दक्षिण भारतातील नवग्रह शिव मंदिरे - प्रस्तावना

मागच्या वर्षी आम्ही सर्व नवग्रह स्थळांबद्दल माहिती प्रकाशित केली होती.

त्यामधे आम्ही ग्रहांची माहिती दिली होती. ही नवग्रहांची मंदिरे मुळात शिव

मंदिरे आहेत. आता आम्ही परत नवग्रह स्थळांबद्दल ती शिवमंदिरे आहेत

ह्या दृष्टिकोनातून त्यांची माहिती प्रकाशित करत आहोत. 

ही सगळी मंदिरं कुंभकोणमच्या जवळपास आहेत. ह्या सर्व नवग्रह

मंदिरांना भेट द्यायला साधारणतः २ ते ३ दिवस लागतात. येणाऱ्या 

सप्ताहांमध्ये ह्या प्रत्येक मंदिराची माहिती आम्ही प्रकाशित करणार आहोत.

नवग्रह शिव मंदिरांची थोडक्यात माहिती

नवग्रह	कुठे आहे?	ह्या मंदिरा- तील भगवान शंकरांचं नांव	भगवान शंकरांच्या पत्नीचं (पार्वतीचं) नांव	ह्या मंदिराची दुसरी प्रचलित नावे
सुर्य	सुरियानार कोविल	श्री सूर्यनादर	श्री प्रकाशा- म्बिका	अर्घवनम् (दूर्वांचं वन)
चंद्र	थिंगलूर	श्री कैलाश- नादर	श्री पेरिय- नायकी
अंगारक (मंगळ, तमिळ मध्ये सेव्वै)	वैतीश्वरन कोविल	श्री वैद्यनादर	श्री थैयल- नायकी
बुध	थिरुवेंकाडू	श्री श्वेतार- ण्येश्वर	श्री ब्रह्म- विद्याम्बिका
गुरु	आलंगुडी	श्री आपत्- सहायर	श्री वेळ्ळी- एलवर कूझळी
शुक्र ( तमिळ मध्ये वेळ्ळी)	कंजनूर	श्री अग्नि- पुरीश्वर	श्री कर्पगंबाळ
शनी	थिरुनळ्ळर	श्री दर्भा- रण्येश्वरर्	श्री प्राणाम्बिका
राहू	थिरु- नागेश्वरम्	श्री सेनबागा- रण्येश्वरर	श्री गिरी- भुजांबिका
केतू	किळपेरुम्- पल्लम्	श्री नाग- नादर	श्री नागाम्बिका

Thiru Naganathaswami Temple - Temple of Ketu

This is the Navagraha temple attributed to planet Ketu. Hence the place is known as Ketu sthalam. The main deity in this temple is Lord Shiva. 

Mulavar (Main deity): Naganathar

Utsav Murti: Somaskandar

Devi (Consort): Soundaryanayaki

Kshetra Vrksha: Bambu

City: Keez-perum-pallam 

District: Nagapattinam in Tamilnadu

During Samudra Manthan, the serpent Vasuki vomited poison. In order to protect the Devas and others Lord Shiva drank this poison. Vasuki felt sorry as Lord Shiva had to drink poison emitted by her. As an atonement, she did penance at this place. Lord Shiva gave her darshan and blessed her. At that time she requested Lord Shiva to stay at this place in the same form. Lord Shiva obliged her and stayed at this place bearing the name Naganathar. 

History of Ketu Temple:

According to the Scriptures, this place has great importance. During Samudra Manthan, the great churning of the ocean, Vasuki nag became unconscious and the Asuras cut him into pieces and threw him into this place which was a bamboo forest. Due to the grace of Lord Shiva, he became alive again. He did penance at this place and requested Lord Shiva to come stay at this place and grace anyone who worships here. The sacred tree is bamboo.

Ketu Puran: When Rahu and Ketu came to life (refer previous story on Rahu), nobody was ready to accept them. Ketu was brought up by a Brahmin so he acquired Gyan (Knowledge/Higher Learning/Wisdom) from his foster father (Brahmin). He did penance at this place and acquired the status of a Graham (Celestial Body). Ketu’s wife is Chitralekha. His son is Avamrut. There is one more place where there is Ketu temple.

Teerth/ sacred Pond: There is one teerth called Naga Teerth. It is presumed that it was created by Vasuki. On the western side of the Teerth, there are a Pipal and a Neem tree conjoined together. Naga Puja is done at this place.

General Information:

The Vinayaka idol in this temple is worshiped as Anugraha Vinayaka. Lord Ketu is in a separate shrine. He has a human body and a serpent head. He graces the devotees and gives dnyan. Hence he is worshiped as anugraha Ketu and DnyanaKaraka. Since Ketu is the main deity in this temple there is no Navagraha shrine here. 

Speciality of the temple:

1) In this temple, special pujas are performed during Rahu kaal and Yama ganda for Lord Ketu

2) During the transit of Rahu and Ketu, special hom and havan are performed. 

3) Though there is no Navagraha shrine, we find 2 idols of Lord Surya and an idol of Lord Shanishwar near Lord Ketu’s shrine

Festivals at this temple:

1) Shivaratri (Feb-Mar, Masi in Tamil)

2) Anna-bhishek in October-Nov (Aipasi Tamil month)

3) Vasuki utsav (Mar-Aprl, Panguni Tamil month)

Thirunageshwaram - Temple of Rahu

This Navagraha temple represents the planet Rahu. This is also one of the 275 temples revered by Nayanmars. This is about 2000 years old. This is situated at Thirunageshwaram about 8 kilometers from Kumbhakonam in Tamil Nadu. 

Mulavar (Main deity): Thirunageshwar, Thirunaganathaswami, Shenbaga Aranyeshwar

Devi (Consort): Shri Girigujaambigai, Shri Pirai Anival Nuthal Ambika (wearing crescent moon on forehead),

Sacred Teertha: Surya Teertha

Sthala Vruksha: Champa Tree (Shenbagam)

Shiva Linga is a swayambhu linga. This place is famous as Rahu Parihar sthal. The place was abundant with Champa trees. Hence this place was known as Shenbaga aranya or Champaranya.

Greatness: According to puran Lord Vinayaka worshiped Shiva at this place and was bestowed with the title Ganapati i.e. Lord of all Ganas. 

According to Puran the eight great serpents (ashta maha sarpa namely Ananta, Vasuki, Karkodaga, Sankalpa, Kulika, Padman, Mahapadman and Taksha) along with Adi Shesha (five headed serpent) worshiped Lord Shiva at this place. In Ramayana this place is mentioned as the place where Ahalya, wife of sage Gautama, was relieved of her curse and she was united with sage Gautama again.  

Goddess Parvati had cursed sage Bhrungi. As an atonement for this act she was advised by Lord Shiva to do penance. She selected this place to perform penance. As directed by Lord Shiva goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Saraswati accompanied her to this place. Pleased with her penance Lord Shiva took her back to Kailash. Parvati is worshiped here as Girigujambal and the idol is swayambhu and there is no abhishek for the idol. This idol is swayambhu. 

The five headed adishesha is believed to have come from patal loka to worship Lord Shiva. Rahu is believed to have worshiped Lord Shiva at this place. In the shrine of Rahu he is depicted in human form with his wives Nagavalli and Nagakanni on either side. 

According to Sthala Puran, Nandi, Chandra, Surya, King Nala, Sage Gautama and Parashar worshiped Lord Shiva at this place. It is believed King Nala regained his wealth due to the grace of Lord Shiva. Pandavas also worshiped at this place and got their kingdom back. Nandi got the status of Nandikeshwarar. Indra worshiped Goddess Girigujambal for getting rid of his sins. Sage Bhrungi got darshan of Goddesses Lakshmi, Parvati and Sarawasti at the same time at this place. 

Other shrines at this temple: Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati are facing east in separate shine. In the first prakaram (parikrama) adjacent to the sanctorum (gabhara) we have the shrines of Vinayaka, Muruga and Chandrasekhar. There were 12 sacred teerthas here originally, namely surya, himalaya, brahma, chandra, agni, durga, parashara, indra, bhrugu, kanva, and vashishtha teerthas. But at present only Surya teertha exists. The idols of Nrutya ganapati, Shenbaga Vinayaka, Nandi, Adi Vinayaka, Murugan with his consorts Valli and Deivanai, Nataraja, Somaskanda, Sapta Matrika, Mahalkshmi and Saraswati are in the main parikrama. 

In the koshtam (place surrounding sanctorum) we find the idols of Nardana Ganapati, Nataraja, Agasttya, Dakshinamurti, Lingodbhava, Brahma, Vishnu, Durga, and Chandikeshwar. 

There are two shrines of Goddess Parvati. 1) The shrine of Shri Girigujaambika. She is in yogic posture and the idol is made of clay. Hence there is no abhishek. By her side we find the idols of Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Saraswati. The goddess Saraswati has a veena in her hand whereas Goddess Lakshmi has a flower in her hand. 2) The second shrine is that of Shri Pirai Anival Nuthal

Salient Features: 

1) Every year in the Tamil month of Karthigai (Nov-Dec) on full moon day, rays of moon fall on the idol of Shri Pirai Anival Nuthal.  2) On Sundays during Rahu Kaal, 4.30 pm to 6 pm, abhishek is done on Rahu idol with milk. This milk turns into blue color when it flows over Rahu idol, but becomes white when it touches the ground. 3) In Girigujambika shrine, there is a unique idol of Rahu known as Yoga rahu. 

This kshetra is a parihara sthal for sarpadosha, kalatradosha (wife), pitrudosha, kalasarpadosha.

According to Scriptures, the serpent king (Nagaraj) from Patal (Patal Lok), on one ShivaRatri day, selected four forests in KUMBHAKONAM to perform puja in four Prahars (segments) of the night (Ratri): 1. Bilwa Forest 2. Hibiscus Forest 3. Vanni Forest 4. Nagapatanam. Nagaraj constructed temples in each of these four places and worshiped Lord Shiva there. According to mythology, Ganapati, Nandi, Brahma, Sun-god, Vashishtha Muni and Indra also worshiped Lord Shiva here. It is also said that Gautam Muni got his wife back after performing worship here. Pandavas also visited this place during agyatvas (period in which they were to be incognito).

Festivals at this place:

1) Brahma utsav on third Friday of Karthigai is held for 10 days with a chariot yatra on the ninth day and surya teertha festival on the tenth day

2) In the month of Margazhi, Ardra festival for Lord Shiva.

3) Girigujambika festival on the first day of month Thai (14 or 15th of Jan)

4) MahaShivaratri

5) Chaitra purnima festival of Lord Muruga

6) Vaikashi festival for Somaskanda

7) Skanda shashthi and sura-samhar festival during Nov-Dec