Sri Gurubhyo Namah! Sri Maha Ganapathaye Namah!!
Sri Sadashiva Samarambham Sri Sankaracharya Madyamaam Asmat Acharya Paryantam vande Guru Paramparaam!!
I submit this humble attempt unto the lotus feet of his holiness Sri Sri Bharathi Theertha Mahaswami of Sri Sarada Peetam , Sringeri
This temple is located enroute to Sankarapuram from Thirukovilur in a village named by ThiruPalapandal.
Presiding Deity: Sri Madyanadeshwarar(Sanskrit)/ Sri Mattheeswarar(Tamil)
Presiding Goddess: Sri Kanakambika( Sanskrit)/ Sri Ponnammai( Tamil)
Stala Vruksham: Vanni Tree
This temple is currently in a state of neglect, full of foliage, infested with bats, the outer wall ruined by neglect over a period of time.
This Temple's history is not known to many as this temple was not having any worship services for the past 5 decades. However with few of the locals taking initiatives, the temple was opened and poojas were happening for 1 time a day for the past few months.
When i visited this temple in the evening, fortunately the priest was there and performed aarthi to the Lord. Lord Madyanadeshwara is small linga. I could sense the vibrations in the sanctum, which was infested with bats and bat remains.
After having darshan of Lord, the priest took me around the temple's inner praharam. There are shrines of Lord Shanmuga, and on the kosta, Lord Ganesh, Lord Dakshinamoorthy, Lord Lingothbhava, Lord Brahma, Sri Durga.
The goddess Sri Kanakambi is a small idol clad in saree. When the priest performed the aarthi i could see the smile on the face of Devi. I felt like sitting there for a while but could not do so as the place was infested with bats.
Here infront of her shrine there is a Nandi Placed.
The Navagraha shrine is infront of Sri Kanakambika's Shrine.
The temple is said to have 9 tunnels connecting various places of importance of yester years. The priest showed me one such tunnel in the artha mandapam of the Lords Shrine.
The Temple complex has separate enclosures for Cooking( Madapalli), Place to Tie Elephants and Sabha Hall for Nataraja. Now all this place are in a state of dispair,which needs repairs very badly. The Dwaja Stamba has to be repaired.
Above Madapalli, Below Elepahant Mandap
The temple priest Sri Bharanidharan travels from 10 Kms to perform the pooja. He informed that they are looking for donors who can participate in renovation of this temple.
Images The Nataraja Sabha and Dwaja Stamba are given below.
There are lot of inscriptions on the walls of the temple. I presume the ASI Chennai Chapter would have already dechipered the same. From the size of the temple and the location it is located, this would have played a strategically important role in the early diplomacy.
The priest informed me that there are two other temples of the same period, which are also in ruins. Due to the time constraints i could not visit those temples.
I wonder how people could just leave the places to ruin which were once a prominent place of worship. What happened to the families of priests who were looking after these temples.
Please write to me incase if you feel like helping this temple. My email id is nrbarve@gmail.com
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