About the temples
There are four Vishnu temples in the locality- Dharba Sayana Ramar temple, Kothanda Ramar temple and Lakshmi Narasimhar temple near each other at Pon vilantha Kalathur and Chaturbuja Ramar temple at Pon Padhar kudam.
Once Vedanta desikar couldnt get alms to feed Lord Hayagreeva at night while staying in this village. The next day morning the villagers complained to him that a white horse had destroyed their paddy fields in the night. When Desikar went there, the places through which the horse had run through had turned into gold. Hence the name Pon vilantha kalathur wherein pon refers to gold and vilantha means yield from cultivation in tamil.
Dharba Sayana Ramar temple -
The entrance to Dharba Sayana Ramar temple is through Kothanda Ramar temple. Apart from Thirupullani Sri Ramar can be seen in Dharba Sayana posture at this temple. Lakshman is seen behind the Lord while Anjaneya and Samudrarajan are seen standing in front to the left praying to the Lord.
The utsavar of this lord is believed to be from Dhanuskoti as per the inscription in lord's kreeta/ crown ( source:- wikipedia).
Kothanda Ramar temple -
The Lord appears in Pattabhiseka kolam with Sita devi sitting on the left lap unlike other temples where Sita devi appears on the right. Lakshmanan is to the right of the Lord. The temple is the oldest Vishnu temple in the vincity. Earlier only Ramar sannadhi was there. During the process of expanding the premises of the temple, Lord Venkata Varadhan emerged at the spot close to the Moolavar but facing South. So Lord Srinivasa in this unique posture with Abhaya hastam ( unlike the normal Varadha hastam) blessing devotees facing south while Ramar is facing east.
Acharyas and Alwars are close to Srinivasar and there is a seperate sannadhi for Alarmel mangai Thayar. There are also seperate sannadhis to Anjaneyar and Chakratalwar in the praharam.
Lakshmi Narasimhar temple
The moolavar of the temple is Vaikunta nathar while the utsavar is Lakshmi Narasimhar.
The utsavar idol is said to be brought from Thirukadal mallai divyadesam several hundred years back as it was feared that the idol would be washed away in floods. The thayar is known is Ahobila valli thayar.
Chaturbuja Ramar temple
The presiding diety of the temple is Chaturbuja Ramar with Ramar and Sitadevi in sitting posture while Lakshmanan is in standing posture. The other dieties in the sannadhi are Lakshmi Narayanan perumal, Alwars and Acharyas.
There are very few temples where Sri Ramar appears in Chaturbuja form and the most important among them is at Bhadrachalam. The Lord holds a chakra, sanku in 2 hands and the other two hands are in the posture of blessing the devotees. Anjaneyar moolavar gives darshan inside the sannadhi facing the Lord with folded hands.
How to reach
Take the road into Chengalpet from the GST road and move towards Thirukazhakundram. After the Court on the right, take the left to go towards Ottivakkam station. After crossing the railway line, cut to the right to reach Pon vilantha Kalathur.
One can reach Chengalpet by train or bus and local buses are there to PV Kalathur although the frequency is less. Alternatively passenger trains between Villupuram and Chengalpet stop at Ottivakkam station and three of the temples are at walking distance from the station.
Kondanda ramar temple, Dharba Sayana ramar temple and Lakshmi Narasimhar temple are close to each other. Chaturbuja Ramar temple is at Pon Padhar kudam which is about 4-5 kms from the rest of the temples.
If one is using public transport, it would be ideal to hire an auto or car from Chengalpet to and fro to all the temples.
Temple timings
Chaturbuja Ramar temple is open from 7.30 am to 8.30 am in the mornings and from 5-6 pm in the evenings. The same bhattar manages Kothanda Ramar temple and Dharba sayana ramar temple also.
Kothanda Ramar temple and Dharba sayana Ramar temples are open from 8 am to 10.30 am in the mornings and from 5 pm to 7.30 pm in the evenings.
Lakshmi Narasimhar temple is open in the mornings from 8 am to 11 am and in the evenings from 5 pm to 7.30 pm.
