Periyapalayam Temple

Introduction about the Bhavani Amman Temple

The Bhavani Amman Temple is dedicated to Bhavani Amman and is located in the Periyapalayam village, Chennai. Here people flock to the temple mainly in the Aadi and Avani months. Here the Goddess is very significant; the temple is 45 km from the highway of Chennai.

History

The deity is the sister of Lord Krishna. Amman escaped from the grip of a demon king named Kamsan. She then warned the demon about his death and settled in the temple as Sri Bhavani. She is the sister of Krishna, who got birth in the womb of Yashoda, the foster mother of Krishna.

When Nanda brought Krishna to his home in Yashoda, he returned to the cell with their newborn girl to trick Kamsan. This was the cell where the demon king locked up the birth parents of Krishna.

The king thought the girl was Devaki's eighth child and wanted to kill her. The girl, however, turned herself into the Goddess and told Kamsa that it was worthless to kill Krishna as he had already taken birth in the world, and then the Goddess disappeared.

A folktale about the temple says that once, the place used to be a forest where cows would graze. In the afternoon, one cow would come, drink the milk and then spray milk on a nearby rock. The cowherd noticed it, and he couldn't understand why this cow sprayed all her milk on a rock and did not save anything for him to sell.

That is when he decided to sell the cow, but he wanted to observe the cow for a day. The next day, the cow did the same. The cowherd then took his axe, cracked the rock, and broke it into two. The exact moment he started spilling blood from his mouth and nose. A woman in a yellow and red dress appeared there, and she asked the cowherd to build a temple there, and his life would be saved. That is how the temple was built there, as per the folklore.

Importance/Significance

The temple is well maintained and organized to receive the devotees and provide a memorable and remarkable Darshan of the Goddess. Devotees visit the temple daily and Fridays are the best day to get blessings from the Devi.

If a devotee wears the neam leaves around their waist and goes around the temple, the Goddess wipes away every disease and trouble. It is also significant if people have the Abhishekam water sprinkled over them.

Many people also shave their heads, lift the fire pot, and do other activities to show devotion to the Goddess. People come in their vehicles and preparations to make food as they stay there for days for rituals.

The Architecture

Temple has received recent renovations, which makes it stand strong. The temple's main entrance leads to Lord Vinayaga; there is a separate Sannidhi for Arpudha Sakthi Vinayaga.

Since devotees regularly visit this temple, there are queues options for ladies and gents to make it easy to get the Darshan of the Goddess while managing the crowd well. Here the devotees can get both free or paid darshan.

If a devotee pays 25 rupees, he can get a close view of the Goddess; else, the distant view is available. The Shanku Chakra in the upper hands can be viewed where the deity is installed. In the lower hands, there is Amrita Kalasham and a sword.

After getting the view of the Goddess, people can also visit Sannidhis of Sri Subrammaniyar, Srinivasa Perumal with Mahalakshmi, Anjaneyar, and Sri Prasuramar and Naga Sannidhi.

Festivals

Usually, devotees visit the temple every day, but there are certain days and months on which the temple sees more rush. The Fridays, for example, huge crowd than on other days. People come here on Fridays and submit their prayers; they then give offerings to the Goddess in the neam leaves as per the rituals. Navratri is the most important festival celebrated here since the temple is dedicated to the Goddess and every Goddess is an avatar of Durga in some way.

Many other festivals are celebrated here, such as Chithira Pournami, Vinayagar Chaturthi, Vijayadashami, English New Year, Tamil New Year, Thai Poosam, etc.

Navaratri here is celebrated twice a year, once at the beginning of summer and another at the arrival of winter. This festival here happens for nine days and nights, which depicts the legend that the Goddess took nine avatars to defeat the demon and restore the balance.

People receive the blessings of the Goddess, and she infuses their life with positivity, wealth, health, and literacy.