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New Indian Express
15-07-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
Ancient temples of Satharai
Satharai, an ancient village near River Coovam, has three ancient temples-for Karumanikka Perumal, Vasishteshwara and Chelliamman, all situated fairly close to each other. This village got its name because, according to the traditional story connected with this place, the famous and long drawn Satharai Yagam was conducted here. The Vasisiteshwara temple for God Siva, is situated on a slightly high level and visitors need to climb a few steps to reach it. The main entrance to this small temple is on the south with a gopuram at the entrance. The central sanctum, enshrining a large Siva Linga and Linga Pitha (Avudaiyar) worshipped as Vaisiteshwara, faces east. The Sthala Puranam or traditional account of this temple, mentions that Siva gave darshan to Sage Vasishta here and the Siva Linga is hence worshipped as Vaisishteshwara. There is a south-facing shrine for Goddess Parvati, called Vedanayaki Ambal, adjacent to the principal sanctum, which was constructed only a few decades ago. Subsequently, the original image of this deity was discovered and has been consecrated in the main shrine next to the Siva Lingam. This temple has only one prakaram (enclosure) with Chandikeshwara consecrated there. On the east side, Nandi and the bali-pitham and also an entrance which opens on to verdant agricultural fields, can be seen. A few festivals are celebrated here such as Pradosham, Thiruvonam nakshatram in the month of Avani (as it is the asterism of the Kumbabhisekam or consecration of this temple), and Pournami (full-moon) in Aippasi. It is likely that this temple, like the Perumal and Chelliamman temples in the vicinity, is also an ancient one, although vestiges of antiquity are not visible today.
New Indian Express
16-06-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
Clone of Nandishwarar temple: Where God Siva gave moksha to Nandi
Manavur, situated near Thiruvalangadu, is home to many temples, one of them being the large and ancient Nandishwarar (Siva) temple. There is an ancient Tamil saying — Adiyadhu Alangatil; Amarndadu Thiruvuralil; Manandadu Manavuril (Siva danced in Thiruvalangadu, rested in Thiruvural (Kuvam) and got married in Manavur). This refers to the famous dance competition between Nataraja and Goddess Kali in Thiruvalangadu, and the tradition that this deity rested in the well-known village of Kuvam and gave darshan, along with Goddess Parvati in the Thirumanakolam (marriage ceremony) to Sage Agastya. This place is called Manavur as the word manam, short for thirumanam, in Tamil means 'marriage'. According to the Sthala Puranam or traditional story of this temple, Nandi, Siva's vahana (vehicle), created a small tank here, bathed, and worshipped the Siva Linga here and attained moksha (liberation). This temple is therefore called Nandishwarar temple. The sacred tank (pushkarini), which is situated just outside the gopuram on the south, has traditionally been called 'Nandi Tirtham'. The main entrance with a stately gopuram is on the south, although the principal sanctum faces east. The gopuram opens into a wide open prakaram (enclosure) with a six-pillar mandapam straight ahead. Devotees then come to another ancient mandapam in which the processional images of Nataraja and Sivakami are enshrined and to the left is the east-facing sanctum enshrining the Linga worshipped as Nandishwarar. The inner prakaram which goes around the main shrine has deities such as Kali Matha, Ganesha, Gajalakshmi, Subramanya, Bhairava, Suryanarayana, and Chandikeshwara in worship.
New Indian Express
26-05-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
A Siva temple with several interesting features
Thirupachur (Thirupasur), a village near Thiruvallur, is home to the Vachishwarar temple, one of the Padal Petra Sthalams or temples wherein the deities have been praised in the Tamil verses of the Nayanmars or sixty-three important Saivite devotees. The presiding deity of this temple is Vachishwarar, a Siva Linga worshipped by the famous Nayanmars Thirunavukkarasar (Appar) and Thirugnanasambandar in the 7th century AD. While Thirugnanasambandar calls this deity Pasurnathar, inscriptions mention the name as Thirupasur Udaiyar. This temple's Sthala Puranam or traditional story states that this Siva Linga was buried in a bamboo forest here. A cowherd saw one of his cows regularly pouring milk at a particular place in this forest and informed the king. When they dug the ground, the Linga was discovered and consecrated here. There is a bamboo tree inside this temple as it is the Sthala Vriksham (sacred tree). The Siva Linga is therefore worshipped as a Swayambhu (self-manifested).
