Devara Paadal Petra Sthalam | 18th Shiva Sthalams(One of the Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam) |
Region | Thondai Naadu |
Thondai Naadu | 18th Shiva Sthalam |
Pathigam | Saint Thirugnanasambanthar |
HISTORY:
Lord Rama’s sons - Lava
and Kusha lived at Siruvapuri, a village near Thirukkallil. It is
believed that they would often come to Thirukkallil, take a dip in the river
and worship Lord Shiva. Since Kusha took a dip in this river, it is called Kushasthali.
Once Lava and Kusha had fought in a war against Lord Rama himself without
knowing that he was their father.In ancient times this place was dense with
kalli trees (Vajravanam in Sanskrit) and the sacred tree of this temple is also
kalli, hence this place is called “Kallil”. Another name for this place is
“Thirukkandalam”. The temple is situated on the banks of Kushasthali River
and is said to have been built in the Chola period.
Saint
Thirugnanasambhanthar:
Saint
Thirugnanasambhanthar came to Thirukkallil after visiting Thiruvenpakkam,
another Paadal Petra Sthalam. When he was taking a dip in the Kushasthali River,
his belongings – a pooja box and vibhoothi (sacred ash) bag went missing.
Searching for his belongings, he found a Shiva lingam in the midst of Kalli
trees with his missing items near it. In his pathigam, he sang of the lord of
this temple “Lord Sivanandeswarar” as a thief (kalvan).
Sage
Bhrigu worshipped Lord Shiva here:
Sage Bhrigu worshipped
Lord Shiva here and made offerings of thousands of Kalli flowers (huge Indian
hedge cactus). Hence the lord here is also called “Sri Thirukalleeswarar” and
this place is called Thirukallil. Pleased by his devotion Lord Shiva appeared
before him in the form of “Shakthi Dhakshinamurthy” – Lord Dhakshinamurthy with
Goddess Shakthi on his lap.
Sage Bhrigu had a
peculiar habit of circumambulating only Lord Shiva without worshipping Goddess
Parvathy. Goddess Parvathy took offence to this. In order placate her, Lord
Shiva decided to give dharisanam to Sage Bhrigu in the form of Shakthi
Dakshinamurthy and show him that he was one with the Goddess. The sage sought
the pardon of Goddess Parvathy for his folly. Pleased with his worship, Goddess
Parvathy blessed him by saying that he would always be in a state of bliss –
“Anandam”. Hence, Goddess Parvathy is called Anandavalli here.The unique
feature of this temple is that the idol of Dakshinamurthy here is in the form
of Shakti Dakshinamurthy. An idol of Sage Bhrigu worshiping Lord Shiva can also
be seen next to Dakshinamurthy’s idol.
Lord
Shiva asked Sage Agasthiar to go to the south:
When Lord Shiva and
Goddess Parvathy was getting married, the celestial world came into a state of
imbalance and dipping towards the north side due to the combined weight of the
celestial gods (Devars) and sages who had gathered to witness the wedding. To
restore the balance, Lord Shiva asked Sage Agasthiar to go to the south.
Agasthiar reached a place called Pancheshti near Thirukkallil and performed
five yagnas - Deva Yagam, Brahma Yagam, Bhootha Yagam, Pithur Yagam and Manusha
Yaaam.
Lord Shiva appeared
before him in the form of “Somaskandar” and asked him to go to Thirukkallil.
Somaskandar is derived from the term – “So-Uma-Skanda” where So means Lord
Shiva, Uma means Goddess Parvathy and Skanda means Lord Murugan. It signifies
that Lord Murugan is in the lap of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy.When
Agasthiar reached Thirukkallil, he was surprised to see that the temple itself
was in the form of Somaskandar – with Lord Murugan’s shrine situated in between
the shrines of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. He stayed in Thirukkallil for
one mandalam (41 days) and worshipped Lord Shiva. It is believed that Lord
Shiva and Goddess Parvathy gave “Shiv-anandha dharisanam” to Agasthiar because he
was unable to attend their wedding. Hence Lord Shiva here is also called Sri
Shivanandeswarar. Sage Agasthiar prayed to lord that this dharisanam should be
available to all devotees. Granting this boon to the sage, Lord Shiva stayed
here as a Swayambu Lingam.
Gaja
Brishtam” style:
The vimana (roof tower)
of the sanctum sanctorum is designed in the “Gaja Brishtam” style - a form of
architecture that is exclusive to the Pallava Dynasty. In this style, the roof
top looks like the rear of a sleeping elephant (Gaja meaning elephant and
brishtam meaning rear). This is also called as “Thoonganai Maadam” in Tamil
where thoong(um) means sleeping, aanai means elephant and maadam refers to the
top of a temple.
People
who worshipped here:
Sage Bhrigu, Sage
Agasthiar and Lord Rama’s sons – Lava and Kusha have worshiped Lord Shiva at
this temple.
SALIENT
FEATURE:
·
This temple with
main tower (Rajagopuram) has 5-tiers.
·
Moolavar’s
shrine (vimanam) is of Gaja Brishtam type.
·
This temple is
east facing and has a beautiful tank in front of it.
·
Lord Shiva is seen in this temple as
“Shakti Dakshinamurthy” and is in a separate shrine. He is holding a nectar pot
and palm leaves in his left hand and is embracing Goddess Parvathy.
·
Here Lord Murugan is seen as
Balasubramanyar and he is without his consorts. His shrine is in between
those of Lord Shiva and Ambal.
TEMPLE
INFORMATION:
|
Moolavar |
Sri Shivanandheswarar, Sri Thirukalleeswarar |
|
Ambal |
Sri Anandavalli Ammai |
|
Theertham |
Nandhi Theertham/Sivananda Theertham |
|
Sthala
Vriksham |
Kalli |
BELIEF:
It is believed that the
differences between married couples can be resolved if they worship Lord Shiva
here. Also, it is believed by the devotees that worshiping the lord here will
remove hindrances in marriage proposals. It is said that devotees who worship
Lord Shiva here with Kalli flowers, especially on Thursdays, will be blessed
with wealth and wisdom.
It is noteworthy to
mention here that the priest (Gurukkal) in this temple is aged 106 years but
still performs his duties. He has been doing a wonderful job for the past 85
years by offering his dedicated services to the lord. Now he is also helped by
his son.
TEMPLE
FESTIVAL:
|
Tamil Month |
English Month |
Festival Name |
|
Purattasi |
Sept-Oct |
Navarathri |
|
Maasi |
Feb-Mar |
Maha Shivrathri |
|
Karthikai |
Nov-Dec |
Thirukarthikai |
|
Aippasi |
Nov-Dec |
Skanda
Shashti |
|
Markazhi |
Dec-Jan |
Thiruvadhirai |
HOW
TO REACH:
The
nearest town to Thirukkallil is Periyapalayam. To reach Periyapalayam there are
two routes –
·
Periyapalayam is
around 40 kms from Koyambedu on the Chennai - Puzhal – Redhills - Periyapalayam
route.
·
Another route is
from Uthukottai, Uthukottai to Periyapalayam is 16 kms. From Periyapalayam
first reach Kannigaiper (Kanniputhur) which is at a distance of 5 kms and then
travel for another 3 kms to reach Thirukkallil (Thirukkandalam).
TEMPLE
ADDRESS:
Sri Shiva Nandeeswarar
Temple,
Thirukandalam,
(Thirukallil),
Vengal-Via,
Oothukottai,
Thiruvallur,
Tamil Nadu - 601 103.
LOCATION:
No comments:
Post a Comment