Keezha Pazhuvoore: Arulmigu Vadamoola Nadhar Temple, Perambaloore Dt.

Keezha Pazhuvoore: Arulmigu Vadamoola Nadhar Temple.



This place Thirupazhuvoore is about 10 kms to south of Ariyaloore on the south bank of River Marudhudayaar. The place is also known as Yoga Vanam.
This is one of the 275 Devara sthalams.








The Main Raja Gopuram is of five tiers and two prakaram in the temple.









We see Dwajasthambam as we enter inside.



Teertham is known as Brama Teertham in the front of the temple. Sthala Vruksham is Banayan Tree.









Main Deity is Swayambu Lingam known as Arulmigu Vadamoola Nadhar / Aalanthurayaar and his consort known as Arunthava Nayaki Amman in separate shrine. Here the Lingam represents Prithivi. Sambarani thailam is applied on Siva Lingam. The lingam is too small, so a cup is placed upside down and abishekam is done on this only.









Goddess penanced and performed yoga hence the place is known as Yoga Vanam. We see Goddess in yoga posture here in the temple.









Other deities seen in the temple as we go around the prakaram are Kamala Ganapathy, Murugan, Pancha Boodha Lingams, Mahalakshmi, 63 Nayanmars, Lingothbavar, Durgai, Chandeeswarar, Saptha Kanniyar and Navagraham.




Sthala Purana says Once Goddess Parvathy closed the eyes of Lord Siva due to which the complete universe came to a stand still. Sooryan and Chandran are considered as the two eyes of Lord Siva. Lord says to Goddess Parvathy if any act which troubles others is punishable. To get rid of the dosha for her act,Goddess Parvathy was asked to go down to earth. Lord asks her to penance in different places and finally reach Yoga Vanam and stay there penancing till he joins her.



Goddess Parvathy penanced in many places and she finally came to Yoga Vanam where she made a Siva Lingam with the mud of Valmeekam and worshiped Lord Siva. She penanced here standing on single leg. Lord Siva was pleased with her penance and blessed her by joining with her. This Yoga Vanam is the place now known as Keezha Pazhuvoore.




Brahaman, Thirumaal, Indran, Pandavar, Agasthiyar, Chandran, Poororavan, Vasishtar, Sadanandar, Kanvar, And Vyasar worshiped Lord Siva here and were blessed by Him.
Parasuramar worshiped Lord Siva here to get rid of his dosha for killing his mother. Here Vinayakar is seen in dancing posture.




Thiru Gyana Sambandhar sang Hymns on Lord Siva of this place. Arunagirinadhar sang Thirupugazh on Lord Murugan of this Temple.




Stone inscriptions are found in the temple. The temple was constructed by stones during the period of first Parandakan Cholan.

Thiruvaalam pozhil, Athmanaadeswarar Temple, Tanjavoore Dt.

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.

Panayapuram, Panagkateeswarar Temple. Vizhupuram.

Panayapuram: Panagkateeswarar Temple.




The place Thiru Panagkattoore is about 10 kms from Vizhupuram. This place is one of the Siva Devara Sthalam of Nadu Nadu. This is one of the five temples having Palm tree as Sthala Vruksham.











Main Raja Gopuram of the temple. The temple has two prakarams.








Sthala Vruksham is Panai and teertham known as Padhuma Teertham.









Main deity is Swayambu Lingam known as Panagkateesar facing east.










Goddess Puravammi / Sathyambikai here is seen in separate sanctum facing east.





The place was surrounded by Mullai forest hence the name Puravaar Panagkattore.








Other deities seen as we go around the temple prakaram are Vinayakar








Arumugar









63 Nayanmars, Sapthamadhar, Thirumaal, Rishabaroodar, Gajalakshmi, Nalwar, Dakshina murthy, Brahama, Lingothbavar, Durgai, Pichadanar, Somaskandar, Navagraham, Sani Bagawan Chandekeswarar and Natarajar. Thiru Neelakandar and wife are seen with their palms put together in the temple.









View of the temple tower as we go around the prakaram




King Daksha Prajapathy did not invite Lord Siva for the Yagnam which he was conducting. He refused to pay offerings for Lord Siva in the Yagnam and insulted Lord Siva. Every one of the Devas, who attended the Yagam performed by King Dakshan and took his offerings were punished by Akora Veerabadrar, messenger of Lord Siva.


Sooryan lost his luster, and he had to worship Lord Siva in many places to regain his luster. This is one of the place were Sooryan worshiped Lord Siva. Lord Siva blessed Sooryan and he gained his old bright form. As a mark of respect every year during the month of April/ May (from Tamil new year day) early morning Sun rays falls on Lord Siva and then on Goddess for a week




Sthala Purana says In order to protect the pigeon that surrendered to him Sibichakravarthy came forward to yield his eyes. Lord Siva was pleased by Sibichakravarthy’s dedication to his work as a ruler. He appeared before him and blessed him with eyesight which he lost. So Lord Siva of this place is also known as Kann Parithu Aruliya Kadavul.




Thiru Gyana Sambandhar sang Hymns on Lord Siva of this temple. There are stone inscriptions of first Kulothunga Cholan, Parakesari Adi Rajendra Devan and Koneranmai Kondan. As Per the inscriptions Lord Siva is known as Thirupanag kattudaya Maha Devar and the place known as Thiru Puravar Panagkatudayar temple.

Swarnakateswarar Temple, Neivanai, Vizhupuram.

Neivanai: Swarnakateswarar Temple.



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

Thiru Edaiyaru, Arulmigu Marundeesar Temple. Vizhupuram.

Thiru Edaiyaru: Arulmigu Marundeesar Temple.




The place Edaiyaru is about 16 SE of Thiru Koiloore. The place is in-between River Malattaru and River Penna, hence the place is known as Edayaru.This place is one of Nadu Nadu Devara Sthalams




The place is known as Edayaru and the temple is known as Thiru Maruthanthurai.









The main Raja Gopuram is of three tiers with single Prakaram facing west.









Teertham is Chitridai Teertham in the form of well. Sthala Vruksham is Marudham.









Main Deity is Swayambu Lingam known as Arulmigu Marundeesar / Edaiyatru Nadhar with his consort known as Gyanaambikai Amman in standing posture is seen in separate sanctum.
















Other deities seen in the temple are Bala Ganapathy, Murugan, Durgai, Dakshina Moorthy, Nalwar, Saptha Kanniyar, Chandekesar, Navagraham, Agasthiyar and Suka Muni.





Bala Ganapathysanctum is seen in-betweem Lord Siva and Goddess Gyanambikaisanctum. NormallyLord Subramanya is seen in this form which is known as Somaskanda moortham. This is something unique. Bala Ganapathy is seen with four hands. He is holding Sweet and Jack fruit in his two upper hands and in one of the lower hand he is holding Sugarcane and the other one is in the the form of Abhaya Hastham.





Suka Muni, Brahma, Agasthiyar, Sundarar and Marai Gyana Sambandhar worshiped Lord Siva of this place. Agasthiya Muni installed a Siva Lingam and worshiped and he was blessed by Lord in this place. We see the Lingam worshiped by Agasthiya muni is known as Agasthiya Lingam. There is a sculpture of Sage Agasthiya in the temple. Lord Murugan of this place is known as Kaliyuga Ramapillayar. This is the birth place of Thiru Marai Gyana Sambandhar.










Sukabrahma Rishi worshiped Lord Siva in this place and attained Mukthi. We find Sukar statue under the Marudha Vruksham. We see lot of Parrots in the temple here.




Sthala Purana says A muni in the form of Parrot overheard Siva Rahyasam, while Lord Siva was preaching it Goddess Parvathy. The muni was cursed by Lord Siva to take birth on earth with parrot face. Muniworshiped Lord Siva and asked for solution to get out of the curse. Lord Siva said he would be born to Veda Vyasa as his child and asked him to worship him at Thiru Marundhurai/ Edaiyaru under the Marudha Vruksham. The Muni had the face of Parrot and hr performed penance as told by Lord Siva under the Marudha Vruksham of Edaiyaru. He learnt about Brahamam and attained Mukthi. Hence he was known as Sukhabrahama Rishi.There are about 18 Stone inscriptions are seen in the temple.




Sundarar sang Hymns on Lord Siva of this temple.

Thiru Navaloore, Vizhupuram Dt.

Thiru Navaloore: this temple is one of Nadu Nadu Devara Sthalams



The temple is 14 kms to NE from Ulundoorpettai on the banks of Kedila River. Now the place is known as Thiru Nama Naloore.







The main Raja Gopuram of the temple is of five tiers and there are two prakaram.







As we enter in we see Dwajasthambam.







Nandiis in a small mandapam




Sthala Vruksham is Naval tree (Kala Jaamun in Hindi). Teetham here is Gomukhi and River Garuda.









Main Deity is Swayambu Siva lingam known as Arulmigu Bakthajaneswarar facing East and his consort known as Sundarambikai Amman facing East in different sanctum.




The name of the place is Navaloore because of the Sthala Vruksham Naval tree.




As we go around the prakaram we see a sanctum for Sundra moorthy Nayanar with his consort Paravai Nachiar and Sangli Nachiar in the first prakaram. This is birth place of Sundarar. Dakshina Moorthy is seen on Rishba Vahanam in standing posture.




Other deities seen in the temple are Vinayakar, Subramanyar, Brahma, Vishnu, Chandikeswarar, Sukran, Navagraham and Bargaveeswara Lingam worshiped by Sukara Bagwan. Sooryan in Navagraha is facing west in this temple




There is a separate sanctum for Vishnu in-between main deity Lord Siva and Sundarambikai Amman. Lord Vishnu worshiped Lord Siva here.




Here we find four Siva Lingams. One was worshiped by Lord Vishnu in Ruth Yoga, Chandikeswarar worshiped second one in Tretha Yugam, Brahma worshiped third one, in Dwapara Yugam, and finally the fourth one was worshiped by Sundarar in Kali yugam.



Parvathi Devi worshiped Lord Siva here and she married to him. Sivapriyar worshiped Siva here and he was been recognized as Chandeeswarar. Garuda who became black due to the effect of poison of Nagaraja worshiped Lord Siva of this place. He was blessed by Siva and the poison was removed and got back his original colour.










Sthala Purana says once this place was known as Jambuvanam, where Lord Siva was in Swayambu lingam form even before four Yugams. It says Lord Vishnu, Chandeekeswarar, Brahma and Sundarar worshiped Lord Siva in all the four yugams respectively. Intially there was a small stone sanctum for Lord Siva. Later Chera, Chola and Pandya Kings constructed the temple with prakarams. Sukara Bagwan installed and worshiped a Siva Lingam in Varnasi for long period. Lord Siva was pleased with his worship and Lord bestowed him with Sanjivni Mantra which gives life to dead person.




Asuras made Sukra as their Guru. When there was a war with Asuras and Devas, Sukra the Asura guru, gave life to every Asura killed by Devas. So Devas approached Lord Siva to help them. Lord Siva swallowed Sukra, who was there for long time in meditating. Finally Lord Siva gave him a place in Navagraha and asked him to bestow mankind with wealth according to their good and bad deeds. Sukra installed, a Siva Lingam here in this place ”Thiru Navaloore” and worshiped. There is a belief one who visits the temple in this place are relieved of Sukra Dosha.



Sundarar sang Hymns on Lord Siva. Arunagiri nadhar sang Thirupugazh on Lord Murugan of this temple.

Thiru Chopuram, Thiru Chopura Nadhar / Mangala pureeswarar Temple. Cuddlore

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 19^th 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.  

Chidambaram Temple, Cuddlore District.

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.