Devara Paadal Petra Sthalam | 201st Shiva Sthalams(One of the Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam) |
Region | Chola Naadu - South |
Chola Naadu - South | 84th Shiva Sthalam |
Pathigam | Saint Thirugnanasambanthar, Saint Thirunavukarasar (Appar) |
HISTORY:
The legend is that once
upon a time, when the Devas and Asuras were churning the “Thiruparkadal” ocean
to extract nectar, it is believed that a drop of the nectar fell on the ground
at two places – one in north India and the other one at this place. The place
where it fell in north India is known as “North Badarikaranyam” (present
Badrinath in Uttarakand state) and this place is known as “South
Badarikaranyam”. Badri refers to “Elanthai” tree and once this region was a
forest densely covered with badri trees. The sthalaviruksham of this temple is
also badari tree.
Lord Murugan sought the
blessings of Lord Shiva to cleanse himself of the sin “Veerahathi dosham” that
he accrued from killing demon Surapadman. Lord Shiva advised him to go to this
place and perform penance. Lord Murugan reached this place and made a Vinayakar
with turmeric (Manjal in Tamil) powder and started his worship. That place near
Velur is now called Manjadi. He also created a pond using his spear (‘Vel’).
With the help of Indra and Maya (the divine sculptor), he built a beautiful
temple for Lord Shiva.
During the course of
his penance, Veerahathi in the form of “mayas” began to interfere in his
worship. He sought the help of Lord Shiva who in turn asked Goddess Parvathi to
protect Lord Murugan’s penance. Goddess Parvathi appeared there as “Badrakaali”
and protected him by covering all the four directions and the sky. As she
covered all the five directions, she is praised here as “Anju Vattathu Amman”
(“anju” means five and “vattam” means circle in Tamil). She is also known here
as Kaali. As Lord Murugan (“Vel”) worshiped Lord Shiva here, this place
gets the name Velur. The temple is built at an elevation of about 21 feet with
18 steps on the hillock and is known as “Chithira Kooda Parvadam”.
Sage
Agasthiyar:
Sage Agasthiyar had
performed penance here. Lord Shiva was pleased with his prayers and allowed him
to witness his wedding darshan as well as his cosmic dance. This is the only
place where Lord Shiva danced on a different leg (left leg on the ground and
his right leg lifted). It is believed that while he was dancing, Mahavishnu played
an instrument (“Mathalam”), Mahalakshmi clapped her hands, Brahma played
thalam, Saraswathi played veena, Indra played flute, Vinayakar and Murugan both
sung songs while Sages Agasthiyar, Pathanjali and Viyakrapathar worshiped and
enjoyed the beautiful dance. The procession idols depicting this dance
performance can be seen in the main hall.
Kuberan:
Kuberan visited this
place on an “Atchaya Tirithia” day and worshiped the lord. Lord Shiva gave him
nine pots full of wealth, which included the “Sanga Nidhi” and “Paduma Nidhi”.
People who worshipped here:
Lord Mahavishnu, Brahma, Krishna, Murugan, Indra,
Kuberan, Agni, Vayu, Yama, Chandran, Navagrahams, Sage Agasthiyar, Sage
Vashistar, Sage Markandeya, Adhiseshan, Saints Thirugnanasambanthar and Appar
have worshiped the lord here.
SALIENT
FEATURE:
·
This temple is counted as one of the
Maadak Koils built by King Kochengat Cholan, one of the 63 Nayanmars.
·
This temple is also known as “Kubera
Sthalam”.
·
This is east facing temple with main
tower (Rajagopuram) has 7-tiers.
·
This temple is huge in size and has
marvellous architecture. There are two adjacent towers (vimanam) on the sanctum
sanctorum – one for the “moolavar” and the other one is for Somaskandar. The
tower on the moolavar is built with granite and has a lot of beautiful
sculptures.
·
In this temple, the shrines of both Lord
Shiva and Goddess Parvathy are facing the east direction. Goddess Parvathy’s
shrine is on the right side of Lord Shiva’s shrine. This is considered to
symbolise their wedding posture.
·
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.
·
In the koshtam near Lord
Dakshinamurthy’s shrine, there are some beautiful idols including those of
Veena Dakshinamurthy (2), Pitchandavar and Sri Katchiyalitha Nayakar.
·
The lord of this temple is called
Akshayalingeswarar. “kshayam” means destruction and “A-kshayam” means the
inverse of that. Another reason for this name is that this lord is believed to
be the owner of the “Akshaya bowl” (the bowl of wealth). In Tamil, he is
praised as “Sri Kediliyappar” because “kedu” means destruction.
·
At many places in his hymn, Saint
Thirugnanasambanthar refers to this temple as “perunthirukkoil” - meaning a big
temple. Saint Thirunavukkarasar mentioned in his hymn that whosoever worships
the lord here will be relieved from all kinds of detriments
·
It is believed that the idol of Lord
Murugan here was made by the same sculptor who made Lord Murugan’s idol in
Tiruchendur.
·
Goddess Kaali is made of ‘sand’
(‘Sudhai’), hence only “Punugu” (civet) and sambirani thailam are applied once
in a while. The Anju Vattathu Amman Koil here is famous among devotees.
·
A huge and beautiful statue of Nandhi,
made of sand (“sudhai”) can be seen next to the flag post.
·
There are nine (nava) Theerthams related
to this temple – Brahma Theertham, Yama Theertham, Agni Theertham, Soorya
Theertham, Chandra Theertham, Indra Theertham, Sesha Theertham, Saravana Poigai
and Kubera Theertham.
·
Lord Vinayakar of this temple is praised
as Lord Badri Vinayakar. Elanthai tree (Badri) is the sthala viruksham of this
temple.
·
The idol of Natarajar here is incredibly
beautiful and it dates back to the 18th century. The lord is seen here
standing with his left leg and his right one is lifted above. Here he is seen
with ten hands. This is a very unique posture.
·
Behind the sanctum sanctorum, on either
sides of Lord Lingothbavar, there are idols of Lord Mahavishnu and Lord Brahma
in a worshipping posture. Devotees can enjoy the darshan of all the three lords
(Trimurthys) – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. This is considered to be very
auspicious.
·
It is believed that King Kochengat Chola
built about 70 “Madakkoils”. The distinguishing feature of a Madakkoil is that
it is not easily approachable by an elephant. He built these temples at an
elevation and there are a few steps that need to be climbed before seeing the
lord. Also, the sanctum sanctorum’s (Karpagragam) entrance is narrow such that
no elephant can enter it.
· This temple has been glorified by saint Muthuswamy Dheekshidhar in his song “Akshaya Linga Vibho” set in the raga “Sankarabharanam”.
TEMPLE INFORMATION:
|
Moolavar |
Sri
Kediliyappar, Sri Atchayalingeswarar |
|
Ambal |
Sri
Vanamulai Nayagi, Sri Sundara Gujambal |
|
Theertham |
Saravana
Theertham |
|
Sthala
Vriksham |
Ilanthai
tree (Badari) |
BELIEF:
Devotees believe that
by worshiping the lord here, they will be absolved of the all the sins they
might have accrued from their previous births.
This is a “parihara
sthalam” for all kinds of doshas including “Pithru dosham”.
|
Tamil Month |
English Month |
Festival Name |
|
Chithirai |
Apr-May |
Bhramotsavam, the “Rishabha vaahana
utsavam” and the “Sapta Sthana utsavam” |
|
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 and Somavaram |
|
Markazhi |
Dec-Jan |
Thiruvadhirai |
|
Thai |
Jan-Feb |
Makara Sankranthi |
|
Maasi |
Feb-Mar |
Maha Shivrathri |
|
Panguni |
Mar-Apr |
Panguni Uthiram |
HOW
TO REACH:
Keezhvelur is situated
at a distance of about 14 kms from Thiruvarur on the Thiruvarur to Nagapatinam
route. In fact, it is midway in between Tiruvarur and Nagappattinam.
There is a railway
station in Keezhvelur and this temple is about 2 kms away from it. Nearest
Airport is located at Trichy.
TEMPLE
ADDRESS:
Sri Kediliappar /Sri Akshaya Linga Swamy Temple,
Keezh Velur,
Nagapattinam,
Tamil Nadu - 611 104.
LOCATION:
No comments:
Post a Comment