The temple is in Madurantakam which is one of the holy places that Ramanujam visited. According to Wiki, Thiru-Venkaateswarar Temple near Madurantakam railway station, a renowned temple in the town. It is built by king who suffered from skin disease and then relived when he had bath in the tank; then he realized his wonder and built this temple during British Raj. Temple has
The Moolavar – Venkaat
eswarar and Meenakshi ammal
Followed by,
• Sri Buvanapathi naachiyar
• Sri Paandeswarar
• Sooriya Bagavan
• Nandhi Thevar
• 4 Bhairavars
• Nadana Ganapathy
• Visaya Arumugan with Valli Dhevasenapathiyar
• Lord Vishnu
• Lord Brahma
• Dhakchina Moorthy
• Durgai
• Sandigeswarar
Venkaateswarar was residing amidst the forest that had lot of white cranes and rare Mandharai flowers. The forest was looking white because of the dense population of white cranes and flowers. That’s how the lord was given the name ‘Venkaateeswarar”. We could not find exactly when the temple was formed. It was found during the ruling period of Kandaraadhitha chozhan (947 – 957 AD). They have started conducting prayers from then. The temple must have been built by sand bricks that time. Later during the period 1085 AD of Kulothunga Chozhan I, One of his Army Commander has donated money and built a strong stone temple for Venkaateswarar. From the stone carvings, we could see people who have prayed in this temple have gained good health and long life. It also has the long list of kings who have donated money to the temple. Paandeeswarar:
In our Venkaateswarar temple, near Meenakshi ammal statue, we have a separate big Sivalingam named Paandeeswarar. Near Paandeeswarar, we have Buvanambigai amman. It is believed that the amman statue was constructed by Pandiyas. Meenakshi amman statue must have been placed in the later days. The temple is surrounded by tall and dense trees which create an awesome atmosphere to revolve around the temple. Beautiful nagalinga tree, Vilva tree, Badam tree and coconut trees are present around the sivalinga temple. The temple has a pond in front of it. The pond was called ‘Vidahara theertham’. It was well known that bathing in the pond will cure prolonged skin diseases. Temple Structure:
The temple has a Rajagopuram which is said to be ‘5 Nilai gopuram’. In the entrance, It has a temple vinayagar, Bali peedam, Kodi kambam and Nandhi thevar. After seeing the moolavar, we could see again a nadana ganapathy statue in the outer circles. Then we could see Naalvar sannadhi, Vinayagar sannidhi, Dhatchina moorthy, Soma ganapathy, Somaskandhan, Thirumal, Brahma, Durgai and Sandeeswarar.
4 bhairava moorthys are present in the temple which is not very common.
1. Unmatha Bhairavar
3. Asithaanga Bhairavar
4. Swarna Aagarshana Bhairavar
Special prayers have been conducted for the Bhairavars during Ashtami. They are decorated with Red towels and Red Arali flowers. People light lamps and conduct prayers in the Durgai sannidhi during the Raagu kaalam of Tuesdays and in Guru sannidhi during Thursdays. We have the navagrahas placed in the separate mandapam. The old strong pillars add a great beauty to the temple. The trees, bats smell and the stone temple could make us feel something like we have been here before may be in our previous birth. That’s the great feel the old temples have. Do provide a planned visit to our Venkaateswarar temple, Madurantakam.
