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Temples in Tamilnadu
THIRUVANNAMALAI :
Tiruvannamalai the home of Annamalayaar or Arunachaleswarar (Shiva
worshipped as a Shiva Lingam) and Unnamulaiyaal (Apitakuchambaal -
Parvati), is one of the largest temples in India. It occupies a
special place in the Saivite realm and is regarded as one of the
Pancha Bhoota Stalams (one of the five grand temples associated
with the five basic elements) – associated with the element Fire,
the other four being Tiruvanaikkaval (Water), Chidambaram (Space),
Kanchipuram (Earth) and Sri Kalahasti (Wind) respectively.
Shiva is said to have manifested himself in the
form of a massive column of fire, whose crown and feet, Bhramma and
Vishnu attempted in vain to reach. A celebration of this
manifestation is seen today in the age old traditions observed in
the Shivaratri and the Kartikai Deepam Utsavams held here.
SIRKALI BHRAMAPUREESWARAR
: This is a
vast temple complex with 3 different Shiva Shrines. The
Bhramapureeswarar shrine is housed in the lower level. The second
level houses Periyanakar with Periyanayaki on a 'Thoni' & hence the
name Thoniappar. Sattainathar/Vatukanathar is also housed here. From
the steps leading to the Toniappar and the Vatukanathar shrine, one
can grasp the entire layout of this vast temple and its towers &
mandapams. There are 22 Theerthams associated with this shrine.
Three different forms of Shiva are worshipped here, the Shivalingam
(Bhrammapureeswarar), a collossal image of Uma Maheswarar (Toniappar)
at the upper level, and Bhairavar (Sattanathar) again at the upper
level.
The temple has 3 vast
courtyards with high walls of enclosure. There are two sets of 7
tiered gopurams in the outer walls of the enclosure. The original
shrine during the period of the Nayanmars included the shrine of
Bhrammapureeswarar, on the southern bund of the temple tank; the
Toniappar shrine on a mound west of the central shrine, and the
Sattanathar shrine in the second floor reached from the southern
prakaram of the Toniappar shrine by a flight of steps. The
enlargement of the original temple happened during the period of
Kulottunga I, Vikrama Chola, Kulottunga II and III (as in
Chidambaram - 11th through the 13th centuries).
OPPILIAPPAN KOIL :
This is one of the important Vaishnavite temples in Tamilnadu. The
deity is known by various names such as Oppiliappan, Uppiliappan,
Thiruvinnagarappan, Venkatachalapathy, etc.
Location: The
temple is situated about 5 km from Kumbakonam by road. There are
frequent bus services from Kumbakonam to this temple.
The Temple : The
presiding deity in this temple is facing east in a standing pose
while His consort Boomidevi is sitting next to Him facing north.
Markandeya sits in a pose facing Boomidevi as if giving her in
marriage to the Lord. There is no separate shrine for the Goddess
and the Lord never leaves His sanctum without being accompanied by
Boomidevi. The special feature in this temple is that salt is never
used in the food offered in worship. The name Uppiliappan is
connected with this practice.
Legend : Sage
Mirikandu had a son by the name of Markandeya. The astrologers
predicted on his birth that he would die young. When Markandeya
heard that he would not survive beyond the age of 16 he started a
penance to save him from death. Pleased with his penance Lord Shiva
gave him the boon of immortality. After receiving this boon he
undertook a pilgrimage to all the holy places in the country. When
he arrived at a place full of 'Thulasi' plants he decided to stay
there. He started another penance praying that he should have
Boomidevi as his daughter and Lord Vishnu as his son-in-law. The
penance continued for a long time and one day a child appeared under
a 'Thulasi' tree where Markandeya was praying. When Markandeya
enquired from the child who her parents were, the child replied that
she did not know anybody except him. Markandeya was pleased with
that answer and took her to his house and brought her up as his
child.
The child grew up in
Markandeya's household and eventually attained the age of marriage.
Markandeya became worried about finding a suitable husband for her.
Lord Vishnu who had sent Boomidevi to be Markandeya's child now
wanted to take her back. He also wanted to play a trick on
Markandeya. He transformed Himself into an old Brahmin of no means
and went to the hermitage of Markandeya where Boomidevi was growing
up and requested hospitality. Markandeya was only happy to receive
this old man and gave him food and a place to rest. Later Markandeya
enquired from the visitor as to the reason for his visit. The old
man said that he heard that Markandeya was looking for a husband for
his daughter and as he had no one to look after him in his old age,
he had come to ask him for his daughter’s hand in marriage.
Markandeya was shocked to
hear this preposterous request as he could in no way give his
daughter in marriage to this old man. He told the old man that his
daughter was not suitable for him as she was too young to look after
him. At this the old man replied that he had already seen his
daughter and he had made up his mind to marry her. If his request
was not granted he would give up his life then and there.
Markandeya became
distressed at this reply and was raking his brain to come up with
some excuse to change the old man's mind. He gave the old man all
sorts of excuses and finally said that his daughter did not know how
to cook and that she did not even know how much salt to be added in
cooking. The old man said that he was happy to eat food without salt
and that he wanted to marry his daughter.
Markandeya was at the end
of his wits and closed his eyes and prayed to Lord Vishnu to get him
out of this predicament. When he opened his eyes the old man had
disappeared and in his place there stood Lord Vishnu in all his
glory.
Lord Vishnu told him, "You
said that your daughter was too young to know how to cook and she
did not know how much salt to add to her cooking. From today I am
happy to eat food cooked without salt if you would give your
daughter in marriage to me". Markandeya was only too pleased to give
his daughter in marriage to his Lord. From that day the food offered
to Lord Vishnu is free of salt. This is the reason the deity is
known among many other names, as Uppiliappan (uppu+ ill+appan) which
in Tamil means 'the One who detests salt'.
PAZHAMUTHIRCHOLAI :
This shrine is very sacred to devotees of Lord Subramanya and is one
of the six famous abodes of Lord Subramanya, collectively known as
Aarupadai veedu. The term Azhahar and Azhahan denote both Lord
Vishnu and Lord Murugan (another name for Lord Subramanya). The
shrine at Pazhamuthir Cholai is small compared to other famous
temples and the building is of recent origin but the temple predates
it by hundreds of years. The area in which the temple is situated is
surrounded by groves of trees and the river Silambar runs nearby
giving an ambience of calmness and solitude.
Legends:
Once Avvaiyar, the grand
old lady of Tamil literature and an ardent devotee of Lord
Subramanya, was on her way to Madurai. She was tired and thirsty
having walked for several miles and she longed for some food and
rest. She then saw a young shepherd boy sitting on the branch of a 'Naaval'
tree (a tall tree bearing berry-like edible fruits). On seeing that
the tree was in fruit she asked the boy to pluck some fruits for
her. The boy then asked the old lady whether she wanted 'hot' fruits
or 'cold' fruits. The old lady was perplexed by this question.
However, in order to find out what the boy meant by hot fruit she
replied that she wanted 'hot' fruit. The boy then shook the branch
of the tree on which he was perched and some ripe fruits fell on the
ground. Avvaiyar picked them up and finding that some grains of sand
were stuck on the fruits blew on them to get rid of the sand. Seeing
this the boy playfully asked whether the fruits were too hot to eat
and advised her to blow a little harder. Avvaiyar was full of
remorse when she realised that this illiterate shepherd boy had
fooled her by his play on words. Then the boy transformed himself
into his true form as Lord Subramanya and stood in front of Avvaiyar
in all his glory. Avvaiyar then realised who had come to play with
her. The questions then asked by Lord Subramanya in this encounter
with Avvaiyar and the answers given by her in verse, form part of
the rich folklore of the Tamils. Translating those verses, though
would be revealing and interesting, is beyond the scope of this
page.
SAMAYAPURAM :
Samayapuram is an important place of pilgrimage to the devotees of
Goddess Sakthi. It is one of the few popular temples dedicated to
Goddess Sakthi and she is worshipped here as Mariamman.
Location :
Samayapuram temple is situated on the main Chennai-Thiruchi road
about 15 km from Thiruchi. The nearest railway station is in
Thiruchi.
The Temple :
Comparatively the temple is of recent origin and was established
about 300 years ago. Now an enormous number of devotees visit this
temple especially on festival days.
Legend : It is
believed that that this deity was once installed at the Sri Rangan
temple near Thiruchi. As the chief priest felt that he was suffering
from some malevolent effect from the Goddess, he asked the workers
at the temple to remove the idol from the temple. The workers
carried the idol northwards and put it down in a place called
Kannanoor and left it there. Some passersby who saw this idol left
unattended in the middle of the village informed the local villagers
who named the idol Kannaoor Mariamman and established a shrine
there.
It was during this period
that the Vijeyanagara kings came down South waging war. During their
foray down South they camped at Kannanoor and adopted the local
deity Mariamman as their own and made a vow that if they were
successful in their campaign to conquer the South they would build a
temple at the site of the shrine. As a fulfillment of their vow,
they built a shrine for the Goddess and the king appointed a priest
from the temple at Thiruvanaikka to perform the daily 'pooja' and
brought this temple under their management. At present a separate
board of trustees is in charge of the temple.
Festivals : There
are four main festivals conducted in this temple in the Tamil months
of 'Thai', 'Masi', 'Chithirai' and 'Vaikasi'. The festival conducted
in the month of 'Masi' (February/March) is called 'Poochorithal'
(inundating with flowers). There is a legend that is associated with
this festival. There was an 'Asura' called Mahishasuran who had
received special boons from Lord Shiva through his penance and
meditation.. He used this power to harass the 'Devas' and other
celestial beings. So the 'Devas' approached Goddess Parvathy and
prayed to Her to save them from this menace. So Goddess Parvathy
reincarnated as Goddess Durga and killed the 'Asura'. She was at
this stage an embodiment of anger and a force of destruction. After
destroying the Asura she arrived in the jungle near Samayapuram on
the bank of the river Kaveri and found this place suitable to calm
her anger. Here she took the name of 'Kowmari', took a reddish hue,
wrapped herself in a yellow cloth, and covered herself with flowers,
undertook a fast and conducted penance in order to regain her
original form. As a result she became very kind and benevolent and
is worshipped as Goddess Mariamman at Samayapuram.
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