Friday, December 6, 2024

Sri Chandramouleeswarar Temple, Thiruvakkarai, Viluppuram

 


















Moolavar: Sri Chandramouleeswarar
Amman: Sri Vadivambigai Amman

The presiding deity is revered in the 7th-century-CE Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the Nayanmars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines. The temple has a seven-tiered Rajagopuram, the gateway tower.

The temple has a seven-tiered Rajagopuram, the gateway tower that pierces the rectangular wall that houses all the shrines. The temple tank is located adjacent to the temple. The sanctum sanctorum houses one of the rare images of Chandramowleeswarar in the form of Lingam, an iconic form of Shiva with three faces, said to be of the very few in India. There is an Ardha Mandapa and a Mukha mandapa, pillared halls leading to the sanctum. The first precinct has the shrines of Vinayakar, Murugan, Durga, Dakshinamurthy and Chandikeswara. The second precinct has a hundred pillared hall.

Architecturally there are many things in this temple that are contrary to tradition. Generally, one can have the darshan of the main deity from the entrance itself, however, in this temple the main deity is not visible as the Moolavar is not in a straight line. In fact, none of main features of the temple—the Rajagopuram, flag post, Nandhi—are on a straight line and are found slightly away from one another. Also, unlike other temples the Sani Bhagavan’s Vahanam, the crow is facing the left side as opposed to the normal right side.All these are attributed to the vakram nature (contradictory) of the temple.

There is a separate shrine for Varadaraja Perumal Lord Vishnu and the idol has the unique feature of Prayoka Chakra, this cannot be seen elsewhere and the shrine for vakra Kali in the second precinct.
The exact year of building could not be ascertained from the inscriptions, but the stone structure of Chandramowleeswarar shrine in its current form, is built during the time of Chola king Aditya I (870–907 CE). The inscriptions on the two sides of the Southern shrine of the temple indicate an endowment from Aditya for perpetual lighting of lamps in the temple. 

Chandramowleeswarar and Varadaraja Perumal afforded to four able men. During the reign of Raja Raja Chola I (984-1015 CE), a village named Manali was gifted to the temple - the inscription indicates that the temple was built by Sembiyar Mahadevi. The structure of the Vishnu shrine is believed to have expanded during the reign of Rajendra Chola I (1012-1044).A bilingual inscription in the Vishnu temple indicates that the Kota Chola Vimanan built by Kota Chola was rebuilt during the reign of Athirajendra (1070-70). There are references to indicate that the Vakra Kali temple is existing from Pallava times.In modern times, the temple is administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments.

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