temple to mention a few.

Thiruperur Temple, Coimbatore

Thiruperur, is a place in the city of Coimbatore, TamilNadu, India. About a half an hour journey from the Coimbatore Railway Junction. In this place, is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is worshipped as “Lord Patteeswarar” and His Consort is worshipped as “Pachai Nayagi / Maragadhavalli” (Pachai is a Tamil word that means Green and Maragadham is another Tamil word meaning Emerald that’s green in Colour. Nayagi/Valli are Tamil words used in addressing the Feminine). The main idol of Lord Shiva as in almost all places is in the form of Linga. But the linga’s shape is very unusual, probably the first of the kind I have seen. The Linga is a Svayambhu (natural and not sculpted) in the form of a flat-faced square. The Aavudaiyar (the middle of the linga) is a large square part.

Another special sight was the statue of the Bhairavar, the Guarding Deity at all Shiva Temples. Usually Bhairavar is seen with his Vahanam (vehicle), a dog. But here He has no Vahanam. Since Thiruperur is considered a Mukthi Sthalam, (the shrine of Salvation), Bhairavar is benign and less fierce and doesn’t have a vehicle (which adds to his ferocity). Here he is worshipped as Gnana Bhairavar.

Apart from the above, Thiruperur still holds a place for a very special pride. In the Natarajar Mandapam, stand eight tall pillars intricately carved with various divine forms. Every sculpture in this description is intricately and exquisitely carved with brilliant attention to details.

As one enters the Mandapam, the first pillar on the left has carved on it a life size sculpture of Lord Shiva as the “Kalithol Porthiya Murthy” (kali – Tamil – elephant, thol – Tamil - skin ). Lord Shiva, in his fight with an asura, who took the form of an elephant, is depicted as having torn the elephant and wearing its skin upon him as a blanket. Lord Shiva is seen standing upon the head of the elephant. The four legs of the elephant with the toes and the tail are beautifully carved. The ornaments of the Lord have also been carved magnificently. The face is so vivid with details.

The second pillar has “Agni Veerabhadrar”. Veerabhadrar was created to destroy Daksha, who intended to insult and humiliate Lord Shiva by not inviting Him to the sacred Yagna that Daksha was performing. Not heeding to the words of Shiva, His wife (and Dakshan’s daughter), Dakshayini attends the Yagna only to be humiliated further. So Dakshayini sacrifices herself by entering the Yagna’s fire. Infuriated by this, Shiva creates Veerabhadrar, who destroys the Yagna and beheads Daksha, who later begs for Shiva’s pardon and the Lord grants him back his life with his head replaced with that of a goat. In this sculpture, the trident of Veerabhadrar is seen piercing into Daksha’s forehead. He wears a Sarpakundalam on his left ear and a Makharakundalam on his right ear.(Sarpam – Sanskrit – Snake, Kundalam – Tamil – earring, Makhara – Sanskrit – Capricorn but no goat in Hindu Mythology). There is also sculpted a scorpion that is said to be very special in a statue of Veerabhadrar.

The third sculpture is “Urdhuva Thandavar”, depicting the scene of the dance that took place between Lord Shiva and Goddess Kali, a form of Shakthi at Thiruvalangadu. In this sculpture is also seen Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Karaikal Ammaiyar, a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva who was granted the boon of seeing Shiva’s dance at Thiruvalangadu. Since this dance is said to have taken place before Shiva taking away one of the heads of Brahma, Brahma is sculpted as having five heads instead of the usual four. The Lord Shiva is seen as taking his earring back to his ear all by his foot. This is how he won over Kali since a woman is not allowed to go to such a posture in dance.

The next sculpture, the fourth and the final one on the left side as one enters the mandapam, is that of Lord Ganesha as "Nardhana Vinayaka" or the Dancing Ganapathy. Excellent carving of a smiling Ganesha, His ornaments and His being balanced atop His vehicle, the Mooshika include the intricacies.

On returning from the Mandapam, the first sculpture is the one exactly opposite Nardhana Vinayaka is the six-faced "Lord Subrahmanya". He is depicted with six faces with the sixth face hidden in the pillar. All faces are benign with a blissful smile. The various weapons that he carries on His twelve hands are beautifully carved and His vehicle, the peacock is also carved with special attention to its feathers.

The next one is that of “Thiruvalangattu Kali”. This is the one exactly opposite to “Urdhuva Thandavar”. The ornaments of the Goddess are brilliantly sculpted. This is not it all. When seen from the front, from Urdhuva Thandavar’s point of view, the Goddess portrays a look of humility at being outsmarted in the dance by Shiva. But when looked at from the side, her face bears the usual fierceness of Kali.

On the next pillar, opposite “Agni Veerabhadrar” is “Agora Veerabhadrar”. (Goram – Sanskrit – Fierce, Agoram – Sanskrit – Without ferocity and hence benign ). The crown, the garland and his girdle have been depicted with such detail.

On the final pillar, opposite the first one, is the sculpture of Lord Shiva as “Bhikshadanar”. When the two wives of a sage, become egotic and proud about their righteousness as Rishi Pathnis, the Lord assumes the form of a Naked Man and goes asking for alms, in an attempt to restore their humbleness. Seeing His beauty and charm, the two wives are sculpted on either side of the pillar as having lost their minds. There is also a demon termed the “Kurat Bhoodham”. He is a minion in front of the Lord and he carries a big bowl on his head in which the Bhiksha (alms) is collected.

Thiruperur is a must see temple for all people who get to visit Coimbatore. I do not have any pics of the sculptures as photography was prohibited inside the temple. There was neither a publication of the sculptures by the temple authorities. Such temples stand testimony to the architectural brilliance of ancient India, that cannot be matched even by today’s technology. If I had spent more time at the temple I’m sure I’d have come across more subtle specialties in the architecture.