Recently on a trip towards Chengalpet, I stopped at Appur. The temple at Appur is located atop a hill. The hill is called the Oushadha Giri and the temple is called the Sri Nithya Kalyana Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal temple.
There are about 480 steps to reach the temple atop. There are a lot of monkeys on the way. So be careful. You may carry some bananas to feed them and also have a stick with you to keep them at bay! There are no mandapa till you reach atop through there are some trees that provide occasional shade. So carry enough water!
The Lord Vishnu as Perumal in the Sanctum Sanctorum unusually wears saree here. Archanai with Kumkum is also another specialty. There's no separate shrine for his consort as is the case with many Kalyana Perumal temples; she's seen with the Lord. But sadly, I couldn't see any of these as the temple was closed when I went there. The Maha Mandapam has Dasavathara relief panels atop. But that's a very new concrete structure.
The view from atop was excellent.
But then what took me by awe, were oodles of Rhyothemis variegata. Well, that's the scientific name. What I saw was Common Picture Wing Dragonfly aka Variegated Flutterer. I've never seen this kind of a dragon fly earlier. The bright color combination on the wings was stunning. There were atleast about some 20 that were wandering about.....
While climbing down the steps, a friend spotted a dilapidated brick structure somewhere in the midst of the woods and we checked that out too. It 'was' a temple. Its in ruins now....
TO GET THERE:
To Singaperumal Koil:
From Tambaram: 24 km towards Chengalpet
From Chengalpet: 10 km towards Tambaram
From Singaperumal Koil to Appur: 6 km perpendicular to GST Road towards north west.
Google Coordinates: 12.803926,79.985286
Dedicated to Siva, Gopu and Vishwa
Nice post. Thanks for sharing this Bhusha.
ReplyDeletehttp://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in/2013/07/the-orange-sky.html
Thank you so much Niranjan! :)
Deletenice post and lovely pictures :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Sugandha! Do visit often!!! :)
DeleteNew place.... let me try to go there once.... :)
ReplyDeleteDo visit Venkat. You'll like it. Looking forward for your travelogue on the place! :)
DeleteBeautiful post and photographs.
ReplyDeleteThank you dear! :)
DeleteThanks Ashok! :)
ReplyDeleteI am saravanan. I am in perungalathur. Is there any bus facilities available from singaperumal koil to aapur. If so then kindly notify me through saravanamoorthymechengg at gmail
ReplyDeleteI doubt if buses are available in this route. You might have to change 1-2 buses to get to this place...
DeleteWanting to visit this place for very long. But am not sure if you know its significance. Just incase you didnt...here goes. This hill is infested with Sidhhar's. This hill..even today if visited by Sage Bhardwaja. It is believed that there are many caves in the hill and even today pushpaka vimanas frequent. I had the good fortune to come under an avadootha who lives in Maraimalai Nagar. He was the one who shared these info with us. A Dattatreya temple is also going to come up in the forests just at the base of the hill. I had been to that place...and what an experience. Truly fiiled with divine energy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for these extra information! :)
DeleteHi,Appur is my native.... nice to see ur post.By the recent times only the perumal temple got this much famous and lots of people came to visit. there was a thayar statue, but lots of statues were destroyed by thieves.. regarding the buses, from singaperumal koil u have bus facility for every 1/2 an hour and lots of share autos are now available.....
ReplyDeleteThanks for the extra bit of info Hema! That's very helpful!!! :)
DeleteUseful inof...Bhushavali...based on your travel info i plan to visit some of the temples...
ReplyDeletewhat is the timing of the temple? temple buttar is available?
ReplyDeletecan you please give usthe information visit immediately
The temple is 5 km from Maraimalai Nagar Railway Station. Temple will be open only during day time. Week ends open from morning 9 to 11:30. Week days opens from 7:00 am to 8:30 am. Lot of monkeys are there while climbing and Keeping a stick is good. Take water bottles, biscuits and chocolates if required. Temple battachariar name is Sriraman. He comes from Maraimalai Nagar. His phone no. 99521 10109
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