Andanallur Temple (Trichy - Tamil Nadu)

My last 2 posts were on the 2 temples in Allur (here and here). Pretty close to this village, is another village called Andanallur. This was earlier called Andavanallur, according to the inscriptions here. 
The Lord Shiva here is Vadathirtha Nathar and his consort here is Balasoundhari. This place has been a holy place and been a temple since the days of Periyapuranam, as Sekkizhar has written about this temple. 
However this was built as a granite temple by Paranthaka Chola (9th C). Later on Rajaraja I also did several donations and services for the temple. The Pandya King Vira Pandya has also done a lot for this temple. The Hoysala king Sri Krishna Veera Vallalar and also the Nayakka rulers later on have also done a lot for the temple. 
Sadly the temple there right now, is highly modernized. Some concrete structures, some even geometric and modern, have been built extra recently, that just does no justice to the Chola architecture. 
The temple is east facing and faces the river Cauvery. Cauvery is indeed splendid. Remember my post on Mayanur? The awesome river in that is ofcourse Cauvery. This time Cauvery was quite dried up. 
Here, Cauvery just in front of this temple, was filled with not just water, but also plenty of fish!!! Yup, that's my Turkish Fish Spa, free of cost at Cauvery!!!!!
While taking the circum-ambulation, in the south facing side, is a little shrine of Dakshinamurthy. However this sculpture is of a later era and not Chola. On the west facing side, where usually a Vishnu sculpture is found, is a blunt piece of rock! Opposite to this wall are 3 shrines of Maha Ganapathi, Shanmuga Subramaniar and Gajalakshmi. 
Opposite to the East facing side are sculptures of Navagriham, Kalabhairavar, Suriyan and Chandran. All around, at the Adhishtanam (base / foundation) is the Chola era inscriptions.  
With that done, I'll be starting with the Srirangam temple itself from my next post!!! Wait for it!!!

TO REACH THERE:
To reach Pancha Nadeeswarar temple: Refer my earlier post
From Panchanadeeswarar Temple: 3.6 km along Cauvery towards Karur

Nearest railway station: Jeeyapuram
Google Maps co-ordinates: 10.876075,78.600429

Dedicated to Prof. Swaminathan and co...

Bhushavali

An ardent traveler by passion. Being an ex - Art History Teacher, my area of interest especially lies in Nature and Heritage. Visited 85 UNESCO World Heritage sites as of June 2022. I've been listed among the Top 7 Women Travel Bloggers of India, Top 50 in UK. I have been interviewed in a couple of TV Shows, Radio Channels and Events as well. Read more about me and read the testimonials of different brands

21 comments:

  1. You do a great job! Thank you. By the way, in Naugraha, is that Shani facing us?

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    http://gayathreeganesan.blogspot.in/2013/03/the-liebster-blog-award-is-mine.html

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  3. this falls on the Trichy - Pettavaithalai route and there are so many temples in this. I am a regular traveller in this route as i go to Thirupparaithurai, every time i visit Trichy. But I have not visited any of these temples except paraithurainathar.... This time, though I am planning to visit all the temples enroute, one by one!

    Good work Bhusha... Keep up the good work.....

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    Replies
    1. You could do that! Take some own mode of transport and travel bit by bit through this route! :)
      Thank you so much Venkat! :)

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  4. You have covered this little known temple beautifully. And captured some charming images. Happy Women's Day Bhusha!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Ram Sir! :)
      Glad you liked! :)

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  5. Pretty place!!!^^

    xoxo

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  6. Replies
    1. Thanks Jose! Long time no C? Where have you been? Missed you here!

      Delete
  7. Nice post on a wonderful temple!

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

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  8. Nice and interesting details!

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  9. Thanx for covering my native place. Good work. God bless.

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  10. Hi,

    wow...this is pbly the only place I could find out abt this temple...you are doing some amazing work...keep it up....

    btw, do you have any details of temple timings, contact # for the priest..or can you check if you have any close up pics with temple timings/phone number?

    if not dont worry...goin forward it would be helpful if you get closeup pics which contain temple timings/contact #...if they exist :)

    Thx
    Mohan

    ReplyDelete

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