Did S.Ramakrishnan or Anantha Vikatan plagiarise my Photo ?

The answer very well might be NO :-). The title was just to grab attention :-).

But someone from the vikatan editorial team seems to have used my photo from my blog in the issue of Anantha Vikatan (30-9-09) for Ramakrishnans article "Sirithu Velicham", instead of going to the place and taking a photograph.



My Photo from the post Thiruvalluvar temple







Though this is not uncommon for individuals, a publishing house like Vikatan must be more cautious.

Though the photo in the vikatan article looks uncannily similar to mine, appearances can be deceptive. Please compare the photos and let me know your views also.

Apart from that its great to know that my photo has been used in S.Ramakrishnans article.

For people who dont know S.Ramakrishnan, he is one of the most respected tamil writer now. He is an inspiration for all people who wish to travel to obscure and forgotten places and pen down their thoughts. I drooled over his writings in "Thunaiezhuthu" and "Deshandhri" , both of which came as a series in Vikatan and later were published as a book.

S.Ramakrishnan

His site is at sramakrishnan.com

If you havent encountered him till now, "Thunaiezhuthu" and "Desandhri" will be a good place to start.

Temples in Chennai - 5 - Thiruneermalai

Date : 23/3/2008
People : Mega,Arivoli and Srini

This is the Fifth post in the series Temples in Chennai. Have a look at the previous posts at

Temples in chennai

Thiruneermalai is one of the 108 Divya Desams and is near Tambaram in chennai.
There are two temples in thiruneermalai , Ranganathar Temple and the Neervanna perumal temple.

View of the hill from the Road



The theppakulam



Temple Entrance



The Temple Gopuram



Gopuram amidst the clouds







View of the Temple Tank from the hill



View of the hill along with the Temple tank




How to Go:

On the way from Guindy Kathipara junction to Tambaram, take the right opposite Lakshmi Theater after Pallavaram Bus stand and go straight.

Temples in Chennai - 4 - Kundrathoor Murugan Kovil

Place : Kundrathoor Murugan Kovil
Date : 12/1/2008
People: Mega & Senthilbabu

Kundrathoor Murugan Kovil is one of the old and popular temples in TN and my longtime wish to visit it materialised finally.

The Temple



View of the temple steps. I hear that these steps have been featured in many of the Tamil films.



The temple gopuram



View of the nearby hill from the temple. Ofcourse, After seeing a hill,even though there is nothing on top of it, we cannot not climb it.



We had a nice view of the Kovil from the nearby hill.



How To Go:

From Porur Junction, take the Kundrathoor road and you will reach this temple.

Temples in Chennai - 3 - Sekkizhar Kovil

Place : Sekkizhar Kovil
Date : 12/1/2008
People: Mega & Senthilbabu

Temples in Chennai - 3

This is the third part in the series, Temples in Chennai. If you missed out the previous posts, please checkout

Thiruvalluvar Kovil

Singa Perumal Kovil

And this time, its again a peculiar temple, NoT a temple in the truest sense.

Without any further ado let me say that I had the chance to visit a temple dedicated to Sekkizhar, One of the greatest saivite saints of India.

The wikipedia article on Sekkizhar does not give much details, but anyway you can have a look.

Sekkizhar

To add to that,

1. Sekkizhar was born in Kundrathoor, now a suburb of Chennai.
2. He constructed a Sivan temple, Thirunaageswaram in Kundrathoor, which is still a big temple.

The Thorana vaayil on the entrance to the street.



The Temple:



Some of the wordings inside the temple.








Ofcourse, I visited the Kundrathoor Murugan temple and some others also, but they would be another post another time.

How To Go :

This place is on the right side before Kundrathoor Murugan temple and is in walkable distance from it. Any bus going to Kundrathoor Murugan temple, would do .


Thanks to my friend senthilbabu for showing this little unknown place.

Temples in Chennai - 2 - Singa Perumal Kovil

Temples in Chennai - 2 - Singa Perumal Kovil

This is the second part in the series "Temples in Chennai". Have a lookkat the first one at

Temples-in-Chennai-1-Thiruvalluvar Kovil

The SingaPerumal Kovil is dedicated to Narasimmar and it seems that there are 11 major Narasimha kshetrams in TN . They are

1. Parikkal near Villupuram.
2. Singri near Pondicherry and Cuddalore.
3. Singaperumal Kovil near Chengalpet.
4. Poovarasan Kuppam near Panruti.
5. Sholingar near Walajapet.
6. Polur near Tiruvannamalai.
7. Sinthalavadi near Trichy.
8. Namakkal near Salem.
9. Singar Koil near Vellore.
10. Narasinghapuram near Tiruvallur.
11. Avaniyapuram near Kanchipuram.

You can get a list of Narasimmar temples outside TN at Outside TN

Entrance:

Sri Paadalathri Narasimha Perumal Thirukovil:



The Main Temple :





Steps around the temple



An interesting carving on the steps:



The Backside of the temple:



How to Go :

1. Take the Suburban Metro train from any of the station in the Chennai-Beach - Chengelput Route and get down at Singa perumal Kovil. From the station the temple is walkable distance.

Temples in Chennai - 1 - The Mylapore Connection of Thiruvalluvar

This is the first part in the series Temples in Chennai.

What better way to start than by paying homage to the great Thiruvalluvar.

The temple we would be looking at now is "The Thiruvalluvar Temple".

After my renewed interest in Tamil, I was waiting to visit this temple. I had visited this temple in my childhood days when I was in mylapre.

There cannot be any Tamilian who has not heard of Thiruvalluvar.

But any other detail other than his name and his work is not known for sure.

In such a situation a legend saying that Thiruvalluvar was born in a certain place is interesting to look at.

The myth is that Thiruvalluvar must have been born either in Mylapore or in Madurai.

Lets look at the Mylapore connection of Thiruvalluvar.

The only evidence that gives birth to this legend is the temple constructed in the premises which is claimed to be the birthplace of Thiruvalluvar himself.

Please read the below article on Thiruvalluvar Temple by Hindu before going further.

Hindu article

The entrance of the temple



The Moolavar : Its funny to say that Thiruvalluvar is the moolavar in this temple , but this is what this temple offers.



The exact Birthplace of Thiruvalluvar :

The protected place claiming that this is the birthplace of Thiruvalluvar.



Other gods

This temple is none less than other Hindu temples in playing host to many gods. like the Naga statues you see below. There are the ubiquitious navagraha statues also in this temple.



Inhabitants of the temple

The temple was desolate when I was there, but I went in a hot afternoon.
People who frequent this temple seems to be these kids who are happy with the big playspace they have got for themselves.



Note:

1. I donot in anyway claim this is the birthplace of Thiruvalluvar by any means ,but this is simply my effort in putting this online for many more eyes to look at.

2. This is NOT a ASI protected monument. It IS a Hindu temple as of now.