A STAR TEMPLE - ANUSHAM - THIRININDRAVUR

ENTRANCE OF THE TEMPLE

NO KODIMARAM INSIDE THE TEMPLE

The King had just started his evening ride on a horse back.He likes these rides and often takes couple of soldiers as his company.His minister always come with him unless he has some pressing work related to the state.The second one is more of a helper who is kept at a arm's distance.Several things are achieved by these confidential and undercover rides.The king comes to know the necessities of the people,their well being,their needs and at times the king also gets first hand information of the safety and security of the kingdom.
The sun had just disappeared and moon was about to take control of the night.The minister reminded the king that they are welcoming a guest from ceylon tomorrow morning.The king said "yes minister we will go back to the palace".
"Let me wash up and change my dress I think you also should do it".
Both the king and the minister alighted from the stallion and went to the near by pond.
The soldier ran and checked the cleanliness of the pond and said "sir the pond and the water is fine".
The king asked the soldier to light the lantern with the wick and stand near by.
They finished dressing up and started back to the horse and few meters before the horse the candle stopped burning. Darkness engulfed and the peeved soldier went two steps back lit the wick again and strolled back to the king.
The lantern stopped burning at the same place again.
The bemused minister uttered "Sir there is aboslutely no wind and why the lantern stops burning".
The king asked the soldier to come few steps infront and light the wick again and asked him to go the same place.
To everyone's  astonishment the lantern  stopped burning exactly at the same place.
"In our kingdom there is no short of miracles" the king exclaimed.
"What do you think".
The minister did not answer and he tried again.
The same thing happened.
There was absolutely no wind.
The soldier was drenched in sweat and he was scared.The king was a rationalistic guy and he said" let us go back to the palace and come back tomorrow".
Next day the king was busy with Ceylonese delegates till afternoon.
He ventured alone with his stallion and reached the spot where the eerie stuff happened.
The entire place he was looking for something which he himself did not know.
A small boy was playing with his goats and he asked the king "what are you doing here alone"?.
"Kid did you notice or felt anything abnormal here".
The kid said this is a holy place see from this place "you walk hundred meters you will find a tree and behind that tree you will find a Sivalingam under the ground".
"Show me kid and if the linga is present I will give you two more goats".
The kid said "no give me a horse like this".
From the point at which the wick stopped burning exactly hundred meters further in a straight line the King found a Ala maram.
The king tried to excavate the area where the boy showed and after digging a few meters he found the suyambu lingam.
The astonished king tried to take the lingam with him.
The kid mocked at him "you are a adult but you have brains like a goat".
No one can ever take the lingam from here because here there should be a temple.
The kid disappeared.
Enlightment struck the king.
Life has taught me so many things.Today I learnt and felt god through a kid.
The king built a temple here.

This is called a thiri(wick)ninra(stopped)oor(town).

LAKSHMIPUREESWARAR

There is one more legend associated with this temple.

Jamadagani, a great sage,his wife and his son Parasuramar lived in this place.
Jamadagani's wife once saw a beautiful male walking across her and for a moment  she was disturbed.
This was noted by Jamadagani and he could not tolerate this.
He summoned his son and instructed him to kill his mother.
Parasuraman killed his mother as his father instructed.Jamadgani asked his son what he wanted for doing this act.
He said he wanted his mother back.Jamadagani could not take back his word, so he resurrected his mother back.
To clear their respective sins father and son duo prayed at this place making Sivalingams.
These lingams are seen  in the outer prakram of the temple.
A small Vishnu idol is present next to the two lingams.
When I entered the temple the rain had just stopped leaving the temple wet.
I was alone and I found there was no Kodimaram at this temple.
The temple was poorly maintained and most of the Kamadhenu over the wall of the temple were broken and the temple requires maintainence and renovation.
The main idol is called as Lakshmipureeswarar as Lakshmi prayed to Siva here.

DAKSHINAMURTHY WITH HIS LEFT FOOT ON MUYALAGAN[ he has a serpent]

TWO LINGAMS WORSHIPPED BY JAMADGANI AND PARASURAMAN

VISHNU NEXT TO TWO LINGAMS

After finishing my customary recitation of sivapuranam I strolled out and went around the temple.
The Dakshinumurhy idol looked different.
Dakshinamurthy's left foot was placed on Muyalagan and Muyalagan is holding a snake in his hand.
After getting the blessings of Siva I sat for some time.
Parasuraman and Jamadgani passed in front of me.
This temple is also a star temple for "Anusha natchathiram".
When I walked out of the temple I was thinking why Dakshinamurthy was placing his left foot on Muyalagan and why Muyalagan is carrying a snake.I could not find a answer.
May be people who read this might find the answer.

BROKEN KAMADHENU -NEEDS RENOVATION

Kodimaram: Dwajasthambam or flag pole - kept between inner sanctum and entrance of the temple.
Muyalagan:   Muyalagan means acts of ignorance.
Kamadhenu:  Holy cow.
Suyambu lingam:Self manifested lingam.
Alamaram:Banyan tree.

Location of the temple: From Vaitheswaran koil to Mayiladudurai road. 6 Kms enrouteewe will find this place and take a left turn.A sign board indicating the temple is present.

Kumbakonam based Sivasthalangal Part 2-Thirupurambiyam,Vijayamangai,Thiruvaikavur and Innambur

Everything is dictated and done by Siva. In two years I had visited lots of temples somehow unable to write about them. This bunch of temples I had visited last year and luckily my notes of them were preserved so that I was able to recollect and chronicle them.All these four temples are soaked with history and most importantly were visited by Appar,Sundarar,Thirunavukarasar and Thirugnanasambandar.

THIRUPURAMBIYAM:

Thirupurambiyam is a small village around 5 kms away from Swamimalai.If we are travelling from Chennai or Pondicherry we need not go to Swamimalai.Three kms before Swamimalai there is a road  exiting on the right.Another three kms travel takes us to Thirupurambiyam.

Before we go into the temple we should know more about this historical place.Thirupurambiyam,is a place where the rise of chola empire was marked.Vijayalayan and his son Adityan would not have dreamt that this place will turn to their advantage.In fact it did.

Pallava king Nandivarman had two sons Nriputangan and Aparijithan.In 869AD,Pallava king Nandivarman died and the two sons started fighting for the crown. Ganga king Prithivipathi had given his daughter to Aparijithan and hence he had to support Aparijithan.Nriputanga took the support of Pandya king Vargunapandiyan.When Varguna pandiyan supported Nirputanga he would not have thought this war will turn him to a hermit.

At that point of time Vijalaya chozan was a small player and infact he was a king under the control of Pallava dynasty.He decided to support Aparijithan along with Prithivipathi the Ganga king.Vijayalaya chozhan was apparently ninety years of age and had made his son Adityan  as the King of the fledgling chozha kingdom.

The war apparently happened in 885 AD and the fight was between two sons of pallava with pandiyan supporting Nirputanga elder pallava son and Ganga  and Choza kings aligning with Aparijithan.
The war was the turning point in tamil history.Pandyas and Nirputanga apparently tasted initial success at the battlefield.When Adityan,Prithivipathi and Aparijithan planned a retreat Vijayalayan at 90 years joined the fight.A paralysed Vijayalayan unable to walk was carried by two men.The old fox along with 100 warriors entered the battlefield and started fighting.The valour inspired and spurred the other three kings and soldiers.They joined Vijayalayan and started to shift the war dynamics back in favour of Apaijithan.Pandiyan Vargunapandiyan lost the war along with Nirputangan.

Aparijithan won the war but lost his father in law ganga king in the war.A pallipadai temple was built for Ganga king here.Aparijithan granted independence to Aditya chozhan and granted Tanjore to him as well.
Aditya chozhan turned the tables and killed his mentor Aparijithan and engulfed Pallava kingdom.

This war at Thirupuranbiyam decimated Pandyas established chozhas and later marked the end of pallava. Vijayalayan's role in the war is not sure however and could be fictional.

TEMPLE GOPURAM

GURU TEMPLE

A chillness and a sudden sprightly feel enetered me when I alighted from my duster at the entrance of the temple. The temple has been renovated just now and looks majestic.As the temple was closed I rested for some time and took the opportunity to see the guru temple outside  and the dry pond adjoining the temple.The guru or dakshinamurthy has a separate temple outside and supposedly very significant.
As one enters the temple and comes inside we notice on the left the all important Vinayagar.He looks different a sort of shrivelled  and the other important feature if one can decipher is the idol is not made of stone.The curiousity ended when I turned left and found the paintings on the wall depicting the history of this peculiar and powerful Vinayagar also called as Pralayam Katha Vinayagar.Pralayam means deluge or great calamity.Katha vinayagar means - Vinayagar saves the world from the deluge.The Vinyagar supposedly saved the world from the massive water flooding caused by seven seas by driving the entire water to the well present in this place. The well got the name Ezhu(7)Kondra(got)Kinaru(well).

PRALAYAM KATHA VINAYAGAR

To worship and give the due to Vinayaga, Varuna bhagavan(nature god)made a  vinayagar idol out of sea water,sea shells and sea water bubbles.On vinayagar chathurthi Honey abisegam (honey pooja)is done for Vinayaga. Believe it or not the Vinyagar does not leave the honey to drop and spil. He just abosrbs.This pooja is done once a year.The secret behind this abosrption has a "Sidha secret".It says Vinayaga absorbs the falsehood of all human beings.Next we walk inside to see the main diety called as Sakshi nathar.Sakshi means witness and Nathar means god.I prayed to the main diety and recited Sivapuranam.I took the guide(A book on siva temples) which explained the meaning of this name Sakshi nathar.

Once a couple entered the temple with the intention of getting married.Unfortunately the male(he is already married) is bitten by a poisonous snake and he dies.The bride started crying and seeks gods help.Siva gave life to the groom and instructed them to get married at the temple.After marriage when the newly wedded couple went to their native place the first wife of the groom did not accept the marriage and wanted proof for the marriage.The bride prayed to siva and siva came in front of the first wife and  provided proof for the marriage.

Hence siva here is called "Sakshinathar".

THIRUVIJAYAMANGAI:

After burdening Vinayagar with some of my sinsvisiting I drove on the same path for half a kilometer and took a right cut and a further drive of around 5 kms brings "Thiruvijayamangai".Vijayamangai is a small quaint village and the legend of this temple is shared with another temple Thiruvettakudi.

Lord Krishna instructed Arjuna to get Pasupatha endhram(A divine armoury which can kill any enemy) from Lord siva to win the war against Duryodhana.Arjuna started his penance at this place seeking Siva's blessings as instructed by Krishna.Duryodana came to know this and sent a demon in the guise of a pig to attack Arjuna.Siva also came to this place as a hunter as we all know the thiruvilayadals(siva's playful acts to teach lessons for evil persons and to stress the importance of moral living) of siva.When the pig started attacking Arjuna,Siva fought against the pig.Arjuna also joined the fight against the pig.The pig was killed and Arjuna claimed the credit for killing the pig and said he would have killed the animal even if the hunter was not there.Siva,the hunter knocked down Arjuna but Arjuna threw his last arrow which hit Siva's forehead and left a mark which is visible on the Linga even now.Siva showed his true self to Arjuna and gave him the Pasupathaendhiram.Siva advised Arjuna to respect others and be patient in a war.

VIJAYAMANGAI

The legends have their own meanings.All this sounds unrealistic and unscientific.But we have to travel beneath the surfaces.The moral of this story is to control the ego.Arjuna did not give due credit to the other person and this ego was crushed by Siva.These Thiruvilayadlas of Siva are meant to make sure people are humble, respect each other and live a moral living.

THIRUVAIKAVUR:

I drove half a km back and took a left turn and found Thiruvaikavur.
Thirvaikavur has lots of specialities.Nandhikeshwarar does not look at Siva. He looks to the entrance of the temple which will be explained now.Dwarabalakars are replaced by Brahma and Vishnu and at the entrance of main diety Dakshinamurthy stands with a stick.
The importance and origin of Mahasivarathiri also is connected with this temple.
A hunter chased a deer in a thick forest of Thiruvaikavur.The deer ran for its life and found a Sage.The deer pleaded for its protection from the hunter and the sage obliged by keeping the deer by his side.The hunter saw the deer and asked for it.The sage refused but the hunter warned the sage that he will also be hunted by him.The sage closed his eyes and asked for Siva's help.Siva started his Thiruvilaydal again.He became a tiger and came in front of the hunter.The surprised hunter was hunted now.He ran away from the place and took refuge by climbing a Vilwamaram.
The tiger was unable to climb the tree but it majestically positioned itself under the tree.After all Siva likes Vilavam and its smell.The hunter was scared whether he will fall of from the trunk if he slept of.To avoid sleeping he plucked the leaves from the tree and threw it down.All the leaves fell on the tiger.
According to destiny of the hunter his death day was in the morning.Emadarman(Lord of death) came to kill the hunter.When he saw the tiger under the tree he tried to kick the tiger away.He was unable to swing his leg and when he tried again the tiger transformed itself to Dhaksinamurthy with a stick and drove the Yamadarman.Yamadarman fell on Siva's feet and asked sorry.Siva chided Nandhi for allowing Yamadarman to come in and then interrupt the Vilva poojai of hunter.He asked Nandhi to look towards the entrance at this holy place. The hunter fell on Siva's feet and he was granted Mukthi.
The fear of death goes if we do Vilva poojai on Maha Sivarathiri.

NANDIKESHWARAR LOOKING TOWARDS THE ENTRANCE

A STONE ENGRAVEMENT SHOWING SIVA APPEARING IN  FRONT OF HUNTER

BRAHMA AND VISHNU AS DWARAPALAKARS

DAKSHNAMURTHY DRIVING YAMADARMA WITH A STICK

WALL ENGRAVEMENT OF THE STORY BEHIND MAHASIVARATHIRI

Another important aspect  I found in this temple is there is a underground tunnel, which however is closed. I asked a guy who was guarding the temple about the tunnel and he said it connects to Tanjore.I quizzed him whether any one entered the tunnel.He said some years before he and one more person tried but could not negotiate after few meters as they were attacked by bats.

Other temples were Nandhi looks to the entrance are Patteswaram,Thirupoondhuruthi and Pennadam

WAY TO TANJORE - SHORT CUT

INNAMBUR:

Fearing bats but not fearing death I started to Innambur.We have to come to the main road which connects to Swamimalai and on the right side we will find this huge temple.The temple is very clean and well maintained and the crowd was also healthy.
The gopuram of the main diety has five kalasam(Inverted pots kept at temple towers) depicting five works of Siva.(creation,protection,destruction,illusion and emancipation)

FIVE KALASAMS DEPICTING THE FIVE ACTS OF SIVA

A PARENT AND  SON SEEKING BLESSINGS OF EZHUTHARINATHAR

TEMPLE GOPURAM OF INNAMBUR

The place and temple is called Innambur because "Innan" means "Sun god" in tamil who had worshipped Siva here.When I was in this temple I saw a mother bringing her son and asking the priest to place the semparuthi flower next to god and then write with the flower
on the child's tongue. I asked the priest what is this custom.He said after praying to Siva with Sembaruthi and then when written using Sembaruthi on the tongue of the child, the boy or girl gets good reading skills.He also said this cures stammering and hence the god is called "Ezutharinathar".I was tempted to ask him whether it will cure other language disorders but before I could do that I was awe struck by the sheer size of the massive Sivalingam inside the sanctum.It occupied the entire sanctum and the question which came to my mind was ridiculed by Siva's omnipotence.

Siva taught Agathiyar tamil grammar and its importance and hence siva is also called  as "Atcharapureeswarar."
There are two goddesses here and one is always in penance thinking of Siva and the other one here is Siva's wife.

All these 4 temples can be covered in two hours.
The route map is given here.
I started this trip alone but when I was travelling back the fragrance of Vilvam and Sembaruthi surrounded me.The omnipotent Siva and Pralayam Katha Vinayagar were with me and I hope they stay with me when people you think are lives desert you at the opportune moment.

Vilvam:Aegle marmelos.
Sembaruthi:Hibiscus rosasinesis.

The Google map:

THE MAP SHOWING FOUR TEMPLES.

BETWEEN INNAMBUR AND THIRUVAIKAVUR ARE THE OTHER TWO.

FRIENDS - PETIT 89-90 BATCH WE ARE CALLED BUT WE ARE AGELESS WONDERS

Time just runs.The feeling of aging comes when one crosses forty,however some may not agree.But these things do happen.We tend to grey, some have hair fall instead. Reflexes slow, eyes need reading glass and so on.Whether we like it or not these things cannot be stopped.May be 40 plus is a age where people can feel young as well as old.A sort of buttress.

When this sort of realisation was going across my mind my friend Siva came up with the idea of a get together of Petit seminar higher secondary school.I was initially sceptical after a just finished get-together last year.But when Siva and then Ashok said yes I had no options in accepting.It all started with this social media called Whatsap. As a neurologist I intended to use it for neuroimaging but my friends have conveniently overwhelmed the former.When this cropped up I sent a email to Ganesh Kumar a successful UK based general practitioner to join WhatsApp. He was fast enough to send a email after 1 week explaining his aversion to social media.Suddenly he was enlightened to use it and then he wrote about the necessity and essentiality of this cyber chat.Most of the times I don't understand what he talks and I never had the guts to ask him what he really means.He will stand up for you anytime.I last met Pratap in school. I asked him did we met at PEC as well.We had a chat for 5 minutes deciphering when we met last time and ultimately we felt time to taste briyani.I knew him as a smart guy and very quiet boy.One has a funny feeling to estimate a person based on how he looks.In our social media he is like a fire.Every comment of others will be dissected by him.Pratap used to write reviews for movies and to be frank sollai a government servant working at Pondicherry told me machi I see movies nowadays after reading his opinion.He transcends across all strata.His timing sense in English and Tamil both are perfect.

Some people are quiet and do things quietly and very successfully.Srinivasaragahavan a senior consultant at Oracle, Sampath, Damodran and Rajaseghar are all busy people and work at Bangalore,Chennai,and USA.Taking time out,confirming for the trip and driving down to Puducherry,hats of to them.Prabhakar and Kadiresan are   my school time buddies.I know them in and out and their acceptance for the event is like my word.Prabhakar is a senior manager at SBI and Kadiresan is a busy anaesthetist at Cuddalore.Savio and Alfred are known to me since cluny days.Alfred loves dogs and his heart is pure white.He is a honest employee at Puducherry.I had a problem with a technical issue relating to my probation declaration.The file was dusted and lost in Department of Personal. Savio Razorio was working in that place and I just called him.He finished the job swiftly and that's the power of friendship.

Siva a busy ophthalmologist at Saudi, Muthu a entrepreneur and oracle consultant and Sathesh have several things in common.All 3 are very successful and when u sit and talk with them we will know how much we don't know.I always learn from these three guys.

Santhosh, J. Sathish and Arumugam have one thing in common.Their bellies.Outstanding.Santhosh is a business man in Russia and J.sathish is a pro in Singapore.Arumugam is a down to earth person well known at Thirukanur and its suburbs for being a busy and compassionate General practitioner.

We have two tremendous tennis players who could have represented Indian Davis cup team provided they had good grooming skills in tennis at Pondicherry.Vishnu and Siva are these two gentleman one in construction field and the other one   a naturalised US citizen now.Soupramanian who is in business, Kumaravel the document writer all filled on easily.Kannan is a busy man.He shuttles not only in India but it is most of the times intercontinental.You say get together all the work is put on hold and he spends time at the venue from the beginning till the end.Antony john started the spirit of Petit last year and Siva continued this year.John is very mature and to amalgamate people of different walks of life needs patience and perseverance.Siva and John had both this.The spirit was ignited and now it has entered the second year.Pattabi,Vinothkumar,and Ganguly joined us at the last moment. Pattabi from Chennai,Vinoth a government servant and Ganguly works for the benefit and at times fights for the rights of tribes.

People from differerent walks of life with different interests,different states,different countries,different works but the common factor which brought them all was the spirit of Petit Seminar. Ninth august came in and 8th wasa sleepless night.Guys started coming to Le Pondi by 11 am itself.Siva was there along with Balaji to welcome people coming .Rooms were allocated by him in a very professional manner.Balaji is a senior faculty at a private engineering college at Pondicherry and he was coordinating with Siva for the entire event.All were tired and had to take a short nap to get ready for the gala evening and night.

At around 5pm guys started assembling at Le Pondys beach and the fun began to unfold.VNV Sathish a dentist at Delhi had come taken of for this event.A very nice man with lots of knowledge especially in English.Whenever I want to read a English novel I used to take his advise.Karunakaran had the stumps inserted and a seven over match began.One side was lead by Karuna and other by me.Karuna is a man from France and he is the unifying spirit cutting across all friends.Before coming to Pondicherry he will call all and after coming he will invite us to his farm for fun.We used to eat there and play.A person with great energy and a brilliant allrounder.Napolean a man without any ego accepted to be wicket keeper.Wilson and Kirubagaran just joined the fun but opted out of cricket.Kiruba has hotels at Pondicherry.He is a  computer science graduate left a govt job to concentrate on his business.Wilson is a pious man, a software consultant at Bangalore.He had driven his Verna just to meet us.

The match started and Karunas team had stalwarts like Ashok,Prabhakar and the captain himself.Our bowling was pasted all over the park and they had rattled 63 in 7overs .Even if they had said 90 we would have accepted.We tried to chase that score and we gave a fight and lost only by 20runs.We can never beat the willy combination of Ashok and Karuna.The flick of Prabha was like Azharuddins master class.Ashok hit the single stump to run out Mohan.Jonty Rhodes would have been proud of that.Vishnu and Karuna bowled very well. We had a tea break and then the glistening pool waited for us.Aravind a senior manager at a software company had just joined.A softspoken mild mannered gentleman.A ball match was organised at the pool.I joined Karunas team so that we can win.Ganesh did not enter the pool.Ganesh is a Prof of Physiology at a medical college in Chennai.He likes to live a  life of king size. A no nonsense guy with whom I have spent lots of times  together.We did splash water on him.Game went on.It was fiercely fought.No one gave a inch.In the end it was tied.Mohan played very well at the pool and he works for Puducherry government at the Secretariat.

The venue

ARAVIND,SRINIVASARAGHAVAN,ANTONY JOHN

SATHESH CALLED BABA 

KARUNAKARAN AND ASHOK -DANCING TO WILSON'S SONG - TILAK WATCHING - WHAT ELSE HE CAN DO

Alfred,Tilak raj and Subramanian

Supramanian,Tilak raj,Damodran and Rajasekar

THE PARTY HAS JUST STARTED

Pratap and Ashok - Skit

Myself,Kadiresan and Mohan

Pattabhi with the king Siva - the organiser

Arumugam,Kannan,Prabhakar

Sivakumar and Kumaravel

Guys got tired and we trekked of to the rooms to get ready for the dinner.I took a quick shower and walked back to the private hall were our dinner was supposed to happen.To our surprise 5 persons had decided to change the dinner into a musical night and a night which no one should forget.Ganesh, Ashok, Karuna and Pratap had changed the entire script of the evening into theirs. Pratap had written beautiful punch dialogues and there was a brilliant acting by Ashok mimicking Nayagan.Ganesh was shades of Aravindasamy and Karuna was for a change doing supporting role. Pratap had done the entire script writing and the show was applauded by all of us.Vodkas, Whiskey and Beer was entering and chillling the tummies of all of us and we all became seventeen.Dance followed.People who knew nothing danced.I never knew Kadiresan and Arumugam could dance. Guys never became tired. All of a sudden it became ten pm and dinner buffet was spread out.Ashok, Ganesh and Baba danced till their feet started aching.We were not eating.It was like eating somasas at our school canteen.Ice creams were like nanari sarbath and juices were like paneer soda which we used to drink near our school.We have children now and I think Sivas son is going to college now.Some of us became tired.Had a lenghthy discussion with Pattabi about Siva and kadiresan reminded me machi mental agadha.There was another group with Kanan  eating slowly and discussing things of interest for them.At around 1230am I decided to sleep and said good night for another ecstatic group which had reached god by now.Ashok, Abou Karuna, Ganesh and Baba knew nothing. They were dancing through the night and in the morning I heard they were dancing till 3am.Thats the energy of petit 89.I dozed of at the cozy room number 124 with Arumugam.By 6am I woke up and started walking towards the pool and everyone was asleep.Arumugam and myself had sipped a tea and then walked to Ashoks room and we chatted for sometime.Breakfast was ready and some just started to check out.Napolean left early and some guys left the day before itself.Breakfast was delicious but the feeling of leaving left a pinch in the heart.Damo, Rajasekar and myself started of after giving hugs to all our childhood friends.

            When I exited Le Pondi the thoughts of my school days friends also came with me.I had difficulties in controlling emotions but had to leave.The grind of Monday and the materialistic world was waiting for me.Meikandar my spiritual guru talks about entire universe in 12 verses.He is my guru.He does not talk about friendship even if that is included in pasam.May be he also did not understand about friendship.There are lots of stuffs, songs written about friends and friendship.All that is incomplete.I understood that when I reached home   and asked my mother,"send me to school again"

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Sivasthalangal in and around Nagapttinam

Nagapattinam is a quite town located in the scenic east coast road.It is 20 kms away from Karaikal and five kms from Nagoor. Before treading into the details of the Shiva temples let us briefly go back to trace the enchanting history of Nagapattinam.Origins of Nagapattinam can be traced as far as 3rd century BC. Ashoka viharam was supposedly built here by the great Ashoka of the Magadha dynasty.Nagapattinam derives its name from Nagar meaning native inhabitants of Srilanka who came and settled here.It was a important sea port for Cholas with two historically important temples.
Kayarohanswamy temple and Soundararaja Perumal temple glorifying Siva and Vishnu are the two important temples.Nagapattinam stands for unity in diversity as it represents Christianity by having Velankani and Muslims in the form of Nagoor.
It is  a citadel not only for its rich Tamil culture but also for having temples of great importance in all 4 religions.Budha viharam a form of Budhist monastry was also present here during Chola reign.
That is in a nut shell about Nega (Naga) pattinam.
Now we will go to the Shiva temples frequented by our beloved Nalvars.

Kayarohanaswamy temple:

A NICE VIEW OF THE TEMPLE

MUSUKUNDA CHAKRAVARTHY WITH INDRAN

THE ENTRANCE

Before going into the temple history let us know about about Athipatha Nayanmar. Athipathar is a fisher man and a staunch Saivite.
He goes for fishing daily and at the end of the day he throws the first fish back to sea as a token of gift to Shiva. Due to some unknown reasons fishermen are unable to net huge catch of fishes.Most of the day they come back empty handed.
Last ten days Athipathar could get one or two fishes only and as usual he throws the first fish or sometimes  the only fish back to the sea for Shiva.Because of this poverty strikes fisherman community and Athipathar is no exception.
One day Athipathar gets a gold fish and it happens to be the only catch.His comrades dissuaded him from  throwing the fish back to the sea but Athipathar threw the golden fish into the sea without even thinking or hearing the advise of other fishermen.
Shiva appeared before him and made him one of the Nayanmars.
Shiva does not stop here.He also gives salvation to Azhuguni Sithar whose Jeeva samadhi is in this temple. Azhuguni sidhar is a disciple of Gorakkar whose Samadhi is also at Nagapattinam.

Why the deity is called as Kayarohanar? Kayam means "body" Rohanam means "embracing" or "hugging".
Pundarika munivar ( sage) was given salvation by lord Shiva by embracing him with his body.Hence Kaya(body)Roganam(embrace).Why this is unique is the next question? Here importance is given to body.
 Breaking the rule of soul greater than body.Shiva can make soul greater than body or body greater than Shiva because he is Shiva.
The origin of word Nagai is not sure - Whether it is because of Negars from Srilanka are whether it is because of Serpent (in tamil Nagapambu )which worshiped her gave the name Nagapattinam, only Shiva can tell.
There is always a big crowd in front of Amman and when I probed for the reason I understood the Amman in one of the Sakthi Peedams and also one of the Atchi Amman's.
What is this Atchi Amman?
Parvathi alias Sakthi  at Nagaipattinam is considered sacred because she depicts one of the 5 stages of life in women.At Kashi she is a child-Visalakshi,at Kanchi she is young girl- Kamatchi,at Nagai she is at the pubertal stage- Neelayadashi,at Thiruvarur,she is a woman to get married and called Kamalambigai and at Madurai she is Meenakshi representing married women.
She is called Neelaya Dakshi because she has blue eyes.Hmm that was interesting. In front of Amman there is a Nandhi,what it is doing?. It looks both ways.Yes for sure.It is looking goddess as well as whats there on the left side. I enquired the Aiyer who said the nandhi has Erattai parvai(two looks)one towards Amman protecting her and the other one doing its duty looking at Shiva.
Next to Shiva there is another diety called Thiyagarajar sanathi and he is one among the Saptha vidanga murthy.Here he dances like a wave called Paravara tharanga natanam.The Vidangar is Sundara vidangar.

Vidanga means "Small lingam".The original Lingam is made of ruby and it has been stolen.A replica made of Gomedhagam is now present there.

A duplicate for Shiva.The person who stole did not understand Shiva is everywhere even inside him.

Sikkal:

FROM INSIDE

   

FROM INSIDE INTO THE CLOUDS

ADJACENT VISHNU TEMPLE

A LIST OF TEMPLES WHERE MURUGA AND HANUMAN COEXIST

One has to take the thiruvarur road and after a drive of 5 Kms to the left this temple is present.
Once again Murugan scores over Shiva here.At Nagapattinam it was goddess and now it is his son who is popular here.Shiva after all is omnipotent always gives space to every one.That is why he is supreme.
I keep learning from him.As soon as we go near the temple the Rajagopuram stands at 70 feet height which makes remarkable viewing.
There are two temples adjacent to each other.One is a Vishnu temple and a Shiva temple next to it.Eyebrows go up automatically and there is a reason for it.
Vashista munivar(sage)was doing his daily penance to the Shivalingam with butter(vennai).Vishnu in the guise of a small child took away the butter and started running.Sage Vashista came behind him and asked for butter.Vishnu appeared before him and showed the butter held between his fingers.Hence Perumal here is called Vennai Perumal.Vishnu before defeating Mahabali,took Shivas blessings at this place.
Why this place is called Sikkal?To know this first we should know about the Kamadhenu story.
Kamadhenu(divine cow)was very hungry as she was unable to get food to eat during a famine.She ate the flesh of a tiger and inherited the wrath of Shiva for this unholy behavior.She was transformed to a tiger and to regain her original form she came down to this place and took bath in the holy tank at this temple.She regained her original form and filled the entire tank with her milk.
Vashista munivar came here and took butter from the milk.Out of the butter he made a Linga and started worshiping it.As he decided to go from this place he wanted to take the lingam from this place.Lingam got stuck here and could not be removed.Since it got stuck here it got the name Sikkal(stuck). Sikkal story starts with Kamadhenu and ends with Vashista munivar.
Why murugan is famous here?.Murugan is called Singaravelar because he looks beautiful.This place is one of the most important abodes of Muruga.

Muruga got the Vel(lance)from Parvathi at this place.He subsequently used this Vel to kill Surapadman at Thiruchendur.After killing Suran, Muruga inherited Brahmahatti dosham as he had killed Asuran who is by birth a Brahmin and a ardent Saivite.He came back and took bath at the holy pond at Velur(next temple) to clear the Dosha.When he came out of the pond the radiance of lord Muruga emanated and he was looking very beautiful.Hence he was called Singaravelan.

Muruga is called Veiyarvai(sweat)Sindhum velar.Why? Skandha sasti is celebrated for 6 days at this place and Vel vangum vizha(Vel - lance,vangum-getting,vizha- festival) happens to fall on the fifth day.When the idol of Muruga is taken out on the fifth day to get the Vel from Parvathi the face of Muruga is full of sweat. Iyers keep wiping the sweat and throw it over the devotees.

Why on this particular day sweat comes from his face - no one knows the scientific reason.The reason given however is Murugan's fury against Suran on that particular day makes him sweat out of anger.Next day he vanquishes Suran at Thiruchendur. Parvathi is called Velnedunkanni as she has eyes like a Vel.
This magnificent temple was built by Kochengannan and it is a Mada kovil.
When we come out of the temple we get a sense of completeness.We had seen Shiva,Vishnu,Ganapathy,Murugan,Amman,Lakshmi,Anjaneyar.This infact is depicted on the wall of the temple.
Sikkal is a complete temple a must visit for Saivite as well as Vaishnavite.

Kilvelur temple:

GOPURA DARISNAM - UNDER RENOVATION

MADAKOVIL

A 5 km drive from this place towards Thiruvarur will bring us to Kilvelur.A left turn and few hundred meters drive and a right turn will bring us to this lovely temple.
This temple is also built by Kochengenan and its a Mada koil.We had already discussed about Mada koil in our previous blogs.
This place is called Velur because Muruga made a pond at this place using his Vel(lance).
When Muruga did penance here he was troubled by  bad elements and to protect  him from them Parvathi took the form of  Anjuvathathuamman(5 directions).The fifth direction being sky.
Amman is famous here and once again people throng here.
When Brahma lost his ability to create he came here and worshipped  Shiva  and got back his power.Hence Shiva is called as  Atchayalinga swamy.
Kuberan has a separate shrine here.
There is a sacred pond here where there is a belief if someone takes bath here they are relieved of skin diseases.

Thevur:

KALVAZHAI - BANANA TREE GROWING IN STONE

SIVA VISHNU DURGAI

From Kilvelur Temple one has to take a right turn and head straight towards Katchanam.5 kms drive will take you to this little unknown temple but with rich heritage and history.
This is a Gurusthlam(Jupiter).Dakshinamurthy is significant here because he is supposed to be in his oldest form here.He does not have the Muyalagan below his foot. Muyalagan is supposed to be the personification of ignorance.
Dakshinamurthy is a form of Shiva. As Dakshinamurthy, Shiva teaches  us to be as" You ARE".
The Tamil word Muyalagan means trying heart in English.Shiva as Dakshinamurthy says be silent and by being silent you will learn. Apart from Muyalagan Rishis also sit in front of young Shiva. For all their questions Shiva just gives a smile and nothing else.The Rishis understood the truth of silence.
At this place Indran did penance to clear the sin he incurred for killing Virudasuran .Hence Siva is called Devapuriswarar.

Another important aspect of this temple is Kal Vazhai(stone banana tree). One can see this astonishing feature where the banana tree grows on a rock and it is supposed to be over 1000 years old.

Durgaiamman here is called as Shiva Vishnu Durgai.
She has a sangu(conch) in one hand and a deer in another hand depicting both  forms of faith.
I came to this temple to see Shiva and when I came out of the temple I understood the confluence of two different faiths are the same as depicted by Shiva Vishnu Durgai.


To cap it all Dakshinamurthy's smile is still lingering,the transcending smile and the importance of silence.