Pradosha Punitha Payanam on a Parveen Bus

                                       17/8/09 & 18/8/09

  It is a great  and rare opportunity to identify 45 Siva Bakthas unanimously and  jointly, with unadulterated delight in participating in the Pradhosha Punitha Payanam, that too to a sacred sthala of invaluable merit and punyam, in particular to Thiruvaiyaru sporting  a colourful badge identifying each as part of LDSFT who organized the tour..

Collecting the devotees all over from Mylapore, Valasarawakkam, T. Nagar, Ullagaram,  Virugambakkam and Nanganallur  the bus was full when it left for Melmaruvathur on 17.8.09 at 7.30 am.   There was welcome drizzle to feel cool adding to the calmness of the inner Self.

Adhi Parasakthi is a swayambhu idol  and Melmaruvathur (92 km  from Chennai on the Chennai-Trichy national highway NH45).  In this sthala, 21 Siddha saints, both male and female, are present in their jeevasamadhi status actively blessing as Holy spirits to the devotees thronging at the temple of Adhi Parasakthi.   All saffron clad Sakthis serve the devotees with Prasadhams, guiding them to sanctum sanctorum and help with a smile. 

Having prayed to Sakthi we  next proceeded to Thiruvadhigai where  Veerattaneswarar blesses the devotees for all strength.  Here Saint Thirunavukkarasar had the miraculous relief from the incurable and painful stomach ailment, at the instance of his sister Thilagavathiyar.  This sthalam is just 2 km from Panruti.  Lord Siva destroyed the demon Thiripuranthakan aided by Vishnu and all Devas.  But he never needed any help  and just destroyed the demons from the fire of his 3^rd eye on His forehead.  Lord Siva is worshipped specially in 8 Veerattanams  (Ashtaveerattanam) and Thiruvadhigai is an important Veerattanam.  This huge temple has excellent sculptures and paintings of over 800 years.  It was lunch hour and we had delicious food excellently served by fellow devotees both men and women.

We had a long tour from Chennai to Thiruvaiyaru of about 400 km and so  when we touched Chidambaram,  the temple was closed and we proceeded towards Mayuram.   On the Mayuram Kuthalam  route Therazhundur  branches off  about  5 km  from the main road.  Poet Kambar was born here and his birth place is marked as Kambar Kottam.  There are two ancient temples here and one of them is Amaruviappan temple a divya desam out of 108 divyadesams.   Lord Devadhi Rajan of about 10.5ft height is the presiding deity of the village also known as Aamaruviappan (Vishnu as Go Sakan)  the Utsavar.   (instead of facing Vishnu from outside in this temple Lord Garuda is on the left of  the Lord  and   Prahlada is on His right while Goddess Kaveri kneels before Him in the same sannidhi.

Therazhundhur has another beautiful Vishnu temple housing Lord Govindarajan, a huge imposing idol of the Lord and His eyes send vibrations direct to the heart when standing before Him.

Anyone passing by Govindapuram on the Mayuram Kuthalam road cannot miss the Pandurangan Temple on this road. There are many devotees staying in this huge temple premises living on the annadhanam and accommodation freely given here and this temple is the heart throb of Bhajan lovers.

Thiruvaiyaru is Dhakshina Kailash inasmuch as 5 rivers flow within 5 km here.(vadavaru, vannaru, vattaru, kudamurutti,  & Kaveri). Saint Thyagaraja lived and ended his mortal remains here. His adhistanam where music festivals are annually held has a large open ground for this purpose. The idol of Rama, Seetha and Lakshmana and Hanuman worshipped by Saint Thiagaraja is still there for devotees to see and re-live the days of the saint and feel His vibration in the serene atmosphere in which the adhisthanam stands still by the flowing Kaveri. Thiruvaiyaru is one of the famous saptha sthanams and we had the rare privilege of  a heart warming river bath for nearly an hour in the early morning of 18^th August 2009.  On the Pradhosam occasion, we had the privilege of  sitting in a large gathering at the Dhyana mandapam in front of the Panchalingam and participate in the abhishekam of mixed waters of holy places, Gangajal and Kaverijal we brough in large quantity, water from Manasarovar brought by some devotees.  Everyone tried to hear the sixtime echoing of his/her voice in the outer praharam.  Lord Panchanadheeswarar is a swayambhu of this Mukthisthalam

It was a grand sight to see all the 45, after bathing, lighting the lamps supplied and placing before the 5 lingams, while many of us reciting the Rudram, Chamakam, Purusha suktham and other Sivasthuthi manthrams, thevaram etc., participating in the abishekam.

At Thanjavur, we met the prince, who was explained about our Thevaram mission by this writer.  The prince Serfoji, evinced keen interest in our mission and he  promised to circulate the news in 60+ temples under his governance.  We had dharshan of Lord Brahadheeswara and Goddess Brihannayaki,  were shown the herbal paintings of the Chola period, overlapped by the Naik rulers later.  The meals we had at Mariamman Koil under the Prince’s control. We did not miss seeing the Bangaru Kamakshi Amman.

We were in time to return to Thiruvaiyaru again for participation in Pradosham abishekam.  We sat before the Moolavar and recited Thevaram and chanted Vedas
At  6pm  we started visits to other temples nearby.  Thillaisthanam, known in ancient records as Thiruneythanam has Lord Neyyadiyappar as the presiding deity. The Sivachariar explained us like how ghee is the endproduct of milk and there is no more transformation, the human soul has to purify itself to the Paramathma within, the eternal Bliss derived out of which is inexplicable.  Thiruneithanam is just 1 km away from Thiruvaiyaru.  Our  visit to Thiruvedhikudi was abandoned due to poor road condition and it was not practicable for the huge Parveen bus to negotiate the unreliable road conditions. Thiruneithanam is one of  the sapthasthanams.

We  had to remain contented with the visit to Thirukantiyur which has Lord Brahma Sira Kandeswarar as the presiding deity.  An ancient temple it is, and yet it offered solace to mind and heart when prayers were offered to Him.

Thirukantiyur has a Vishnu temple also.  It is Hara papa vimochanar temple.  The Lord herein is a pleasing idol offering a grand feast to the eye.

Our pilgrimage ended with this temple for want of time to visit the other temples we listed and desired to visit. Perhaps we may do it in the near future or sometime later at His Grace.

The photos attached to  this note will speak volumes more effectively than what is possible for me to express herein.

Namaskarams,   J.K. Sivan