Navagraha Temples of Chennai (Thondai Mandalam)

The city of Chennai is not exactly known for its ancient temples, except perhaps for Kapaleeshwarar, Parthasarathy and probably Marundheeshwarar. However, if we can stretch the city limits on its Western side, one finds quite a lot of temples built by the Pallava and even Choza Kings. 

You would even be surprised to know that a cluster of these ancient temples, are called the Thondai Mandala Navagraha Kovilgall. In other words, these are temples quite similar to the famous Navagraha Temples that one finds in the Kumbakonam-Mayiladuthurai belt. 

All these 9 temples around Chennai are pretty much found on the western outskirts. There are quite a few sites that give you details about these temples, their history, pictures, timings when they are open etc. When I tried to plan a visit to these temples, I was unable to find all details in a single site. Some sites did give a standard map, that one just CANNOT make sense of. It has distance between each temple in Kms, but leaves out some positional context. Only after I visited each of these temples over many weekends, I realised that I could have very well covered all of them in a single day. 

So the attempt here is to enlighten interested souls about: 

1. The presence of Navagraha Temples around Chennai
2. A Google map that highlights where each temple is located
3. The salient features of each temple
4. Small tips that one needs to be aware of while visiting these temples
5. The post is more from a tourist perspective than a bhakt or history enthusiast perspective

What I also found during my visits is that Google maps gives you excellent directions to these temples. Just search for it using both the temple name and the location. For example, to find out the route to the Budhan temple in Kovur, you can type “Sundareshwarar Temple Kovur”.  You may find one or two suggestions from Google, but with the map reference that I have given here, you can easily find out which one you have to visit. And it will be a lot more helpful if there is a map reader travelling along with the driver. This may help you avoid certain smaller lanes or even if you miss taking the correct path from the main road, the map reader can help you get back on track. 

So at a high level, these are the temples that constitute the Navagraha Temples around Chennai: 

Graham	Location	Temple name
Suryan	Kolapakkam	Agastheeshwarar
Chandran	Somangalam	Somanadheeswarar
Angaragan	Poonamallee	Vaitheeswaran
Budhan	Kovur	Sundareshwarar or Thirumeyneeshwarar
Guru	Porur	Ramanadheeshwarar
Shukran	Mangadu	Velleeshwarar
Sani	Pozhichalur	Agastheeshwarar
Rahu	Kundrathur	Nageshwarar
Kethu	Gerugambakkam	Neelakandeshwarar

Before I get into the details of individual temples, let me again reiterate that this post would give an account of the temples from the perspective of how to reach the place, what facilities are available, what interesting points can be noted etc. This should help the typical family travellers who have young kids or senior citizens to plan better. 

One common point with all these temples is that these are on the outskirts, which means that you wont find any fancy restaurants or even a decent looking “hotel”. So, it would make a lot of sense to take some refreshments on hand. 

Without much further ado, let us begin the pilgrimage tour! 

1. Suryan - Kolapakkam

Agastheeswarar + Anandavalli

Overall Size: Medium

Main Prakaaram: Small; cramped

Amman Sannidhi: Adjoining the Garba Graham of Shivan along a common wall. 

Goshala: No

Separate Sannidhi for pariharam: Yes

Separate Bhairavar Sannidhi: Yes

Cleanliness: Above average

Access: Last 200 metres in narrow village road. 

Facilities: Good parking facility. Flower vendors available. 

Feature: The inner Prakaaram is completely walled along one side from the Garba Graham.  So pradakshinam of just Shivan is not possible. You have to do it in the outer Prakaaram. Small pond is present outside the temple, on the Eastern side. 

2. Chandran - Somangalam

Somanadheeswarar + Kamakshi

Overall Size: Medium

Main Prakaaram: Small; cramped

Amman Sannidhi: Separate 

Goshala: No

Separate Sannidhi for pariharam: Yes

Separate Bhairavar Sannidhi: Yes

Cleanliness: Above average

Access: Last 300 metres in very narrow road if approached purely by Google map. Small deviation can be taken before that stretch, but have a good map reader for that. 

Facilities: Absolutely none. Parking space not sufficient for cars. No flower vendor also. 

Feature: The inner Prakaaram with Shivan is strikingly similar to what is seen in Kolapakkam, with the Garba graham continuing as a wall along one side. The key difference however, is the separate Sannidhi for Kamakshi Amman outside this Prakaaram. Small pond is present  on the Northern side, adjacent to the temple, visible from within the temple. 

3. Angaragan - Poonamallee

Vaitheeswaran + Thaiyal Nayagi

Overall Size: Medium

Main Prakaaram: Decent sized

Amman Sannidhi: Separate, but within main Prakaaram.

Goshala: Yes

Separate Sannidhi for pariharam: Yes, but is placed like a dwara palakar for Shivan. 

Separate Bhairavar Sannidhi: No. Deity placed in a corner. 

Cleanliness: Above average

Access: Can easily be missed from Poonamallee High Road. Keep checking Google closely. The entry to the road from PH Road is quite narrow and congested.  

Facilities: Decent parking, though not worth the charge. Lot of flower vendors. 

Feature: You can do separate pradhakshinams for Shivan, Amman, Vinayagar and Murugan. Small pond is present outside the temple on the Eastern side. We can do the salt and pepper pariharam like in the main Vaitheeswaran temple. Navagraha Sannidhi is placed within the main Prakaaram. 

4. Budhan - Kovur

Sundareshwarar + Soudhambigai 

(Alias: Thirumeyneeshwarar + Thiruvudai Naayagi)

Overall Size: Medium

Main Prakaaram: Decent sized

Amman Sannidhi: Separate, but within main Prakaaram. 

Goshala: No

Separate Sannidhi for pariharam: No. Contained within Shivan.

Separate Bhairavar Sannidhi: No. Deity placed in a corner. 

Cleanliness: Good

Access: Quite decent sized roads leading to the temple from main road.  

Facilities: Excellent parking. Few flower vendors. 

Feature: Easily the best in terms of carvings. Sheer number of carvings of deities and puranas along the wall, in the pillars, under the raja gopuram are stunning. So are the features. Murugan with Valli and Deivanai sannadhi is quite small and you will be mesmerised by the 5 foot tall vigrahams that are almost at a touching distance. The collection of utsava moorthis is also quite large. You will realise that the entrance to this temple has been featured in many movies. 

5. Guru - Porur

Ramanatheeswarar + Sivakamasundari

Overall Size: Small

Main Prakaaram: Quite an open one, like what we can see in a lot of modern temples. 

Amman Sannidhi: Separate 

Goshala: No

Separate Sannidhi for pariharam: No. Contained within Shivan.

Separate Bhairavar Sannidhi: Yes 

Cleanliness: Good

Access: Once you get off the main road, the cramped streets begin. The final stretch leading to the temple is extremely narrow and can be easily missed. Big cars or SUVs wouldn't be able to reach the lane where the main entrance lies. 

Facilities: No dedicated parking for cars. Many flower vendors. 

Feature: The main Shivalingam is around 6 feet tall and it is quite a captivating sight. The navagraha Prakaaram is very unique because, they are all presented with their consorts. Not seen in (m)any temple(s). This is also the only Shivan temple that offers Chadari and Theertham like Vaishnava temples. 

6. Sukkiran - Mangadu

Velleeswarar + Kamakshi (different temple)

Overall Size: Small

Main Prakaaram: Medium

Amman Sannidhi: Not present. Mangadu Kamakshi Amman nearby is the equivalent . 

Goshala: No

Separate Sannidhi for pariharam: No. Contained within Shivan.

Separate Bhairavar Sannidhi: Yes 

Cleanliness: Good

Access: Very near Mangadu Kamakshi Amman temple. 

Facilities: No dedicated parking for cars. You can park at Kamakshi temple and walk for 5-10 mins. Or park mid-way between both temples. Many flower vendors. 

Feature: Inner Prakaaram reminds one of the Suryan and Chandran temples (one side fully walled). However, you can get quite close to the main lingam and see its granite like texture. There is no separate Amman Sannidhi and you have to visit the Kamakshi Amman temple if need be. Between the dhwaja sthambam and the Prakaaram, you can see a small set of feet carved on the ground, which is deemed as Kamakshi Amman taking darshan of Shivan from that spot. 

7. Sani - Pozhichalur

Agastheeswarar + Anandavalli

Overall Size: Medium

Main Prakaaram: Medium

Amman Sannidhi: Separate, but within main Prakaaram.

Goshala: Yes

Separate Sannidhi for pariharam: Yes.

Separate Bhairavar Sannidhi: Practically a separate temple.

Cleanliness: BAD. 

Access: Along the Chennai Airport runway! This is on the Pammal side and accessibility is good as long as there isn't too much traffic. 

Facilities: Good car and bike parking option. Many flower vendors. 

Feature: Dogs. This being a major Bhairavar sthalam, one can observe many dogs roaming around the temple. Some are present even inside the Prakaaram. I even saw one sleeping behind the Chandikeshwarar. There is too much of dog excrement around the temple, so pradhakshinam and namaskaram has to be done with utmost caution. Other than that, it is a pretty nice temple with a stand-alone Anjaneyar Sannidhi too. 

8. Rahu - Kundrathur

Nageshwarar + Kamakshi

Overall Size: Medium

Main Prakaaram: Medium

Amman Sannidhi: Separate, but within main Prakaaram.

Goshala: No

Separate Sannidhi for pariharam: Yes.

Separate Bhairavar Sannidhi: Yes.

Cleanliness: Good

Access: Well connected from main road. 

Facilities: Good car and bike parking option. Many flower vendors. 

Feature: There’s a very beautiful Vinayagar vigraham in the Prakaaram that basically defines  “mischievous look”. The Navagraha Sannidhi is a closed structure like Garba Graham, but people can step in and do pradhikshinam. 

9. Kethu - Gerugambakkam

Neelakandeshwarar + Aadhi Kamakshi

Overall Size: Small

Main Prakaaram: Small

Amman Sannidhi: Separate, but within main Prakaaram.

Goshala: No

Separate Sannidhi for pariharam: No.

Separate Bhairavar Sannidhi: Yes.

Cleanliness: Average

Access: Last 200+ meters is along a single car lane. Cycle cant come in opposite direction. As bad if not worse, as the approach road/lane to the Porur Ramanadheeshwarar temple. 

Facilities: Parking option not really available near temple. 1-2 flower vendors only. 

Feature: This is an easily "missable" temple and doesn't have the popularity that others seem to command. The Amman here is very beautiful. Its a compact little temple but needs some attention in the accessibility portion.

My suggestion would be to not try and squeeze out a visit in a single day, unless you are hard-pressed for time. There are many other old temples in this region that you can visit, like the famous Mangadu Kamakshi Amman temple. So the best choice would be to spread the visit over 2 days and try to fit in additional temples. 

For the very adventurous types, you can check out the MTC bus services. All these places are well served by MTC, though their frequency would ensure that you take 4 or 5 separate days to cover all 9 temples. 

Before I conclude, let me reiterate once again that travellers can avoid big cars and vans and limit themselves to small or medium cars. Please take refreshments along with you and don't expect to find good eating spots near the Temples. I visited the temples in the Thai and Maasi months and that too in the mornings. The alangaarams for Amman were quite outstanding in all of these temples. 

Have a good trip.

The mini pilgrimage in March 2010 – Summary

I have obviously not kept up my word of trying to blog more frequently. So, before time runs out, let me chronicle the remaining facets of the trip and move on to other topics soon.

From the previous post on this trip, you would have come to know that my mother just found out that her purse along with cash was missing.

After frantic searches of the various bags and even the car, we finally concluded that it was indeed lost. And the venue was most likely the temple in Tirumanacheri.

We reached the hotel and then called up the bank to get her ATM card blocked, since that was also there in the purse. We got the confirmation after multiple calls to them, that the card had indeed been blocked and also that no transactions had been done using that card. The monetary loss though was around 6K INR.

The rest of the evening was spent in taking rest, meeting up with a cousin and aunt who dropped by to the hotel. We then visited one of the local temples and called it a night.

The next day, we went to Kumbakonam. The main purpose was to visit Swami Malai where we hadnt been to in a long long time. And since we were going that far, we also had quick halts at Tirunageshwaram and Uppili Appan Kovil. These two temples are basically 2 gears on a car apart.

Swami Malai temple is quite different. It is on a small hillock kind of area, though it could very well be that the King who built it, basically just built it at an elevated level. After we climbed the two steeps sets of stairs, we bought special darshan tickets and waited in line. It was a perfect time to be there since the abhishekam was in progress. Afterwards, they did a complete alangaaram to Lord Subramanyam and believe you me, it was awesome. The one really different piece of decoration that I noticed was the headgear. It was not a crown nor was it the usual Indian style turban or mundaasu. The headgear looked exactly like what we have seen in pictures of George Washington or Robert Clive!

Anyways, we left the temple and had a 10 second drive-thru around the MahaMaham lake and then returned to the hotel. In the evening, we dropped in to my "mother's house" though due its very dilapitated state, we couldnt enter inside.

We left for Chennai that very night - the night of March 5th by Rathi Meena again. The guys once again, drove down to Chennai in a matter of 4.5 hours and I was able to continue my sleep on Saturday morning for some more time. I had to then go to Mylapore and pick up my car from Raghu before heading out to my project party, which incidentally also gave my first experience with paint ball. Paint ball is a game that looks quite easy to play, but like all games, is very difficult when you actually play it!

Anyways, it was a quite a hectic weekend for me and also for my parents. But one that we hope would yield the desired result soon.

Local pilgrimage, eventful one though

After months and months of persuasion, my parents finally agreed to come to Singa Perumal Kovil. The decision was made yesterday and we set out this morning around 8 AM. For the benefit of those unable to understand where the aforementioned Kovil is, it is in the town of Singa Perumal Kovil (what a coincidence!). And that town, is like a kilometre and a half before the place where my office is located.

We had breakfast at Sai Surya motel and shortly thereafter, went to the temple. As soon as we entered the temple, my mother spotted the strategically positioned 'neiy villakku' sales counter and insisted that I light up a couple. Even as we were buying them, an old man asked our help in lighting up his lot of 25. Basically, he said he had to, but was unable to strain himself. He extended the offer to everyone around the place and so we took only 4.

You see, there is a rule to be followed while lighting these lamps. You are not supposed to inherit the flame from a nearby lamp lit by someone else. The funda being that whatever bad things that the other person was lighting away, you are absorbing them all. Quite a complicated proposition in front of quantum physics, but that's how things are.

So, my father went out and brought a new matchbox for us. I started lighting but with no luck. Invariably, the flame in the matchstick never even got beyond the head of the stick. The minute it hit the wooden portion, it started going off. After exhausting some 10 sticks, I duly handed over the matchbox to me mum. She too had a tough time, but being a very experienced person in the matter of using match sticks to light lamps, she succeeded. It was then an easy job for me to light the other lamps using this one. I stepped away to let my dad light a couple. Once everything was lit, we decided to go proceed towards the main sannidhi. I turned and started walking.

But it turned out that I wasn't walking. I took a step backwards, turned my body and was about to make my next step with the other leg, when I felt a major obstacle on my path. Even before I understood what it was, I suddenly saw the side walls take a 90 degree turn. In other words, I was falling down. While I was doing that, my peripheral vision deciphered the obstacle to be some sort of human being. So I started trying to balance myself in the hope that I don't trample that person.

Amidst shouts of "aiyo" and "paathu" and the stares of all 200 people around that area, I continued to fall. I tried to balance myself and felt a bit of success. Realised that I was only spinning some more and after another failed attempt at balancing, fell down on my left side with a nice little thud.

Due to all my numerous balancing attempts, I was closer to the ground, which by the way was laid out using rocks (like in all old temples). So, I didn't have to worry much about broken body parts or even my mobile phone spilling out of my pocket. But, I did land a bit heavily on my left palm and the elbow and sustained bruises worthy enough of mentioning.

After all sense of normalcy prevailed, I saw who that human being was. It was a middle aged iyengar maami, who insisted that it was me who bumped into her while she was "saevichu"fying Perumaal. Say what? There was so much space in the temple. And she chose the exact spot behind me to do her sevai? Wont common sense tell her that anyone could have bumped into her at that place.

Yes, one can argue that I should have first turned fully, looked around and then walked. But other than a robot, I don't think anyone or thing moves in that fashion. With my attitude of not picking up a fight, I just glared at that lady and walked to the place where there was water to wash away some of the blood that was oozing out.

After this adventure, we went inside the temple and got a good darshan after standing for a long time in the general queue. I realised the availability of a special queue, but somehow felt guilty of using it today. You see, while we were trying to light the lamp, I made a comment about not being happy with this whole lamp lighting funda and felt that probably God punished me right there. So I wanted the darshan after a good wait. While still inside the temple, met an old classmate of mine from school. Sripradha had come with her family and we just exchanged pleasantries and moved on.

The temple praharam is quite interesting. From the outside you only see a plain terrain. Around the Thaayaar sannidhi, you see a small rock like projection inside the temple. And when you start going around the praharam, you see the other side of the rock. The praharam is basically full of steps and takes you on par with the main sannidhi's gopuram (dunno the technical term). It then takes a downward trend and brings you back near the place which the temple authorities are planning to inscribe my name!

After completing the namaskaram formalities, we started the next part of the journey. I took my folks on a guided tour around Mahindra City. I didn't exactly set foot inside my office's campus, but went around the whole place showing them the companies that had opened shop there.

After filling up petrol, we set out to the Hyagreevar temple in Chettipunyam. With expert guidance from some of the kids around the temple, I parked my car in a narrow lane and we went to the temple. There was quite a long queue at the temple and we joined and had the pain of being the last in line, though the pain was alleviated in 5 seconds.

While waiting, we noticed a lot of monkeys in the temple. They seemed to be running around, jumping up and down trees, cutting across the queue thereby scaring the devotees and sorta demanding the prasadam from those who were coming out of the temple. Basically, they were behaving like monkeys.

Everyone in the queue - me, me folks, those in front of us, those behind us etc. - were all talking only about the monkeys. Admiring the skills of an earlier stage of our evolution, everyone was calling out their near and dear, pointing them to one here, one there, one to the side and what not.

I too was following all this chatter and studying the monkeys, when I saw 2 of them climb the compound wall of the temple. One of them was bigger and was a bit behind the first one. After a quick glance and showing of teeth, the bigger one started humping the smaller one - doggy style. The recipient was looking back at the donor, showing teeth, growling and the donor was at it with full vigour.

I instantly noticed a silence in the queue. Probably everyone was equally shocked at the show and worse, most of them had come there with their kids in tow and so they obviously had a very embarrassing moment. After what seemed like a long time, everyone started looking at the diametrically opposite direction of the show and started admiring the botanical layout in the temple and how the temple folks had built a separate enclosure for lighting lamps.

While we were nearing the sanctum sanctorum, I saw a whole lot of activity amongst the devotees in front of me. People were sending school bags across to the kurukkall who in turn placed it at the lord's feet and returned it. Similar actions were done with pens, pencils etc. That's when I told me mum that if only she had done something like that for me, probably I would've scored better grades at school and college. I also instantly realised that I had to take up a certification exam at work and so prayed to Lord Hyagreeva with a specific purpose!

After the darshan was complete, we returned to our car and headed back to Chennai. We had lunch at Mathura and returned home around 3.15, quite exhausted!

Mini pilgrimage to Tirumala and neighborhood

I was on a mini pilgrimage to Tirumala and its neighborhood of Tiruchanur and Kalahasthi.

But I am not going to write a travelogue this time, so you can be happy.

My parents and a cousin of mine all went as part of an AP Tourism's package to these places. The trip started on Friday evening around 6.15 PM and we came back to Chennai some 24 hours later.

It was actually quite a hectic tour. And I would not recommend this tour to anyone, because its really tiring. You barely get to sleep for 2-3 hours in the hotel room they give you. Other than that, its left to catching an hour or so on the drive.

And to answer the most obvious question of "Darisanam nanna kedachudha?", all I can say is that its the same amount of darshan that all of us get, subject to the mercy of the volunteer who pulls you first and then pushes you into the hands of the eagerly waiting next volunteer. The process continues till you are quite literally pushed out.

On a very serious note, the treatment meted out to the devotees by these volunteers is extremely disrespectful. They don't treat you as human beings. Next time you pass by a site where a building is being constructed, please observe the way the laborers pass on the "bond" containing the "kalavai of simintu, jelly and manal".

Its the exact same way we devotees are handled by those TTD volunteers. I agree that its a thankless job considering the sheer volume of people who throng the temple. But do they think, even for a minute, how bad their actions are at a human level? Everyone does want to spend a lot of time watching the deity and praying. And to manage the crowd you have to make the devotees move, so that the next one gets the opportunity.

But, if you resort to this relay race approach, I cant even see the deity for a fraction of the second. As a normal human being, I am subjected to react to any untoward forces being applied on my body. I start trying to counter-balance all these pulls and pushes and end up not seeing the deity.

The serious devotee might be free from all such distractions and could have his thought process totally focused on the deity. But normal people like me, actually end up not having the basic darshan that I came for. The darshan for which I stood for more than an hour in long cage like structures.

To be very frank, I don't have a good recollection of having seen Balaji up close. Whatever I was able to see thanks to the slightly sloped ramp they have set up before you enter the main room, thats all I can remember. Up close, I don't think I saw much or even prayed much.

Anyways, since it was a packaged tour, we were then hustled into boarding the bus and were given some time at Tirupathi to have a breakfast. I was quite famished considering the ordeal that I went through in the morning and also the fact that I hadn't eaten anything properly on Friday too.

Afterwards we were taken to Tiruchanur where again there was this big queue for the darshan. It was slightly better organised than the one at her hubby's abode. We were then taken to Kalahasthi where too the treatment was much better.

Then after a lunch stop around 1 o clock at Puttur, we finally reached the starting point at T.Nagar around 4.

All in all it was quite a tiring trip, but the only good thing is that I at least got to see these temples after a year.