Thiruvaalam pozhil, Athmanaadeswarar Temple:
He place Thiruvaalam pozhil is about 17 kms from Tanjvoore. The place is on the way to Kandiyoore and Thirukattupalli. This is one of the Siva Devara Sthalam of Tanjavoore district. This is one of the Saptha Sthana Sthalams.
The Main Raja gopuram is of five storeys.
As we enter in, we see Dwajasthambam and Nandi.
Sthala Vruksham is Vilvam and Teertham is Cauveri.
Main Deity is Swayambu Lingam known as Arulmigu Athmanaadeswarar facing west, and his consort known as Gyanambikai Amman seen in separate sanctum.
Other deities seen in the temple as we go around the prakaram are Vinayakar, Meda Dakshina Moorthy, Kasi Viswanadhar, Lord Murugan with Valli and Devanai, Chandikeswarar, Navagraham, Pancha Lingam Nalwar and Natarajar.
Ashtavasukal worshiped Lord Siva here and were blessed. Thirunavukkarasar sang hymns on Lord Siva of this temple.
Lord Siva is mentioned as Parambaikudi Thiruvaalam pozhil Mahadevar in the stone inscriptions of the temple.
Thiru Needoore: Arulmigu Somanadhar temple.
The place is about 5kms to north of Mailaduthurai. The place is also known as Vakularanya Kshetram.
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This temple is one of the, Devara Sthalam temple of Nadu Nadu.
The temple Raja Gopuram and we see two prakarams in the temple. Vimanam over the main sanctum is of two layers.
Nandi is seen in a mandapam.
Sthala Vruksham is Magizha Maram (Tree) and there are nine teertham for the temple.
Main Deity is Swayambu Lingam known as Arulmigu Somanadhar and his consort known as Veyuru tholi Ammai / Veda Nayaki Amman. Urchavar, in the temple here is known as Soma Skandar.
As we go around the prakaram we see Kailasa Nadhar, Siva Lokanadhar, Kasi Viswanadhar, Murugan, Vinayakar, Saptha Kanniyar, Natarajar and Aanandha Thandava Moorthy.Vinayakar here is known as Siddhi Vinayakar.
Vinayakar is seen in three forms as big, old and wise which are represented as Chintamani Vinayakar, Selva Maha Vinayakar and Sivaandha Vinayakar. Before starting any new work people come here worship Vinayakar and with his guidance they start the work.
Sthala Purana says once when Indran came down to Bhoolokam he was not able to find a Siva Lingam to do his daily morning worship of Lord Siva. He collected sand from the Cauveri River bed and made a Siva Lingam and performed his pooja. He sang a song to have darshan of Lord Siva dancing. Lord Siva was pleased with his song and gave darshan for him as he wished. So Lord Siva here is also known as Gana Nardhana Sankaran. When he left the place, he left the Siva Lingam here. We can see the finger prints on the Siva Lingam.
King Danmadha Sudhan due to his Karma in previous birth was born as a crab in his next birth. The King approached Sage Naradha who guided him to worship Lord Siva in this place to get rid of his karma and gain Moksha. The king took bath in River Cauvery and worshiped Lord Siva as he was guided by Naradha Muni. Lord Siva appeared and blessed the king. Lord Siva made hole in the Lingam and the Crab (King) entered inside this hole and attained Moksha. The hole is there in the Siva Lingam.
Lord Sooryan worshiped Goddess here hence she is known as Adithya Abhya varadha Ambikai. Sani Bagwan is seen in the mandapam in front of Goddess. One who worships Goddess here in this place gets rid from the power of Sani Dosha.
Sundarar and Thiru Navukkarasar sang Hymns on Lord Siva of this place.
This place is about 15kms from Ulundoorpettai, Vizhupuram, TN. This is one of the Devara sthalam of Nadunadu.
Main Deity Swayambu Lingam known as Chandra Shekarar / Vennaiappar seen under Rudraaksha Pandal and his consort known as Neelamalar Kanni in standing posture. She resides in separate sanctum. Here in the temple Lord Siva is seen in the centre of Soolam as Urchavar Idol which denotes Ardanareeswara tathvam.
Adikara Nandi is seen with both palms together here.
During the month of Feb/ Mar (Masi Tamil month), Early morning sun rays falls on Lord Siva and we see change of different colours.
Sthala Vruksham is Punnai and Teertham is well water, which is in front of Ambaal sanctum.
Other deities seen in the temple as we go around the prakaram are Vara Siddhi Vinayakar, Murugan with Valli and Devani is seen seated on peacock, Kasi Viswanadhar, Visalakshi, Natarajar seen in separate sanctum, Navagraham, Chandeekeswarar and Bairavar.
Lord Vishnu is seen seated with Mahalaksmi with both her palms together, on his left lap as Lakshmi Narayanar. Their eyes are closed as if they are meditating.
Lord Siva Himself built a dam with paddy hence the place is known as Nelanai which later changed into Neivanai.
Thiru Gaynasambandhar, during his pilgrimage reached this place in the night. He had difficulty in tracing the path. Lord Siva asked Ambikai to guide Sambandhar to reach the temple. “She” met Sambandhar in nearby place, known as Ethalavadi. When he reached the temple, Sambandhar worshiped Lord Siva who gave a wonderful darshan for him. In excitement he danced and sang Hymns on Lord Siva. The idol of Gyana Sambandhar is beautiful in dancing form. Thirunavukkarasar and Sundarar are seen in the sanctum.
Sthala puranam: People of this region did not worship god because of their wealth and luxury. In order to teach them a lesson Varuna was asked to pour down as rain causing heavy disaster. Lakes and tanks began to breach. People started worshiping “God” to rescue them. Lord appeared as a youth and asked them to bring their paddy bags from their homes to build dam. They looked upon the youth as their saviour. He said “God” is the one who gives prosperity and they should be grateful to Him. He gave them pot full of Gold to recover their loss and disappeared. Lord appeared before them as Swayambu Lingam. They raised a temple for Lord and named him as Swarnakateswarar
Siddhalinga matam: This place is one of the Devara Vaippu Sthalam.
The place is about 10 kms SE of Thiru koiloore on the south bank of River Penna.
The Raja Gopuram of the temple is of three tiers.
As we enter we see Dwajasthambam.
Main Deity is Swayambu Lingam known as Vyagya Padhar and his consort known as Neela Visalakshi Amman. The Swayambu Lingam came up under Kondrai Vruksham.
Other Deities seen in the temple are Vinayakar, Murugan, Dakshina Moorthy, Durgai, Natarajar, Chandikeswarar, Bairavar and Navagraham.
Temple Pushkarani.
Here in this place Vinayakar and Sundarar had discussion, hence Vinayakar is known as Vadhadum Vinayakar.
Vyagyapadha Muni worsiped Lord Siva here and was blessed by Lord. Hence, Lord Siva in this place is known as Vyagyapadhar.
Sundarar sang hymns on Lord Siva of this temple.
The place Gramam is about 23Kms NE of Ulundoorpettai on the south bank of Malataru.
The Raja Gopuram is of five tiers. There is only one prakaram
The sanctums of Lord Siva, Ambal and Subramanyar are in Somaskand form. Subramanyar sanctum is in-between Lord Siva and goddess
Near the entrance of Gopuram unlike other temples Vinayakar and Muruganposition is changed
Sthala Vruksham is Vanni. Teertham known as Brahma Teertham
Main Deity is Swayambu Siva Lingam known as Arulmigu Sivaloka Nadhar/ Mundeesurar, with his consort Known as Kanaar Kuzhali / Soundara Nayaki in different sanctum.
Other Deitiies seen, while we go around the prakaram are Vinayakar sanctum, Murugan sanctum, Natarajar, Dakshina Moorthy sanctum, Iyanar, Duragai.
Saptha Madhar, sanctum and Navagraham. Vinayakar is known as Varasiddhi Vinayakar.
Dakshina Moorthy here is seen seated on Nandi, on a mountain. Here kallala maram is missing
Sthala purana says originally Lord Siva was on Lotus flour in pushakarani. Later The Siva Lingam was installed by King Chokkalingam in the temple.
Tindi and Mundi the Dwarapalakar of Lord Siva worshiped here and they were blessed.
Stone inscriptions mentions the name of the place was Mudicharamin olden days later the place is known as Thiru Mundecharam. It is mentioned the place was known as Gramam.in olden days.
Lord Siva offered a bag full of Vibuthi (Pokkanam) to King Veerapandiyan. Hence he is known as Pokkanam kodutha Nayanar.
Brahma and Devandran worshiped Lord Siva here in this place.Thiru Navukkuarasar sang Thiru Thondaga Thiru Padigam on Lord Siva.
Thiru Chopuram: Thiru Chopura Nadhar / Mangala pureeswarar
Temple.
The place is about 20 kms from Cuddlore.
The place is also known as Thyagavalli. The temple is on the shore of Bay of Bengal. This is one the Devara Sthalams of Nadu Naadu.
A Temple that was burried and recoverd from sand.
Some thousands of years back the
temple was buried into sand due to fury of the sea.
In the later years of 19th
century the sand was cleared and temple was constructed once again.
Main Deity is Swayambu Lingam Arulmigu
Thiru Chopura Nadhar/ Mangala pureeswarar and his consort Chopura Nayaki Amman
/ Sathyadakshi Amman...
Here Sivalingam is on square peetam
as Avudai and the Lingam portion is made of Sand. Palm print of Agasthya muni
is visible on the Lingam portion. There is a small ball like bulb which is
considered as Ganga. Lord Vishnu and Brahma are
seen worshipping at the back of sanctorum.
Something unique in this temple is
Turmeric and Kumkum is used for worship of Lord Siva here. Hence the Lord is
known as Mangala pureeswarar.
Unique factors
One can here sound of Saptha Swaram from
Dakshina Murthy idol when it is tapped.
Here White Vastram is used for Dakshina
Murthy instead of Yellow which is normal. Dakshina Murthy is seen with Nagam to
left hand and Agni to right hand which is in reverse order.
Teertham is known as Chopura
Teertham and Bay of Bengal.
Sthala Vruksham is Kondrai Tree.
Inside the inner prakaram we see
Vinayakar, Lakshmi, Murugan, Verrateswarare, Kannappar, Navagraham,
Lingothbavar, Dakshina Murthy, Bairavar, and Natarajar sanctums.
Sthala purana says once when a
devotee came here to worship Lord Siva he did not see the temple but a little
portion of Kalasa was visible from within the sand. The residence of the village helped in
removing the sand and the temple was visble.
During the marriage of Lord Siva and
Parvthy the land tilted to one side, due to the weight of complete Mankind and Devas
who gathered to see the function. So Lord Siva asked Agyasthya Muni to travel
towards south to balance.
As the sage was traveling he
installed Siva Lingam in many places for his worship. Once when he came to this
place he had severe stomach ache and he prayed to Lord Siva. He tried to make a Lingam
of sand which was available there. He was not able to do the Lingam. He realised Lord was testing him. He finally
used some herbs found near by and extracted juice from it and mixed them to
sand and made a Lingam out of it. The Lingam has palm print of sage Agasthya
when he installed it. He was relieved from stomach ache.
Agasthiyar and Thyagavalli
worshipped Lord Siva of this place.
Sambandhar sang Hymns on Lord Siva
of this temple.
Thiru Narayur: Thiru
Sounderyeswarar temple.
This temple is one of the Devara Sthalam in Nadu Nadu
temples. The temple is about 6 kms to NE from Kattumannar koil.
The main Raja Gopuram is of three tiers.
Main Deity is Swayambu Lingam known as Arulmigu Soundaryesar
and his consort known as Thirupura Sundari Amman.
Sthala Vruksham is Punnai.
Teertham of the temple is known as Karunya Teertham.
As we go around we see a separate sanctum for Polla Pillayaar.
It is a Swayambu Moorthy.
Murugan, Thirumoola Nadhar, Navagraham, Natarajar,
Bairavar, Nalvar, Sekizhar sanctums are there.
We see painting of Polla Pillayaar when we go around the
prakaram
Durvasa muni was performing penance here to get darshan of
Lord Siva. His penance was disturbed by a Gandhrava. Durvasa Muni cursed him to
become a Crane (Naarai) for his act and refused to forgive him. Gandarva prayed
to Lord Siva, to suggest way to get relief. Lord Siva asked
to perform abishekam to Him, daily with Ganga
water to get out of the curse.
Being a bird it took Ganga
water from Varnasi and performed abishekam to Lord Siva here. It got salvation
and hence the place is known as Narayur
Sthala Purana:
Nambi Andar Nambi as a young boy used to watch his father
performing pooja to Pollaa Pillayaar and finally offering nivedana (neyvedyam). Once
it happened so, the boy had to perform the pooja in absence of his father. When
he offered nivedhanam, Pillyaar did not eat. He was worried why Pillayaar is
not eating the offering. He started weeping and punishing himself by dashing
his head.
Pillayaar was touched with the sincere Bakthi of the child
and consumed the offering.
When everyone was talking about this King Rajaraja Cholan
came to know about the miracle and he refused to believe. King came with
nivedhana and asked Nambi to offer it to Pillayaar. Now the pillayaar was keeping
silent. Nambi was worried and sang the Iratai Mani Malai hymns which moved
Pillayaar and he consumed the offering in presence of the gathering.
It was Nambi Andar Nambi who gathered Thevaram sung by
Moovar which was damaged by pests. Idol of Nambi and King Rajaraja cholan is
seen in the temple.
There is a Small sanctum for Nambi Andar Nambi who is seen
holding kalasam in his hand.
Thiru Navukkuarasar and Thiru Gyana Sambandhar sang Hymns on
Lord Siva of this temple.
Chidambaram
Temple: Cuddlore District.
The place Chidambaram / Thillai is about 44 kms from
Cuddlore. This is One of the Nadu Nadu Devara sthalam, and one of the Pancha
Boodha Sthalam which denotes Space/ Akashya.
Raja Gopuram is of seven tiers. There are four prakaram in
the temple.
Sthala Vruksham is Thillai Maram. Once the place was dense
with Thillai tree and hence the name was Thillai. Now we do not find these
trees here. There is a Thillai tree, made of stone seen in west prakaram of Thiru
moolattanaar sanctum
Teertaham is Siva Gangai, Anantha teertham, Brahma teertham,
Vyaghyapadhar teertham, and Thiru parkadal.
Main Deity is Swayambu Lingam known as Arulmigu Thiru Moolattaneswarar
and his consort known as Sivakami Amman in Seperate temple with two prakaram
near the tank.
To inner prakaram we see sanctums of Polla Pillyar, Murugan,
Kala Biravar, Spatika Lingam, Maragadha Lingam, Sundaresar, Durgai, Govinda
rajar, Navagraham,
Greatness of the temple: Natarajar in Thillai is more
important. Thandavam here known as Ananda Thandavam. Next to him a there is a small
sanctum which is covered by screen. During Aarathi time they remove the screen
where we see only a Thiruvasi to which a garland of golden Vilva is hung. This
denotes God is in the form of space (Akasha) which has neither the end nor the
beginning. This is what known as “Chidambara Rahasyam”
King Chola and Nambiandaar Nambi worshipped Pollaa pillayar
of Thiru Narayoor. They were blessed by Pillayar and came to know the place as
Thillai, where Hymns sung and signed by Sundarar, Thiru Navukkuarasar and Thiru
Gyana Sambandhar were collected and kept. When they searched in that place they found
Hymns were fully covered by Puttru (mud). Many of them were damaged and rest
they preserved carefully.
Govinda Raja perumaal sannidhi is near Natarajar Sannidhi.
There is a separate dwajasthambam for perumal temple. Govinda raja perumal is
one 108 Divya Desa perumal. In front of
the perumal if we stand on the platform we can darshan of Perumal, Natarajar
and Lord Brahma.
Periya puranam of Sekzhiar was inaugurated in thousand
pillar mandapam of this temple
Nanadnar a staunch devotee of Lord Siva wanted to visit the
temple. Nandanar was a dalit farm worker. His master (upper class) denied grant
him leave, since he was not entitled the previlage of worship. Nandanar did not leave his hope. Finally one
day when he came to Chidambaram he was not allowed to enter inside the Temple. He tried to get the glimpse of Lord Siva from
the entrance. Since Nandi was in front of Lord Siva, he was not able to view
Him. Lord Siva was happy with his devotion and Nandi was asked to move to a
side, for Nandanar to have darshan. Nandanar attained salvation here and he
merged with Lord Siva.
There are Five Sabhas in the temple namely Chittrambalam,
Ponnambalam, Perambalam, Nirudha Sabha and Rajtha Sabha.
Sages Patanjali and Vyagyapadar were blessed to view the
dance of Lord Siva in Kailas. They were happy
and they wanted people on earth also to be blessed like this. They penanced for
this purpose to Adhimoolar. Lord was happy with their selfless penance and responded.
Lord Siva along with 3000 sages came to this place and performed Dance Darshan
in the month of Thai (Jan-Feb) at 12 AM. on Poosa Nakshtra. These 3000 sages
then came to known as Thillai Moovayiravar.
It is said there is a similarity in the design of Natarajar
sanctum and human body.
Nataraja shrine has 21,600 golden tiles engraved with
NAMASHIVA Mantram which is equal to number of times one breathes each day.
There are 72,000 nails used which represent the nerves of human body. The 9
entrances represent the 9 conveniences in the body which activate our
movements. The five steps denote NA Ma SHI VA YA Mantra. There are 64 wodden
supports which represent 64 arts. There are 96 windows which refer to 96
philosophies. The 16 pillars denote Pancha Boodham, 6 Sastras and 4 Vedas.
Thiru Gyana Sambandhar, Sundrar and Thiru Navukarasar sang
Hymns on Lord Siva. Arunagiri Nadhar sang Thirupugazh on Murugan.
Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Temple:
The temple is situated on a hillock know as Indrakeeladri, on the banks of River Krishna at Vijayawada.
Main shrine here is Sri Kanaka Durga. This is one of the 51 Sakthi peetam. Other deities seen in the premises are Lord SriGanapathy, Lord Sri Nataraja and Sivakami ammai.. We have to walk little further to have darshan of Lord Malleswara from Sri Kanaka Durga shrine. On our way out from the temple, to north side we see few steps that lead us to Lord Subramanya shrine. In front of the shrine we see lot of Nagar idols installed.
Purana says once a Yaksha by name, Keela penance about Goddess Durga, who was pleased with him, and she told she would fulfill his desire. Keela requested her to be in his heart always. She asked him to stay back in this place near River Krishna as a hillock, and one day she will reside on this hillock as Durga.
In Kritha yugam, Goddess Durga, after her fight with Mahisha suran, stayed back on this mountain Keela as Mahishasura Mardhini and fulfilled his wishes. Indra worshiped Goddess here, as Kanaka Durga so the hillock, is known as Indra Keeladri from then.
Brahma performed Sata Aswameda Yaga with devotion, by which Lord Siva was pleased and rested on this hillock as Jyothir Linga. Brahma worshiped Lord Siva with Jasmine flowers, so he is known as Mallikeswarar.
Purana says in Dwapara Yugam, Arjuna penanced about Lord Siva to obtain Pasupadastram, which is a powerul weapon. Lord Siva disguised himself as kiratha and fought with Arjuna to test his valour before, blessing him with Pasupadastra. Hence the place is also known as Phalguna Teertha.
His Holiness Sri Jagadguru Adi Sankarar visited the temple. He has installed Sri Chakkram at the feet of Goddess.
The temple was managed by Mogalaya Ruler Taanisha with the assistance of his ministers Akkanna and Madhanna.
- Alagai / Tanjaipureeswarar Temple:
The temple is one of the Devara Vaippu Sthalam.
The temple is located 3 kms from Tanjavore Town. The place is known as Alagapuri on the banks of River Vennaru.
From Alagai / Tanjapureeswarar temple, Tanjvoore.
The temple gopuram is of three storeys. As we enter inside we see Dwajasthambam.
From Alagai / Tanjapureeswarar temple, Tanjvoore.
Main deity here is Swayambu Lingam known as Arulmigu Tanjapureeswarar and his consort known as Anandha valli Amman.
Sthala vruksham of the temple is Vilvam. Here the teertham is Veearu and Sivagangai Teertham.
From Alagai / Tanjapureeswarar temple, Tanjvoore.
Other deities seen in the temple are, Vinayakar, Subramanyar, Natarajar, Dakshina Moorthy, Kubera and Thirunavakkuarasar.
Purana says Kubera was born here, as a vaisaya and worshiped Sivalinga of this place. Hence the place is known as Alagai.
There are number of stone inscriptions seen in the temple.
- Thiru vallam / Koneri Rajapuram.
This is one of 275 Siva Devara sthalam. The place Thiru vallam is about 6 kms from Thiruvavaduthurai, and 10 Kms to SE of Thiru Vedaimarudhur. The temple has a Raja Gopuram of three storey and two prakarams.
Main Deity is Swayambu Lingam known as Arul Migu Uma Maheswarar / Bhoomi Nadhar and his consort known as Mangala Nayaki Amman. Teertham is known as Mangala teertham and Sakthi Teertham. Sthala vruksham is Poopul tree.
Importance: There is no Nandi in this temple. Bhoodevi worshipped Lord Siva, of this place, hence the name Bhoomi Nadhar. The place is also known as Bhoomiswaram.
Natarajar of this place is Swayambu idol. The Natarajar here is famous. They say the nerves are visible in the idol. He is seen in separate sanctum in Maha Mandapam
Purana says King Pururavas worshipped Lord Siva here in this place. He was blessed by Lord Siva and was relieved of his sufferings, due to Leprosy.
Sambandar and Appar have sung hymns on Lord Siva of this place.
This is a small place, and we reached the place at 10 AM. The temple was open and the, gurukkal came to temple for morning pooja when we were about to leave the temple.
At the sight of Gurukkal we were happy, we will be able to see Natarajar sanctum which was locked. The system here is two persons have to operate their keys together.
Gurukkal was ready to do but the other person who was incharge did not show any interest. We waited for ½ hour in the mandapam for him to open the sanctum.
A group of art students entered for their project work in the temple at that time. The person, who was in charge, started running after the group that came and simply refused to open the sanctum. I think it was our bad luck; we had to skip and leave the temple. The whole mood of our trip on that day was spoiled. We do plan and start visiting temples, once we happen to skip any temple due to any inconvenience, we do not know when we will be able to visit the place once again.
We only hope by Lord Siva’s grace we will be able to make up with this particular temple Konerirajapuram and have a glimpse of Natarajar.
[Natarajar][LordSiva] [Nandi]
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