Showing posts with label Chennai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chennai. Show all posts

Saturday, January 21, 2017

St. Thomas Mount, Chennai

Name :  Church of Our Lady of the Mount

Location :

St. Thomas Mount (known in Tamil as Parangimalai) is a small hillock located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, near the neighbourhood of Guindy and very close to Chennai International Airport.

The neighbourhood is served by the St. Thomas Mount railway station on the southern line of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. Integration of the Metro and MRTS with the suburban station in the neighbourhood, is expected to make the suburb the city's largest transit hub after Chennai Central.

Legend :

According to tradition, the Cross chiselled on a stone of this hill by St Thomas himself and used by him for his personal prayer gave strength to him when he was pierced from behind with a lance as he was praying before it. It is believed that the Cross should have been stained with the blood of the Martyr. This Cross was accidentally discovered later by the Portuguese when they dug the foundations for the new Church in 1547.

According to ancient records, this Cross sweated blood during the Holy Mass celebrated by Fr. Gasper Coelho on the 18th December 1558. In the early years, this Cross used to sweat blood every year, then every two or three years and, later, at longer intervals. The last occasion on which it was found sweating blood was in 1704.

Popular faith says that innumerable miracles of cures were attributed to this sacred stone cross through mere contact with it in faith and it has roused the conversion of many unbelievers. Even today the natural dampness on its surface is a perennial factor of surprise and devotion. The image of the Cross itself is unique

It was in 1908 after much disputation that the inscription around the cross was deciphered as: "Through the Cross, the Messiah borught salvation to the world".

As per tradition, the oil painting of the Madonna of the Blessed Virgin was painted by St Luke the Evangelist on wood and was brought here by St Thomas and used by him for prayer. Hence it is popularly known as the "Scapular of St Thomas.".

In "Tombs and Descriptions in the Madras Presidency" ( A Government Publication ), Mr. J. J. Cotton says : "This is a picture painted by St Luke who was an artist. The Virgin died when Thomas was away and on his return he had the tomb opened in order that he might once more look upon her. It was found that the body had been miraculously removed and Thomas was so disturbed that St. Luke offered to paint him a portrait of the Virgin as a consolation. This portrait St. Thomas carried with him on all his wanderings".

The first written account of this painting is made in 1559 when the King of Bisnaga took it to his Court in Chandragiri and later returned it in a palanquin to the Mount.

The wear and the warp of this sacred species are explained by the efforts of the people down the ages to bury and hide it in order to protect it from the onslaught of the invading enemies.
However the Madonna is considered to be one of the oldest and most venerated paintings in India and countless favors and blessings have been recorded by devotees who have stood and prayed before it.

Description :

The ancient Syrian Christian community of India trace the origin of their church to St. Thomas the Apostle, believed to have been martyred in St. Thomas Mount . The altar of this Shrine was built on the spot, where St.Thomas was martyred in 72 AD.  The St. Thomas Garrison Church is located at the bottom of St Thomas Mount. The St. Thomas Syro Malabar Catholic church is located east of the shrine at North Silver Street , foot holds of the mountain Shrine.

A shrine dedicated to "Our Lady of Expectation" (Mother Mary) was built in 1523 on top of the mount. An Arch inside the church bears the title in Portuguese: "Senhora da Expectacao" (Our Lady of Expectation) with the year of its construction 1523.   At the northern foot of the mount, is a gateway of four impressive arches surmounted by a cross bearing the inscribed date 1547. A flight of 160 steps leads up to the summit of the mount. There are 14 stations of the cross erected on the way to the summit.


History :

The Mount was a grant to the church by the Kings of Bisnaga, or Vijayanagar, who called the place in Telugu "Fringy Kondah" meaning "European Hill" The Portuguese called the place Monte Grande (Big Mountain)

St Thomas Mount is a Holy place of international prominence, historical eminence, religious glory and tourist attraction.The ancient Church on the top of St. Thomas Mount has served as the light house for the Portuguese and Armenian ships and vessels in the Bay of Bengal in the 16th and 17th centuries. Interestingly, it is said, when sailors sighted the Church they offered prayers for a safe Voyage and then discharged from their artillery in salutation.

The Mount of Saint Thomas is easily accessed by the devotees who make the vowed climb through the 134 granite steps as an act of penance and sacrifice. An ornate arch with an imposing elegance remains an attraction to all those who happen to glimpse it with a note of the year of its construction, 1726.

The Armenian merchants of old were great benefactors of many Catholic Churches in and near Madras. Petrus Uscan was the greatest among them. He built a brick paved road with granite steps at intervals flanked by a double wall leading from the road below to the top of the mount. In his foresightedness, he also left a sum of money with the Administrator-General of Madras for the upkeep of these steps.

To make possible for modern vehicular traffic fully asphalted road laid by the military from the south- western base of the hill right upto the top in 1962.

The fifteen Stations of the Cross adorn the sides of the steps. The minute precision with which the figures have been moulded and the heaviness of the rare metal used in them add colour and life to the scenes of the Stations of the Cross along the steps of the Mount.They are spots of inspiration and they spiritually dispose the pilgrims who climb the steps for an eventual spiritual experience on the hill top Every year during Lent thousands of people flock the hill to make their Stations of the Cross with the help of these depictions. The annual mammoth gathering of people for the Mass celebrated by the Bishop on the Palm Sunday evening is the culmination of their Lenten pilgrimage.

Fr.Gaspar Coelho, Vicar of the Church in Mylapore in 1545 records that one Diego Fernandes, a Portuguese, built a small oratory on top of the hill over the foundation of a very ancient church in 1523 AD. The spot was already a place of pilgrimage.

Since this oratory dedicated to the Mother of God was very small and since the number of pilgrimage was increasing, Fr. Coelho laid the foundation for a bigger church on March 23, 1547 and completed the existing church within a year. It was then known as the Church of Our Lady of the Mount.

 Fr. Gaspar Coelho, who had built the church was buried in it and there is an inscription over his grave at the very entrance of the church.

The welcoming gate of the Hill Shrine with its Indian lamp conveys the message that Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. The two lampstands with seven wicks each symbolize the witnessing life and death (Rev 11:4) of the Prophet Martyrs like StThomas. An osmosis of light at the entrance reminds us that a city built on the hill top cannot be hidden (Mt 5:14) but that it will shine.

The shrine church entombs a piece of the Bone of St Thomas casketed in a beautifully ornamented monstrance. People have witnessed to many miracles that have been effected through the efficacy of this holy relic.

This Sanctuary is said to be the spot where St Thomas was martyred. Any one standing on this surface will certainly feel the vibrations of the hidden current that floods this main altar area. The excellent artistic background elevates the inner soul.

The framed oil painting of St Thomas being pierced with a lance from behind in his praying posture on the wall behind the high altar is the high point of awe and devotion for all who climb the hill to reach this sanctuary.

The artistic finale exhibited in the attractive wooden podium of the fifteenth century is a monumental piece of ancient art. It bespeaks the importance attached to the Breaking of the Word in the liturgy of the early centuries. The ornamental wood carving in unison with the main altar is a banquet for the eyes of the beholder. This is another gift of Petrus Uscan. The Italian marble laying, the dim lighting effects, the antique hanging lamp, and the Portuguese styled ancient altar add to the serenity of the place and the sanctity of the Chapel.

The votive shrine that shelters the colourful Statue of Our Lady in the sitting posture is of a later fashioning and it exhibits a graceful look and maternal benevolence.

The huge framed paintings of antiquity screening before us the images of the twelve Apostles and that of Christ and of St. Paul are marvelous treasures of art and faith. They not only adorn the church but they also elevate our spirits. Though such pictures of the Apostles are common in the great Basilicas of the West, the uniqueness of these consists in their miniature picturesque information about the way in which each of the Apostles glorified their Master in their final offering.

The open air stage meant for public worship and the grilled open space provide an exquisite sight of the whole city of Chennai. The presence of a huge banyan tree and a green peepul/ pipal tree on the Hill is a natural gift to the seekers since both the trees are a rare sacred species in the Indian context.


Festivals :

+Every year the 18th December has become the Annual Feast Day of this Shrine Chapel, which is celebrated with function and devotion.

Timings :
This Adoration Chapel is kept open everyday from 7.00 a.m to 7.00 p.m

Websites :

http://www.stthomasmount.org/

Friday, November 5, 2010

Thirumalai Vaiyaavoor Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumaal



Name : Thirumalai Vaiyaavoor Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumaal

This hill has various names like Sri Vaikundagiri, Dhakshina Garudagiri, Dhakshina Venkatagiri, Dhakshina Seshagiri, Varaaha Kshethram and Ramanuja Yogagiri. This ancient temple has some interesting legends attached to it.

Location :

Thirumalai Vaiyaavoor lies about 70 kms from Chennai and 18 kms from Chengalpattu. While going from Chennai, after crossing Chengalpattu, one can find Padaalam Cross Road (Koot Road) from where a road goes off GST Road on the right side. This road leads to Thirumalai Vaiyaavoor.

Legend :

The Blog post http://www.dharsanam.com/2008/03/thirumalai-vaiyaavoor-sri-prasanna.html lists a lot of legends associated with this temple. I mention only one below. Pls visit the blog to see other legends associate with this temple.

During the battle between Sri Rama and Raavana, Lakshmana fainted on the battle field. Sri Rama sent Sri Hanuman to bring the Sanjeevi hill to cure Lakshmana. Sri Hanuman brought the Sanjeevi hill as told by Sri Rama. It is said that Sri Hanuman worshipped Sri Varaaha Perumaal and Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Puramaal on this hill, on the way back to Lanka, carrying the Sanjeevi hill. As Sanjeevi hill should not be placed on ground, it is said that Sri Hanuman shifted the hill from His right hand to left hand to offer obeisance to the Gods here. As the holy Sanjeevi hill was not kept on ground here by Sri Hanuman, this place came to be known as Thirumalai Vaiyaavoor (திருமலை வையாவூர்).



Description :

The temple is beautifully located on the hill top. There are about 500 steps on the hill to reach the temple. There is a proper road also to reach the temple by vehicles. Though the main deity is Sri Venkatesa Perumal the Aadhi Murthy here is Sri Varaaha Perumaal. One has to first visit Sri Varaaha Perumaal before visiting the main deity. Sri Varaaha Perumaal is seen with Sri Lakshmi facing west. Also, when the temple is opened, Sri Varaaha Perumaal’s shrine is opened first and all the offerings are made to Him first, before others.

The main deity Sri Srinivaasa Perumaal is seen facing west. The Lord is beautifully decorated with ornaments and gives dharshan exactly as in Thirupathi. Goddess Sri Alarmel Mangai Thaayaar has a separate shrine here. There are separate shrines for Sri Aandaal and Sri Ramanuja too.

The inner praakaarams have lot of stone pillars and spread on a wide area. The pillars have some exquisite carvings on them.

The Theertham for this temple is called Varaaha Theertham which is at the foot of this hill. The path to the Theertham is not motorable but looks beautiful when seen from the hill top.

Sri Anjaneyar shrine (Lord Hanuman) is present facing the hill opposite to the stair way to the temple. Sri Garuda Bhagavan is seen on specific corners on the wall, guarding the Lord.

It is also said that people visiting Thirupathi should also visit Thirumalai Vaiyaavoor and bathe in Varaaha Theertham and worship Sri Prasanna Venkateswara Perumaal here, only after which the pilgrimage gets complete.

Other Tourist Attractions :

One can reach Vedanthangal from here. You can plan for a day trip to visit Perumal and also enjoy the day in vedanthangal.

Website :

I took the entire information from the blog http://www.dharsanam.com/2008/03/thirumalai-vaiyaavoor-sri-prasanna.html

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Mazhai Malai Madha Arulthalam




Name : Mazhai Malai Madha Arulthalam

Location :

Mazhai Malai Madha Arulthalam is located on the National Highway about 95 kms from Chennai enroute Trichy. Geographically, it is situated near Melmaruvathur having Mathuranthagam as its Taluk and falls under the Jurisdiction of Kancheepuram District.

Legend :

During the tenure of Founder Rev. Fr. A. Pushpam - Parish Priest ( 1962 - 1973), this parish was the part of the archdiocese of Pondy - Cuddalore. People experienced severe drought in Tamilnadu and particularly in this place. At this moment, Fr. A. Pushpam decided to organize a car procession for Our Lady specially interceding for good rain. When the car procession ended at a place called Nallayan Kundru
(the hill of Good Shepered) there was a heavy down pour with thunder and lightening slashing the place like never before. A beautiful shrine was constructed at this place and hence the name Mazhai Malai Madha ( Hill Goddess of Rain ) was inscripted to our Lady in view of this astounding miracle.

Description :

Ecclesiastically, it belongs to the Chingleput Diocese, a new born babe of the Archdiocese of Madras - Mylapore. The Shrine is located in the midst of a very serene and beautiful vast stretch of lush pasture hill slope.

In view of the Silver Jubilee in the year 1994, a well planned concrete pathway for the pilgrims to visit Mazhai Malai Madha on the top of the mountain.

A Church was inaugurated and blessed by Rt. Rev.Dr. Lawrence Pius, the Auxiliary Bishop of Madras - Mylapore at midnight of the beginning of the III millennium (01.01.2001)

Tower of Faith :

As a monument of faith they have planned to construct a Tower of Faith in the shrine campus. The foundation stone for the great project was laid on 06.09.2003 by His Eminence Simon Cardinal Lourdusamy, Rome. The construction work on 27th October 2004.

The mega monumental project is in the fray. The proposed Tower would consist of Seven floors cascading the pilgrims into a world of Divinity. It is very essential to cultivate the requisite spiritual arousal and strengthen the faith of Christians. One would be enthralled to find this Tower as an exclusive monument depicting the evolution of faith.

The concept of the Tower of Faith is to bring in the celestial world here and now and this place would become a place of penance, a place of meditation, a place tranquillizing turbulent mind a place of spiritual transformation and a place of magnified faith.

Mountain : A Symbol of God’s Presence

For ages past, Mountains have been articulated as a place where God’s mighty presence is conceptualized. India, in particular, which has this sublime uniqueness of nurturing different sects of communities, practices multifarious religions,linguistic, cultures and life styles deem Mountain as a sanctified, vibrant and vivacious God’s presence.



From the Biblical perspective , in 1 Kings 20 :30, it is predominantly mentioned as “God of Mountains”. Mount Horeb was called the Mountain of God (Exodus 3:1).
Even in the life history of Jesus, Mountains have been a place of prominence for his Psycho- Spiritual pursuits.

For Jesus , Mountains became
A place of Prayer, Lk- 20 : 39,
A place of Contemplation, Mt-14 : 23
A place of Temptation and Renunciation, Mt- 4 : 8,
A place of Transfiguration, Mt-17 : 1

Eventually it is conspicuous that Mountains and the presence of God are strongly interlinked. Therefore, Mountain experience is considered to be a manifestation of FAITH EXPERIENCE.

Website :

http://malaimadha.org.in

Monday, April 6, 2009

PRANAVA MALAI

Location : Tirupporur is 45 km from Chennai

I have no details about Pranava Malai. Anyhow i have the legend associated with it described as below.

It dates back to the times of Pallavas and Tirupporur is known by different names like Poriyur or Yuddhapuri or Samarapuri. There are many legends related to Tirupporur and one of them relates to Lord Shiva relieving Lord Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi from the curse of Kanva rishi. This Lord Shiva and his son Murugan are worshipped here. According to the Sthalapurana, it was here that Lord Murugan with his consorts Valli and Devayanai granted protection to the demi-gods and explained the true meaning of Pranava or the real truth to them and Agastya Muni. Thus, the hill behind the temple is known as 'PRANAVA MALAI ', where Lord Vishnu is said to have worshipped Lord Shiva. Legend also has it that Skanda worshipped Shiva as Vanmeekeswara to rid himself of the sin of having killed Soorapadman.

Tirupporur got lost into oblivion until it was rediscovered in the 17th century and was renovated by Chidambara Swamigal. The idol of Lord Murugan is said to be the 'Swayambhu Murti', (not made by the hands of a man) and was found by Chidambara Swamigalin in an anthill. The temple enshrines Skanda in several forms based on the legends of Skanda Puranam. To the east of the temple the the 'Palmyra' tree and the anthill where the image of Skanda was found can be seen. The anthill is now covered with Kavacha (armor) and other jewels. The other things enclosed in the temple premises are a 24-pillared hall, a 30-pillared circular hall, a shrine to 'Vembadi Vinayaka' under a Neem tree

Stala Theerthams : 'Saravana Poigai' and 'Valliyar Odai' to the south of the temple, and another Teertham known as 'Pranavamritam'.

Kumaran Kunram, Chromepet



Name : BalaSubramaniyar Koil - Kumaran Kundram

Location :

The Subramanyar temple at Kumaran Kunram in Chromepet (near Chennai, Tambaram). The Subramanyar shrine is located on top of the hill and is visible over a distance and commands an impressive view of the surroundings.

History :

Way back in 1956, when Paramacharya visited Chromepet, looking at the hill, he said a temple for Murugan would come up there. It happened 20 years later. The temple for Siddhi Vinayakar was the first to be built in 1956. While clearing the hill side for a path, a lance (Vael) was found and this inspired the devotees to speed up work. The Swaminathaswamy temple took shape and consecration was performed in 1979. Gradually the hill acquired more shrines and the temple has been expanded and consecration conducted at regular intervals
Description :

At the base are shrines for Vinayaka, Sri Kaliswari, Idumban and navagraha. The steps, 108 in number, are well-laid. The rugged path that devotees once used runs adjacent. A few steps above is a small temple for Meenakshi-Sundareswarar with niches for Nataraja, Sarabeswara and Chandikeswara. Nataraja has his right foot up in the classic Cosmic dance pose.

On top is the shrine of Swaminathaswamy. The Moolavar is a lovely granite idol set in serene surroundings. There is a niche for Durgai. A perennial spring called Kumara Tirtham supplies water meeting the needs of the temple. Beneath the shrine is Dhyana mantapam. Considered pariharasthalam for Chevvai and Ketu, the temple draws a steady stream of devotees, it is said.

The view from top shows Chromepet and its neighbourhood spread out as a vast expanse. Silhoutted in the distance is the gopuram of the Tiruneermalai temple. Also distinctly visible is the Trisula hill.

Festivals :

Festivals are conducted with great fanfare. Maha Skandasashti is celebrated on the lines of the Tiruchendur temple. Soorasamharam is an elaborate affair, complete with fireworks. The young and old participate with great enthusiasm. Programmes for the entire year are charted out on a huge board at the entrance.

The Kartikai deepam festival when the temple is illuminated with a number of lamps rendering it visible all around, is of great beauty is data about the temple.

Websites :

http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/hill-temple-in-chennai-city/article2301891.ece 

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