Devara Paadal Petra Sthalam | 192nd Shiva Sthalams(One of the Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam) |
Region | Chola Naadu - South |
Chola Naadu - South | 75th Shiva Sthalam |
Pathigam | Saint Thirugnanasambanthar, Saint Thirunavukarasar (Appar)
and Saint Sundaramurthy (Sundarar) |
HISTORY:
When the demons were
terrorising the devas and the sages, they sought asylum in this place. Hence,
this place gets the name “Pukalur” (“pukal” means asylum and “oor” means
village in Tamil).
There are two Devara
Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams in the same complex - Thirupukalur and Thiru
Pukalur Vardhamaneecharam. The historical names of this place are Punnagavanam,
Saranyapuram and Rakthaaranyam.
Lord
Agni:
Lord Agni, the fire
god, worshiped Lord Shiva here. Lord Shiva blessed Agni by giving him a darshan
in the form of Chandrasekarar. Agni was relieved of his sins. Hence the lord is
praised as Sri Agneeswarar.
Demon
Banasuran:
Demon Banasuran, a
great Shiva devotee, dug a huge tank (“Akazhi”) around this temple. He tried to
carry away the main Shivalingam from here to his mother Mathiniyar’s place for
her worship, but he failed in his efforts to do so. During this process, the
lord’s lingam got slightly tilted to one side. Hence, this lord is also called
“Sri Kona Piraan” (“Konal” means tilted in Tamil).
King
Nalan:
Nalan was under the
clutches of Lord Saneeswarar. But after worshiping Lord Shiva here, he heard a
divine voice that told him that he would be relieved from the clutches of Lord
Saneeswarar soon. Hence Lord Saneeswarar here is considered as “Anugraha
Moorthy”.
Saint
Thirunavukkarasar:
Saint Thirunavukkarasar
(Appar) spent a considerable time of his life here and served
(“Uzhavaarappani”) the lord of this temple. He used to serve the lord in
various Shiva temples by cleaning the grounds and paths to enable devotees to
walk comfortably. He did so using a tool called “Uzhavaram”. The lord wanted to
test Appar’s devotion. The lord put some gems at the place where Appar was
cleaning. But Appar did not show any regard for these gems and threw them out
along with the other wastes. The lord then sent some dancers (“Arambayar”) from
the celestial world in order to entice him. However, Appar promptly sent them
away. This proved to the lord that Appar was completely devoted to him and had
no regard for any of the “three wishes” – land, woman and gold.
Appar repeatedly prayed
to the lord asking for salvation. He sang his last pathigam, “Ennuken, en solli
ennukeno…..’ and by grace of the lord, he attained salvation (“Mukthi”) at the
age of 81 on a “Chithirai Sadhayam” star day. He was assimilated into the
lord’s idol. This place is praised as “salvation place”. To commemorate this
event, a grand festival is celebrated every year on this day called Appar
festival.
Saint
Sundaramurthy Nayanar:
Saint Sundaramurthy
Nayanar visited this place to worship the lord and wanted to get some money
from him. The Nayanar wanted this money for his wife, Paravai Nachiyar in
Thiruvarur. At this time, this temple was undergoing some renovations. After
worship, he wanted to take rest for some time. He kept few bricks to support
his head and took a nap. On waking up, he found that the bricks were converted
into golden blocks by Lord Agneeswara’s grace. The saint was overwhelmed with
joy and rendered his “Padhigam”.
Ramanadeecharam:
This temple involves a
nearby temple (and also a Devara Paadal Petra Sthalam) called Ramanadeecharam.
The legend is that a local king prayed to Lord Shiva for child boon and
performed a yagna. Through his divine voice, the lord informed the king that he
would be blessed with a girl child soon and this child would be an incarnation
of Goddess Parvathy herself. At a later date, when the king went to the forest
for hunting, he found four young girls under a tree. He brought them to his
palace and raised them as his own daughters. When they attained the
marriageable age, the king prayed to Lord Shiva and requested the lord to marry
them. It is believed that the lord married them. Hence, there are four temples
nearby each housing one of the goddesses – Sri Karundhar Kuzhali (in this
temple), Sri Vanduvaar Kuzhali in Thirumarugal, Sri Sarivar Kuzhali in
Ramanadeecharam and Sri Vaaitha Thirukuzhal Nayaki in Thiruchengattangudi.
These four Goddesses once
helped a pregnant woman deliver her child. Hence, these goddesses are referred
by the common name “Sri Choolikambal” (“Chool” or “Karu” means pregnancy in
Tamil). It is believed that when the goddesses returned to the temple after
this incident, they stayed at a little distance away from the lord’s shrine.
This is symbolically represented in all the four temples as the goddess’s
shrine is located separate from the lord’s shrine. In this temple, Goddess
Parvathy is also praised as Sri Karu Katha Ambigai.
Cosmic
dance:
Lord Shiva is believed
to have blessed Goddess Boomi Devi and Sage Satyashada with his Cosmic dance
here.
Periya
Puranam:
As per “Periya
Puranam”, this is the place where five Nayanmars, (Thirugnanasambanthar,
Thirunavukkarasar, Siruthondar, Thiruneelanakkar and Muruga Nayanar) sat
together and discussed about Saivism. They spent some time here at Muruga
Nayanar’s mutt.
There are certain
paintings in the walls of the main hall which depicts various legends
associated with this temple.
1. One painting shows
that Appar threw away the gems (“Navamanikal”) along with the other wastes that
he had collected while cleaning the temple.
2. Another painting
depicts that some dancers from the celestial world tried to disturb Appar’s
service. However, he sent them away.
3. Another painting
shows that Sundarar was sleeping with a brick supporting his head and found
that it had turned into a golden block the next morning by the grace of the
lord.
4. Another panting
shows that Banasuran was trying to remove the Shivalingam for his mother’s
worship.
5. Another painting
shows that Lord Agni was blessed with the lord’s darshan in the form of
Chandrasekarar.
People who worshipped here:
Lord Agni, Sage
Bharadwaj, all the 18 Siddhars, Saints Thirugnanasambanthar, Appar and Sundarar
have worshiped Lord Shiva here.
SALIENT
FEATURE:
·
Saint Thirunavukkarasar attained
salvation (“Mukthi”) and sang his last pathigam here.
·
This is one of the 44 Paadal petra
sthalams where the “Moovar” had rendered their Pathigams.
·
This is the birthplace of Saint Muruga
Nayanar, one of the 63 Nayanmars.
·
This east facing temple has main tower
(Rajagopuram) 5-tiers.
·
Visiting this temple is considered
auspicious for those born under the influence of “Sadhayam” nakshatram (star).
·
In this temple, Lord Somaskandar is
considered very auspicious.
·
This is the only place where Lord Agni
has an idol made of stone and has a separate shrine. Lord Agni is seen with two
heads, three legs, seven hands, four horns and seven sparks of fire on his
head. The procession idol of Agni is also in the same form.
·
The procession idols of Agni,
Chandrasekarar, Thiripuranthakar and Brahma are incredibly beautiful.
·
There are three Shivalingams in the
names of Lord Bhoodeshwarar, Lord Vardamaneeswarar and Lord Bhavishyeswarar.
These three lingams are believed to symbolise the past, present and the future.
·
This is the birthplace of Muruga
Nayanar, one of the 63 Nayanmars. The Nayanar offered flowers to the lord every
day with full devotion. He attained salvation at Nallur Perumanam (Aachalpuram)
during Saint Thirugnanasambanthar’s wedding.
·
On either sides of Lord Annamalaiyar,
there are idols of Lord Mahavishnu and Lord Brahma. Devotees can enjoy the
darshan of all the three lords (Trimurthys) – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. This is
considered to be very auspicious.
·
There are four beautiful reliefs on a
wall in the corridor depicting Lord Agri worshiping Lord Shiva, Saint Appar’s
last worship of the lord, Kamadenu worshiping the lord by pouring her milk, and
some kings and queens worshiping the lord.
·
This temple’s tank, Agni Theertham is in
the form of a semicircle (“Akazhi” in Tamil) around the temple.
·
Lord Saneeswarar here is praised as
“Anugraha Sani” and worshiping him here is considered to be very auspicious.
TEMPLE INFORMATION:
|
Moolavar |
Sri
Agneeswarar, Sri Konappiraan, |
|
Ambal |
Sri
Karuntharkuzhali, Sri Choolikambal |
|
Theertham |
Agni
Theertham, Bana Theertham |
|
Sthala
Vriksham |
Punnai
tree |
BELIEF:
This is a “parihara
sthalam” for those born under the influence of the “Sadhayam” nakshatram
(star).
Devotees whose birth
star is Sadhayam can visit this temple for special poojas.
Devotees believe that
worshiping the lord here will lead to removal of the sins that they might have
accrued in their previous births.
This temple is famous
for performing “Vastu” pooja.
“Baktha Utsav”the Tamil
month of Chithirai (Apr-May) beginning on Sadhaya Star day. This festival is
held every year commemorating the event of Lord Shiva granting salvation to Appar.
|
Tamil Month |
English Month |
Festival Name |
|
Chithirai |
Apr-May |
Baktha Utsav beginning on Sadhaya Star
day |
|
Vaikasi |
May-June |
10-day
Vaikasi Poornima Brahmotsavam, the event of Lord Shiva granting darshan to
Lord Agni. |
|
Aani |
June-July |
Aani Thirumanjanam |
|
Aadi |
July-Aug |
Aadi Pooram |
|
Avani |
Aug-Sept |
Vinayakar Chaturthi |
|
Purattasi |
Sep-Oct |
Navarathri |
|
Aippasi |
Oct–Nov |
Skanda Shashti and Annabishekam |
|
Karthikai |
Nov-Dec |
Thiru Karthikai |
|
Karthikai |
Nov-Dec |
Somavaram |
|
Markazhi |
Dec-Jan |
Thiruvadhirai |
|
Thai |
Jan-Feb |
Makara Sankranthi |
|
Maasi |
Feb-Mar |
Maha Shivrathri |
|
Panguni |
Mar-Apr |
Panguni Uthiram |
HOW
TO REACH:
Thiru Pugalur is
situated at a distance of about 7 kms to the west of Sannanallur. Sannanallur
is on the Thiruvarur to Peralm route.
It is about 33 kms away
from Mayiladuthurai, 20 kms away from Karaikkal, 20 kms away from Thiruvarur
and 10 kms away from Nannilam.
TEMPLE
ADDRESS:
Sri Agneeswarar Temple,
Thirupugalur,
Thirukkanapuram Via,
Thirumarugal,
Nagapattinam,
Tamil Nadu – 609 704.
LOCATION:
No comments:
Post a Comment