Murugan Temples
Lord Murugan is known and worshiped by several other names like Murugan, Skandan, Kartikeyan, Subramanyan, Sengalvarayan, Swaminathan and so on. Kaumaram is one of the divine religion identified by Adi Sankaa. He is also a Valiant Warrior incarnated to cleanse the world from the atrocities of the Demons. Apart from the Six Special Abodes of Lord Murugan Thirparankundram, Tiruchendur, Palani, Swamimalai, Thiruthani and Pazhamudhircholai called the Arupadai Veedu , the State has many important temples dedicated to Lord Murugan. They speak of the rich Religious, Cultural and Architectural heritage of the land. Over the years, the sculptural skills of the craftsmen have reflection in these temples.
Navagraha temples
Believers in astrology and the influence of planets over individual destiny will find Tamil Nadu as a Great Destination. Indian Astrology believes that the planetary positions of the nine planets in a geocentric orbit determine the strength and weaknesses of a life , and how it takes its course Nava means Nine and Graha means Planets. Navagraha temples devoted to the Nine Celestial bodies, with incarnation of God for each of those nine planets are found in and around Kumbakonam and Thanjavur District.
Velankanni
Velankanni is 12 kms from Nagapattinam. Most important and revered Christian Pilgrim Center of the State. It is dedicated to ‘Our Lady of Health’ and popularly known as ‘ Sacred Arogya Matha Church’. Devotees believe Virgin Mary has miraculous healing Powers. Pilgrims of all faiths and religion come to this church to get the blessings of Our Lady of Health. The Church has an imposing façade with Tall Spires and the wings present the shape of a cross. The Legend goes like this: It is believed that Virgin Mary appeared before a shepherd and asked Milk to feed Infant Jesus. Since then the milk pitcher of this sphepherd never dried and kept filling with fresh milk always. Later at the end of 16th Century Virgin Lady appeared and cured a Lame Boy. It is after this miracle the Church was constructed. Lighting a candle and offering the same to Virgin Lady is the simplest form of Prayer.
Velankanni is famous for its annual Feast of Our Lady celebrated as 10 days festival during August-September, starting on 29th August. This festival attracts millions of pilgrim from all parts of India and the world irrespective of faith and religion. Devotees offer metal replica of the parts of the body, cured by Lady of Health on answering their prayer. Imbibing the Local Culture , Tonsuring of heads and ear-boring ceremony too are performed in this Church by the pilgrims. A Small Museum is attached to the church, which displays the collection of the offerings made by the faithful devotees.
Madurai Temple
Shree Meenakshi Sundareswarar TempleThe Meenakshi Temple : It is the elegant twin temple of Sundareswarar and Meenakshi and the life of Madurai City revolves around this temple. The construction process of the temple began 2000 years ago.
Contributions from different rulers and special contribution from Thirumalai Naicker, made this complex to extend by leaps and bounds over an area of 65000 sq.m and people rightly call this temple complex as a City of its own. Four Nine tier Gopurams, One Seven tier Chittirai gopuram, Five numbers of Five Tier Gopurams, Two Three Tier Gopurams and Two Golden Gopurams are the majestic towers of the temple. Because Golden Lotus for Indira’s Puja blossomed in the tank inside the temple, it is called as Golden Lotus Tank [Pon Thamarai Kulam]. The Hall of Thousand Pillar of the Thirumalai Naicker period is called as Ayiram kaal Mandapam in Tamil. The architectural excellence of this hall is that the pillars viewed from any angle will be on a straight line. The musical pillars carved out of stone decorate the corridors of the outer courts.
Thanjavur Temples
Historically speaking , The temples of Thanjavur are not as old or ancient as the temples of 108 Divya Desams or the 274 Saivaite Temples established and glorified by Alwars and Nayanmars respectively, between 7th and 9th Century. But they are majestic monuments of the past glory of the Chola Regime and famous for its excellent Architecture and Sculptural work. Thanjavur and the adjoining areas of Kumbakonam and Nagapattinam boasts of hundreds of important and ancient temples. Cholas, Pandiyas, Nayaks and the Marathas have contributed their might for making these areas to be called as Treasure House of Temples.
Nagore DargahNagore Dargah is dedicated to Meera Shahib Abdul Qadir Hajrath Shahul Hamid Badshah . He was a spiritual leader and lived between 1490–1579. He was fondly called as Mian SAHIB. The Dargah is 5 Kms from Nagapattinam. It is established in an area of 5 acres with four impressive entrances on all four directions. The 131 ft tall Minaret called ‘Periya Minara’ was built by the Thanjavur King Pratap Sing in the 18TH Century, about 200 years after Meeran Sahib passed away. It is believed that a carpenter who was cured of his disease by the miracle of Mian Sahib, presented him a pair of sandals made from finest wood. The same was used by Mian Sahib and it is said to be kept in a Golden Box next to the tomb. Kanduri festival is a 14-day event that is celebrated as the annual urs(anniversary). The festival is celebrated in commemoration of the saint’s death anniversary and pilgrims from various religions participate in the festival. The festival is also seen as a sacred solidarity of mixed faith of Hindus and Muslims.
Rameswaram Temples
Rameswaram is a small Island and Major Pilgrim Centre in the Gulf of Mannar. It is connected to the mainland by Pamban Bridge. On his return from Ceylon after Ravana Yudhdham ( war ) in Lanka , Sri Rama offered his repentance prayer to Lord Siva to absolve his sins that he had committed by Slaying Ravana. Every day, this island receives thousands of pilgrims for all parts of the Indian Sub Continent to get absolved of their sins and also perform rituals for their ancestors. This is at par with Varanasi or Benares in sanctity of the North India.
Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple : This temple is located near the sea on the eastern side of the island. It is well known for its architectural beauty of magnificent Prakaras or corridors with massive sculptured pillars on either side. 197 mts corridor East to West believed to be the longest in the world and another corridor of 133mts wide from South to North. This temple has undergone sea of changes from 12th century under the reign of different rulers. Special Pooja is performed every day to the Spatikalingam [ crystal lingam] installed by Adi Sankara in this temple. There are two lingams in the Sanctum Sanctorum. One brought by Hanuman from Kailash called Vishwalingam and other one built by Sita called Ramalingam. As instructed by Rama it is Vishwalingam gets First Pooja attention even today.
Kumbakonam Temples
Kumbakonam is one of the ancient temple town picturesquely located amidst the two rivers Cauvery and Arasalar. In olden days it was called Thirukudamookku and it is also popularly called as Kudanthai now. It is popular for the Divine Tank in the heart of the city where Mahamagam Festival takes when lakhs of pilgrims from all over Tamil Nadu converge here to take dip in the tank at the auspicious hour. All the deities of the temples in and around turnout here to have dip at that time too. This festival falls in the month of Masi [Feb-Mar] on Magam Star Day. The town reached the peak of its property during the British Period and it was a prominent centre of European education and Hindu culture and it assumed the name as the ‘Cambridge of South India’.
