Nitya Karmas

                                                     Sri Gurubhyo Namaha 

Sharing my knowledge on Aupaasanam, Sthaalipaakam and Vaishwadevam

Daily obligatory karmas like snAnam, trikAla sandhyAvandanam, brahmayagyam, deva Rushi pitru tarpanam, aupaasanam, Shiva Puja and vaishvadEvam are to be performed daily and so they are nitya karmAs

Aupaasana agni should be preserved by every Husband/wife together. Aupaasanam should be performed after Sun rise in morning and after  Sunset. Agni has to be preserved inside Bran. In a small Agni Kundam we should keep Dried Cow dung (Muttaan) and fill it with Bran. On top of it we should have Agni placed after doing the Aupaasanam. Bran will observed the Fire inside and will preserve it for 12-14 Hours. Hence it is advisable that we do Aupaasanam within one hour of Sun rise/set.

If husband has to travel or not in good health, wife can perform aupaasanam without any mantras up to 2 days i.e. 4 times. Beyond which wife can't do it. Whenever Aupaasanam is performed wife should be residing in the same house irrespective of their Bahishta status. If you & your wife have to travel as per Bodhayana sustra, you can do Samith samaropanam and carry the samith (which imbibes agni by reciting a mantra). 

If your marriage is a single/two day event, it is unlikely that all the process of a 4 day event is observed. Hence it requires 4 days of Veda parayanam, Naandi and cleansing process (Sarvaangam, Kooshmanda homam etc).

After which Vivaha mantras to recited again and few vaideeka process to be reinitiated. Previous day of initiation, there should be a fasting in food with no mix of Salt, Taramarind or Alkali. 

Sthaalipaakam

While you are performing Aupaasanam, within every fortnight after Full moon & New moon day, Sthaalipaakam should be performed mandatorily. Best day is Prathamai thithi i.e. First day after Fullmoon or New moon day. Twidhiya should be avoided.

In Sthaalipaakam, a cup of rice is cooked in the homa kundam itself and the same has been offered to Agni twice by reciting mantras.

Vaiswadevam

Vaiswadevam is a nithya karma. It has to be followed by everyone. We cook & offer food for all the nature, animals, birds, insects, human beings and forefathers. We are supposed to have food only after them. By intentionally or not, we do harm to all of the above in some way or other and carry those sins. By doing the Vaiswadeva karma, we feed them to cleanse ourselves from those sins. 

1st is Alavana vratham. I.e. No Salt, Tamarind or Alkali in the food for 12 days. Last 3 days we need to perform Gana Homam. Atleast last day should be a fasting day.  Gana Homam has 8 different parts and it has to be recited and aajyam (Ghee) to be offered to Agni 3 times within a day. 

Vaiswadevam karma has 5 parts. 1. Sakala Homam ( to be performed by offering samith to Agni), 2. Vaiswadeva Homam (Offering Avis(cooked in Kumutti) to Agni),3. Baliharanam - placing avis as per the sustra in a clean place in the floor, 4. Pancha-maha yagnam and 5th is reciting Simha Anuvaaham. Overall it takes 30 minutes to do the above exclusive of time taken for making the avis.   

After completing the above, we need to wait for 6 minutes in the road to check if any Athithi would turn up. After that you can have your food, but if a athithi accepts to come for food, he is to be considered as a God sent person. 

Vaiswadevam has to be done twice a day. After sun rise & sun set. But you can combine in mantra for evening and do once a day, provided you don't eat freshly cooked food (rice) in the evening for dinner.

By the blessings of Lord Nataraja, everyone of us should strive to practice our samskaras as i feel these are the ones that we are leaving to our next generations.

- "Shiva Shiva" 

Ahobilam Trip - 2017

PLANNING & PREPARATION
Plan for Journey Explored many options and finally settled with a decision to visit Ahobilam on Monday. Initially planned to take a car ride on the morning of Tuesday to Ahobilam which is approx. 370 Kms from Chennai. My initial plan was to visit the Upper Ahobilam temple deities on 1st day and complete the rest on 2nd day that I start from Ahobilam on 2nd day around 2 PM and reach Chennai by 10 PM. At this point of time I was thinking it would be an easy trip, but later realized it is not that easy to take car drive with an aggressive plan. But had to drop of the car trip due to other constraints I had in making a back to back trips. I don’t drive much in night. Then decided to go by Bus. Booked a ticket to Allagadda from Chennai for APSRTC Bus and boarding time is 8 PM. Bus is expected to reach Allagadda at 5 and it did reach on time. Route is through Tirupati, Kadapa and Allagadda. Purchased 10 packets for dry fruits and 1 packet of kalkandu for Prasadam to Swamy. Purchased Agal vilakku and a ghee bottle to lit lamp at every deity. Wearing trecking shoes or chappals will be more useful while we climb up & down. Hence kindly go well prepared. Also, take a Torch light and you may need it. We took it. Accomodation  & Trip to Ahobilam from Allagadda We are unable to get an accommodation in AP Tourism or Ahobila Math. Hence booked a room in Sri Mahalakshmi Residency in Allagadda (25 Kms away from Ahobilam).  Room is very good with water heater. It is 1 KM away from the main bus stand, very decent and I paid 1200/- for a non-ac room. We reached the hotel at 5.15 am and started getting ready for Ahobilam and we were again back to Bus stand at 6 AM to catch a bus to Ahobilam. From Allagadda to Ahobilam it is 25 Kms and duration of the travel varies between 30-45 mins by bus to Lower Ahobilam. I took the 1st bus at 6.15 AM and returned back by the last bus from Ahobilam to Allagadda at 8.15 PM. Upper Ahobilam is 8 KMs. I initially took the ticket only to Lower Ahobilam to seek a help of a Battacharya. But got confused on the language and took the ticket to Upper Ahobilam.
ABOUT
LORD NARASIMHA SWAMY	MY EXPERIENCE
Those who visit nava narasimhas can avoid navagraha dosham, Each Narasimha swamy leads each navagrahas as below in sequence to my visit. 1. Ahobila Narasimha - Guru 2. Jwala Narasimha - Angarakan 3. Malola Narasimha - Sukran 4. Krodha Narasimha - Rahu 5. Karanja Narasimha - Chandran 6. Kshatravata Narasimha - Kethu 7. Yogananda Narasimha - Shani 8. Paavana Narasimha - Budhan 9. Bhargava Narasimha – Surya	At around 7 we reached the upper ahobilam and to my surprise, there is no mobile reach and I couldn’t connect with the person whom I had to meet and take his help for Food, Guide, Jeep etc. There is only 1 or 2 shops in which one offers Tea there are no other eateries except Sri Brahamana Annadana Satram. Food is free to all devotees here. Wonderful & amazing gesture by the Trust. We finally decided to go to the temple in Upper Ahobilam and meet the battacharya there itself, assuming he will there to guide us. Being a sanathani, God is there in every other form & all swamy are one and the same, science hasn’t progressed much to prove certain faiths regarding whether a god exist or not. But all I can quote is Sri Abhinaya Vidhya Theertha swamy’s version of explaining, that we are listening to the Saints who have met god. From here on whatever we are going to experience in Ahobilam is all about Faith. If you have faith, TRUST in god and do your duty. I strongly believe he will guide us. At 7.15 am there was not of much crowd and hence we were able to visit the deity in less than 10 mins.
SRI AHOBILA NARASIMHA SWAMY (GURU) Lord appears in a fierce mode and this diety is the main Narasimha swamy in Ahobilam. This is a MUST visit temple for anyone who comes to Ahobilam. It is believe that Lord Narasimha was swayambu (self-manifest here).   Swamy is in a cave carved in an oval shape. Lord Narasimha Swamy and Bhaktha Prahalad are here and their prathishta moorthi is also in the same place. We offered the Prasad packet and Bhattacharya did archana.	On enquiring the bhattacharya, he said he is not the one I am looking for and my much needed person is in the lower ahobilam. He said, he is not making any arrangements for Pilgrims, but just pointed to a Guide who just offered himself to help us.
SRI JWALA NARASIMHA SWAMY - ANGARAKAN Enroute to this shrine, we can also have a view of Ugra Sthambam, a cleft that splits 2 mountains from where the Lord appeared. Few steps of further climbing we reach the shrine of Jwala Narasimha and prahalad. Jwala Narasimha is ashta bujam (8 hands) with Hiranya kashibu in his lap with his head on the left side & prahalada stands beside the Lord. Narasimha is in fierce appearance at this place and this is the actual spot where Lord tore Hiranyakasibu.   In order to cool down is anger, a spring that originates from an unknown place, sprinkles non-stop (24/6*365 days) and it is called Akasha Ganga. Few steps further we saw a small pond with clean water. We could also see the Blood stains and it was believed that Narasimha washed the hands after he kills Hiranya kasibu.	After a rocky route of 3-4 Kms from Upper Ahobilam and climbing the steep steps we were severely tired. For me the stick that was provided to me was very helpful, though my wife and son had a different view.   While we climb to this place, the journey will be very delightful for the nature lovers, trekkers and you won’t realize that you are in a mid of a forest. Dramatically, scene changes as you start climbing. Amazing experience. Someone was offering Panagam at this place, we had it. We didn’t have our breakfast and was very tired. Panagam offering was a blessing at that time, with me fighting Diabetics. Would suggest a very light breakfast will be good for those who have stomach stiffness due to breakfast skip. My son have this problem, but by the grace of god, he didn’t had that trouble in this trip. Our guide was little resistant in the beginning to avoid visit to Ugra stambham as it is a very steep and climbing is very difficult for 3 KMs. Myself and my wife we insisted that we MUST make a visit to Ugra stambham. Our courage is that Narasimha has brought us this far, he will take care of the rest and he did. Om Namo Narayanaya… Finally he agreed. Heard from the guide that he visit Ugra stambham atleast weekly twice and it causes lot of pain in his thighs and that he resisted it in his / devotees benefit.
Ugra Stambham After we climb the hill there is a very narrow passage with a stone dividing two hills and it was said to be the place where actually Narasimha appeared. Further moving to right side of the hill in a very dangerous narrow passage we climbed to a place where there we can see the foot prints of Lord Narasimha and Prahalada. All I can say is Om Namo Narayanaya.	Guide offered us an easy trekking but distance is little far and we can reach the Prahalada. We accepted it. Since while climbing we experienced that with so steep it is going to be difficult to climb down. We started climbing down, my wife advised to take a stone from this place and to my surprise the stone I picked at my first sight was exactly the resemblance of Ugra stambham. I was more delighted that Narasimha himself has come with me.  When the guide mentioned it will be easy and flat surface we just underestimated it. We experienced several tough situations as we climb down. I got my slippers tore off and I was walking very slow while the guide and my family were 10-15 meters away and I was lost a bit in the forest. Immediately when I shouted they stopped and I reached them. After a very slow walk with bare foot, my legs has become very tired and I was literally getting into dehydration.  I mentioned my wife/son let the suffering of walking in this slippery and rough route be with me and denied their offer to wear their chappals. It didn’t last long I was forced to wear her chappals. But I felt it was a god say that I had to experience this and my wife chappals didn’t last long & it got tore too. Now both of us were walking with barefoot on the sharp small stones and mud. I got bit slipped and about to fall my son offered me help and gave his chappals. By the grace of god, finally we were able to reach the flat surface and by this time my son Gautham got his stomach stiffness due to the skip of Breakfast. He was very tired and water bottle is also empty at that time. Though we had few munch bites, it was not enough.
Prahalad Medu This was the place where Prahalada undergoes his schooling.  A scene from Bhaktha Prahalada movie went through my minds. We climbed the steps and reached the shrine with Prahalada and Yoga Narasimha prathisha. Priest offered us with Prasad and it was refreshing at that time. We started climbing down and enroute we visited few shrines.	We walked further down and saw a flat surface and a cave surrounded with few ponds. Water doesn’t look as fresh water, however the water while take in bottle it was crystal clear and was very sweet. My son had some water and still he was tired.
MALOLA  NARASIMHA SWAMY – (MA – Mahalakshmi LOLA – Beloved) - SUKRAN Further climbing down we reached the MALOLA NARASIMHA shrine. Lord is in a very graceful form with his beloved wife Mahalakshmi. Lord here is known as MALOLA NARASIMHA SWAMY.	A small cave like place, where Sri Ramanujar sits.
KRODAKARA or VARAHA NARASIMHA SWAMY – RAHU In this shrine, Lord is depicted in the form of BOAR carrying the earth. Lord here is seen along with Lakshmi. Since the Lord is in Angry form here and also it depicts the BOAR form (another avatar of Maha Vishnu) this shrine is called KRODAKARA or VARAHA NARASIMHA SWAMY.	By now at around 1 PM we are done with 4 shrines of Narasimha and Ugra stambham  & Prahalada Medu. We went to Sri Brahamana Annadhana Chatram and had good simple food. It is offered as FREE MEALS to all. We provided a small amount as donation and moved on to the next shrine that is in between Upper & Lower Ahobilam. We actually walked to the next shrine and priest was having food, hence we waited for a while until he finishes.
KARANJA NARASIMHA SWAMY - CHANDRAN In this shrine, pungai tree is there. Below where Lord Hanuman was chanting Rama nama. Narasimha appeared before him. But Hanuman said, I would like to see Rama and not you. Narasimha explained it is he himself the Lord Rama and appeared before Lord Hanuman with Bow & arrow, also had Sacred Counch (Sangu) and wore waist of Shiva and said it is all one.	We took an auto to climb down and it cost Rs.150 to reach lower ahobilam. Will all the grace of lord, we are done with 5 Narasimhas.
PAVANA NARASIMHA SWAMY - BUDHAN Shrine is available in the banks of river Pavana. In this shrine Lord Narasimha had his wedding with Chenchu Lakshmi (Born to a tribe). On Saturdays, animal sacrifice is being provided by the locals for the Lord. Shrine has both Lord Narasimha & Chenchu Lakshmi and the shrine is called PAVANA NARASIMHA SWAMY. We spent around 15 minutes and started to return back to Lower Ahobilam at 4.15 PM. In my view, visiting this shrine is the toughest of all. I had to walk and see if it is better than Jeep. But 200% sure, JEEP is not a great ideal. It is not the bolts of JEEP are tested and also those bones in your Body. We finally reached lower Ahobilam at 6 PM.	Our next was to visit Paavana Narasimha Swamy. If we go by walk, we had to take route from Upper Ahobilam itself and it will be 6 kms trekking, totally 12 Kms approximate time is 6 hours. With my ugra stambham trip, I preferred to go by jeep from Lower Ahobilam, 40 Kms up and down into deep forest with no proper way. Route is all through mud and uneven roads. There are shared jeep travel is available and also you can pay a rent of Rs.2800/- to have your family only take a trip. Way the route and the driving it was an horrible and tiresome trip with only 3 people in the jeep. I can’t even imagine sharing with other 5 more in a shared jeep in this travel. We reached the place around 4 PM to reach Pavana shrine.
CHATRAVATA NARASIMHA SWAMY – KETU While we are travelling to his shrine, we saw priest returning back to his home. We went near the temple and even though it is closed we lit lamp and moved on to the next shrine which is just less than a KM.	It was dark and no light & couldn’t take any pictures.
YOGANANDA NARASIMHA SWAMY – SHANI In this shrine also, temple is closed and we had to lit the lamp. To our surprise, there is a navagraha pratishta done in this shrine, with each of the Nava Narasimha behind each nava graha. This brought us the consolation that we are able to see the 2 Narasimha whom we can’t see in their shrine. We then moved on to the next Shrine of Bhargava Narasimha swamy situated in 2kms from Lower Ahobilam. It was dark while we reach this place and the temple priest has left. But we were able to see the diety.
BHARGAVA NARASIMHA SWAMY – SUN In this shrine, Bharava muni appealed to Narasimha swamy to show how he killed Hiranyakasibu. Lord Narasimha himself displayed him with chatur bhujam (4 Hands) with Hiranyakasibu in the lap with head in the right side with Prahalad watching the event. This Lord in this shrine is called BHARGAVA NARASIMHA SWAMY.	Last 5 minutes to the shrine we had to walk in dark with no lights. Also we have to climb 130 steps. Shrine also doesn’t have any light, hence the torch that we took was very helpful. We had lot of ghee and few diyas left over we lit as many as DIYAs that are left over there and had our trip fulfilled with blessings from Lord for visiting all the Nava Narasimhas in a single day.
We called the Bhattacharya whom we approached for help in the morning, he advised us to go to Ahobilam Lakshmi Narasimha Temple in the lower ahobilam and go to Brahamana Annadana Chatram for dinner. We went to the temple and had darshan of Narasimha Swamy and Goddess Lakshmi shrine separately. Guide who helped us was really kind and patient he himself explained what he knows where there is no priest. To our surprise, he borrowed his friend’s jeep and took us all of the Lower Ahobilam shrines including Pavana. We paid him Rs.2000/- for being guide. Since he came to Ugra stambham it is Rs.500/- more than what others usually charge. Also paid him Rs.2800/ for Jeep. His mobile number is 9908947119. Finally I asked him what his name is. He said his name is CHINNA NARASIMHA. I felt it was a blessing from Lord Narasimha that he sent a person, who simply accompanied us throughout the trip and did his best to get all shrines visit in a same day. We went to Annadana chatram at 7.15 PM and they started preparing Avul Upuma for us. My next bus to return to Allagada is at 7.45 PM and the last one at 8.15 PM. Meanwhile while the food is getting prepared recited Vishnu Sahasranamam and then had dinner. Reached the bus stop just in the main road near Ahobilam temple, purchased few laminated photos and boarded a bus that came exactly at 8.15 PM. Reached the Allagadda at 9.PM. We were very tired and crashed to Bed with a plan to vacate the hotel at 5.45 am. Earlier my plan was to visit upper ahobilam on day 1 and visit lower ahobilam on day 2. I have earlier booked the ticket to Chennai at 9.15 PM on 27th Dec. But Narasimha took us through an agile experience and I cancelled the ticket as we are done with Nava Narasimhas on Day 1 itself. We started at 5.45 AM walking a km to reach the bus stand to catch the 6.15 bus to Tirupati. Bus came late at 6.35 and we reached Tirupati at 12.30 PM. If it could have been bit earlier would have attempted to visit Trichanur atleast, but I had already booked by 2 PM Garuda bus to return to Chennai by 5 PM. Hence had to skip that. Had a good lunch at Hotel Mayura and boarded the bus to Chennai to reach at 5.30 PM. OM Namo Narayana 2017 started for me with Narasimha Chenchu Lakshmi Kalyana Utsavam. On 31st I will be visiting Chidambaram Natarajar Temple. My 2018 year is planned to get started with Natarajar. It was said that Lord Narasimha & Lord Shiva are similar. With both having Pradosha event and 3 eyes. Both are very kind to their devotees. Thiru ChitrAmbalam

Few adhoc snaps

My Visit to 6 Abodes of Lord Muruga

Aru Padai Veedugal: Murugan's Six 'Battle Camps'

Om Muruga ! 

What is Aru Padai Veedugal:

Lord Muruga's 6 Abodes also called as Battle Camps are called Aru Padai veedu as declared by Tamil Poet Nakirar in his Thirumurgaatrupadai. 

1. Tirupparamkundram
2. Tiruchendur
3. Tiruvavinankudi (Palani)
4. Tiruverakam (Swami Malai)
5. Kundruthoradal (Tiruttani and several other hills) and
6. Palamuthircholai.

One can get the blessings of Lord Muruga by visiting all the above 6 places. 

On August 8th myself and my wife, we were on a visit to our Family diety Saptha Kanniga Temple near Tiruvannamalai at Padoor. Our wellwisher Mr. Manikandan advised us to visit Lord Muruga temple which is situated 5 KMs from Padoor. I was not in a proper attire to go to a temple, he offered me one of his safron dhoti and advised us to visit Lord Muruga as it was a Karthiga day.

Since it was an auspicious day, there was heavy rush of devotees to get a darshan of Lord Muruga. There is no special queues, one had to follow the queue and note there is no security to advise the people to follow the queue. The people who visited are mostly from the near by villages and they were disciplined. 

Though I had been to several temples of Lord Muruga in the past, we never thought this year, visit to this temple, is going to be followed my so many in next few months.

Muruga Ashram

After Vinayaka Chaturthi on Sept 18th, my younger son fall ill and we were very much worried. He had some health issues and this was the time he was coming better with respect to his attitude and health. But sudden illness makes us so disturbed. 

Myself & my wife Gayathri, we went to a near by ashram by name Muruga Ashram. She had a thought of tying a Kanganatharam for lifting Milkpot on the occassion of Maha sashti between 12th Nov and 17th Nov for the benefit and betterment of my child's health.  While going to ashram i was not sure if I will also tie one, but it just happens that i also followed the queue to tie the kanganathara. All gents are mandated to be part of Unja urthi on Sunday's organized by the Ashram atleast one between October 3rd and November 1st.  

Unjavarthi

I attended the unjavarthi for the first time as it is mandated by ashram, failing which i may not get the chance of lifting the Milk pot for Maha sashti. My first experience being part of Unjavarthi bajanai was amazing. I really enjoyed every moment, when the bagavathar sings a song.  Though my initial thought was to be part of it only once, then realized that i should be part of all the weekends until Nov 1st. Infact, one of the weekend, we had a chance to invite the Bhagavadar to our home and do Paada pooja. It was a great event.

Aru Padai Veedu

As I try to learn more about Maha Kanda Sashti , we come across many thoughts like reading Subramanya Mangalashtagam, Pagai Kadithal, Thirupugazh and as always Kanda Sashti Kavasam. We read or listen to these almost daily. Upon hearing and listening to the devotional songs of Muruga, we naturally had a wish of visiting Aru Padai Veedu. 

Though my son was not well, we just planned for Aru Padai Veedu like below and left the rest to Lord Muruga.

1. Visit Tiruttani (Travel by Bus/Train)

2. Visit Tiruchendur/Madurai by Train

3. Visit Palani / Swamimalai by Car

Tiruttani

Tiruttani

Oct 10th Tiruttani visit was during the Mahalaya Paksham. It was a bright day and as usual we went to Muruga Ashram to receive the blessings from Lord Muruga to commence the Aru Padai tour. 

This is the fifth army camp – Padai Veedu of Lord Muruga. Saint Arunagiriar graces in a sitting form. After destroying demon Sura in Tiruchendur, Lord Muruga came to this place. His fury cooled and He became smiling and peaceful-Shanta Swarupi. It is here that the King of Devas Indira gifted his white elephant as a wedding gift to Deivanai. Lord Muruga holds a weapon on His right hand called Vajravel that would produce a thunderlike sound. His left hand is on the hip representing the Gnana Shakti (power of wisdom).

1st Challenge

We had our first challenge for commencing the trip came while we hear to Ashram Guru that the planning of Arupadai tour was inproper we were disappointed.  He didn't advised to stop the tour, but remarked that its not a proper plan.  We stood before Lord Muruga for a while, and got convinced to go with the current plan,  and we will make a proper Aru Padai tour next time. We were happy and we immediately started by CAR instead of public transport planned earlier. We reached Tiruttani in 2 hours drive to receive the wisdom from Lord Muruga. 

As soon as we are back to chennai, we were advised by our friend to visit Kanda Kottam in Parrys Corner. We immediately visited the temple and to our surprise, it was a great darshan of the small deity but very powerful Lord Muruga. We also visited Sri Ekambareswar temple situated near by and returned home.

Swami Malai

Swamimalai

2nd Challenge

After Navarathri, my younger son was relieved of his jaundice and started to school on Thursday. Unfortunately first son also fall sick for jaundice. On Friday we were so disturbed about our plans for Swami Malai and son's health. On friday Gayathri gave up and my mother said its not fair to travel while son is not well. We dropped the plan of visiting Swami malai that weekend. 

On Saturday, it was a test of emotions by Lord Muruga. Woke up early as usual and was dismantaling the Navarathri golu. My Mother came around 6.15 AM and said that let her advise be not bothering us to goto Swamimalai. She advised us to proceed with Swamimalai darshan. We were very happy and started preparation to start to Swami Malai by Car.

Swamimalai is the 4th Padiaveedu (army camp) of Lord Muruga.  This is where He taught His Father Himself-Lord Shiva.  Six feet tall Lord Muruga graces with His tuft, sacred thread on the chest and a staff in the right hand and the left on the lap.

7 AM on Saturday i started for Swami malai and was bit concerned if I will be reaching the place by 11.30 AM as the temple closes  by 12. PM. If it is by the order of Lord Muruga, who can stop us from getting his blessing. I would say its not I made it to Swami malai by 11.40 am, it was Lord Muruga who took us to Swamimalai within short time of 4.5 hrs, which would be normally 5-6 hours drive, To our pleasant surprise, we were informed that temple closes on that day only at 1.30 due to Kalyana utsav for Lord Muruga.  

We had the great darshan of Lord Muruga in Vibuthi kavasam. When Gayathri sings a devotion song, it was so pleasing that Lord Muruga himself listens it. We were asked to wait for sometime by the priest after regular archanas. Priest offered us the Vibuthi that was on the Muruga idol and also gave us the sacred sandal that was in the chest of Lord Muruga. We were so blessed to receive such prasad and darshan by Lord Muruga. We travelled to Vaitheeswaran temple and had a darshan & returned to chennai same day via ECR and reached home at 9.30 PM.

3rd Challenge

After a week of medication for first son, his results weren't that great on Thursday's result. We were again bit concerned on moving a head with a plan to go Trichendur. We decided to leave it to Muruga and proceed as per plan. 

Trichendur

Trichendur

Lord Muruga won and accepted Soorapadman on Sashti (sixth day) of the waxing moon (bright) night (valar pirai) of the month Aippasi. This day is celebrated as ‘Kanda Sashti’. This incident happened at Tiruchendur and hence, the ‘Kanda Sashti’ festival is calebrated in this place with all grandeur.

Lord Muruga performed a ‘thanksgiving’ Siva Pooja after he won Soorapadman. He, in this same form appears with a lotus flower on his right hand. Like a Siva devotee, He wears a matted hair on His head. On His left rear-side wall, there is a Lingam. The ‘Deepa Aaraadhanai’ (worship with light) is first given to the Lingam and then only to Murugan.

In the sanctum of Shanmugar also there is a Lingam behind the deity. Both these Lingams are in darkness and could be seen only in the Deepa Aaraadhanai light. Besides, adjacent to the sanctum of Muruga on the right side is the sanctum of ‘Pancha Lingam’. 

We reached Trichedur by Train at 8. AM and traveled to Ashok Bhavan a hotel adjacent to temple. We got freshn up and started at 9 am to visit the temple. We had the sprinkle of sea water and washed our legs and proceeded to Trichendur. Since we are accompanied by a elderly local, father of my friend. He had good rapport with the temple authorities and we got a special darshan to sit for a while before Abode and see the pooja. We saw the Sandal kavasa Muruga and felt we are really blessed to have that kind of darshan. . We also had the darshan of Pancha lingam and saw a Peacock in one of the trees. Gayathri's first visit and my 2nd visit to Trichendur has been so wonderful and it can't spelt in words but the real feeling is amazing.  He also suggested that we could have discussed with him on the tour plan so that he could have organized better. He was suggesting us to visit Palani and start to Chennai from Madurai instead of Palani. Since we already planned with ticket we couldn't do much at this point.

We had a light breakfast and boarded the bus to Madurai at 10.30 AM and reached Madurai at 2.45 PM.

Madurai

We had the lodging booked at College House and they facilitate in arranging a cab facility to visit Tiruparamkundram and Pazhamudhir cholai.

Tirupparamkundram

Tiruparamkundram

Of the six Army Camp Temples (Aru Padai Veedu), this is the only temple where abishek is performed for Vel weapon of Lord Muruga.

We first opted to visit Tirupparamkundram, as it will be rush on a weekend, if we go late. We went at 4 PM and also had a chance to see the Milk abhishekam of Vel. We completed our worship in this temple at 4.30 and were all set for next place.

Palamuthircholai

Pazhamudhir Cholai

This is the only one among Muruga’s Aaru Padai Veedu temples, where He graces the devotees with His consorts Valli and Deivanai.  Also, this is the historical place where Lord played with the ripe Tamil poetess Avvaiyar asking her what fruit she wished, cooked or uncooked – Sutta Pazham or Sudadha Pazham.  Naaval tree yields fruit in Oct-Nov (Offseason) only.

We reached Pazhamuthir cholai at 5.45 PM enroute feeding lot of monkeys. When you go, buy the nuts in Madurai itself and otherwise it is very costly near the temple. We have to drive up to a hill to reach the Murugan temple and in the bottom of the hill Sri Sundaraja perumal (Azhagar) temple is situated. Dosa prasadam in this temple is very famous. Adjacent to the temple, Karupanna swamy temple is also there.

We started at 6.15 pm and enroute also visited Sri Badrinath Temple before reaching Madurai at 7.PM. Traffic inside Madurai is very bad and it takes away all your planning. Expect always heavy traffic near Madurai Railway station.

Meenakshi Amman Temple

We had brief break and again moved on to visit Meenakshi Temple. We took a special darshan ticket as there was heavy crowd. We spent good amount of time before the sanctum and visited Sundareswarar Sannidhi. To our surprise, someone asked us to hold on for sometime to view Moksha Deepam Aarthi and we had a great darshan of Lord shiva witnessing Moksha deepam aarthi.

Everything went as planned till now.

Cab driver Mr. Ashok guided as in Madurai.  He suggested us that we go by car to Palani instead of Bus. Since Sunday happens to be a sashti day, we were little apprehensive and looking towards going to Palani and back early after his suggestion. Infact thats a wonderful idea and for me i took it as though its repeated instruction by Muruga. Immediately made the plan change. We requested him to come and pick us between 3-3.30 AM in the morning. Its actually 250 KM to/fro to Palani. We paid him Rs.7.50 / km without A/C. It was heavy rainfall in the early morning and finally with gods grace we reached at 5.45 AM at Palani. 

Palani

Palani

The presiding deity Lord Muruga’s idol is made of nine precious herbals known as Navapashana and installed by a Holy Siddha named Bogar. This is the third of the six Army Camps (Padai Veedu) of Lord Muruga. There are 690 steps for the hill temple.  There is also an elephant track without steps. The hill as a whole has all medicinal properties in itself.

Regular archana will happen only after 7.am. We had a chance to see Visvaroopa Dharshan of Lord Muruga with limited cloth dressed murugan with a Vel. Here also, with kindness of Muruga, we had a chance to sit for a while before the sanctum and worship. Since there is no archana performed in the early hours, we had to settle with Abhisheka Theertha prasadam. We had a little of that holy water before we climb down. 

Temple Vimana is gold plated and its a wonderful sight to see. We did perform archana in the Lord Ganesha deity. As we all know the story, you can see Ganesha holding the Mango fruit to pacify Muruga.  

We returned back to Madurai by 9.AM and boarded a KPN bus to reach chennai at 6.30 PM.

With all the blessings of Lord Muruga we had a great darshan and a wonderful trip. 

I owe the entire event is driven by Lord Muruga himself. Challenging us and also showing the route with no obstacles completed the entire trip with safe. Finally after Palani Dhandayudapani darshan, we received the blessing from Temple Elephant in the down.  Wish my elder son is also relieved of his ailments in next few days and back to school with energy.

Wish everyone visit the 6 Abodes of Lord Muruga and get his blessings.

Next time i should plan properly and also take my sons to all these places. Hope i get that chance sooner.

Vetrivel Muruganukku Arohara.

Om Muruga.