My first trip....

Tittai

When the world was submerged under water during the pralayam... this place remained aloof and vashishtar prayed here during this time.. hence.. Tittai!

There are two famous temple here...vashishteshwarar and Navaneethakrishnan-panchamukha aanjaneyar temple.

Vashishteshwarar Temple

This Shivastalam is also known as Therur or Ratha puram. The name Thittai comes from the temple's location on sand dunes between the Vennar and Vettar rivers. Tenkudittittai is also known as Vilvaranyam, Vasishtasramam, Dhenupuri. It is located at a distance of about 3 km from Thanjavur. Ten Kudi Tittai is considered the 15th in the series of Tevara Stalams in the Chola kingdom located south of the river Kaveri.

This east-facing temple enshrines Shiva in the form of a Shivalingam with horizontal markings. The temple is designed such that a drop of water falls on the Shivalingam once 25 few seconds. There are two stones... suryakanthakal and chandrakanthakal stiffened over the vimana.. these two stones capture moist from air and gives it back in the form of water droplets directly over the lingam, every 25 minutes. This is the nithyabhishekam.

Images of Nartana Ganapati, Dakshinamurthy, Lingodbhava, Bhrahma and Durga adorn the niches. Ulaganayaki's shrine faces the south. Across from the Ambal shrine is a mandapam with carvings of the 12 zodiac signs. There is a separate shrine dedicated to Jupiter. There are also shrines to Surya, Ganesha, Kali, Balasubramanya, Nataraja and Gajalakshmi.

The Vedas, Renukadevi, Vasishtar, Gowtama, Adi Seshan, Kamadhenu and Vishnu are said to have worshipped here. Legend also has it that this shrine surfaced on a mound between the rivers Vennaar and Vettaar. The name Therur or Rathapuram arises from the legend of the chariot of a king by name Sumali being stuck in the dunes here. Legend also has it that the dunes here emerged at the end of the deluge and that Shiva appeared here in the form of a Swayambhu Lingam.

Six worship services are carried out each day. The annual festival at Tenkuditittai is celebrated in the month of Aries. The annual Bhrammotsavam at Tiruvittakkudi is celebrated in the month of Vaikasi (Taurus), where the chariot procession happens on the 9th day, and the glass palanquin Saptastana festival occurs on the 12th day. The Saptastanams here are Tenkudittittai, Vennaaru, Tanjaipureeswarar, Gudalur, Kadapadappai, Punnainallur and Poomalai Naaganathar.

Another striking character of the temple is displayed on 25,26 and 27th of panguni month(april) when sun’s rays directly fall on the lingam during the sunrise and the rest of the temple is in dark...[I got to see it].. and this place is also famous as a guru Thalam.

Navaneethakrishnan-panchamukha aanjaneyar Temple

The panchamukha aanjaneyar is very powerful. If one has any grievances, he can simply write it in a paper, tie it around a full coconut and do an archanai for the god.. and within prescribed time, the complaint is done with. The pujari has a special power of talking with the god.. he is a hanuman upasakar...