Darbharanyeshwara at Thirunallaru - Temple of Shani

This Shiva temple is located at Thirunallar in Karaikal district in Pondicherry. This is one of the Padal Petra Sthalam revered by Nayanmars. Though this is a Shiva temple, it is more famous as Navagraha sthala for the planet Saturn. 

Moolavar (Main deity): Darbharanyeshwarar, Thirunallar-ishwarar

Devi (Consort): Pranambika, Bhogamarta - Poonmulaiyal, Praneshwari

Kshetra Vruksha (Sacred tree): Darbha grass

Sacred teertha: Nala teertha, Brahma teertha, Vani teertha. Anna teertha and Ganga teertha are in a well near Nalavinayaka temple. Besides these there are eight ashta dikpal teertha.

Speciality: On the shiva linga we observe markings of Darbha grass as it is stated in Purana that the Shiva linga was found among darbha grass. This is a swayambhu linga.

This kshetra is one of the sapta vidanga sthalas. This place is also considered as one of the Shakti Pithas and is known as Praneshwari peetha. The temple is facing the east. 

Legends:

There are a number of legends associated with this place which are mentioned in the puranas.

According to the Scriptures, Brahma, after having created the world, went around to tour it. When he came to this forest (Aranya) full of Darbha, he was enchanted by its beauty and performed a penance and worshiped a SwayamBhu¹ Shiva Lingam².

The Lord appeared and explained to Brahma the inner meaning of Vedas and taught him other shastras. Brahma stayed in this place for a long time worshiping Shiva-Parvati and built temples for them. Brahma created Brahma Teerth and Saraswati created Vani Teerth. Indra, Ashta Dikpal (eight directions) and the sacred swan (Hansa) established their own Shiva Lingam and worshipped.

Nomenclature: Because Brahma worshipped at this place long ago, the place is known as AadiPuri (Aadi = Beginning, Puri = City). As the sacred grass Darbha (not Durva used in Ganesh Puja) was abundant, this place was called DarbhaAranyam. Because Nala had also worshipped here, the place used to be called Nallar and Shiva here called Nalleshwara.

According to Puran, Lord Vishnu worshiped Lord Shiva and Parvati at this place and got Manmatha (kamadeva) as his son. Hence as a token, Lord Vishnu created the Somaskanda form ie. with Lord Muruga seated in between Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Later on Vishnu gave this to Indra and by worshiping this form he obtained Jayant and Jayanti as children. Later on he created six more forms of the same somaskanda and gave all of them to Muchaganda.

The king placed them at seven places which are known as Sapta Vidanga sthala. One such form of Somaskanda is in this temple and people worship it for obtaining offspring. This vidanga is known as Thyagaraja vidanga. 

Other shrines in this temple:

To the south of the main temple there is a shrine which houses the idols of a shepherd, his wife and an accountant of the temple. The legend says that the shepherd was cheated by the accountant while paying for the milk supplied to the temple. Lord Shiva in order to save the shepherd from the wrath of the king and at the same time to punish the accountant threw his trishul at the accountant in the presence of the king. In order to make way for the trishul the nandi and bali peeth shifted slightly. This we can observe even today. The trishul severed the head of the accountant and Lord Shiva gave darshan to the shepherd. This explains why we find the nandi and bali peeth not in a straight line with the shiva linga. 

Legend says that Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma, Indra, Goddess Saraswati, Ashta Dikpal, Sage Agasti, Sage Pulasti, Hansa and Arjun worshiped Lord Shiva at this place. 

Special features: 

After bowing to the rajagopuram, as we enter the temple we have to touch and pray the entrance step. It is presumed that the Lord Shani resided in the upper portion of this entrance. According to legend Lord Shani hid himself at the top in order to escape from the wrath of Lord Shiva for having punished King Nala. 

Other shrines at this place: Lord Swarna Ganapati, Muruga, Nataraja, Somaskanda, The idols of Adi Shesha, Nayanmars, Mahalakshmi, Surya and Bhairava are also found. We come across the idol of King Nala and the Linga worshiped by him. Besides this just like any other Shiva temple we come across the koshta murtis. A separate shrine is there for emerald vidang ie. Thyagaraja vidang. 

Festivals:

1) Saturn transit - Saturday special worship of Shani

2) On full moon day, in the tamil month of Purattasi (Sept-Oct) a special worship for emerald lingam

3) In May-JUne (Vaikashi) brahmotsavam is held for 10 days

¹ SwayamBhu: Not created by human hand or touched by chisel; Swayam = Self and Bhu = Be, SwayamBhu = Be by self.

² Shiva Lingam Worship: 

Shiva = Cosmic Reality (Form) created by AadiParaShakti (Aadi = Beginning, Para = Beyond and Shakti = Energy) ie Parvati. AadiParaShakti = Energy beyond beginning (of matter), The Essence/ Truth (state of no matter, only energy). Energy, in and of itself cannot be perceived without a Form. Therefore AadiParaShakti created Cosmic Reality to manifest itself. 

Lingam = Leen (Become One With) + Gamya (navigable), Lingam = To navigate and become one with. Thus Shiva/ Shiva Lingam worship is a way of becoming one with the Cosmic Reality/ AadiParaShakti (Truth). Shiva, by Himself cannot do anything without AadiParaShakti. Same is true for AadiParaShakti. Therefore, The ArdhaNarishwara manifestation (Advaita in the Dwaita) is THE (fundamental/ eternal) TRUTH.

Thiruagnishwarar Temple at Kanjanoor - Temple of Shukra (Venus)

This is a navagraha temple representing the planet Shukra. This Shiva temple is one of the 275 temples revered by Nayanmars. This temple is located at Kanjanoor in Tanjavur district in Tamil Nadu. The temple is presumed to be more than 2000 years old. 

Mulavar (Main deity): Agnishwarar

Devi (Consort): Karpagambal

Kshetra Vruksha: Jackfruit tree and Palash tree

Sacred Teertha: Agni Teertha, Parashar Teertha, Brahma Teertha (Kaveri), Chandra Teertha, Anjaneya Teertha and Manikarnika Teertha

Puranik Names of the place: Palasha aranyam, Parashapuram, Brahmapuri, Agnipuram, Kamsapuram

Lord Shiva is a swayambhu linga at this place. 

Features of this kshetra:

This is a navagraha place for Lord Shukra and is one of the places where Shukra performed worship. There is a separate shrine for Lord Shukra. The unique feature at this temple is that Lord Shiva and Parvati are together. They gave darshan to Lord Brahma at this place in their bridal form. Therefore Parvati is found to the right of Lord Shiva in the idol. Lord Shiva gave mukti to Sage Parashar in his Tandav form. Hence the idol of Lord Nataraja at this place is known as Mukti Tandav murti. Lord Shukra is known as Kanjan. That’s why the place got the name Kanjanoor. 

Shukra is also known as Bhargava as he is the son of Sage Bhrigu and Puloma. Shukra is also known as Kavi. 

Lord Chandra was relieved of his curse at this place. Agni worshiped the Lord here on the advice of Sage Vyasa and was cured of his ailment. So Lord Shiva is known as Agnishwarar. 

King Kamsa of Mathurapuri was advised by Sage Shukracharya to pray at this place to get rid of his ailments and he got cured at this place by doing so. As Kamsa worshiped at this place this place is known as Kamsapuram. This is the place where the greatness of the Panchakshara mantra was brought out by Haradattashivacharya. 

Idols in the temple:

The koshta murtis i.e. Narthan Vinayaka, Dakshinamurti, Lingodbhava, Durga and Chandikeshwarar are found on the outer walls of Koshtam. 

1. Near the shrine of Goddess Parvati, we find the idol of Adi Karpagambal. 
2. The shrines of Vinayaka, Mayur Subramanya and Mahalakshmi are found in the parikrama
3. The agasthiwarar lingam is located under the Palash tree.
4. Idols of Manakkancharar, Kulikamar, Suraikai Bhaktar and his wife are found near Shiva Linga.
5. In mahamandap we have the idols of Bhairav, Surya, Chandra, Navagrahas and Nalvars (great Shaiva saints).

Legends:

According to Puran, once Shukracharya cursed Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu was affected by Shukra Dosha and he worshiped Lord Shiva at this place under the name of Haridattashivacharya.

Sudarshan was the child who was born to a staunch vaishnav Vasudev. But the child exclusively worshiped Lord Shiva. There is a separate sculpture of Sudarshan seated on a red hot iron stool and reciting the name of Lord Shiva in this temple. There is another sculpture which shows Haridattashivacharya as Dakshinamurti.

Once a brahmin was responsible for the death of a cow. Hence the other brahmins sent him out of the cast as he had caused the death of a cow. By the grace of Haridattashivacharya who made a Nandi of stone to eat the grass so that Brahmin could be taken back into the cast. 

According to the Scriptures, Shukra (Shukracharya) was the Guru of demons and had the Sanjeevani mantra by which he would bring to life demons who had died in a fight.

Once, Brahma performed penance at this place to see ShivaParvati in their wedding attire and for others to witness the glorious vision too. Because of this, the Shiva temple is to the right and Parvati temple is to the left.

Local folklore has it that sugarcane and honey were plentiful here – rivers of honey – therefore the name Kanjanur. It is further believed that AadiParaShakti (Parvati) created the TriMurtis (Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh) at this place.

According to history, Chandra (Moon), Parashar Muni, Kamsa (Lord Krishna’s maternal uncle) had worshipped Lord Shiva here. Hence, there are three separate Shiva-Lingams present here.

There are three Punya-Teerth or sacred ponds here – 1. Brahma Teerth created by Brahma, 2. Agni Teerth created by Agni and 3. Parash Teerth created by Parashar Muni. River Cauvery runs nearby and it is also considered a Teerth.

History of Shukra Graha:

According to Scriptures, Shukra is the son of Bhrigu Rishi and his wife Pulomisha. When Shukracharya was performing penance to get Sanjeevani mantra, Indra’s daughter Jayanti performed seva (service) to Shukracharya. After the birth of their daughter Devayani, Jayanti went back to Devalok.

Shukra got his name because of his (silver) light complexion. Shukracharya had obtained the Sanjeevani mantra from Lord Shiva by which he could bring to life the dead demons. Brihaspati (Guru of Devas) sent his son Kacha to learn the Sanjeevani mantra from Shukracharya. Kacha served Shukracharya with all his might and won over the hearts of Shukracharya and his daughter Devayani. Because of this, the demons killed Kacha and mixed his ashes in water and gave it to Shukracharya to drink. Because of Devayani’s insistence, Shukracharya got Kacha out of his stomach. In the process, the Sanjeevani mantra lost its power.

Shukracharya had three wives, one son and two daughters. He wrote a book (in Sanskrit/ North-Indian language) on law known as Shukra Neeti.

Shukracharya went to Kashi, performed penance and got a boon to become a Graham (Celestial Body).

Festivals

1. In the Tamil month of Adi and in the nakshatra Purva Phalguni (Pooram in Tamil)
2. Masi magha festival in the Tamil month of Masi (Feb-March)
3. The festival of Haridattashivachary in the Tamil of Thai (Jan-Feb)
4. Navaratri festival in Purattassi (Sept-Oct)
5. Thiruvaduthurai festival in Margazhi (dec-Jan)
6. Besides this, festivals for Anjaneya and pradosha puja are also performed

Thiruapatasahayeshwarar Temple at Alangudi - Temple of Guru

This temple is situated about 17 kms from Kumbhakonam towards Mannargudi. This Shiva temple is the Navagraha sthala for planet Jupiter. The temple is more than 2000 years old and is one of the 275 temples revered by Nayanmars.

Moolavar (Main deity): Apatsahayeshwarar, Kashiaranyeshwarar

Utsav Murti: Lord Dakshinamurti

Amman (Consort): Elawarkuzhali, Umai Amman

Kshetra vruksha: Silk cotton tree (in Tamil Poolai)

Sacred teertha: Brahma teertha, Amrut Pushkarini and 13 others

Pouranik Name: Erumppolai (Thiru-virum-poolai)

Name of place: Alangudi

Disctrict: Tanjavur (Tamil Nadu)

Important features:

The temple is east facing temple. The moolavar (shiva linga) is a swayambhu murti. This place is more revered as Guru Sthalam or Lord Dakshinamurti kshetra. This is a parihar sthala for Guru dosha. 

Salient features of this place: 

Every year, in the tamil month of Masi (Feb-Mar), special abhishek is performed for Lord Dakshinamurti. This day is considered more auspicious than the day on which Jupiter transits from one rashi to another. There is no direct darshan of Guru but Lord Dakshinamurti is the Guru as he gave Guru upadesha to Sanakaadi (Sanaka and others) munis at this place. Hence he is considered as Adi Guru (first guru) of Guru Parampara.

As the black colored silk cotton plant is the kshetra vruksha and as Lord Shiva drank the poison for devas and sat at this place, the place got the name Alangudi.

This place is one of the pancha aranya sthalas. This place is considered as the parivar sthala for Lord Mahalingeshwarar at Thiruvidaimaruthur. In a separate shrine near this temple we have the idol of Daksha (father of Parvati) with a goat’s head. He was fitted with a goat's head by Lord Shiva at the request of Goddess Parvati when Daksha was killed by Veerabhadra. 

There is a separate shrine of Shukrawar Ambika (Parvati). Special pujas are performed on Fridays at this place.

In this temple the shrines of Mata (Parvati), Pita (Shiva) and Guru (Lord Dakshinamurti) are arranged according to the order of worship in Hindu religion i.e. Mata-Pita-Guru and Daiva.

Legends: 

1) Amuthohar, a minister of Mukund Chakravarty, who built this temple refused to share the punya with the king. The king beheaded the minister and at that time the name of the minister echoed all over the temple. The king atoned for the Brahmahatya dosha committed by him at this temple.

2) The idol of saint Sundar murti nayanar shows scars of smallpox. The idol along with other idols was taken to Thiruvarur from Alangudi by the king and he did not wish to part with the idol. A priest brought this idol back stealthily to Alangudi. He tricked the guards by wrapping the idol in cloths. He informed the guards that this child had smallpox, so that guards allowed him to pass through. On reaching Alangudi when he unwrapped cloth bundle the idol had scars of smallpox. 

3) Goddess Mahalakshmi worshiped Lord Shiva at this place for santana prapti. 

4) Goddess Parvati performed penance here before marrying Lord Shiva at Thirumanamangala very close to Alangudi. Lord Mahavishnu, Lord Brahma, Indra, Goddess Lakshmi, Ashta Dikpal and Veerabhadra had visited this place and witnessed the wedding. 

5) Saint Sundarar received panchakshara upadesh from Lord Dakshinamurti in this place. 

6) Adi Shankaracharya received mahavakya upadesh from Lord Dakshinamurti at this place.

7) Veerabhadra, sages Kashyapa and Vishwamitra, King Muchhukanda have worshiped Lord Shiva at this place.

8) Once when Goddess Parvati was playing with a ball made of flowers and she had thrown it up, and when she had raised Her hands to catch it, the Sun god who was passing by, mistook the raised hands as a signal to stop and he stopped out of reverence. Sun’s stopping, however brief, was a cause for great turmoil for all in the universe (Sun is in constant relative motion with Earth). When Lord Shiva came to know of this inadvertent folly, He asked Parvati to take birth and she followed.

This temple is where Goddess Parvati did Her penance to please Lord Shiva and eventually married with Him. During this marriage, all Gods were present – Ganesh, Murugan etc. This temple, created by Parvati, was known as KashiAranya and the place considered equivalent to Kashi.

9) A demon named Gajamukha was troubling people and Gods. Lord Shiva sent His son Ganapati to punish him. Therefore, there is a Ganapati temple here and Ganapati is known as Kaatha Vinayakar (Kaatha = Protector, Vinayak = Ganapati and Aakar = Form).

Other shrines and deities:

Vinayaka, Lord Muruga with Valli and Deivanai, Nataraja and Shivakami, Somaskanda, Surya, Chandra, Kashi Vishwanath and Vishalakshi, Sapta Linga (namely Suryeshwararar, Someshwarara, Ghrushneshwar, Somnath, Saptarishinadar, Vishwanath, Brahmeshwar), Varadraj Perumal and Sri Devi, Nalwar, Shani, Bhairav, Sapta mata, and Sages Vishwamitra and Agastya idols are found in the parikrama. 

Koshta murtis are found on the outer walls of Sanctum Sanctorum. Lord Dakshinamurti is in a separate shrine and is worshiped as a guru.

Specialities at this temple:

1) Only Lord Dakshinamurti is taken in a procession in a chariot.

2)  Separate nagasannidhi is found here. People worship to get rid of Naga dosha. In this place there is no death due to snake bite

3) Lord Shiva is worshiped here in the evening. 

4) Sage Agastya is worshiped before worshiping Lord Muruga at this place. 

5) Parivar sthalams of Sri Mahalingeshwarar temple are 1. Thiruvalamchuzhi Vinayak temple, 2. Swami Malay Murugan temple, 3. Alangudi Lord Dakshinamurti, 4. Thiruvadudurai Nandi temple 5. Suryanar kovil Navagraha 6. Thiruvappadi Chandikeshwar temple 7. Chidambaram Nataraja. 8. Sirkazhi Bhairav temple, 9. Thiruvarur Somaskanda

This temple is revered as murti (glory of the lord) sthala, sacredness of the land and sacred teertha. 

Important festivals:

1. Guru transit
2. Chaitra pournima
3. Thai pusam festival in (Jan-Feb)
4. Panguni uttaram car (chariot) festival in Mar-April
5. Pradosha puja on every pradosha day