Sirkali

One day tour of Tamil Nadu: Sirkali.

 Sirkali is located 20 kms south of Chidambaram and about 90kms south of Pondicherry by road. It is one of the important shiva temples. Lodges are available at Vaitheeswarankoil 6 kms away. Connected with Chennai by train

 It is the birth place of Shiva saint Thirugnanasambandar. When Gnanasambandar was young, he was given milk by Ambal herself near the sacred pond situated in this temple and he began singing songs in praise of Lord Shiva and Ambal  from the tender age. One has to climb about 50 steps to have dharshan of Lord Sattanathar .

Tirukolakka is also a place, where Shiva temple is  located and is  about a kilometer away from the temple in Sirkali. Gnanasambandar  sang in this temple for the first time in his divine yatra . It is believed that Lord Shiva provided thalam and Ambal provided  divine sound ( Oosai), when Sambandar sang here.

Vaitheeswarankoil is located about 6 Kilometers south of Sirkali. It is one of the navagraha temples. There is a separate sannathi for Angaraha ( Sevvai). Jadayu, who fought Ravana, when he was taking Sita to Lanka, died at this place and Jadayu was cremated here. It is believed that the prasadam of this temple cures diseases.

Thirupunkur: Nandhi was asked to  move at this place so that Nandanar can have dharshan of Lord Shiva. This place is 3 kms away from Vaitheeswarankoil. One has to take Thirupanandal route starting from south car st/West car St junction and travel 3 kms and then one kilometer on the left side to reach the temple. Three of the shiva saints sung at this place.

Evening:

Tharangambadi:One can visit the Danish fort established at Tarangambadi (as per map). This was established by Danish king Frederick in 1620s to promote trade with south India. It is located  right on the sea shore and also has a museum inside the fort. 

Tirukkadaiyur: On the way back about 5-6 kms away from Tharangambadi, this town is located. There are many lodges and restaurants available in this town.  This  is the place where Lord Shiva bestowed       Markandeyar that he will always be at the age of 16 after killing Yama who came to take the life of Markandeya. There is a separate sannadhi for Yama here. People celebrate their 60^th birthday in large numbers here.

Keelaperumpallam: One has to travel back to Akkur mukkuttu,(5Kms) Karuvili (Karuvilandhanathapuram: 9 kms) and then towards poompuhar and take a left turn to reach Keelaperumpallam (app 5-6 kms). This is kethu sthalam.

Poompuhar: It is here the river Cauvery enters Bay of Bengal. The famous Silappathikaram has its origins here. There is a museum and a statue of Kannagi  located close to the sea shore. There is also a light house.

Tiruvenkadu:  This is a navagraha sthalam for Budhan. The Shiva temple is a big one and there is a separate sannathi for Bhdhan near Ambal temple.

Chidambaram

This is the first of the series of blogs which I intend creating.  I am a vivid traveler. I am normally interested in visiting various towns across Tamil Nadu by rail or bus, stay there for a day or two and visit places of interest around this town.  I have chosen to start with Chidambaram.

Chidambaram Natarajar   .

  This town is situated 240 Kms south of chennai and is well connected by road and rail. There are good hotels to stay and have food.

   The holy town of Chidambaram is the abode of Lord Nataraja, the dancing God (Shiva). On 1st of May 2015, this temple was consecrated supposedly after 28 years.  The world is made of Panja bootha (Land: represented by Lord Shiva at Kancheepuram; Water: Lord Shiva at Tiruvanaikkoil, Trichy; Fire, represented by Lord Shiva at Tiruvannamalai; Air represented by Lord Shiva at Sri Kalahasthi and space (Akayam in Tamil) represented by Lord Nataraja at Chidambaram. The main temple is made of 21600 gold leaves representing the number of times we breathe in a day.

Thillai Kali

Long long ago the town was ruled by Kali Maatha. Lord Nataraja won the battle of dance against Kali Matha. Kali Matha was then ordained to live just outside this town and is known as Thillaikali. The town is also known as Thillai. The visit to Chidamabaram is incomplete without a  dharshan of Thillaikali. This temple is situated within 800-1000 meters of the North Sannathi (temple view on right side)

 Pichavaram:

Pichavaram mangrove forest is situated about 10 kilometers towards east near Bay of Bengal. The mangroves have lost their density now but are still worth a boat drive across back waters. This is considered as a tourist spot. Boats are available to go around in back waters.

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Other Places of interest

 There are many places of interest around this town. Sri Raghavendra was born at Bhuvanagiri, which is about 6 kilometers from the town on way to Cuddalore (towards Chennai). There is a temple dedicated to Holy Raghavendra at Bhuvanagiri..

   The town of Sirkali is 20 kms away where Thirugnanasambandar (one of the nalvar who adore all Shiva temples). There is Sattanathar temple at Sirkali and there is also a Shiva temple at Tirukkolakka, where Thirugnanasambandar sang about Shiva.   Lot can be written about Nataraja temple. Chidambaram is also the place where the famous Annamalai University is situated.

These are some of the 274 revered Shiva temples. Vaitheeswarankoil is about 26 kms away from Chidambaram and 6 kilometers to the south of Sirkali. This temple is one of the most revered temples and Lord Vaidyanatha Swami is the presiding deity.

There are famous Vaishnava Shrines at Kattumannarkoil (25 Kilometers to the west and Sri Mushnam (app 60 kms to the west) which are worth worshiping.