The Ganeshas of Thandalam

While we were on the recce visits of the temples along the banks of the river Cooum, we visited a village called Thandalam, which is one of the eighteen Kottams of Koovam as per the Koova Puranam. This village has the famous Thaduthaleeswarar Temple where there are two sanctum sanctorums for Lord Shiva and the Goddess is found with a  Thali (mangalsutra) carved into her neck.
As the case with most village temples, this temple was not open when we reached there. While we waited for the priest to arrive, our attention was attracted by the small temple across the road. Little did we realize what was in store for us.

This temple was also closed and on peering into it we found that it was a Ganesha temple and he is found here with his consorts Siddhi and Buddhi.

The priest had still not arrived at the temple opposite, so we thought we would wait here for a few minutes. A casual look at the Vimanam showed us that there were more Ganeshas there.

We decided to go around, braving the broken glass bottles strewn there. It was so delightful to watch the Ganeshas on the Vimana taking the form of the Koshta Devathas of each direction. As Yoga Ganapathy in the form of Dakshinamoorthy for the South,

We had Ganesha in the form of Brahma with four heads on the lower and upper levels of the Vimana
In the form of Vishnu with conch and discus on both hands on another
In his own form, but as Nardhana Ganapathy, and Mooshika Ganapathy on yet another side.
We were amazed to see this depiction in such a small temple.
Such are the beautiful treasures that lie unnoticed along the banks of the Koovam river!
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To check out some articles on Cooum temples on Aalayam Kanden, click http://aalayamkanden.blogspot.in/p/cooum-riverside-temples.html