SHIVA - THE COSMIC DANCER

SUNDARESWARAR TEMPLE IN KOVUR CHENNAI. Goddess Kamakshi was praying to Lord Shiva ( to marry him)and was in a Tapas In Panchagni, the Doctrine of Five fires involving (Heaven, Earth, Space, Man & Woman). It is one of the 41 prescribed Vedic Ritual. She was doing the penance in Mangadu nearby. The heat generated out of the Tapas of Kamakshi ,was making the surroundings hot and everything was perishing. Lord Shiva was in a trance himself and hence the sages and devas approached Lord Vishnu, who in turn requested Mahalakshmi to save the world from the heat of the penance. Mahalakshmi came in the form of a cow to worship Lord Shiva to open his eyes and save the world. Pleased with her prayers, Shiva opened his eyes, which subsided the heat and brought a cool waft of air. As Sri Mahalakshmi worshipped here in the form of a cow, the place came to be known as Kopuri (In Thamizh, Ko means cow) and later corrupted to become Kovur. The saint Tyagaraja of Tiruvarur was passing kovur on his w

Vaitheeshwarar Temple - Poovirndavalli - Chennai Vaitheeswaran Temple in Poovirndavalli,( The place of Jasmine flower) currently known as Poonamalee 20 KMs from Chennai is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is worshipped as Vaidyanathar or Vaitheeswaran meaning the "God of healing" and it is believed that prayers to Vaitheeswaran can cure diseases. Vaitheeswaran is a Tamil derivative from vaidya (Doctor) and Ishvara (God/Master). The presiding deity is Sri vaidyanathan. He is the God of Healing. When pronouncing in Tamil, it sounds like "vaideeswaran". It is one of the nine Navagraha (nine planets) temples in Chennai( Thondai Mandalam) and is associated with the planet Mars (Angarakan). Sevvai in Tamil. One of the nine planets, Angaraka (Mars), suffered from leprosy and was cured by Vaidhyanathaswamy and from then on it is treated as one of the Navagraha Temple for planet Angaraka. One of the unique features in this temple is in the month of Masi (Mid febr

  Ramanatheeshwarar Temple in Chennai - Porur Navagraha temple in Chennai – Guru Parihara Kshetram. The Ramanatheeshwarar temple in Porur is associated with Shri Rama, who prayed to Lord Shiva to pardon him from the sin of, touching the Shiva Linga with his feet unknowingly. Porur was also known as Uttara Rameshwaram. Lord Rama was wandering in the forest in search of Sita when he came to the area now known as Porur, and was resting under a Nellikai ( Amla)(Phyllanthus Emlica or Indian Gooseberry) tree. He realized that there is a Shivalingam beneath his feet, under the ground and his feet had touched the head of the Shivalinga unknowingly. In order to atone from this sin (Guru Dosham) & to bring the Shivalinga out of the ground, Lord Rama prayed to the Shivalinga for 48 days, eating only one Nellikai every day as his food. Lord Shiva pleased with the devotion came out of the earth and gave his Vishwaroopa Darshan to Shri Rama. He also guided Shri Rama to the place where Sita was h

  Agatheeswarar Temple - Kolapakkam Navagraha temple in Chennai – Suriyanaar Parihara Kshetram. A temple as old as 1300 years exists in a place called Kolapakkam in Chennai, dedicated to Lord Shiva in the form of a lingam named Sri Agatheeswarar or Sri Vaageeswarar & along with his consort Sri Anandavalli Ambal. The temple has been patronized by two sages namely Sage Agasthya & Sage Vageesha and hence the name of the Lord is Sri Agatheeswarar or Sri Vaageeshwarar. The temple has had many a kings as patron. The earliest inscriptions record the renovations done to the temple by Aditya Chola in 878 AD. Subsequently many a kings including Raja Raja Chola I,Raja Raja Chola II,(1152 AD) Kulaothunga Chola III ( 1188 AD),Sundara Pandian(1200 AD),Veera Rajendra Chola,Vijayakanda Gopala a telugu Chola King and Vijaya Maharaja of Sumatra( Indonesia). The temple has a south facing entrance without a Rajagopuram. As you enter, you come into a square compound. The entrance to the shrine is o

  3. Somanatheeswarar Temple - Somangalam Navagraha temple in Chennai – Chandranar Parihara Kshetram. The Somanatheshwarar temple in Somangalam is associated with Chandra Bhagawan who prayed to Lord Shiva to atone for his waning days. Legend says that, King Dakshan gave 27 of his daughters in marriage to Chandran. These 27 wives are the 27 stars of the Tamil Calendar. Chandran spent most of his time with Rohini his favourite wife and was partial to her. Daskhan’s request to Chandran to treat all his wives equally was not heeded, and hence he cursed Chandran that his beauty and shine would wane every day(Krishna Paksham). Chandran to get relieved from this curse prayed to Lord Shiva here, who not only assured him that the lost beauty and shine would come back every day(Shukla Paksham) in a fortnight,( Ammavasai to Pournami) he also adorned him on his Shikhara or forhead. Hence the lord is also known as Chandrasekhar. CHANDRASEKHARAR Another Legend says that, Rahu started engulfing the

  NEELAKANTHESHWARAR TEMPLE - GERUGAMBAKKAM Navagraha temple in Chennai – Kethu Parihara Kshetram. During the Samudra Manthan, the first thing which came out is Haala-Hala the poison. The Devas or the Asuras were falling unconscious. Mount Mandara was slipping into the ocean and was being supported by Mahavishnu in the form of Kurma Avatar. The Devas and Asuras prayed to Lord Shiva to come to their rescue. Lord Shiva drank the poison, but Parvathi pressed the neck of Shiva, there by not letting the Poison to go below the neck of the Lord. The neck of Shiva turned blue due to the effect of the poison. Hence Lord Shiva is known as Neela (Blue) Kantha ( Neck). NEELAKANTHESWARAR The temple of Neelakantheswarar at Gerugambakkam Chennai is a small temple, without any Gopuram or Vimanam. In fact recently a Mandapam has been constructed covering the entire compound. A small Mukha Dwaram from the south leads you to a compound, covered with a modern mandapam which also serves as the Praharam. Th

  Velleeswarar Temple - Mangadu Navagraha temple in Chennai – Shukran Parihara Kshetram. Goddess Parvathi Playfully closed both the eyes of Lord Shiva and the world was surrounded by darkness. Shiva opened his third eye to give light. He punished Parvathi to be born as a woman on earth and pray to him for reunion to him. Kamakshi Devi did tapas to Lord Shiva in Mangadu. During that period Shukran also prayed to lord Shiva to restore his eye, which he had lost, while stopping the Arghya(offering) being given by Mahabali to Mahavishnu in the form of Vamana. Shukracharya was the guru of the Asura’s and in order to prevent Mahabali from donating the three paces of Land to Vamana, he took the form of a bee and blocked the passage of water to flow from the Kamandalu. Vamana poked the mouth of the Kamandalu with a blade of grass, which pricked the eyes of Shukracharya and he became blind. Kamakshi came to the temple and saw Shukra in great tapas, she did not want to disturb the Tapas of Sh

  NAVAGRAHA TEMPLES IN CHENNAI. I have attached the links for photos and location. Navagraha Temples in Chennai Kundrathur There is a cluster of Navagraha temples in Chennai, erstwhile Thondai Nadu in and around Kundrathur. • Agatheeswarar Temple - Suryan – Kolapakkkam – 4.8 KM from Porur. https://photos.app.goo.gl/9jZEDWR6CgCuu5rY7 suryan sthalam Sivan Koil Street, Kolapakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600116 https://maps.app.goo.gl/mA2iP1HhxyqFCL6HA • Somanaadheeswarar Temple - Chandran – Somangalam - 25 KM from Porur. https://photos.app.goo.gl/ctKKfKHLwn9X96wj7 https://goo.gl/maps/zZ2cub5q1yjPFdzK7 • Vaidheeswaran Temple - Angaragan - Poovirundhavalli( Poondhamalli) – 7.4 KM from Porur https://photos.app.goo.gl/rRV4o8geUNakM86z7 https://goo.gl/maps/BosLpBSidgA1nnDq6 • Sundareswarar Temple - Budhan – Kovur – 5.4 KM from Porur https://photos.app.goo.gl/kxE7NTdpMKRS319B9 https://goo.gl/maps/gA3jpTerkNqXPoEH7 • Ramanaadheeswarar Temple - Guru – Porur – 1.1KM from Porur https://photos