Velachery Dhandeeshwarar worshipped by Yama Dharma Raja

Karunambika Sametha Dhandeeshwarar Siva temple in Velachery is a Swayambu linga temple on the banks of Yama theertham and was worshipped by Yama Dharma Raja to regain his Dhandam or weapon known as "Swarna Dhandakasam" as detailed in Agasthya Vijayam, the monthly spiritual magazine.

Agasthiar.org details that Dasami, Dwitiyai, Sadhayam, Magham Nakshatra days are ideal for worship of Yama Shakthi and Yama Theertham temples like Velachery Dhandeeshwarar. Every year Utsavam mentioned in panchangam like Dharmaraja dasami, Yama Dwitiyai, Yama Deepam are ideal for worship of Yama Dharma raja as detailed in their link below,

http://agasthiar.org/AUMzine/0003-dd.htm

Yama Theertham and Dhandeeshwarar Temple

Siddhi Vinayaka temple on the banks of Yama theertham is associated with the Lord Shiva temple as seen below

Velachery Dhandeeshwarar temple in Chennai is near Gandhi Road Bus Stop on the way to main Vijayanagara Bus Stand in Velachery as seen in Map below,

https://www.google.co.in/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enIN750IN750&q=velachery+siva+temple&npsic=0&rflfq=1&rlha=0&rllag=12978691,80220943,870&tbm=lcl&ved=0ahUKEwi1t9W2zZPXAhVMsI8KHXlECEUQtgMIKw&tbs=lrf:!2m1!1e2!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:1&rldoc=1#rlfi=hd:;si:9453600178892298626;mv:!1m3!1d7937.781436629642!2d80.22094305!3d12.978691!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i77!2i196!4f13.1

Yama Dharma Raja 

Yama Dharma Raja is one of the Ashta dik palakas incharge of southern direction. In Bhooloka, all living and non-living things are subject to creation and destruction. There is no permanent member who can live eternally in bhooloka. Even avatara purusha like Krishna Paramaathma left his mortal body after being struck by an arrow of a hunter in Prabhasa Kshetra in Gujarat and returned to vaikuntam. So, Yama Dharma raja is incharge of  the divine activity of separating the soul of all beings from mortal body in bhooloka according to their fate. This would help the soul's evolutionary process and enable the person to move to the next level according to the paavam or punyam committed by the person.

Yama Dharma raja in Dharmapuri Lakshmi Narasimha temple, Telangana

Markendeya Maharishi :

Markendeya maharishi's fate destined a life span of 16 years to him. He was the son of Mrikandu maharishi who advised him to do the shiva pooja .On the day he completed 16 years, Yama Dharma raja arrived near Markendeya maharishi to take the life as destined by fate.

Markendeya maharishi ignorant of yama's arrival was engrossed in Shiva linga pooja. Lord shiva became angry that yama was trying to disturb the shiva pooja of his devotee Markendeya. He manifested in the shiva linga and punished yama dharma raja for disturbing shiva bhakta.

The picture below shows yama being driven away by lord shiva who is worshipped by markendeya

Yama dharma raja lost his weapon or dhandam known as Swarna dhanda kaasam during the process. Yama dharma raja worshipped Lord shiva on the banks of Yama theertham here in Velachery to regain his weapon or dhandam.

Lord shiva pleased with the penance of yama dharma raja, manifested himself and gave back the weapon Swarnadhandakaasam to him in Velachery temple. Hence Lord shiva is known as Dhandeeshwarar here and faces eastern direction. 

Shiva giving Dhandam to Yama

Parvathi devi is known as Karunambika here and faces southern direction. Southern direction is the direction of Yama and pitrus or ancestral beings. So, worshipping Velachery Dhandeeshwarar temple blesses devotees to remove Apa Mrithyu dhosham or remove fear of unnatural death in accidents, intensive medical treatment failures etc.

Agasthiar.org details that Devi starting with the word 'Karuna' and facing southern direction blesses us and removes pitru doshas. Blessing of Pitrus or ancestral beings helps our family and children to lead a righteous and prosperous life.

Karunambika devi

Velachery originally knows as Vedhasreni:

Velachery temple has Vinayaka in unique forms. As we enter the temple to our left is the shrine of Vedha Vinayaka. There is also two other vinayaka sannidhi who is incharge of morning, afternoon and evening periods known as Kalai Sandhi Vinayakar which is a unique feature.

Kalai Sandhi Vinayaka

Vedhas, when they were under the control of Somakasura had a tinge of asura pravriti owing to association with asura. Hence, Rig, Yajur, Sama, Atharvana vedhas have prayed to Lord Shiva here to regain their original glory and form. Hence, this place was known as Vedhasreni and the word got colloquially mispronounced as Velachery.

Vedas Praying to Eswara here

In the outer prakaram of velachery temple, one can see Vaidyanatha shiva linga under vilva tree and naga prathishta under vilva tree. 

There is also sannidhi for Meenakshi Sundareshwarar, Saraswathi, Brahmadeva, Mahavishnu, Mahalakshmi, Lingothbhava, Bairava, Durga devi and Nataraja.

There is a unique sannidhi of Yoga Dhakshinamoorthy in yogic posture in Prakaram.

There is also a sannidhi for Sambu surya in this temple.

Yoga Dakshinamurty

Benefits of worshipping in Karunambika sametha Dhandeeshwara temple.

• Removes fear of unnatural death
• Removes Pitru dhosham
• Removes pain associated to terminal illness like cancer, stroke, brain or important organ failure in the last stages of life and ensures longevity of life or peaceful death whichever be the form of blessing from God.
• Blesses with Knowledge and wisdom as vedhas themselves have worshipped here
• Since the rare Yama theertham is found here and dhandeeshwara is also swayambu linga moorthy, all moorthy, theertham, sthalam factors strengthen the prayers of devotees here so that they receive immense blessings.
• There is an ancient Saptha Maathruka temple associated with Dhandeeshwara temple near by as seen below. Saptha Maathrukas bless women with Sowbhaghya at every stage in life from a girl baby to grandmother

Saptha Maathruka temple

Other Photos

Parikkal Lakshmi Narasimha Temple

Parikkal Lakshmi Narasimha Temple in Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu is the unique temple where both Narasimha and Lakshmi devi embrace each other. Usually in Lakshmi Narasimha temples, only Narasimhar is found to embrace Lakshmi devi.  

Narasimha Swamy embraces Lakshmi Devi with his left hand and Lakshmi Devi embraces Narasimha swamy with her right hand. The Moola Vigraha of Lakshmi Narasimha is as seen below,

It is one of the rare temples where both the Moolavar and Utsava Murty are Lakshmi Narasimha forms. There is a second utsava murty of narasimha in standing posture inside the Garba Griham.

During Swathi Nakshatra, the janma nakshatra of Narasimha, Abhishekam is performed to the Utsava murty as seen below,

The Google Map Location of the Temple in Villupuram district is as seen below,

https://www.google.co.in/search?q=parikkal+temple&npsic=0&rflfq=1&rlha=0&rllag=11787036,79359538,650&tbm=lcl&ved=0ahUKEwiomcus8c7VAhUKvI8KHWUuDTQQtgMIKQ&tbs=lrf:!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:1&rldoc=1#rldoc=1&rlfi=hd:;si:7998048681420816392;mv:!1m3!1d12286.204353978468!2d79.35129140000001!3d11.79680595!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i446!2i302!4f13.1

Temple Entrance

Sthala Puranam

A raja named Vasantharaja wanted to build a temple for Lakshmi Narasimha swamy and approached his guru Vamadeva rishi to perform a yagna for the same. But a demon named Parikalasura came to destroy the yagna. Vamadeva rishi gave mantra upadesa to raja and asked him to hide nearby. But the asura tried to kill raja still, hence Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy manifested himself there and killed Parikalasura. Hence this Kshetram is known as Parikkal.

There is a unique Narasimha Sthambam here as seen below similar to other Narasimha Sthambam found in ancient Narasimha Temples like Simhachalam and Kadiri in Andhra Pradesh and Athazhanallur in Tamilnadu. This Sthambam is important as Narasimha Swamy himself came out of a pillar in order to kill Hirayakasupu and save Prahlada.

 Anjaneya in Two Forms!!

In the Vayu Disha or North Western Direction, two forms of Anjaneya namely Veera and Bhaktha Anjaneya are found in the Prakaram which is a very rare occurrence.

Hanuman himself being Vayu Putra or son of Wind God, here people pray for wellbeing in this sannidhi

Veera and Bhaktha Anjaneya

There is also a Sannidhi for Anjaneya outside the main temple as seen below,

Garuda Sannidhi

Kanakavalli Thayar

Varadaraja Facing Southern Direction

Moolavar Vimanam

Inner Prakaram

Outer Prakaram

Nagar Sannidhi

Kedarnath

Kedarnath is known as the Dwaram or Entrance of Kailasam. "ke" refers to Kailasam and "dar" refers to Dwaram to Kailasam. 

It is said that Adhi Shankara received 5 Spatika Chandramouliswara Lingam from Lord Shiva in Kailasam and brought it to Earth through Kedarnath. He installed them in different Shankara Matams across the country. Adhi Shankaracharya reinstated the worship of Kedarnath by nominating a Karanataka Veera Shaiva Brahmachari as the Main Priest here. Till date the tradition is followed.

Kedarnath Temple opened after winter for worship seen in Photo below,

Lord Shiva gave Darshan to Pandavas as the back portion of the Bull in Kedarnath here as seen below. Kedarnath Jyothirlingam below is one of the 12 important Jyothir lingam temples in the country.

The Nandhiswara guards the Kedarnath Temple as seen below. Kala Bhairava is also said to be in invisible form guarding the Kedarnath Temple.

It is important to note that how many ever floods affect kedarnath, this Temple, Nandhi and Jyothir Lingam of Kedarnath remain unaffected.

There is a sthala puranam behind this Jyothir lingam as detailed below.

Pancha Pandavas wanted to worship Lord Shiva after Kurukshetra Yuddha in order to atone their sins. When they reached Kasi to worship Shiva, Lord Shiva disappeared into a place called Gupta Kasi in Uttarkhand. There Pandavas got Darshan of Lord Shiva as Arthanareeswara or Half form of Shiva and Shakthi together. From there the Pandavas went in search of Lord Shiva again.

In Kedarnath, Lord Shiva gave darshan as a bull to Pandavas. The Bull started sinking into the ground on seeing the pandavas. Bhimsena got hold of the back portion of the bull in order to prevent it from sinking into the ground.

Lord Shiva gave a asareera vakku or celestial sound that the Pandavas will not be able to see the full form of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva's hump as a bull would be visible in Kedarnath, arms/feet will be visible in Tunganath, Middle portion of navel and stomach will be visible in Madhya Maheswar, Face will be visible in Rudranath and his hair and head or Jata mudi will be visible in Kalpeshwar. These temples are collectively known as Pancha Kedarnath Kshetram located around Kedarnath. Pasupathinath in Nepal has the  lingam representing all 5 faces of Lord Shiva.

Another puranam of Kedarnath states that Lord Vishnu has worshipped Shiva before Pandavas for so many years here that his Dwara Palakas, Jaya and Vijaya stayed here itself. Hence in Kedarnath Temple the Vishnu Murty Dwara Palakas Jaya and Vijaya are seen instead of Kailasa Dwara Palakas.

During Winter the entire temple is closed as the area is fully covered with snow as seen below,

During this Snow covered period, the Utsava Murty of Lord Shiva with the five faces of Lord Shiva is worshipped in Ukhi Matam. This Five faces of Shiva is carried in procession back to the Temple as seen below after winter period.

 

Kedara Gauri temple in Gauri Kund

Kedara Gauri Devi has performed penance for 21 Chathuryugas near kedarnath temple in order to marry Lord Shiva. There is a place called Gauri kund near Kedarnath where she created a pond and worshipped Lord Shiva.

Kedara Gowri Vratham is generally followed during Deepavali Amavasai period where Kedara Gauri devi is worshipped with kalasam. In the pooja all naivedyam like adhirasam sweet is 21 in number, tamboolam leaves, betel nuts or turmeric is also kept 21 in number in memory of Kedara Gauri devi's 21 Chaturyugam penance to marry Lord Shiva. Gauri devi herself observed the Kedara Gauri Vratham. If falls on 19th October 2017 Thursday this year.

Kedara Gauri devi peforming penance in one feet is seen in photo below. 

Kedara Gowri temple

Gaurikund is also the place where Gauri devi reinstated Ganesha as the Guardian to prevent anybody from disturbing her while she takes bath. But Ganesha stopped Lord Shiva also in the process from seeing Gauri devi. Hence Lord Shiva chopped off the head of Ganesha with his Trishul. Gauri devi became very depressed and angry on knowing this issue. The place where Ganesha's head was chopped off is also found among the mountains nearby. Lord Shiva later installed the head of an elephant to Ganesha to give him life. He was blessed to be Gajamukha and the primodal deity to be worshipped in any pooja.

One can travel in vehicle to Kedarnath till Gaurikund. After this place for a distance of 14 Km one can travel by foot or by Helicopter to reach Kedarnath temple among Mountains.

There is a Hot water spring here where devotees can take bath.

Jai Kedara Gowri Devi!!

Jai Kedarnath!!

Vayu Lingam worship solution to Breathing problems

Vayu Lingam is one of the Ashta Lingams found in Tiruannamalai girivalam path or the path around the annamalai hill in Tamilnadu.

Vayu deva is one of the Ashta Dik Balakas or the 8 important devas incharge of 8 directions. Vayu deva is in charge of north western direction.

Vayu Deva has performed penance and girivalam in annamalai. Vayu Deva has merged into this vayu lingam and is blessing devotees in sookshma form from this lingam till date. 

Vayu lingam worship relieves one from breathing problems in all stages wheezing, TB and heart problems also. 

Vayu Lingam

Vayu Lingam Temple in girivalam path

The Google map location of Vayu Lingam is as follows,

https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/Vayu+Lingam/@12.2576085,79.0472531,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xce939cd018b4fc1!8m2!3d12.2576085!4d79.0472531

Agasthiar.org in their weblink below details that vayu lingam worship here relieves from breathing problems. Also darshan of arunachala from Vayu Lingam is known as kanda neeru darshanam. Darshan of arunachala hill from here gives relief to physical problems arising out of vayu. They can be breathing problems or even heart problems.

http://agasthiar.org/AUMzine/0009-gv.htm

Agasthiar.org is based on the teachings of Sathguru Venkataraman. Sathguru Venkataraman's samadhi is also in the girivalam path after vayu lingam in agasthiar ashram. Vayu deva along with wife Sookshmai are sculpted around the samadhi shrine as seen in photo below,

Agasthya Vijayam further details that Sukhaprana kalpana vayu bhagawan performed penance here through girivalam or going aroung arunachala hill for thousands of years. After years of penance vayu deva could feel the "pancha krithika vayu" here. Arunachala gave darshan to vayu deva as "Vamseedharana Pooprastha lingam"here which is currently known as vayu lingam.

Worship of Vayu Lingam relieves one from breathing problems and serves as pariharam for smokers who pollute the atmosphere. It is also a pariharam people who scold others with harsh words which inturn get released as negative vibrations into the atmosphere.

Worship of Vayu Lingam to solve problems

All days are ideal for worship of vayu lingam. But worship on Budhavaram or wednesday budha horai is ideal. Budha horai is (6-7) am, (1-2) pm and (8-9) pm on wednesday where the power of Budha is more influential. Method of worship advised by Agasthya Vijayam is that one should perform abhishekam to vayu lingam with sacred river waters. One should adorn the vayu lingam with green cloth and also donate green coloured clothes here to poor people. One should donate food with green leafy vegetables here.

The detailed explanation from Agasthya Vijayam is as seen in images below,

Vayu is not just associated with breathing of oxygen in human body. Apana vayu is associated with urination, excretion, reproductive activity in both men and women. Dhananjaya vayu is associated with heart functioning. There are 10 vayu forms as listed below performing various functions like digestion of food, opening/closing of eyelashes, burping, sneezing also.

1) Prana

2) Apana

3) Vyana

4) Udana

5) Samana

6) Naga

7) Kurma

8) Devadatta 

9) Krikala

10) Dhananjaya

So worshipping vayu lingam here corrects imbalances in all vayu forms and functions in our human body. The weblink below further details the 10 types of vayu or dasavayu.

http://www.yogaindailylife.org/system/en/the-spiritual-background/prana

Various references of Vayu deva in Puranas is discussed in detail in the following weblink,

http://www.indianscriptures.com/gods/devta/vayu-the-god-of-wind