I have written on how the Idol of Lord Subrahmanya at Sikkal , near Kumbakonam sweats on the Skanda Shasti day as soon as he receives the Spear, Vel from his mother Parvathi, to fight against Surapadma.
The day he destroyed Surapadma is celebrated as Skanda Sashti annual festival in Murugan temples in Tamil Nadu.
I was unable to get live pictures od Murugan swaeting then.
One of the archakas of the temple sent me the pictures.
Subrahmanya Sweats.
The history of India is diverse.
It might appear to the uninitiated as fragments far removed from the the unity of India, with misinformation campaign started y the British to exercise their supremacy over their colony India and this is still being carried out by the self styled rationalists and secularists under the myth of Reason and tolerance, to suppress the glory of Bharatavarsha.
Apart from the spiritual side one finds marvels of Architecture using far more advanced technology than what e have today, these temples support the evidence of incidents reported in the Eighteen Puranas and the Ithihasas, Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Pandavas lived in cognito for a period of one year as a part of the agreement to reclaim their Lost Kingdom.
Image credit.
http://hill-temples.blogspot.in/2011/03/athulyanadheswarar-temple-at.html
In the process they wandered the length and breadth of India, from Himalayas where they built a Temple for Shiva and there is a cave in Andhra where the hid.
They have also traveled to deep down south.
One such place where they stayed and prayed Lord Shiva for regaining their Lost Kingdom is in Araikanda Nallur, now called Arakandanallur, Viluppurm District which is about three hours drive from Chennai.
Arakandanallur is about 28 km from Viluppuram.
How to reach Arakandanallur.
Airport.Chennai/Puducherry.
Railway station. Villuppuram/Thirukkoilur.
Buses. from Viluppuram, frequency 45 minutes.
Arakandanaur is 35 km from Thiruvannamalai and 2 km from Thirukkoiur.
Moolavar.Atulyanadesewara, Shiva.
Consort.Azhagiya Ponnazhagi, Soundara Kanagaabigai.
Ganesha, Vishnu,Annamalaiyar(Shiva), Vishnu and Saptha mathas are also found here.
Bheema is reported to have dug a Tank for Draupadi to take bath.
There is a pair of feet, reportedly belonging to Thirugnana Sambhandar.
He saw Thiruvannamalai from this spot.
Lord Vishnu as Vamana worshiped Shiva here to absolve him from the sin of destroying Mahabali.
Ramana Maharishi experienced a Divine Light emanating from the sanctum here
Sthala vruksha, Holy tree,-Vilva.
Lord as a Swayambu Linga is seated under a Rudraksha pandal (roof) facing west.
When saint Tirugnanasambandar came to this place, he found the temple locked by people of other faith stopping all pujas and functions.
Sambandar sang in praise of Lord, opened the doors and restored the rituals.
Both Pradosha Nandhi and Adhikara Nandhi leaned to right and left sides respectively to facilitate easy darshan of the Lord to the saint.
Even now both Nandhis are seen looking at opposite directions to each other.
Original name. Araiani nallur, temple ornamented by Five rooms.
The Pandavas built five rooms for themselves to stay and worshiped Shiva for regaining their Lost kingdom.
After inning the Kurukshetra war, the Pandavas visited this temple after their coronation.
Though stated to be about 2000 Years old the temple belongs to much earlier period because of the references found in Tami literature.
Saint Gnanasambhandar praised this temple in Thevaram Hymns.
Tami king Paari donated lands and ornaments to this temple.
This Temple is cut into the rocks.
Apart from the Spirituality surrounding Indian Temples, they are poems in Art.
They were built thousands of years ago.
They had very precise plans as laid out in the Agama Sastra which is dated back to 5000 years at a conservative estimate.
(Please check my post on Agamas)
They have withstood earthquakes. The Thanjavur Bid Temple has withstood as many as five earthquakes.
These temples were astronomically oriented.
Somecof them aligned to Winter Solstice , some Summer Solstice.
Some group of temples are Geometrically aligned.
Kanchipuram, Thiruvanaikkaval and Kalahasthi lie in a straight line in the same lattitude.
Some of them drip water on the Idol in the Sanctum.
Some idols change colors ,in some cases, as many as Five times a day.
Suns Rays fall at a particular date at a particular time on the Deity.
Shadows of the top portion fall at the base of the Temple.
There is a temple of Shiva which disappears into sea only to reappear in the same day.
The idols receive light where there is no light source.
Some temples vare builtvin the plains, some in the forests,some near the sea and in the sea and some in the mountains.
And some in the cave.
The building of a temple in a Mountain is an arduous task.
There are many temples in the mountains, hillocks.
Though therecare a lot of temples built on mountains , they are single temples wit a Single tier of construction.
That is you would find Temples in a Mountain with deity installed atop the temple, though there might be other temples , either at the base or on the way to the top.
But there is a temple where there is a two tier construction, with one temple built on top of the other.
And this in a Single Rock!
This technic of carving out temples in a mountain was
Popularised by Emperor Rajaraja Chola in 1039 AD.
However even he could not build a two tiered temple on A Rock.
Yet we find the Rockfort Temple , Thiruchirapalli as a lone examplecof a two floor temple on a Rock.
The lower one is dedicated to Lord Shiva and the Top to Lord Ganesh.
These two temples lie on a single Rock.
The Shiva temple called as Thaayamaanavar is the first temple as you climb and lies on to youvright from the steps.
You have to retrace your steps to climb up to see Lord Ganesh which is also on the Same Rock.
Imagine building on a Rock by carving and that too two temples and one of them, Thaayamaanavar , is so designed that the Sun’s rays fall at the feet of Shiva Linga on three days of a year( panguni 23,24 and 25th- end March , early April), through an aperture of one and a half feet by two feet!
And the rays have to travel about 60 feet bypassing the Dwajasthamba and enter the Sanctum, Garbhagruha!
How to reach Thiruchirapalli.
Airport . Thiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu.
Railway Station. Thiruchirapalli.
Bus Station. Thiruchirapalli.
Deities. Ganesh Uchipillayar meaning Ganesh at the Top.
Thaayamaanavar, Shiva LINGA, who served a pregnant woman by delivering her child.
Image Credit. Rockfort Temple Full View.
http://www.eambalam.com/samaagamaa/know.php?id=1&subid=4&subsubid=33
Ancient Temples of India have stories to convey, but they are not stories but facts corroborated by internal and external evidence.
Events narrated in different Puranas and Ithihasas check with the local sthala puranas. Sthala Puranas are local legends associated with the temple present in the city.
They appear to be stories but in reality it is History.
This, I found out while researching on the places visited by Lord Rama.
The basic text for Ramayana is Valmiki Ramayana.
I also visit temples often to find out more about history.
During the time I was figuring out the places visited by Lord Rama , I found some sthala puranas of temples to be quite outrageous at the first look when compared with the text of Valmiki Ramayana.
Rama is believed to have performed Tharpan for Jatayu at Vaitheswaran koil in Tamil Nadu.
And there is another temple in Andhra Pradesh where Rama performed Tharpana for Jatayu!
Looked ludicrous. .
On checking Valmiki Ramayana , I found that Ravana cut the wings/feathers of Jatayu one by one.
Jatayu persisted and flew despite losing wings/feathers and Lord Rama seems to have performed Sraddha/Tharpan at each place where the feather had fallen!
In Kanda Purana in Tamil Lord Subrahmanya,Karthikeya annihilated the Rakshasas Sura padman and his brothers at Thiruchendur, Tamil Nadu.
The Devas prayed Lord Shiva to relieve them of the sufferings they were being subjected to by Sura Padma and Shiva proomised to take action.
Then SUBRAHMANYA was born.
He was presented with a special weapon by Devi.
Then He went on to annihilate Sura at Thiruchendur.
Look at the places in the above sequence
Palani Saravana Poigai where Muruga was born,
He was given the Vel, Spear at Sikkil Tamil Nadu.
The place the Devas prayed Shiva was at Thiruverumbur,.
These form a logical sequence.
The temple at Thiruverumbur is very anciet and this was where Devas prayed to Lod Shiva.
Thiruverumbur means city of Ants!
The devas were aoprehensive that the Asurasigjt find out about their intentions to pray to Shiva and prevent and they assumed the form of Ants to prevent detection.
As the SHIVA LINGA was made of Anthills, it might slip if people try to climb.
This is also a reason for Devas assuming the Form of Ants.
At Thiruverumbur one finds the Linga to be slighly tilted and the Shiva Linga is made of Anthill.
Onle the base is made of Stone.
So there are no Abhishekas excepting Tailakkaapu , anointing with oil.
The temole is about an hours run from Thiruchirapalli and there are a lot of Buses on the Chennai route where the town lies.
Airport. THIRUCHIRAPALLI.
Railway Station.. Thiruverumbur/ Thiruchirapalli.
The temple is believed to cure mental tension.
There is a small idol of Kasi Viswanatha Linga behind the Sanctum of Thiruverumbur Shiva Ling.
There is a small slit at the top of the sancrum at the back.
Sun’s Rays kiss the Viswanatha as Linga for apbout 15 minutes and it does not touch the idols adjacent to Kasi Viswanatha.
I observed this between 845 and 9 am.
‘ The temple’s main shrines and its two prakarams (outer courtyards) are on top of the hill, while a hall and the temple tank are located at the foothills. Shiva is believed to have transformed himself into an ant hill and tilted his head at this place to enable ants to climb up and worship him. Erumbeeswarar is revered in the canonical 7th-century Tamil Saiva work the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as nayanmars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam.
The temple is one in a series built by Aditya Chola (871-907 CE) along the banks of river Cauvery, to commemorate his victory in the Tirupurambiyam Battle. It has several inscriptions from the Chola Empire dating back to the 10th century.[1] The temple has been declared a protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India and is locally referred as “Kailash of South India”.
Erumbeeswarar temple is located atop a 60 feet (18 m) hill with a flight of granite steps to the top. Since the temple is atop a hill, it is locally called “Malai Kovil” (meaning hill temple). The temple complex has two prakarams (outer courtyard) and a two-tiered rajagopuram (gateway tower).[3] The central shrine faces east and holds the image of Erumbeeswarar (Shiva) in the form of lingam made of mud mound. The granite images Ganesha (son of Shiva and god of wisdom), Murugan (son of Shiva and god of war), Nandi (the bull and vehicle of Shiva) and Navagraha (nine planetary deities) are located in the hall leading to the sanctum. As in other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the first precinct or the walls around the sanctum of Erumbeeswarar has images of Dakshinamurthy (god of knowledge), Durga (warrior-goddess) and Chandikeswarar (a saint and devotee of Shiva). The central image of Erumbeeswarar is made of mud mound and is referred by other names like Erumbeesar, Mathuvaneswarar, Manikoodalachapathi, Piplikesvarar and Manickanathar. The inscriptions in the temple refer Erumbeeswarar as Thirumalai Alwar, Thiruverumbur Alwar and Thiruverumburudaya Nayanar. The shrine of the consort-goddess Narunguzhal Nayagi Amman, facing south, is located in the second precinct of the temple. The second precicnt is surrounded by granite walls. Narunguzhal Nayagi Amman is referred by other names like Sugantha Kuzhalal, Soundra Nayagi, Madhuvaneswari and Rathnambal.
According to Hindu legend, there lived a demon (asura) Tharukasuran, who conquered Prithvi (earth) and Svarga (heaven). Indra, the leader of celestial deities and other gods suffered at the hands of Tharukasuran and sought the help of the creator-god Brahma, who asked them to worship Shiva in Thiruverumbur. In order to deceive Tharukasuran, the devas transformed into ants and reached the temple. Since the surface of the lingam (aniconic form of Shiva) was slippery, the ants found it difficult to climb up and worship. Shiva transformed himself into an ant hill and slid his head, which enabled the ants to climb and worship. Hence the name Erumbeeswarar is derived from Erumbu meaning ant and Easwaran referring to Shiva.[4] This is one of the three places where Shiva slid his head for his worshippers, the other two being the temples at Virinjipuram and Thiruppanandal. The temple is also referred as Rathinakoodam, Thirverumbipuram, Erumbeesam, Brahmapuram, Laskhmipuram, Madhuvanam, Rathnakoodapuram, Manikoodapuram and Kumarapuram in various religious literature.[5] The temple is locally called as Kailash (the abode of Shiva) of South India.
Citation and reference.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erumbeeswarar_Temple
There are a few places in India which are reported to be quiet ancient, some of them to Billion years!
And these have been dated scientifically.
For example Thiruvannamalai 3.94 billion years, Thirupati 2100 million years.
Please read my posts on these places and more places similar to them.
And now there is an addition to this list.
The Temple for Vishnu at Srirangam ,is reported to be built by Rama,though many state that it was built earlier.
This period belongs to Treta Yuga, some 4,32,000 ago according to Indian Texts.
Historical dating of Lord Rama is around 5114 BC.
We may safely state that Srirangam belongs to 5114 BC, if not earlier.
References are found in Indian Texts that there is another temple which was built earlier by Lord Rama’s ancestor, King Sibi.
The same Sibi is mentioned as the one who parted with his Flesh to feed a Dove.
This has been mentioned in Tamil Sangam Literature, which is dated around 3000 BC.
But the date of Sangam literature is pushed back by at least by 20,000 subsequent finding of the ruins of Poompuhar,Tamil Nadu.
Poompuhar’s period was much later than Sangam period!
The Tamil Cholas are referred to as the descendants of Ikshvaku Clan,to which Lord Rama belonged.
So the refernce to a temple earlier to that of Srirangam gains credibility.
The Temple of Pundarikaksha(Vishnu) is mentioned in Sangam Classics and also referred to in King Rajaraja’s inscriptions.
Rajaraja built the Thanjavur Big Temple.
He belongs to 1039 AD.
The place where the temple is was called Thiruvellarai. Even now it is called so.
Thiruvellarai is about 19 km from Srirangam and bus facilities are available.
Nearest Airport. Thiruchirapalli.
Railway Station. Thiruchirapalli/Srirangam.
It is recorded in Srimad Bhagavadham that Rakshsas of the South,Rakshasa being a powerful race mostly settled in now sunk Lemuria, were inciting rebellion in the south of King Sibi’s Kingdom.
Sibi proceeded with his army to annihilate the Rakshasas but was thwarted by a wild Boar(Swetha Varaha, an Avatar of Lord Vishnu).
Sage Markandeya who was in meditation there advised Sibi that Sibi’s descendent (Rama)would take care of the Rakshasas and Sibi should build temple for Vishnu and have His darshan.
This Sibi did and this is the Thiruvellarai temple.
Temple timings. 6 to 12 noon. 4 pm to 8 pm.
Contact. SRI Kannan +91 8760732566
As the Bhattars in charge of pooja perform duties by turn I have provided the permanent staff number at the temple
The Main Deity is Pundaikakshan( Lotus eyed Vishnu).
‘ Goddess: Shenbagavalli, also called as Periya Piraattiyaar Lakshmi Devi. Seperate sannadhi for Thaayar. Utsavar thaayar is named as Pangajavalli.
Mangalasasanam: Periyalwar – 11, Thirumangai Alwar – 13, a total of 14 Paasurams. Perialwar – 71, 192 – 201, Thirumangaialwar – 1368-77, 1851, 2673, 2674
Prathyaksham for Periya Thiruvadi Garudan, Sibi chakravarthy, Bhoodevi (Bhoomi Piratti), Maarkandeya Maharishi, Lord Brahma, Rudhran (Lord Shiva).
Sri Pundarikakshan, Bhoomi Piratti, Periya piratti, Suriya and Chandiran and Aadisheshan are in human forms in the Moolavar Place.
Other shrines: Krishna, Vishwaksenar, Nammazhwar, Chakarathazhwar, Nadhamunigal, Kulasekara Azhwar, Thondarippodi Azhwar, Andal, Ramanuja and Manavala Mamunigal.
At the very entrance are the 18 steps reminding one of the 18 chapters of Bhagvat Gita given to us byPundareekakshan.
After this, one comes across 4 steps that are considered equal to the 4 Vedas to reach the Bali Peetam.
From here, one enters the Perumal sannidhi by ascending 5 steps representing the PanchaBhoothams (Fire, Water, Space, Air and Earth) and crossing theNaazhi Kettaan Vasal.
Here there are 2 gates Dakshinaayana Gate and Utharaayana Gate which are alternately used during the Dakshinayana/ Utharayana 6 month periods.
One climbs further 8 steps remind one of Ashtaaksharam
Thereafter one comes to the 24 steps reminding one of Gayathri Mantram to arrive at the sanctum sanctorum,where Senthaamarai Kannan (Pundareekaakshan) stands with His consort Pankayacchelvi Naacchiyaar.
Legend has it that all the Vaishnavas who perform daily poojas in temples in south are originally from Thiruvellarai.
The sanctum sanctorum has two entrances namely Utharayana Gate and the Dakshinayana Gate as in the Sarangapani temple at Kumbakonam. Utharayana Gate is open from the Tamil month of Thai (Capricorn) until the month of Aadi (Cancer), i.e., from Jan 15 to June 15 approximately and from then on, the Dakshinayana Gate is open.
In the human life, there are two separate entrances, one for entering into the life and the other for exiting out of it. We would be able to feel the presence of Paramaathma in both – while entering into the life and while exiting out of it. The two gates represnt this. The Utharayana Gate is the entrance through which all the Jeevathmas enter into the world as a human-being or as a non human-being and is the place of “Lord Guberan”, the God of wealth. The Dhakshinayana Gate is the entrance to the death and it is the place of Lord Yama, the king of Naragam. The Lord is ‘Suriya Narayanan’ during Utharayanam and is ‘Govindan’ during Dakshinayanam.
Apart from Utharayana and Dakshinayana Gates, the sanctum sanctorum has one more entrance called ‘Naazhi Kettaan Vaayil’ where it is believed that the Lord was intercepted and questioned by his consort, upon his returning home later, after his sojourn. Even today, during the festivals, after completing the trip outside, Perumal has to account for his time to his consort by informing the time he started, the places he visited etc., at this gate in order to gain entry into the temple.
A Temple tank Swastik Kulam (pond) or Maamiyaar -Maattu Penn (Mother in law – Daughter in law) 3, maintained by Archeological Survey of India (ASI) is outside the temple on the south-eastern side. The Swasthik shape of the tank makes it possible that people bathing at one ghat cannot view any other ghat. There are beautiful sculptures in the pillars above the steps.
In front of big pillar in this temple, when we make any sound, it replicates and echo around the temple in the inner prakaram. Because of this, some of the paasurams in Divyapprabhandhams are recited for 2-3 times.
There are two cave temples in the rocks, one of them belongs to the period of `Pallava Malla’ Nandivarman II and another belongs to the period of Rajaraja 1. There is another cave temple carved out of a rock known as Swedhagiri where Lord Siva, known as `Vada Jambunathar’ and Pundarikaksha are enshrined.
I have noticed that as one enters the Artha Mandapa,one can feel a cool breeze blowing ,though the temperature outside makes one sweat and there is no source for the cool air inside.
Citation and reference.
https://shanthiraju.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/thiruvellarai/
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