Skip to main content

DHARMESHWARAR TEMPLE - MANIMANGALAM

 Dharmeshwarar Temple – Manimangalam - Chennai


Manimangalam a small town 10 KM’s away from Tambaram towards Padapppai, has great historical relevance. The town was known as Chaturvedimangalam after kings had donated the lands to Brahmins studying the four vedas to do pooja’s and yagna regularly.


The town is very significant for the battle fought between the Pallava king Narasimha Varman I and the Chalukya King Pulikesi II in the 7th Century AD. Narasimha Varman defeated and annihilated the Army of the Chalukyas. In the battle Mahendra Varman (father of Narasimha) was badly wounded, but Narasimha with his lieutenant Paranjyothi Vanquished Pulikesi’s army thereby preventing the advent of Chalukyas into Tamilnadu. The relevance of this Manimangalam battle is written by Kalki in his novel "Sivagamiyin Sabadam".


Sri Dharmeshwarar Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and the Goddess is Vedambika.


The temple was constructed by the Kulothunga  Chola and has a Gajaprishtha Vimana. The temple has mention in inscriptions as Grama Shikhamani Chaturvedi mangalam, belonging to Kundrathur Naadu,in Jayamkonda Chozha Mandalam.


The Temple is built on a huge acreage of land, with vast open space, well compounded as it is under the aegis of Archeology Department. There is a huge Peepal tree on the grounds. Below this tree is a stone with engravings of two entwined Nagas with a lingam under their hoods. At the end of this ground is the entrance to an outer prahara( this is not a complete Prahara as circumbulation of the temple is not possible). Adjascent to the entrance is a Pond or Theertham. In this prahara is the Shrine of the goddess Vedambigai, a Nandi & a Peetham. The Amman shrine is without a Vimana. The outer prahara including the Vedambigai shrine is constructed during the later Pandya period. There are contributions from the Vijayanagara Kingdom.


The entrance to the temple is through the eastern door from the outer prahara. In the Inner prahara , 5 steps lead to a hall with 4 central pillar’s, which have great sculptures ( animals including Monkeys,Lions,Elephants & Annam apart from a sculpture showing Kamadhenu showring a linga with its mild directly from its udder) from the yore. The entrance to the Mukhamandapa is from the South with sculptures of Vinayaka & Murugan adorning the walls.  Inside on one side is the lord facing east and on another side is a small Nandi facing the lord, which is the Adhigara Nandi which is placed almost at the end of the Mukha Mandapa. The Nandi is supposed to produce metallic sounds when stricken.( however I could not verify this). The peetham and the Nandi in the outer Praharam could be a later addition. In the Mukhamandapa there is beautifully designed window with 12 holes. From the Mukhamandapa is the Ardhamandapa attached to the Garbha Griha and is not partitioned. The Lord showers the Bhaktas with divine grace. In the inner prahara at the South western corner is the idol of Ganesha below the Sthala Vriksha. There are other shrines dedicated to the Prahara devatas.


When we say Gajaprishtha, it can be the Gajaprishtha Garbhagriha or/and the Gajaprishtha Vimana.  In this temple the Vimana is Gajaprishtha. The Garbhagriha is Rectangular and not apsidal.


The temple is under renovation and everything is covered with cloths for protection. One localite told me that, because of the construction activity, pooja is not being conducted and hence visiting the temple now will be a disappointment. But once ASI completes the renovation, I am sure this will be a temple not to be missed, if you are a Shiva Bhakta. I Would definitely love to  visit this temple post renovation.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

VAIKUNTHA PERUMAL TEMPLE OR THIRU PARAMESHWARA VINNAGARAM KANCHIPURAM

  THIRU PARAMESHWARA VINNAGARAM OR VAIKUNTHA PERUMAL TEMPLE KANCHIPURAM Thiru Parameswara (The greatest Lord) Vinnagaram (temple) or Vaikunta Perumal Temple is a temple dedicated to Vishnu & his concert Vaikundavalli located in Kanchipuram. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple finds mention in the Divya Prabhanda the early medieval tamil literature of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one among the 108 temples dedicated to Vishnu. The temple is considered the second oldest extant temples in Kanchipuram after the Kailasanathar temple & is in a straight line facing each other, though seperated by 3.5 KMs. The temple is believed to have been built by the Pallava king Nandivarman (720-796 CE), with later contributions from Chola's and Vijayanagara Kings. The temple is surrounded by a granite wall enclosing all the shrines and a pond of the temple. The outer walls of the inner praharam is full of Kalakrithis related to the lord....

KAILASANATHAR TEMPLE PART 1 - TARAMANGALAM

SRI KAILASANATHAR TEMPLE- TARAMANGALAM - SALEM DISTRICT - TAMILNADU.- PART 1 Seven tiered Rajagopuram Shaped like a chariot. Mahavishnu gave his sister Parvathi in marriage to Shiva. This process of handing over the bride, is known as "Thaaram vaththu koduppadhu" in Tamil, hence the name of the town THARAI MANGALAM now known as Tharamangalam. MAHAVISHNU giving his sister MEENAKSHI in marriage to SHIVA. In the centre of this Town is an exotic Temple of Lord Shiva as Shri Kailasanathar with his consort Sivakami Devi. One of the rarest of temples with a treasure of exotic Sculpture and the many stories attached with them. ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL U NKNOWN TEMPLES IN TAMILNADU. The first precinct on entering from the Rajagopuram. The temple had an existence before the 10th Century CE. However the same was rebuilt by the Getti Muthaliar Clan who ruled the Kongu Part of Tamilnadu from the 13th to the 17th century. The temple seems to have b...

AMRITHAGHATESHWAR TEMPLE - MELAKADAMBUR - CUDDALORE - TAMILNADU

  AmrithaGhateshwar Temple – Melakadambur – Cuddalore - Tamilnadu     ABSTRACT   The town of Kadambur or Thirukadambur was an important metropolis of the later Chola’s (848 -1279 CE) and reminds us of the historical Tamil Novel “PONNIYIN SELVAN” “Son of Ponni or River Kaveri” which talks about the early life of Arulmozhivarman or Raja Raja Chola l (947-1014CE),   by Shri kalki Krishnamurthy. The town is about 31 Km’s from Chidambaram, 6Km’s from kattumannarkoil and 7 kms from Veeranarayana lake or Veeranam lake built by Rajaditya Chola (907-955CE).The fort of Kadmabur is the place, where the Chieftains of the Cholas hatched a conspiracy to overthrow the rule of Sundara Chola and took an oath to make prince Maduranataka Chola the next King. It is here that Karikal Chola was assassinated. In this historical town is the twin temple of Amrithaghateshwarar   “God of the pot of Amritha or Nectar” in Mela kadambur known as the Indra Vimanam or Aeroplane...