A formal presentation on Siva temples in Tamil Nadu

Nayanars, the 63 Saivite saints on their pilgrimage worshipped in Many  Siva temples and sang hymns in praise of the Lord. These shrines are considered exalted because of the visits by these "revered men". There are countless abodes of Siva all over India. But here I dwell on some important ones in Tamizhagam (Southern state of the country Bharadham) rendered holy by these men of God.

There are many Siva Temples in India and also in some other parts of the world. Siva temples in Tamizhagam have special significance. These Siva Temples eulogized in Tamil hymns and sacred texts are referred to as "Paadal Petra Siva Kshetrams". These Siva Temples have been in existence from ancient times for more than 1000 years. These temples are mentioned in Hymns which were composed and authored by the 4 Nayanar. They are Thirunavukarasar, Sambandar Sundarar and Manikkavasagar who lived between 7th and 9th century A.D. These hymns throw more light on Tamizhagam Temples, its art treasures culture, civilization etc.

Some of these Siva Temples, glorified and referred as 'Paadal Petra Siva Kshetrams' are among the greatest in the world and include temples carved in solid rock, huge temples with elaborately sculptured towers, all ornamented with delicate decorative work. Most of these temples are built of stone, though a few are of brick. Artists carved the exterior and sometimes the interior with hundreds of figures of Gods, people, animals and plants. Most temples have one or several pillared halls called mandapam. Worshippers pass through the halls to the sanctum sanctorum where the idol of the temple's main deity (God or Goddess) is housed.

These temples are the torch-bearers of the glorious heritage of Tamizhagam and stand out as architectural marvels. The majestic, ornate and soaring towers 

(Gopurams) are typical of Tamil Nadu Temple architecture. Temples have always been a central aspect of the social and cultural life of the people of Tamizhagam Southern state of the country Bharadham Apart from that, these Siva Temples came to be associated with legends and beliefs that have over the years became a part of its historical culture.

 

Saroja Mani

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A word on Rudtaksha beads

Rudraksham

Rudraksha is "Siva-amsam" - an aspect of Lord shiva. It is the seed inside the fruit of Rudraksha tree. These trees are mostly found in abundance in Nepal, in the Himalayan slopes and in Indonesia. The dry seeds form the rudraksha bead is used as a rosary and also worn in a chain.
The seed is rough in texture, with the surface divided into segments by ridges running from top to bottom. These form the faces of the rudraksha. The number of faces range from 1 to 14. A major percentage of beads available have 5 or 6 faces.

The single face rudraksha, considered to be the form of Lord Siva, is very rare and unique.
Two faced rudraksha represents Siva sakthi amsam
The three face rudraksha is agni amsam
The four face rudraksha is Brahma amsam
The five face rudraksha is Kalagni Rudra.amsam
The six face rudraksha	" do "	Subramaniam.
The seven face rudraksha	" do "	Manmadan.
The eight face rudraksha	" do "	Vinayaga.
The nine face rudraksha	" do "	Bhairava.
The ten face rudraksha	" do "	Vishnu.
The eleven face rudraksha	" do "	Ekadasa Rudra.
The twelve face rudraksha	" do "	Dvadasa Sadhithas.
The thirteen face rudrakshav	" do "	Shanmugam.
The fourteen face rudraksha - One who is the possessor of such a rudraksha is considered to be an aspect of Lord Siva himself. It is that rare and significant.

It is a rare gift of nature to man in the sense, that most beads come with a hole drilled in the centre, as if nature intended man to use the rudraksha beads in a chain. Only such rudraksha beads are considered auspicious.

The rudraksha possesses magnetic power and hence when placed between two copper coins, it spins. This magnetic power inherent in the beads is immensely effective to our body and mind and hence wearing a rudraksha 'mala' (chain) brings good health and mental peace. It reduces heat in the body, brings down blood pressure and also relieves mental pressure and tension. It is said, that if one drank water from a container in which a rudraksha bead had been soaked for 5 minutes, it helps greatly in reducing blood pressure.

Sarojamani   

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Mahalingar at Tiruvida-marudur

 The temple features:

This temple is located at Tiruvida-marudur about nine miles in the north-east direction from Kumbakonam on the banks of river couvery . The carpet area of the temple is 9,12,000 sqft and is built facing east. It has seven towers in seven stages. The temple has7 corridors.(saptha- pragarams)

The deity is called Mahalingar in the east facing pose and it is said the deity is self incarnated. The lord's consort Devi Perunalamamulai-Amman has a seperate Sanctum also facing east.
There are several 'teerthams' but Karunya theertham is inside of the temple.
The temple tree is Marudham.
This place is also called Idai-Marudhu, Bilva-Vanam, Shanbaga-Aaranyam, Sakthi puram, Thabo-vanam,Jyothi puram and so on. There are151 stone inscriptions giving the details about this kshetram.

The saints who sang hymns on the Lord:
Thirugnasambandhar, and  Thiru navukarasar

The significance of this place: Siva was worshipped by Saraswathi, Lakshmi, Kaali, the Vedas, Vasishtar, Skanda, Vishnu and Agastya. It is said once they were affected by evil spirits as a result of past sins.. Hence to get relief from the sins they all came to this place and offered their prayers to this deity. They were rid of the evil spirits.

Legend:is Once a monarch of Pandiya dynasty suffered from amnesia. He forgot every thing and he could not talk also. According to the advise of the kingdom's astrologer he came to this temple and stayed there for forty days praying to the Lord. Surprisingly, the king was cured from the disease. He happily endowed much wealth to this temple.

There are five lingas around this temple. They are Mahalingam, Viswanathar, Rishi-pureeswarar, Aatma-nathar and Chokka-nathar. So this kshetram is called Pancha Linga kshetram. Mahalingam is the presiding deity. One of the interesting practice here is that an abhishekam (Anointing) is performed to Chokkanathar singing 'Amirdha-varshni' raga for a good monsoon.
Sambandar has sung also on Samba Dakshinamurthy enshrined here along with his consort. Stone inscriptions that are about 1200 years old are found in this temple.

Architecture: This is a huge temple constructed in the Dravidian style with lofty towers and sprawling circumambulatory paths. There are 7 prakarams, the outermost being known as the Aswamedha Prakaram. The inner prakarams are known as Kodumudi prakaram and Pranava prakaram. There is also a Sakti temple within the temple complex dedicated to Mookambika built in the North Indian style. 

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Vedhanadhar at Cheyaru

 The temple features:

This temple is located in Cheyaru about 28 kms in the South west direction from Kanchipuram on the banks of the river Cheyar in Tamil Nadu.
The carpet area of the temple is 2,28,000 sqft with a tower in 7 stages on the eastern side and It has two corridors.There are 29 stone inscriptions giving this temple's history. The deity is called Vedhanadhar and is in the east facing pose. It is said that it is self incarnated . The Lord's consort Devi Ilamulai-Nayaki has a separate sanctum also facing the eastern side.. The temple tree is Palm tree and it has 2 theerthams. Those are Cheyar theertham, and Kalayanakodi theertham

The saints who sang hymns on the Lord:
Thiru-gnana-sambandhar, & Thiru-navuk-karasar

The significance of this temple is that the Lord preached the essence of the vedas to sages and saints in this place.Hence this place has another name which is Thiruvothoor. The peculiar thing in this temple is that the Nandhi is not looking towards the Lord like in any other Siva temple but it is facing eastern side.

Once there were no yield from any palm tree in this area. So all the owners of palm tree groves very sadly told about this to saint Thiru-gnana-sambandhar when he was visiting here on his pilgrimage. The saint prayed to Lord Siva and composed a hymn for the protection of the village and for the prosperity all the palm tree owners. The miracle was that all the palm trees became productive right away. All the villagers were very happy and praised the saint. The saint expressed his gratitude to the Lord and proceed on his further tours to other Siva temples.

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Thayum-Aanavar at Rock fort in Thiruchi rappalli

 The temple features:

This temple is located at Rock fort in Thiruchi in Tamil Nadu. This temple crowns a heavy and solid outcrop of rock. It is measures 83 metres in height from the surrounding plains. The top is reached by a steep flight of 437 steps cut into the rock. This shrine is located half way and the deity is Thayumanaswamy dedicated to Lord Siva. It has a 100-pillared hall, and a main tower (Vimana) covered with gold. On the southern face of the rock are several beautifully carved rock-cut cave temples of the Pallava period built by the Nayakars who were the founders of the city.

This shrine has the sanctum for Kangaala Moorthy, one of the 64 manifestations of Lord Siva. The approach to the temple is through a flight of covered stairs. Towards the end of the climb, the Tayumanavar temple is located towards the west. facing the eastern direction .
Devi Mattuvar Kuzhali amman has a separate sanctum also facing the eastern direction. This place has other names. Those are Thiruchiru-giri, Thiruchira-puram, Dhashina-Kailasam Sevandhi-Ma-Nagar and at present Thiruchinapalli.

The saints who sang hymns on the Lord:
Thiru-gnana-sambandhar and Thirunavu-karasar

Legend: Once there was a Merchant family living on the other side of the banks of river Cauvery. The merchant's daughter called Satyavathi was living near a village called Arangapattinam. The daughter of merchant was pregnant and the delivery time was nearing. So he was trying to go and fetch his daughter for her confinement.
But the river was in heavy floods and so he could not go to his daughters place. The lady was very sad and was always thinking of her mother. But the floods became heavier and no one could come to her from her father's place.

Satyavathi developed labour pain. She could not bear the pain and was praying to Lord Siva. The Lord was always kind to his devootees. Hence he went to Satyawati's house disguised as her mother. As soon as satyavathi saw her mother she was surprised and enquired of her how it was possible to cross the flooded river. The Lord as her mother convinced her and attended to the delivery. Satyavathi gave birth a male baby.
The baby was named Satyavirthan. Because the lord went for the lady's confinement as her mother the deity is called Thayum Aanavar. ('Thai' in Tamil means 'mother' and 'anavar' is 'became' ).
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Sundareswar at Madurai

 The temple features:

This temple is located in Madurai 452 kms from Chennai.
The carpet area of the temple is 6,84,000sqft and is built East facing . This temple has 12 towers, four of the tallest stand at the outer walls of the temple. The 48.4m high southern tower is the most spectacular and has over 1500 sculptures. (from its top, it is possible to obtain a panoramic view of the city.) The King tower on the eastern side is an unfinished structure which has a 174 perimeter base and had this tower been completed, it would surely have been the largest of its kind in the country. The eight smaller towers are within the compounds of the twin temples.

The deity is called Sunderaswar in the east facing pose.It is said the deity is self incarnated. The Lord's consort Devi Meenakshi has separate sanctum facing east.
The temple tree is 'Kadamba'. and It has three theerthams those are Potramarai tank, Ezhlu kadal, and Vaigai There are many stone inscriptions in this temple giving the history of the kshetram

The saint who sang hymns on the Lord:
Thirugana-sambandhar.

Legend is Madurai was originally a forest called Kadambavanam. One day a farmer named Dhananjaya was passing through the forest. Fortunately the farmer saw Indra who was worshipping a swayambhu Eswara (self incarnated lingam) under a Kadamba tree. As soon as he saw this he immediately reported about this to King Kulasekara Pandya. The king went to the forest, cleared it and constructed a temple around the lingam. The city of Madurai was planned with the temple as its centre. On the day of dedication of the temple amirtham (nector) fell from Lord Siva's hair on the town. Hence it was named Madhurapuri. Later the name was modified as Madurai.

History:More than 2,500 years old with a rich cultural heritage and history Madurai is situated on the banks of river Vaigai and is the second largest city of Tamil Nadu. Madurai was built by the King Kulasekara Pandyan in the 6th century BC. The recorded history of Madurai emerges sometime during the 3rd century BC when it was the prosperous capital of Pandya dynasty with trading contacts with Greece and Rome. Megasthenes, the Greek Ambassador to the Court of the Mauryas, refers to the Pandyan princes who ruled over Madurai in 320 BC.

The next major rulers of Madurai were the Vijayanagara dynasty who won over the territory in 1371. They appointed the Nayakars as governors who in time became powerful in their own right. The 200 - year old reign of the Nayakars marks the golden period of Madurai when art, architecture and learning scaled new heights. In fact, the most beautiful buildings in the city including its most famous landmark, the Meenakshi temple, are Nayak contributions. Among Nayakas, Thirumalai Nayaka (1623-1659) was very popular since it was he who contributed to the creation of many magnificent structures in and around Madurai. The King tower (Raja Gopuram) of the Meenakshi Amman Temple, The Pudu Mandapam and The Thirumalai Nayakar's Mahal are living monuments to his artistic taste.

The Ashta Shakti Mandapam was built by Thirumalai Nayak's wives Rudrapathi Ammal and Tholima-ammai. The sculpted pillars of this mandapam tell the story of the great rulers of Madurai. The marriage hall was built by the daughter of King Malayatwaja pandian to perform Lord Siva & Meenakshi's marriage. Madurai passed on to the East India Company in 1781 with George Procter as the first collector of Madurai. In 1840 the Company razed the fort, which had previously surrounded the city and filled the moat. Four streets called Veli streets, which were constructed on top of the fill till today define the limits of the old city. After India's independence, Madurai is one of the major districts of Tamil Nadu.

In the Kambathadi Mandapam there is an unique idol of Nataraja dancing with his right leg raised to the shoulder instead of the left leg which is the usual with all Nataraja idols. This idol is covered with silver leaves. Hence this hall is named as Velli Ambalam (Silver sabha).
There is a legend to explain why the Lord was dancing with his right leg raised. Once Malaiyatwaja pandiya the king of Madurai was learning dancing. But after each lesson he felt severe pain in his legs. The king thought to himself ' The Lord is performing the dance on the left leg only for yugas while it pains severely even though I dance on both my legs. How painful it should be to the Lord dancing on one leg. Even thinking of it is very pain full.' Therefore the king went to Siva and prayed to the Lord to accede to his request that the Lord should dance on his right leg instead of the left leg.

The Lord appeared before him and acknowledged his desire and the Lord danced with his right leg for king Pandian.
Henceforth 'Velli ambalam' became one of the five Nataraja sabhas. .

Pancha Sabha Temples of Lord Siva are as follows:1. Chidambaram (gold) 2. Madurai (silver) 3. Tirunelveli (copper) 4. Tiruvalankadu (ruby) 5. Kutralam (pictures) These are revered as the five Cosmic Dance Halls of Lord Siva

The Portamarai-kulam or the golden lotus tank is the place where the Tamil literary society called Sangam used to meet to decide the merits of literary works presented to them. The manuscripts that sank in the tank were dismissed while those that floated were considered to be great works of literature. A pillared corridor surrounds the tank. The temple museum is housed in the hall with 985 richly carved pillars each one surpassing the other in beauty. More scenes from the celestial wedding can be seen in the Vasantha Mandapam. Icons, pictures and drawings exhibiting the 1200 years old history of the temple can be seen in the museum. It was constructed by Tirumalai Nayakar and is used during the celebration of the  festival in April-May. Just outside this mandapam, towards the west, are the Musical Pillars. Each pillar when stuck with a small stone produces a different musical note

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Magudeswarar at Kodumud

The temple features:

This temple is located in Kodumudi about 39 kms in the South eastern direction from Erode on the banks of the river Kaveri in Tamil Nadu.
The carpet area of the temple is 3,09,760 sqft with a tower in 5 stages on the eastern side and It has two corridors.There are many stone inscriptions giving this temple's history. The deity is called Magudeswarar and is in the east facing pose. It is said that it is self incarnated . The Lord's consort Devi Sowndira-Nayaki has a separate sanctum also facing the eastern side.. The temple tree is Vanni tree and it has four theerthams. Those are Kaveri theertham, Deva theertham, Baratwaja theertham and Brahma theertham

The saints who sang hymns on the Lord:
Thiru-gnana-sambandhar,Thiru-navuk-karasar, and sundarar.

significance of this place: A small piece of rock dropped from top of mount Meru on this place which became the hill and also the Lingam. Hence this place is called Kodumudi.
But the Local population say that when the Lord performed 'Agora thandavam' on mount meru a bunch of hair from his head dropped on this place due to violent shaking of his head. So this place is called kodumudi.

This place has other names also. Because Brahma worshipped  the Siva in this place it is named Brahma puri. Sri Vishnu worshipped the Siva in this place. So it is called Hari-Hara puram. Sri Vishnu's mount Garuda worshipped the Lord and brought amudham from the heaven to this place. So it is named Amudha-Puri.

There was a merchant called Kanmadan who worshipped this deity and was relieved from his stomach disease. Henceforth this place is called Kan-Mada-Puram.
Malayathvaja -Pandian of Pandiya dynasty of Madurai renovated this temple and endowed much wealth. Therefore it is called Thiru-Pandi- Kodumudi.
Once sage Barathwaja did penance to Magudeswar in this land for a long time. The Lord was pleased and appeared before him and asked for his desire. The sage bowed his head and said that he wished to see the Lord's dance performance in this place. Lord Magudeswara was very happy and did Satveega dance performence in this place for the sage. From that time this place is also called Barathwaja kshetram.
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