Vadapalani Andavar Temple – It Is 125 Years Oldest Shrine In Chennai City

VADAPALANI ANDAVAR TEMPLE

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CHENNAI

Vadapalani Andavar Temple is located in Vadapalani, Chennai. The temple is dedicated to Lord Muruga. The temple was renovated in 1920 and a Rajagopuram was built during that time. The temple has grown in popularity believed in part due to the patronage of cinema stars.

Built about 125 years back, this much hallowed and regularly frequented Lord Muruga Sannidhi has emerged from a thatched shed, an unostentatious one enshrining a Murugan picture only, and established for itself a name on par with ancient places of worship. Around 7000 couples are married here each year.

According to the sthalapurana, one Muruga devotee by name Annaswami Nayakar with his limited means built a small thatched hut and kept a Murugan painting for his personal worship primarily. During his meditation and worship, he used to experience some divine power entering his body and inspiring him to utter some mysterious things, whatever he said in his trance was found true.

His utterance went by the name of ‘arulvakku’ (God blessed statements) and relieved people in several ways, like curing diseases and getting jobs, solemnizing marriages, etc.

There are very many sannidhis in the vast courtyards of the temple, like Varasiddhi Vinayaka, Chokkanathar, Meenakshi Amman, Kali, Bhairava, Shanmuga with Valli and Devasena.

The moolavar in standing posture resembles the Palani Muruga in every respect. In the inner prakara, there are many niches housing Dakshina Murti, Chandikeswar, Mahalakshmi, et al. it has a spacious hall used for conduting marriages and religious discourses. It is one of the most frequented Murugan shrines in the city of Chennai.

By Air

Chennai International airport is just 7 kilometres away from the city. There are pre-paid taxi booths outside the airport from where you can hire a taxi and reach your destination. Charges may vary as per the cab vendor. However if you are looking for a cheaper alternative, auto-rickshaws can take you to the city at a relatively low fare.

By Train

Chennai has three major railway stations namely Chennai Central (code MAS), Chennai Egmore which is just 2 kilometres from the city (code MS) and Tambaram which serves the suburban areas of Chennai. Many super-fast and express trains run on a daily basis and are well-connected to cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Cochin, Hyderabad, Kolkata and other Indian cities. 

By Bus

Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminal (CMBT) is one of Asia's largest bus stations. Around seven state owned companies run buses to and from various destinations within South India. they connect cities like Tirupati, Pondicherry, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli and others. You can choose from deluxe, semi-deluxe, hi-tech, rajahamsa executive and sleeper buses while taking a route to any of the neighbouring cities. Also, there are various buses that connect major cities Bangalore and Calicut to Chennai.

Kurukshetra - Lord Krishna Moralized His speech Of 'Karma' In This Place

KURUKSHETRA

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HARIYANA

Kurukshetra located on North Eastern part of Haryana State and it is a place of great historical and religious importance, revered all over the country for its sacred association with the Vedas and the Vedic Culture.

It was here that the battle of Mahabharat was fought and Lord Krishna preached His Philosophy of 'KARMA' as enshrined in the Holy Bhagwad-Gita, to Arjuna at Jyotisar.

According to Hindu mythology, Kurukshetra is spread over, a circuit of about 48 KOS, which includes a large number of holy places, temples and sacred tanks connected with the religious events/rituals, Mahabharat War and Kurus, the ancestor of Kauravas and Pandavs. Kurukshetra is intimately related to the Aryan civilization and its growth all along the sacred river Saraswati.

It is believed that the holy waters of all sacred rivers flow/converge into Kurukshetra's Sannehit Sarovar, at the time of Somavati 'Amavasya' and solar eclipse. It is believed that those who bath in the tanks in Kurukshetra go to heaven after death. Mahabharata states that one who dies at Kurukshetra attains salvation after death.

It is the land where the sage Manu penned his 'Manusmriti' and where learned 'rishis' compiled the Rig Veda and Sama Veda.

Kurukshetra is named after King Kuru, who also performed a supreme sacrifice to bring prosperity to the land and his people.

"Come one and come all to have a glimpse of the sacred land of eternal bliss and to personally feel its religious and celestial fervour, heritage and ambience."

Kurukshetra is located on the linking road from National Highway No. 1 through Pipli, a famous town. Kurukshetra is also connected from Pehowa on the Ambala-Hisar National Highway No. 65

By Air

Nearest airport is situated at Chandigarh. For more information contact the airport & airlines.

By Rail

An important railway junction, the town's railway station is located between Sector 13 and New Colony. Some of the trains that pass through this station are Shatabadi Express, Amritsar Express, Jhelum Express, Kalka Mail and Himalayan Queen.

 

By Bus

Haryana Roadways and other State Corporation buses connect Kurukshetra with Delhi, Chandigarh and other important places in Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

Haryana Roadways Volvo passes through Kurukshetra.

For Haryana bus enquiry : Dial 01744-220468.

Jharkhand Government Wants To Develop The Ranchi Lake As A Major Tourist Destination Of The City.

RANCHI LAKE

The Ranchi Lake, commonly known as Bada Talab, is set for a face-lift with the city civic body drafting a multi-crore plan to conserve and beautify the British-era water body.

The Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has drafted a plan to conserve the lake with an estimated cost of Rs 14.42 crore. The lake over the years has become polluted due discharge of untreated sewer water and waste dumped by residents.

Located at the base of the landmark Ranchi Hill, the 53-acre man-made lake–2,100ft above sea level–was dug up by Colonel Onsely, a British agent and his men in 1842.

The RMC plans to develop the historic lake as tourist spot that will have a food court, a jogging track, lightning and landscaping of the lake.

“The lake will be developed in three phases. The first phase, which is likely to being in a month or two, will see construction of basic infrastructure like a boundary wall, a pathway, lighting and sitting arrangements and beautification work,” said Bijay Kumar Bhagat, superintendent engineer at RMC.

Local residents said the years back, water from the lake was used for drinking. “The water has become polluted due to the inflow of untreated sewer water,” said Rajeev Kumar, a local resident.

“The polluted water is affecting the health of residents as it has turned into breeding ground for number of water-borne diseases due to the pollution,” he said.

RMC officials said conservation plan for Bada Talab was being drafted since 1980 but the plan has not been executed so far.

In 2013, the RMC drafted Rs 53.47 lakh renovation and beautification plan.

The corporation has decided to stop the draining of sewage water into the lake, said RMC executive engineer Uma Shankar Ram.

“A by-pass drain has been constructed so that sewage water is not drained into the lake,” he said.

The RMC planned to set up a sewage treatment plant for treat untreated sewer water with the help of Neeri (national environmental engineering research institute) technology. “The plan was dropped as we did not want to depend on a single technology,” Bhagat said, adding that an expression of interest has been floated for maintaining the cleanliness and water quality in the lake for five years.

“We are expecting agencies to come up with different technologies out of which the best will be picked,” he said.

The Jharkhand government wants to develop the Ranchi Lake as a major tourist destination of the city.

In January this year, chief minister Raghubar Das, laying the foundation of a statue of Swami Vivekananda at the lake, said a 30ft statue will be installed in the middle of the sprawling lake and the government will develop Bada Talab as a tourist spot in the next two years.