Devara Paadal Petra Sthalam | 176th Shiva Sthalams(One of the Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam) |
Region | Chola Naadu - South |
Chola Naadu - South | 59th Shiva Sthalam |
Pathigam | Saint Thirugnanasambanthar |
HISTORY:
This
place’s name “Thiru Pampuram” is derived from “Pampu” + “Puam” – “Pampu” means
snake and “Puram” means place in Tamil. “Thiru” is a respectful prefix. There
are 28 stone inscriptions available in this temple which are from the periods
of Kings Kulothunga Cholan-III, Rajaraja Cholan, Rajendra Cholan, Thiribhuvana
Veera Devan, Sundara Pandiyan and Saraboji Maharaja. The historical names of
this place are Pampura Nannagar, Sheshapuri, Uragapuram and Pampuram.
Raghu and Kethu:
The
significance of this temple is that Raghu and Kethu worshiped the lord here
intertwined with one another. They can be seen holding Lord Shiva near their
chest.
Lord Vinayakar:
Lord
Vinayakar worshipped his father Lord Shiva in Mount Kailash. Vasuki (Nagaraj),
the king of serpents, who can be seen on Lord Shiva’s neck thought that
Vinayakar was worshipping him instead of Lord Shiva. On knowing this, Lord
Shiva cursed the serpent for his arrogance. Due to his curse, the entire
serpent community lost their strength and powers.
All
the “Ashtamaha” serpents – the eight great serpents- (Ananthan, Vasuki,
Thatchakan, Karkodakan, Sankapalan, Kulikan, Padman and Mahapadman)
prayed
to Lord Shiva to seek forgiveness for the mistake committed by Vasuki. Lord
Shiva advised them to go to earth and worship him on the night of Maha
Shivratri. During Mahashivratri the night is divided into 4 parts (“kaalams”).
Serpents
headed by Adhisheshan visited four different temples on that night in each of
the 4 kaalams to worship Lord Shiva. These four temples are as follows:
·
Sri Nageswarar
at Kumbakonam,
·
Sri Naganathar
at Thirunageswarm,
·
Sri
Sheshapureeswarar at Thiruppampuram and
·
Sri Naganathar
at Nagore.
Serpent king Adisheshan:
Serpent
king Adisheshan holds the earth in its place. Once he was tired and was unable
to hold the earth. He pleaded to Lord Shiva to give him enough strength to
continue doing his job. Lord Shiva advised him to go to earth and worship him
at Thiruppampuram to regain his strength. Adisheshan visited Thiruppampuram on
a Mahashivratri day and worshiped the lord. Due to unavailability of flowers
that time, Adhisheshan tied “akathi” flowers in “alamvizhudhu” (banyan tree
twigs) and finished his pooja. It is believed that this is the reason why in
this village akathi plants don’t flower and the stems of the banyan trees don’t
touch the ground.
People who worshipped here:
Goddess
Parvathy, Lord Brahma, Indra, Agni, Ganga, Suryan, Chandran, Dakshan, Sage
Agasthiyar, Serpent Karkodakan, King Kochengat Cholan and King Sunithan (a king
from Northern Indian kingdom) have worshipped Lord Shiva here. There are many
idols of snakes in this temple. The predominant one is where Raghu and Kethu
are intertwined.
SALIENT
FEATURE:
·
This is a very
popular parihara sthalam for “Raghu-Kethu” dosham. It is also popularly known
as “South Kalahasthi”.
·
This is east
facing temple with 3-tiered main tower (Rajagopuram).
·
In the sanctum
sanctorum, there is an idol of Adisheshan in front of the shivalingam.
Adisheshan is seen in a worshiping form.
·
Both Lord Shiva
and Goddess Parvathy’s shrines are facing east. Another significance of this
temple is that Goddess Parvathy is on the left side of Lord Shiva. They are
depicted in their wedding posture and this is considered to be very auspicious.
·
As per the
“sthala purana”, worshiping Lord Shiva in this temple alone is equal to
worshiping the lord at these five famous temples – Kumbakonam, Nagore,
Thirunageswaram, Kalahasthi and Kezhapperumpallam.
·
Often large
snakes appear in this temple and shed their skin. In this temple, there are
photographs of such occurrences. On 21.03.2002, a snake shed its skin (length
7.5 feet) on the idol of Goddess Vanduser Pungkuzhali. On 26.05.2002, another
snake shed its skin (length 8.3 feet) in the form of a garland on the idol of Lord
Sheshapureeswarar.
·
Both these
occurrences were witnessed by a large number of devotees. It is believed that
these snakes came to worship Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy here.
·
There has been
no recorded incident of anyone dying due to a snake bite in this village.
·
The sanctum
sanctorum is in the form of semi-circular tank (akazhi in Tamil).
·
This temple is
considered to be significant for its three important attributes – Moorthy,
Sthalam and Theertham - glory of Lord, sacredness of the land and the auspicious
temple tank.
TEMPLE INFORMATION:
|
Moolavar |
Sri Seshapureeswarar, Sri Pampuranathar |
|
Ambal |
Sri Vanduserkuzhali Ammai, Sri Bramarambigai |
|
Theertham |
Adhishesha Theertham/ Naga theertham |
|
Sthala
Vriksham |
Vanni tree |
BELIEF:
This
temple is very famous as a parihara sthalam for Raghu-Kethu doshams such as
“Kaala sarba dosha”, “Puthira dosha” and “Kalathira dosha”. A large
number of devotees can be seen performing poojas to seek relief from the ill
effects of such doshas.
Raghu-
Kethu transition days (Peyarchi)
|
Tamil Month |
English Month |
Festival Name |
|
Avani |
Aug-Sept |
Vinayakar
Chaturthi |
|
Purattasi |
Sep-Oct |
Navarathri |
|
Markazhi |
Dec-Jan |
Thiruvadhirai |
|
Maasi |
Feb-Mar |
Maha Shivrathri |
|
Maasi |
Feb-Mar |
Maasi Maham |
HOW
TO REACH:
Thiruppampuram
is situated at a distance of about 3 kms from Karkathi. Karkathi is 28 kms away
from Kumbakonam on the Kumbakonam to Karaikkal road.
From
Peralam, Thiruppampuram is about 9 kms. Peralam is about 15 kms from
Mayiladuthurai on the Mayiladuthurai to Thiruvarur route.
TEMPLE
ADDRESS:
Sri Seshapureeswarar
Temple,
Thiruppampuram,
Kudavasal,
Thiruvarur,
Tamil Nadu – 612 203.
LOCATION:
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