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Temple Town

Temple Town


Kumbakonam, is one of the oldest town in south india. It is also known as "temple town" due to the prevalence of a number of temples in and around the tow.. The Mahamaham festival is celebrated here once in 12 years and it attracts lakhs of devotees from all over the world.
I reached Kumbakonam from Chennai at 04:00 AM, by SRM Travels. I checked into Hotel Royal Park, adjacent to the bus-stand by about 04:30 AM. The cab which I had booked the previous day arrived on time (by 05:30AM - as scheduled) to pick me. I reminded the driver that I was on a one and half day trip and I intend to visit all/most prominent temples including the Navagrahas. I also wanted to visit Darasuram a heritage site under UNESCO.

It was my first visit to the town and I wanted to visit most of the temples with limited darshan time. I did not perform any pooja in any temple, just prayed.

DAY 1

I visited the temples below
1. Swamimalai 2. Chandran temple 4. Ponniamman 5. 108 Sivalayam 5. Durga devi / shiva (pateeswaram) 6. Guru 7. Pratingira devi - goddess with lion face. (Aiyyavaadi) 8. Oppiliappan 9. Tank 10. Kasi vishwanathar temple 11. Nagendraswamy temple 12. Ramaswamy 13. Adikumbeshwar 14. Darasuram 15. Shri chakrapani swami 16. Someshwar 17. Sarangapani swami
Route map - below
Quick info on temples I visited.

Swamimalai

This temple is dedicated to Lord Murugan. This is also one of the 6 holy temple called ‘Arupadai veedu’. It is located about 6 - 8 km from Kumbakonam town.
It is here Lord Murugan explainied the meaning on OM to his father.
A filght of about 60 steps leads to the Lord. This an artificial hill. Daily rituals start at 06:00 AM.

Chandran temple


This is a Navagraha temple, dedicated to Chandran bagavan. Located in thingaloor about 35 Km from Kumbakonam town. Daily rituals start at 07:00 AM

108 Sivalayam

This temple is located in papanasam (formerly known as papavinasam ).
It is believed that worshipping Lord Shiva in this temple would remove all our sins and worshipping in this one temple.

Pateeswaram temple


Temple dedicated to lord Shiva and Durga devi. Durga Devi being the main deity.

Guru Temple

Temple is located at Alangudi. Dedicated to Guru Bagavan also known as Lord Dakshina Murthy. It is one of the Navagraha temple.

Pratingira devi

Located at Ayyavadi. Goddess with lion face and human body. Devi is known to be effective in warding off evil, especially witchcraft. In this temple Homams are conducted every Full moon day after which huge volumes of Red Chillies are offered to the Goddess. However the speciality is that there would be no choking/irritation even though sacks of in the sacrificial fire!

DAY 2

Tirukkadaiyur Temple Amritaghateswarar - Abirami Temple It is believed that Markandeyan was bestowed immortality here. As death was conquered here, Sasthipoorthi(Completion of 60 yrs) is celebrated here.
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