Devara Paadal Petra Sthalam | 89th Shiva Sthalams(One of the Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam) |
Region | Chola Naadu - North |
Chola Naadu - North | 35th Shiva Sthalam |
Pathigam | Saint Thirugnanasambanthar, Saint Thirunavukarasar (Appar) |
HISTORY:
Goddess
Parvathy’s worshiped the lord in the form of a cow. Once, in Mount Kailash,
Goddess Parvathy wanted to play a game of catch. Lord Shiva presented her with
4 balls. These are believed to have been representative of the 4 Vedas. Since
she was playing with her friends, Suryan delayed the setting of the sun. As the
day went on increasing, Sage Narada tried to inform her about the difficulty
that everyone was facing without the onset of night. She did not pay any
attention to his pleas. The sages on earth could not perform their evening
ritual ceremony (Santhiya Vanthanam) because there was no sunset. They went to
Suryan but he denied their request due to the fear of incurring the wrath of
Goddess Parvathy.
Finally, they went to Lord Shiva and appealed to him to resolve this problem.
Lord Shiva went to Goddess Parvathy to ask her to stop the play but she did not
pay any attention to his arrival. Angered by this, Lord Shiva kicked the ball
and cursed her that she would be born on earth in the form of a cow. As she
realised her mistake, she prayed for some respite. Lord Shiva advised her to go
to the place where the ball had finally landed and worship him there in order
to be restored back to her original form. The ball finally settled in this
place under the Sarakkontrai tree - this temple’s “sthala viruksham”.
It is also believed that in order to protect Goddess Parvathy, Lord Mahavishnu
took the form of a shepherd and accompanied her. During day time Vishnu would
take the cow for grazing and in the evenings, he would supply the milk to Sage
Kanva Maharishi here. One day while grazing, the cow saw an anthill with a
lingam. She started pouring milk on the lingam. Sage Kanva received less milk
that day and he asked the shepherd why was so. The shepherd followed the cow
and kept a close watch on it. When the cow started pouring milk on the anthill,
he tried to beat the cow. In the tussle, the cow jumped and hit the anthill and
both the cow and the shepherd got restored to their original forms.
After her penance, Goddess Parvathy prayed to Lord Shiva asking him to marry
her and take her back to Mount Kailash. Lord Shiva accepted her request, gave
darshan to everyone present there as “Sri Kalayana Sundarar” and took her back
to his abode. (“Kalyanam” means wedding and “Sundarar” means the lord in
Tamil).
The ball that
Lord Shiva kicked is believed to have settled in this place near an anthill
under the sthala viruksham of this temple. For this reason, this place gets the
name “Panthu Anaintha Nalla Oor” (Panthu means ball, anaintha means stationed,
“nalla” means good and “Oor” means village in Tamil). With the passage of time,
this name has been changed to Panthanainallur and then to Pandanallur. There
are marks on the lingam that indicate both the ball and the hoof of the cow
hitting it.
Lord Shiva is also praised here as Sri Pasupatheeswar as he came here to relieve
the curse on Goddess Parvathy. (“Pasu” means cow, “Pathi” means husband and
“Easwarar” means the lord in Tamil).
The
historical names of this place are Aavoor, Kontraivanam, Bhanupuram,
Vishnupuram, Indrapuri, Vaali Nagar, and Thenkayilai.
Goddess
Kali and Ayyanar stood guard during Goddess Parvathy’s penance here. Shrines
for both Kali and Ayyanar can be seen outside the goddess’s shrine.
The idols of Navagraham here are placed in a straight line as they had the
opportunity to witness the wedding darshan of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy.
Bhupathi Soodamani:
A king from
Kambeeli named Bhupathi Soodamani. His son was blind by birth and it is
believed that he worshipped the lord here who restored the eyesight of his son.
The king named his son “Pasupathi” in the honour of the lord. He also renovated
the temple. One entrance to the temple’s tank is known as “Kambeeli Mannan
Thurai” (“Mannan” means king and “thurai” means “staircase in the tank” in
Tamil).
King Annapuram Miruthunjayan:
This temple is that of king Annapuram Miruthunjayan of the Saiyagiri
kingdom. He was stricken by leprosy due to the sins accrued by killing a cow.
He visited many Shiva temples and finally reached this place. He took a dip in
this temple’s holy tank, worshiped the lord and was miraculously cured.
King
Kaanthan:
A king named Kaanthan from the Kamboj kingdom. He was suffering from some
illness and in order to seek cure for it, he visited this place. He stayed here
for a period of 45 days (one mandalam) and worshiped the lord every day after
taking a dip in the holy tank. It is believed that he was cured of his illness.
People who worshipped here:
King
Veerathurantharan from the Thuluva kingdom worshiped the lord here and was
blessed with a child. Goddess Parvathy (in the form of a cow), Lord Mahavishnu,
Brahma, Indran, Suryan, Sage Kanva and Vaali have worshipped the lord here.
SALIENT
FEATURE:
· Since this lingam is made of sand, it is always covered with metal sheet (“kavasam”) and abhishekam is performed with the cover only.
· The first entrance in the sanctum sanctorum is named as “Thirunavukkarasar entrance” and the second entrance is named as “Thirugnanasambanthar entrance”.
· The Navagrahams in this temple are placed in a straight line.
· There is a separate shrine here for Lord Mahavishnu. He is praised as Sri Aadhi Kesava Perumal. His wife, Goddess Lakshmi, is praised as Sri ParimalaValliThayar.
· The sanctum sanctorum is in the form of semi-circular tank (akazhi in Tamil).
· It is believed that Lord Suryan (Sun) worships Lord Shiva of this temple by directing his rays on the lingam every year for three days from 19th to 21st in the Tamil month of Aavani (Aug-Sept).
TEMPLE INFORMATION:
|
Moolavar |
Sri Pasupatheeswarar |
|
Ambal |
Sri Venubhujambikai, Sri Kaambana Tholi Ammai |
|
Theertham |
Surya Theertham |
|
Sthala
Vriksham |
Sarakkontrai tree |
BELIEF:
Devotees
believe that by worshiping the lord here, obstacles from their marriage
proposals will be removed and they will also be absolved from the sins that
their forefathers or ancestors had accrued (“Pithru dosha”).
This is also a “parihara sthalam” for those with vision impairement and other
eyesight related problems (“Nethra dhosha”).
|
Tamil Month |
English Month |
Festival Name |
|
Avani |
Aug-Sept |
Vinayakar
Chathurthi |
|
Maasi |
Feb-Mar |
Maha Shivrathri |
|
Karthikai |
Nov-Dec |
Thirukarthikai |
|
Purattasi |
Sep-Oct |
Navarathri |
|
Aippasi |
Oct–Nov |
Skanda
Shashti and Annabishekam |
|
Maasi |
Feb-Mar |
Masi Maham |
|
Panguni |
Mar-Apr |
Panguni Uthiram |
HOW
TO REACH:
Panthanallur
is located at a distance of about 20 kms from Mayiladuthurai on the
Mayiladuthurai to Thiruppananthal route. This place is 8 kms north-east of
Thiruppananthal. Thiruppananthal to Kumbakonam is about 18 kms.
TEMPLE
ADDRESS:
Sri Pasupatheeswara
Swamy Temple,
Pandanallur,
Kumbakonam,
Tanjore,
Tamil Nadu – 609 807.
LOCATION:
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