Sri MariyAmman Temple - Punainallur,Thanjavur

This temple is situated at Punnainallur, a small village near Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India. 

The history states that, before waging a war with the demon Tanja of Tanjore, Lore Siva stationed the Ashta Saktis (eight powers) one at each of the eight directions, and the one stationed at the eastern direction is now the presiding deity of this temple. In the year 1680, when the Maharashtra king Venkoji Maharaja Chatrapati (1676 - 1688) of Tanjore was on a pilgrimage at Samaya- puram, where there is a famous temple dedicated to Kali, Mariamman appeared to the King in his dream and told him -that she (the idol) was in a forest of Punna trees at a distance of about 3 miles from Tanjore. The King lost no time in rushing to the spot indicated to him and recovered the idol from the jungle. 

The goddess cures her devotees of all physical ailments. A charismatic yet considerate form is seen here. Mud replicas of the different parts of the human body are placed in the temple as offering and pleading the mother for cure. This temple was constructed at the place and the idol installed and so the deity of this temple is known as Punnainallur Mariamman. It is said that the daughter of Tulaja Raja (1729-35) of Tanjore, who lost her eyesight in an illness, regained it on offering worship at this temple.

In general all fridays are special, in particular the fridays of the tamil month Aadi will be more special. Devotees throng the temple in August/September, the season which relates a lot with this goddess. Sundays are considered to be the most auspicious days for worshipping the Goddess, when huge crowds mainly consisting of womenfolk and children pay their homage. Poojas listed here are applicable for this temple only.The tariff shown are not actual cost payable to the temple. It includes our service charge, cost of pooja items and Delivery charges.

Sadhu Yateeshwara Swamy -Nagenahalli

Nagenahalli in Chennagiri taluk in Davanegare dist. in Karnataka is a snake sanctuary. Nagenahalli literally translates to cobras’ village.  Snakes are seen everywhere.  People and snake co-exists here. If bitten by any poisonous snakes and left unattended will results in death! However, this village stands as an exception. In this village, when bitten by a poisonous snake one doesn’t die. The poison doesn’t WORK. The village itself stands as a challenge to the science fraternity.

Snake poison doesn’t work on people in this village and this is a result of a curse! There is an interesting story behind this. A Saddhu by the name Yateeshwara swamy was living in this village. He lived a monk’s life. And was residing at the village’s Hanuman Temple. He went to each and every house and begged for a living. Yateeshwara Swamy was a staunch Hanuman devotee. Some even believe that he is a reincarnation of Lord Hanuman.  One day, when he had been to the neighboring village for begging, found a newborn boy baby in the bushes.  The sight moved him. The Saddhu took the new born with him. He took care of the baby very well, showered the boy with lots of love and affection. When the boy was 12, a snake bit the boy and the boy died. The Saddhu had been out, when returned and he found the boy dead. Through his yogic powers he realized the cause for the death. The Sadhu was very furious and was about to curse the entire Snake kingdom.  The Indra of Nagaloka- Nagendra appeared before him and apologized.  He begged the Sadhu to spare the snakes and not to curse the entire snake kingdom, and also promised to revive the child. The Sadhu cursed the snakes, anyway. Snakes in his village will not bite anyone; even if it does no one will die of the bite. The Sadhu marked the village limits with 4 stones in each direction. Each stone has an inscription written on it by the Saddhu himself.  As promised, the son was brought back to life by Nagendra.  Hence snakes are cursed in this village and their poison do not kill anyone! There is no vimochana for this curse. 

The Mile Stones & the encriptions

We do not know how old the temple is, we do not even know when Yateeshwara lived. What we know is villagers do believe that the snake will not bite anyone and the story is passed on from generation to generations. The entire miracle is owed to Yateeshwara Swamy, when he was alive he had made a rule that No villagers will kill snakes, and no villagers will consume meat. If anyone breeches this, they will have to face dire consequences!! To this date, villagers and the outsiders alike follow this rule. When snakes are found, they leave the snakes at the Saddhus Samadhi. When bitten, they visit the Lord Hanuman Temple, take the teertham and spend a night at the temple. Beside this, they do not do anything no medications or first aid.

Hanuman Temple

Lord Hanuman and Nagaraj

Scientists are yet to unlock the mystery as how it is possible that the poison is effective outside the village and not inside. There are around 70 houses in this village. There are a large number of deadly cobras here. It is a regular sight to see them in the houses, gardens etc. Neither the villagers nor the snakes are scared of each other. Villagers do not considered snakes as a threat. They all live in peace. Killing a snake is a strict NO NO. Even when a snake dies, villagers do the last rights as per Hindu customs. To till this date, there have been many reports of snakebites within the village, however there are no deaths so far.

Snakes are found everywhere in Nagenahalli

You may want to visit this village to have an out of the world experience!

May the lord Hanuman Bless us all with Happiness, prosperity and health!