Sakshinadar Temple at Avalivanallur

This temple is the 2nd to be visited in the Pancha-aaranya sthala. This temple is also revered by Nayanmars. This is located at Avalivanallur in the Papanasam taluka of Tamil Nadu. 

Moolavar (Main Deity): Shiva - Shri Sakshinadar (witness)

Amman (Name of Consort): Parvati - Soundaryanayaki

Special Deity: Lord Muruga

Sthala Vruksha: Yellow trumpet flower tree (Pathiri tree)

Time of darshan: In the morning

Legend: 

The temple priest Vishnusharma once went on a Kashi yatra, leaving behind his young wife Sushila. When he was on yatra, his wife fell ill and her sister (who was look-alike) came to help her. On returning from Yatra, Vishnusharma saw 2 women in his house. One was ugly and the other was beautiful resembling his wife who was actually her sister. He felt that the beautiful lady was his wife. He was not ready to accept his real wife Sushila who had become ugly due to illness. Sushila prayed to Lord Shiva who came to her rescue with Parvati. They appeared in front of Vishnusharma and convinced him about his real wife. Since Lord Shiva appeared as a witness, he is known as Sakshinadar.

Behind the linga in sanctum sanctorum there is a panel depicting Lord Shiva and Parvati seated on Rishabh. This is the manner in which they appeared in front of Vishnusharma to prove the identity of his wife. 

Varaha (murti), Sage Agastya, Sage Kanva, the planets Surya and Chandra, and Lord Muruga worshiped Lord Shiva at this place. 

Vishnu worshiped Lord Shiva at this place, in his Varaha avatar, when he had lost his horn. The idols of Agastya, Dakshinamurti, Lingodbhavar, Bramha are found in this temple. In the Navagraha shrine, all the planets are facing planet God Surya.

Festival:

Navaratri, Skanda shasti and new moon in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan-Feb) are celebrated here. The sacred teertha is known as Chandra Pushkarni.

Garbha Rakshambika Temple at Thirukarukavur

We had given the details of Pancha-aaranya sthalams in our earlier blog. This is the 1st of the Pancha-aaranya sthala. This temple is to be visited in the wee hours of the morning. This place is situated in Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu. This temple is one of the 275 Shiva temples revered by Neyanmars. This temple is about 2000 years old.

Moolavar (Main deity): Shiva – Sri Mullaivananadar

Amman (Name of Consort): Parvati –
Sri Garbha Rakshaambika, Sri Karukathanayaki

Sthala vruksha: Malati Creepers (Mullai in Tamil)

Other important deity: Karpaga Vinayaka

Time for Darshan: Ushakal (very early morning)

Both God Vinayaka and Lord Shiva are swayambhu murtis. In early days this place was abundant with Malati (Jasmine) creepers. Even today we come across the marks made by the creeper on the Shivalinga. 

Legend:

A muni named Niruthava was staying at this place along with his wife Vediki. When she was pregnant Sage Urdhapada came to their hermitage. As the lady was in an advanced stage of pregnancy, she could not notice the arrival of sage. The sage got angry and cursed that the fetus should be still-born. Niruthava and his wife sought the grace of Mullaivananadar and Goddess Parvati. They prayed and begged Lord Shiva and Parvati to save their child. Ambika rescued the fetus and placed it inside a pot and guarded it. After the child was born, She created a tank with the help of Holi Cow Kamadhenu to provide milk for the child. As requested by Vediki, Ambika promised to protect the pregnancy and grant a child to all those who prayed at this place.

At this place the prayers are offered by those suffering from skin disease as there is a medicinal plant (known as Punugu) available at this place. Abhishek of Lord Shiva is done with the help of this plant. The Lord is the swayambhu Linga in the form of an ant-hill. Hence no Abhishek is done on the Shivalinga. A nandi at this temple is also swayambhu. The Godmother graces the devotees with Her hand on the hip.

Other Shrines in this temple – 

1. Somskandha

2. Navagraha shrine – Here all the planets are facing the Sun which is a unique feature.

Main Pooja – Pradosh Puja is performed on Sunday in the Tamil month of Karthik. Special Abhishek is also performed for the Shivalinga with 1008 conch shells. 

Pancha Aaranya Sthalangal

There are 5 Shiva temples on the southern bank of river Kaveri which are collectively known as Pancha Aaranya (forest) Sthalangal. It was believed that if one visits all these temples in a single day (at the time mentioned below) that it was equivalent to having a darshan at Haridwar. Now it has become easy to visit these places in a day. We will try to give an account of these temples in our blogs in upcoming weeks. In this blog we are listing these temples with their information such location, name of deity, name of sacred tree etc.

Name of Place	Location	Name of temple	Name of forest (Vanam)	Sthala-vruksha (tree/ plant)	Name of Lord Shiva	Name of his consort	Special Deity	Time of worship
THIRU-KKARU-GAVUR	Papa-nasam Taluka, Dist Tanjore, TN	Shri Mullai Vana Nathar	Jasmine	Jasmine	Mullai Vana Nathar	Kurakattanayaki	Karpaga Vinayagar	6am
AVALIVANALLUR	Papanasam Taluka, Dist Tanjore, TN	Shri Sakshi Nathar Temple	Trumpet flower tree	Trumpet flower	Sakshi Nathar	Soundaryanayaki	Murugan	8am
HARI-DWARA-MANGALAM	HARI-DWARA-MANGALAM	Shri Paathala Eshwarar	Shami tree	Shami tree	Patal-eshwar	Alankaravalli	Patal-eshwar	Noon
ALANGUDI	Alangudi	Shri Apath Sahaya Eshwar temple	Silk Cotton tree	Silk Cotton tree	Apath Sahaya Eshwar	Valli-elavar Kuzali	Dakshina-moorthy	5.30pm
THIRUKKOLLAMPUDUR	Nannilam, Taluka- Tanjore, TN	Shri Bilva-van-esh-warar temple	Bilva tree forest	Bilva tree forest	Bilva-vaneshwar	Soundraambika	Natraj	8.30pm