Nungambakkam Agastheeswarar Temple

With Divine Grace, the  Uzhavarappani at Shri Agastheeswarar Kovil, Nungambakkam commenced today around 08.00am.  more than 60 volunteers participated in the project and successfully completed the job of white washing and painting around 05.00pm in the evening.  

The job included the whitewashing of compound walls on both the sides, cleaning and white washing the walls of the main shrine, white washing the madapalli,  painting the various smaller shrines in the outer praharam and removal of accumulated grime and oil from the stands provided for lighting lamps in the Navagraha Sannadhi.  For removing the accumulated grime from the stands, this time, we used the process of a controlled-fire using cotton waste to burn out all the grime and oil.  Subsequently these stands were re-painted to give them a new look.

Last year too, around this time, we did similar uzhavarappani at this temple, but with a smaller band of volunteers.  At that time, we could not complete the process in a single day and had to come again the next week to finish it.  This time with the Blessing of  Lord Agastheeswarar, more volunteers joined and gave a helping hand to complete the task in a single day.  

The hereditary trustees Shri Kalyana Raghavan and Shri Radhakrishnan remained there in the temple  throughout the whole day and ensured that all the required  materials were made available to us in time. Due to a death in the Mada Veedhi, the temple remained closed for Darshan and Pooja during the day time and as a result, we could also finish the work at a faster pace, without fear of causing hindrance to the regular devotees.

A few snaps taken during our work can be seen at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollaavinayen/sets/72157630160230942/

அருள்மிகு அகஸ்தீஸ்வரர் திருக்கோவில் , நுங்கம்பாக்கம் 


The month of May in Chennai is extremely hot and usually our group's activities are at its lowest ebb during this period.  Now that the period of Agni Nakshatram is over, we have planned our next Uzhavarappani on 17.06.2012 at Shri Agastheeswarar Temple Nungambakam.

This is a 600 year old trio of temples--Shri Agastheeswarar, Shri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal and Shri Asalathamman temples, which were all part of the same Temple Complex in the early days and administered by the family of the hereditary trustees..  But with the expansion of the city,  the Perumal Temple now remains on the other side of the main road, behind Nungambakkam police station.  Last month on 25.05.202, the Maha Kumbabhishegam of the Asalathamman Temple ( Swayambu Amman) was held in a grand manner. The temple has a huge, magnificient and well-maintained temple tank, which serves as the main water source to recharge the wells of the surrounding  area.

Legend:  King Bommarajan who ruled this place once, got Sula disease( a form of fever) and he prayed to Perumal.   Perumal guided him to take bath in the temple tank and worship Lord Shiva here and he got cured.  Goddess Akhilandeswari  here has got a separate shrine, next only to Thiruvanaikaval.

Besides the main shrine, the other deities in the temple are  Maha Ganapathi, Murugan,  Brahma, Vishnu, Dakshinamurthy, Bairavar,  Visalakshi Sametha Kasi Viswanathar,  Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Annapurrani,  Iccha Shakthi, Kriya Shakthi, Gnana Shakthi, Chandikeswarar and Navagrahas.   Inside the Gopura vasal, you  can find Suryan and Chandran on either side. There is also a shrine for Agasthyar and Lopamudra.  One can also find the deities of Saiva Kuravargal and Santhana Kurarvargal in this temple.

Our group did white washing and painting last year around this time.  This year too, the hereditary trustees Shri Kalyana Raghavan and Shri Radhakrishnan have offered us all the help in executing  our uzhavarappani.  Our work will commence by 07.30 am on 17.06.2012.  All are requested to participate and seek the blessings of Lord Agastheeswarar.