Bliss-Girls

Continuing the journey along the path of river Kaveri, in this 3rd post, we will explore some of the oldest temples and dams.

Kaveri yatra holy sites: Talakaveri -> Bhagamandala -> SriRangapatana -> T.Narsipura -> Shivana Samudra ->Bhavani Sangama -> Nattatreeshwarar -> Akhanda Kaveri -> SriRangam Ranganatha kovil -> Jambukeshwara koil -> Kallanai (Grand Anicut )-> Appakkudathaan Kovil  -> Thiruvaiyaru-> Brihadeshwara -> Sarangapani, Kumbakonam -> Parimala Ranganathar koyil-Mayavaram -> Poompuhar – Kaveri river meets Ganga sagar ( Bay of Bengal)

Jambukeshwara Koil

Jambukeshwara temple is one amongst the pancha bhoota temples in south India. Pancha bhoota’s are the primary elements of the universe namely water, earth, sky, fire and air.

There are five Shiva temples representing the pancha bhootas —Thiruvanaikaval Jambukeshwara (water), Kanchipuram Ekambareswarar (earth), Chidambaram Nataraja (sky), Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleshwarar (fire) and Kalahasti Nathar (air).

 Jambukeswarar temple is in Thiruvanaikaval, Tamil Nadu. Here shiva manifested in form of water, it is a swayambhoo linga. This temple was built by Chola King Kotchengan. This temple was later expanded by Hoysala king, Someswara.

In this temple, Goodess Parvati, Known by the name Akilandeshwari is a student and Lord Jambukeshwara is her Guru. Hence this temple is also known ad Updaesha Sthalam.

Read about the Story of the temple here.

The speciality of this temple is that everyday at noon the priest on behalf of goddess will wear a saree and come round the third enclosure to worship Jambukeshwarar. 

Kallanai 

This is also famously known as the Grand Anicut dam. It is one of the oldest water-regulation structures in the world. It was built by Karikala chola in the 2nd century AD and is a testament to engineering skills of ancient Tamil civilization. This dam was re-engineered by British in the 18th century. The purpose of the dam construction was to facilitate agriculture and continues to do so. This structure is approximately 20 meters wide and 329 meters long.

Grand Anicut dam supports nearly 1 million hectares of agriculture land in Kaveri delta. Water from Grand Anicut is channelled into 4 main canals: the Kaveri River, Vennar River, Pudukkottai Canal and Kollidam River.

Grand Anicut is a popular tourist destination and is recognized as a heritage structure by Government of India.

3rd Pancharanga – Appakkudathaan Kovil

Appakkudathaan Kovil is a temple dedicated to lord Vishnu and is one of the 108 divya desham. Legend has it that Lord Vishnu appeared as an old man and asked King Upamanyu for a pot of neyyappam (also known as yeriyappa or atirasa). Hence the lord is known here is Appakkudathaan. Lord Vishnu can be seen in a reclining position here.

Thiruvaiyaru

Thiruvaiyaru is known as land of 5 rivers. The 5 rivers are Kaveri and her 4 tribunaries: Vennaru, Vettary, Arasalaru and Kodamudutiaaru . The great saint Sri Tyagaraja lived and attained moksha in Thiruvaiyaru. Every year in the month of January and February, carnatic musicians across the nation participate in the Tyagaraja aradana held in Thiruvaiyaru.