SRIKURMAM NEAR SRIKAKULAM, ANDHRA PRADESH

SRIKURMAM NEAR SRIKAKULAM, ANDHRA PRADESH

The temple at Sri Kurmam depicts the second avathara of Lord Vishnu, Kurmam. A rare one for the entire India to have this avathara of Vishnu in a temple and the main deity itself is a Kurmam vigraha and poojas conducted for the same.  The village also is called by the name Srikurmam and is about 15 kms from Srikakulam and 11 kms from Arasavalli Sree Suryanarayana Swamy temple. Mukalingam temple is 42 kms from here towards Bhuvaneshwar.  Thus Srikakulam is the nearby place to reach srikurmam.  

APTDC Tour packages for a day from Vishakapatnam to Arasavalli and back covers Arasavalli Suryanarayana Swamy Temple, Srikurmam, Mukalingam, Kalingapatnam etc.,

From the national highway, where one has to take a turn to the temple, there is a statue of a Tortoise.   From this point about 3 kms is the temple.

Some of the photographs taken in the temple -

It is a very old temple with an wonderful temple tank known as Sheerasagara. On immediately entering main entry gate, to the left is the temple tank and to the right is the counter issuing tickets for special entry and archanai.   One can enter the sanctum sanctorum (Garbha Gruha) and as the mantras are recited by the temple priest the flowers can be offered to the deity by the devotees standing next to the Lord's idol which is in the form of a Kurma.  Flowers are offered on the head, back and tail portion of the Kurma.   

 SREE KURMANATHA

Legend has it that there was a mountain known as Swetachala and the region was ruled by a King Sutha.  On an Ekadasi day, when the Queen was following Vratham, the king made amorous advances to her.  She shunned him and prayed to the Lord that he should help her follow the Vratham unhindered.  The Lord separated the King and the Queen by making Ganges to flow between them and she started living on the banks of the river.   The King living in solitude also was worried without his consort.   Sage Naradha advised the King to do a penance on Lord Vishnu and also taught the king the Kurma Mantra to meditate upon. Pleased with the penance of King Sutha, the Lord appeared before him in his normal posture with 4 hands holding the Chank, Chakra, Gatha and Padmam.  Lord accompanied by the King and Naradha went the hill in which the Maharishi Vakranga was living.   On the way, seeing the beauty of the place, he made a tank with his disc and it was called by the name Ksheera Samudram. Mahalakshmi also joined him and settled there and the place was called as Srikurmam.  Hence taking bath in the temple tank Ksheera Samudram is considered holy.

The temple many million years old with outer structures constructed many a times.  The present structure seems to have  been of 700 years old.   The story of the temple is mentioned in Kurma, Vishnu, agni, padma and Brahmanda puranas.  Sree Ramanujacharya prayed in this temple in the 11th century.  The deity, facing east, until then, turned to West to bless the Acharya, similar to Udipi in Karnataka.  Hence the temple has a second flag post for this direction too.  Ksheera Samudram created by the disc of Lord Vishnu is also called as Swetha Pushkarani.  It is believed that Lakshmi came out of this tank in Garuda Vahana to join the Lord to bless devotees as Kurma Nayaki. The temple structure which has been altered by many Kings bears the structure of Andhra Pradesh as well as Odisha (Kalinga).  


Lot of shops in front of the temple offer pooja materials.

Temple Timings:

06.00 AM to 07.45 PM

SREE SURYANARAYANASWAMY TEMPLE, ARASVALLI NEAR SRIKAKULAM, A.P.

SREE SURYANARAYANASWAMY TEMPLE, ARASVALLI NEAR SRIKAKULAM, A.P.

Temples for Sree Suryanarayanaswamy at Suriyanar Koil near Kumbakonam, Tamilandu, at Naravi near Mangalore, Karnataka and at Arasavalli near Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh are exclusive temples for Lord Adithya.   I was at Srikakulam on 30th May 2017 and had darshan at Arasavalli Suryanarayana swamy temple.   Arasavalli is 8 kms from Srikakulam bus stand.  The distance between Vishakapatnam and Srikakulam is 112 kms and is covered in 2 hours by non-stop deluxe buses of APSRTC.   There are buses every 20 minutes in early morning hours and evening.   There are package tours by taxis which covers Arasavalli, Srikurmam and Mukhalingam temples and also include Kalingapatna. The fare varies from Rs.3200/- to Rs.4000/- and can see all temples in the morning and return to Vishakapatnam by late evening.  APTDC have one day package tour for the above places.  I took an auto and reached Arasavalli temple in about 10 minutes from the Srikakulam bus stand.   The Original name of the place of Harshavalli meaning the Abode of Joy.

From the front, one cannot see any gopuram like structure and it is a fairly large temple.   Pooja items are available in front of the temple.  The temple has sannidihis for Suryanarayana, Lord Siva, Goddess Ambica, Lord Vishnu and Lord Vinayaka.  Thus the temple is also called as a Panchayatanaya temple.  There is a separate Navagraha mandapam in the temple.    Lord Adithya is sannidhi is in the centre and at the four corners are Vinayaka, siva, parvathi and vishnu.

It is said the Padmapuranam has an account of the temple History and Sage Kashyapa installed the idol here.  As per the temple history, Devendra installed it here.  Once Devendra wanted to see Lord Siva and at the entrance Nandhi stopped him. When he tried to force his entry, Nandhi kicked the intruder and Devendra fell unconscious.  He dreamt that he would be relieved of the pain caused by the injury in the chest if he built a temple to Sun God and on regaining his consciousness he took handful of earth three times from where he lay and found the idol of Sun God with Usha, Chaya and Padmini there.  At the foot of the idol are the dwarapalakas Mathara and Pingala and Sanaka and Sanadana hold the chatrams (Umbrellas).    The Sun God is depicted as riding over a chariot with Arunan as sarathy. 

Temple timings:
06.00 AM to 12.30 PM
03.30 PM to 08.00 PM

SREE VARAHALAKSHMI NARASIMHASWAMY, SIMMACHALAM

SREE VARAHA LAKSHMI NARASIMHASWAMY,  SIMMACHALAM

During the trip to Vishakapatnam, the first temple I had darshan was at Simmachalam.    Simmachalam is 17 kms from Vishakapatnam and on a small hill at a height of 244 metres.  Inscriptions in the temple date back to 1098 AD and was built in the 11th century by King Krishnadevaraya.   A toll of Rs.30/- is being levied on vehicles taking the hill road.   Buses ply from RTC complex, Vishakapatnam which takes around an hour and stops in front of the temple at the hill.   The Devasthanam also runs buses from the foot of the hill to the temple.

The Moolavar idol is covered with sandal paste all through the year and there is a Chandanotsavam day on which this is applied.   Hence on all normal darshan days, the lord can be seen as a linga shaped with sandal paste applied.  It is said the sandal paste is applied on the lord to reduce the fury of the Lord after killing Hiranyakasibu.   Hence the darshan of the the Lord as in the idol, Nijaroopa darisanam, for a period of 12 hours, can be had only on the day when the sandal paste is removed and reapplied.  The Chandanostavam day is on the Vaisakha Month and on Thiruthiyai after the Amavasya every year.   Currently he gives darshan with the sandal paste applied like shown in the picture below:

Legend of the temple is connected with the killings of Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu.   Prahalada wished to worship the Lord in the form he took to kill Hiranyaksha as also the form with which he would kill Hiranyakasipu.  Hence the Lord took the form of Varahalakshmi Narasimha after killing Hiranyakasipu (Varaha for killing Hiranyaksha and Narasimha for killing Hiranyakasipu) and Prahalada was worshipping the Lord in this form.   Later, after Satya Yuga due to neglect ant-hill formed over the idol and in the next yuga, King Pururava of Lunar Dynasty found the idol.  As King Pururava along with his wife, was moving on a chariot on aerial route (Vimana), he was drawn by a mysterious power to Simmachalam.  Some other account says that the Lord came in his dream and he found the idol. When he found the idol, Pururava heard a voice from the sky for the application of the sandal paste over the idol and worship the Lord in that form.  He covered with the sandal paste as was told and even today the Lord gives darshan in this form only.  The main sanctum of the temple itself resembles a chariot and the kalyanamandapa has 96 pillars, a part of which Natya Mandapa which has 16 pillairs and they depict the incarnations of Lord Vishnu.  

The temple also has Kappa sthambam and people embrace these pillars for wishes to be fulfilled including getting cured from illness.  There was a lot of crowd at the Kappasthambam when I was at the temple at about 4.00PM. Plenty of shops selling flowers and Thulasi are available and also the counter for the ticket darshan is in front of the temple.

Temple Timings
7.00 AM-02.00 PM
4.00 PM-09.00 PM

VISHAKAPATNAM TOUR

VISHAKAPATNAM TOUR 

I was in Vishakapatnam for 3 days from 28th May 2017 and had darshan at Simmachalam, Kanagamahalakshmi temples in Vishakapatnam and in Sree Surynarayanaswamy temple, Arasavalli and sri Kurmam near Srikakulam and also in Mukhalingam temple.   During this trip, I had also gone on sightseeing trip to Bora Caves and Arakku Valley and also Kailasagiri in Vishakapatnam.  

Simmachalam temple is 17 kms from Vishakapatnam and I took a taxi to go there and also went up the hillock of Kailasagiri which is a picnic spot and returned to Vishakapatnam.  Both these places are very well covered by the State Transport buses and those who have enough time at their disposal can take up this mode.  Simmachalam temple is also on a small hillock and a separate posting has been done in the blogspot at-
http://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.in/2017/06/sree-suryanarayanaswamy-temple.html



                          Simmachalam - Varaha Narasimhaswamy temple

More on Kailasagiri - It is on a small hill and a breathtaking view of seashore on the other side and also the whole city view can be had from here.  Besides it has some entertainment aspects like toy train.  Ropeway an added attraction also is available to climb the hill.  View of the city and the seashore can be had from the rope car.  A huge Siva and Maheswari statue also has been made on the centre of the park.  

Video shows are conducted by Telugu Samskrithika  Nikethanam here.  Parking facilities available on top of the hill and only time taken for taking the car from the parking slot has to be taken care of, especially on holidays.  Some of the photographs I had taken during the trip is added here.  The Doppler Weather Radar Station, Vishakapatnam also is in this hill.

The various beaches of Vishakapatnam are of importance and people throng to these for the evening hours.   The Ramkrishna Beach which is the midst of the town is famous and nearby is the Ramakrishna Mission office.  Sree Kanamahalakshmi temple is just about 5 kms from the Bus complex and she is patroness goddess of Vishakapatnam.  People can perform on their own by offering milk, turmeric powder, Kungumam, flowers and lot of shops outside the temple are selling these.  

      

The second day trip was as planned from the tour package of APTDC and it was train cum road package for a day of Arakku valley and Bora Caves.  The time to report at Vishakapatnam Railwlaly Station was 6.00 AM.  The train was set to departure at 7.05 AM.  There is a small cubicle near the exit gate of the station and near Platform No.1 for the APTDC.  The staff arrived at 5.55 AM and xerox copy of the ticket booked was verified and breakfast pack of two idlis and a Vada and a bottle bisleri water was handed over for each and a tea served there itself.

They also informed that APTDC tourists are to board the second coach from the engine.  There was a guide waiting at the platform near the coach and he took charge of showing the seat numbers of the normal 2nd class sitting accommodation.   Almost 80 people had booked through APTDC for the tour on that day and the entire coach was full.   The train started at 7.05 AM and after a wait of 3 hours, the train entered into tunnels much to the delight of the passengers.  From 8.30 AM onwards, local vendors entered into the train and started selling fruits and other eatables.  The train reached Araku valley at 11.30 hrs after coming across 59 tunnels.  APTDC train-cum-road package's road portion starts from here.  Two buses had been arranged and the first stop was Padmanbah gardens.  Not much to say expect the guide eloguising it with the world war and British.  The next stop was tribal museum.  A place worth to see, whereupon you can get Araku valley coffee powder too. 

                                                      Tribal Musuem

Next is the afternoon buffet lunch provided at APTDC's restaurant Haritha.  A normal vegetarian lunch and soon after that, dance by tribal women arranged by APTDC.   The Next stop was Bora Caves.  This is around 92 km from Vishakapatnam.   One would require good physique to complete the 350 metres depth of this cave.  I managed upto 150 metres and returned back, duly taking into account the steps to be climbed back.   One of the best part of this tour was the bora caves.   It is said that the cave is a million year old and British Geologist William King had found that in 1807.  The deposits in odd shapes seen are said to be of Stalagmites due to water percolating from the roof containing calcium bicarbonate and other mineral mounds.   Same way Stalactites are also formed.  Because of their different shapes tourists have coined names such as Shiv-Parvathi, Mother-Child, Rishi's beard, human brain and Tiger and so on.

                                                    A view of Bora Caves

There are no entry tickets for the Bora Caves and it takes atleast an hour and 15 minutes for an able bodied person to cover the entire caves.    Next was a midway stop for taking tea and the bus reaches Vishakapatnam at 08.30 PM.

I had booked through APTDC for a one day road trip to Arasavalli/kurmam and Mukalingam but want of quoram, the trip was cancelled and this was informed to me in the previous evening.  I enquired some people and they said to take buses from RTC bus stand to Srikakulam for the trip.  Buses ply every 20 minutes non-stop to Srikakulam and majority are ordinary express buses and only a few are luxury buses.  It takes 2 hours and from there an auto for Rs.300/- took to Sree Suryanarayanaswamy temple at Arasavalli and then to Sri Koormavadhara swamy temple at Kurmam.   Since I could not get any taxi to Mukalingam which is 50 kms from Srikakulam, I ventured to go by an auto, when one of the auto drivers offered for it and luckily I decided that at Srikurmam so that the distance is only A GOOD 42 Kms and not the 50 kms.  Anyway 42 plus return to Srikakulam of 52 kms- 94 kms in an auto, I think only I would do it.  He took Rs.1000/-    But I had the satisfaction that I had darshan at Mukhalingam.  There are separate blog postings on Suryanarayanaswamy/Kurmam/Mukalingam.  

Was back at Vishakapatnam by 5 PM taking a bus from srikakulam.
Blog on Srikumaram is at:
http://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.in/2017/06/srikurmam-near-srikakulam-andhra-pradesh.html

I went to Kanagamahalakshmi temple in the evening and had darshan.  Back to my hotel and started next day morning to Bangalore.                         

I have missed some places.  The APTDC tour of half a day/day  of Vishakapatnam  has a few more places within Vishakapatnam and one of the friends told that is quite good too.  Hence all three tours Arakuvalley train-cum-road, Aravasalli/kurmam for a day and local Vishakpatnam tour can be booked on line in the APTDC site.  In case, the arasavalli trip does not materialise due to want of quoram , then Srikakulam trip can be arranged with a taxi too at Rs.4000/- which would include Mukhalingam, Kalingapatnam also.

                         One more view of Seashore from Kailasagiri

This trip personally was a memorable one as  I had the hospitality of Sri Ravi (and family), who is in the Navy, son of my good friend Shri Ananthanarayanan of Railways.  One of the best places to be in for a family outing on holidays.

NACHIAR KOIL NEAR KUMBAKONAM

NACHIAR KOIL NEAR KUMBAKONAM

SREE VANCHULAVALLI THAYAR SAMETHA SREE SRINIVASA PERUMAL TEMPLE

On 19th April 2017, I had darshan at the Nachiar koil near Kumbakonam. Nachiar koil is at a distance of 10 kms from Kumbakonam and very well connected by road.  Buses which go to Tiruvarur, connect on the way Nachiar Koil, Srivanchiam and Nannilam.  

The place has the name of Thirunaraiyur Nachiar koil and Thirumangaiyazhvar has called it as Manimadak kovil (மணிமாடக்கோவில்) and  this is the 20th of the 108 Divya Desams. Adjoining the Rajagopuram, is the sannidhi of Sree Damodara Pillaiyar or Varasidhi Vinayagar.

The temple faces east and the Urchavar Perumal here is also known as Sree Srinivasa Perumal and he is with four hands.  The upper two with Chanku and Chakra and the lower right hand is giving boons to the devotees and the left hand on the thigh.  The Moolavar is with two hands and in Nindra (நின்ற) Thirukkolam.  On the right of the Perumal, Goddess with two hands with the right hand in Varadha mudhra and the left hand in the normal posture on the sides pointing to the ground and is known as Sree Vanjulavalli Thayar.   Thus in this Divya Desam, the Lord gives darshan with his consort in the Moolasthanam itself.   Thayar urchavar also has the same name.  

In the moolasthanam, to the right of moolvar are Brahma, Sankarshanan and to the left are Aniruthan, Prathyumanan and Samban.   

Just before the sanctum, as we enter the moolasthanam, to the right is the Kalkgarudar sannidhi which faces south.   He is called as Pakshirajan, Periya Thiruvadi, Vainadeyan and Pullarasar (புள்ளரசர்).  He is in Sila roopa and also being told as made of Saligramam. People consider the darshan of kalkarudar on Thursdays and Saturdays are auspicious.   The neivadyam offered to the Lord are also offered to this Kalgarudar.  The prakara in which karudar sannidhi is, is also called as Siriya Thiruvunnazhi.

 During  Garuda Sevai, the number of people carrying the  Garuda increases from the temple precincts to outer prakara and also decreases as it enters the temple from outside.   That is weight increases as it is taken out of the temple.


There is a 100 Pillar Mandapam in the temple and by the side is the sannidhi of Navaneethakrishnan.  On the north of this mandapam is Sree Rama along with Sita pratti and Lakshmanan and Anjaneya.   South of this Mandapam is the Matappalli and opposite to this is Sree Chakkarathazhvar sannidhi.  When we ascend the steps of the 100 pillars mandapam, we enter into a prakhara called as "Periya Thiruvunnazhi" - பெரிய திருவுண்ணாழி .  
In the south of this prakara is the sannidhi of Anjaneya facing north.   On the west is the yoga narasimhar sannidhi.  Paramapatha vayil is facing south in this temple in this prakara.

The story for this Divya Desam is based on the Medavi Munivar and Vanjulavalli Thayar.   Medhavi Munivar lived near Manimuthar river on the southern bank and was doing penance.  He wished the Lord Srivinivasa to be his soninlaw and the goddess herself as daughter.  One day when he was taking bath in the river, he got a vigraha of Chakkarapani Swamy with Narasimha on the other side.  As he was surprised, there was an Asareeri telling that he shall install the vigraha in the temple here and that his wish would be fulfilled.   Medhavi Munivar installed the vigraha and prayed regularly.  Goddess as a small Kanni appeared near a Vanchi tree and played with her friends.  The Munivar on seeing her felt that his wish is getting fulfilled asked about her.  She said she had no place and no parents.  She requested the Munivar to bless her and to be her father.
 As she appeared near the Vanchi tree she was called as Vanchulavalli.  The munivar also planted a vilva tree in front of the Lord Chakrapani he got from the river to enable her to play with that.  She was also watering the vilva tree and was playing with her friends to enjoy the life of the ashramam.  The Devas suffered as the goddess had left the Parkadal Paraman and they requested Brahma to help them.  Brahama in turn appealed to Lord Paranthaman to help the Devas regain their strength and that the goddess too to reunite with the Lord.   Paranathaman took 5 roopas of Vasudevan, samban, sankarshanan, anirudhan and Prathyumnan to search for the Devi and Garudar also went on search.  Finally they arrived at Thirunaraiyur and also the ashramam of Medhavi Munivar.  Garuda who went on search and finally found the Thayar here and indicated to the lord about that.  As Vasudeva wanted to clean his hands, Medhavi Munivar gave water in his gindi and the lord said he would not take it and would take it as served by a girl.   Medhavi Munivar asked Vanchulavalli to help them.  As she was pouring the water, the lord took her right hand and Vanchulavalli called her father and complained.   Medhavi Munivar as he was about to hurl the curse, the Lord showed his true form with Chanku and Chakra to the Munivar.  As the Rishi was overwhelmed with joy on seeing the Lord's form, the Lord said the daughter of the Rishi was the Lokamatha and the rishi wanted the Lord with Vanchulavalli Thayar to bestow their blessings to the devotees by remaining here.   Brahma on hearing of this came here and had darshan of the lord.  Garuda requested the Lord for his presence too in this Kshetra to bless the devotees and the Lord accepted his wish to be by the side of him in this place.


The poojas in this temple are conducted as per Vaikasana Agama.  Vilva Tree is the thala viruksham. 

Temple timigs:
06.30 AM- 12.30 PM
04.30 Pm - 08.30 PM