Moolavar: Sri Vedapureeswarar
Amman: Sri Balakujambigai
A padal petra sthalam and is the 8th shiva sthalam in the Thondai Naduof the total 276 padal petra sthalam. Saint Thirugnanasambanthar has sung pathigam in this temple. Also it is said that Apar (Thirunavukuarasar) also has song hymns in this temple but those songs are not been discovered yet. Saint Arunagirinadhar has also sang songs in praise of Lord Murugan of this temple in his revered Thirupugazh.
This temple was constructed during the 6th century CE. There are many legends associated with this temple and few of them are given below.
After cursing Dhakshan for performing a yagam without inviting lord shiva Dhakshayani prayed to lord shiva here before jumping into the agni to destroy the yagam.
Another legend associated with this place is that a devotee of Lord Shiva who was looking after this temple, had grown palm trees on the banks of the river Cheyyar and around the temple’s fields to protect the temple’s walls from erosion and floods. However, all of these palm trees were male and did not yield any fruits. The Jains laughed at him and started taunting him by saying “why don’t you ask your God to change these male palm trees into female (fruit bearing) ones?”.
When Saint Thirugnanasambanthar came to this temple, he was informed about this incident. It is believed that as a result of Thirugnanasambanthar’s hymns, all the male palm trees were transformed into female palm trees. Some of these trees can still be seen in this temple. On the left side of the entrance, there is a huge palm tree made of stone - half of it depicts a male palm tree and the other half depicts a female palm tree. Lord Shiva can be seen seated under this tree, and Saint Thirugnanasambanthar can also be seen at his side. Thirugnanasambanthar’s idol looks as if he is reciting his pathigam.
Another legend is that when Saint Thirugnanasambanthar visited Thiruvothur, the Jains at this place conducted a yagna and sent a poisonous snake to kill him. He redirected the snake back to their leader who realized Sambanthar’s power and surrendered to him. Sambanthar prayed to Lord Shiva who then appeared as a snake charmer and took the snake away. To commemorate this incident, there is a huge idol of Nagalingam / Sri Naganathar (snake with five heads) installed in this temple.
After failing in their attempts to kill him, the Jains invited Thirugnanasambanthar for a competition (Punalvadam in Tamil). During this competition, the Jains wrote their slokas on a palm leaf and put it in the river Cheyyar. This palm leaf got carried away in the river stream. Whereas when Thirugnanasambanthar did the same, the palm leaf in which he wrote his pathigam floated against the stream, came back and got stationed at a particular place. After this incident, it is believed that the Jains accepted their defeat. This place is called “Cheyyatril Ventran”.
Another legend is that once, a local ruler by the name of Thondaiman requested Lord Shiva to help him conquer the kingdom of King Visuvasu. Lord Shiva sent Nandhi along with Thondaiman to help him defeat Visuvasu. In memory of this, Nandhi here is facing the entrance of the temple instead of facing the lord.
Another legend about the Nandhi’s posture here is that when Lord Shiva preached Veda to the celestial gods and sages, Nandhi was instructed to keep a watch at the entrance to prevent any disturbances.
Another significance of this temple is that from the center of the main hall you can see and worship all the five deities at the same time - Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvathi, Vinayakar, Murugan, Navagraham and the Palm trees. This is a unique feature of this temple and you cannot find such placement of shrines in any other temple in Tamil Nadu.
The idols of all the “Santhanachariars” namely, Meykandar, Arulnandhi Sivam, Maraignana Sambanthar and Umapathi Sivam can also be seen in the corridors. Also, Panchabhootha lingams can be seen in the outer praharam. It is believed that devotees will get the benefit of visiting Kanchipuram, Thiruvanaikkaval, Sri Kalahasthi, Chidambaram and Thiruvannamalai by worshiping these five lingams from here itself.
Contact: Kurukal Kandaswamy at 9443345793
No comments:
Post a Comment