Temples in Tirukkalikundram
Bhaktavatsleeswara Temple
Bhaktavatsleeswara temple is a Siva temple on top of the Vedagiri Hill. This hill has a five hundred foot elevation. The deity is known as Vedagiriswara. It is said that two birds have come here daily, since time immemorial, to receive food from the temple priest. It is said that these two birds are two sages who were cursed by Lord Siva. It is said that these two birds are two sages who were cursed by Lord Siva. It is believed that they have their bath at Varanasi, their food at Pakasitirtham, their rest at Chidambaram, and they worship at Rameswaram. You have to climb hundreds of steps to the top of the hill. As it is a fairly tough climb, it is possible to be carried up.
The priests prepare food and offer it to the Siva-linga. The priest then puts the rice in two silver pots and the birds come and eat it. The birds are seen for about 15 minutes, after which they fly away. Sometimes the birds eat out of the priest's hand. The birds usually arrive punctually every day between noon.
Academic scholars accept evidence found recorded on the temple at the bottom of the hill that these birds have come almost daily for at least a thousand years.
Sriperumbudur
This is the birthplace of Ramanujacarya. Sriperumbudur is 40 km southwest of Madras, halfway between Madras and Kanchipuram. There is the large Adi Kesava Vishnu Temple here. There is also a murti (statue) of Ramanujacarya that he personally embraced out of appreciation of its exact likeness of him. It is one of three Ramanuja deities installed during his lifetime. The deity is always decorated with an opulent crown, necklaces, earnings, and other ornaments of diamonds and gold.
There are regular buses to here from Madras and Kanchipuram.
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