Veezhi mayanam - Sri Nethrabaneshwarar Temple

This is the fourth mayanam temple of Lord Shiva. It is located near Peralam and Poonthottam. It is about 10 kilometers from Poonthottam on the bank of Arasalaru (a tributary of Kaveri) on the southern bank of Kaveri. This is about 27 kilometers from Mayiladuthurai on Mayiladuthurai-Thiruvarur route.

This is one of the Padal Petra Sthalam. Sambandhar, Appar and Sundarar have sung sacred hymns on Lord Shiva at this place. This temple is about 2000 years old. 

Mulavar: Sri Nethrabaneshwarar, VeezhiNathar, KalyanaSundareshwarar

Utsav Murti: KalyanSundarar

Devi: Sundar Gujambika, SriKatyayani, Sri Azhazhiyavanmullai Ammal, 

Sacred Teertha: Vishnu Teertha, Damodar Teertha and 25 other teerthas

Kshetra Vruksha: Veezhi Tree (Sandalwood Champa Jackfruit and Wood apple trees are together known as Veezhe in Tamil). 

Puranik and Present Name: Thiruveezheemalai,

District: Thiruvarur, Tamilnadu, Taluka:Kudavasal

Once this place was completely covered by dense Sandalwood, Champa, Jackfruit and Wood apple (Kavatha in Marathi) which are all together known as Veezhee in Tamil.

This temple is considered as parihar sthal for marriage obstacles. This temple covers an area of 4 acres. The temple has seven tiered Rajagopuram and three prakarams. There is a 100 pillar mandap known as Vowal (bat in Tamil) mandap. Stone inscriptions dating to the early 10th centuries are found in this temple. The temple is east facing. The temple looks like a fort. The temple tank is very huge. The temple is a madakovil style constructed by Chola king.

There is a very old (about 100 years) papaya tree. The shiva linga is swayambhu linga. The nandi at this temple is known as Patal nandi. The temple is built in such a way that one feels that it is built over nandi. 

Lord Shiva is dressed in his bridal dress and hence he is known as Mappillai Swami(bridegroom). There are no koshta murtis in this temple. 

The idol of Lord Shiva and Ambal are in their bridal dress and the idol is about 15 feet in height. 

Other idols and shrines:

There are no koshta murtis. In the south parikrama we have a shrine of Vinayaka known as Padikkasu Vinayaka. In the west parikrama shrines of Somaskanda, Lord Muruga, and Goddess Mahalakshmi are found. On the northern side we have the shrine of Chandikeshwar and the shrine of Nataraja with Shivagami. Balipeeth is in the east and west corners of the temple. Sanctum sanctorum is supported by sixteen lions. The inner gopuram looks like a chariot. Lord Indra looks like a charioteer and Lord Shiva is seated as bridegroom. We also come across the idols of Bhikshatanar, Kalasamhar murti, Thyagaraja. We have a separate shrine for Lord Dakshinamurti, the four shaiva saints known as Nalvar and shrine of twin Vinayaka known as Irattai Vinayaka in Tamil. Besides this we come across idols of Bala Ganapathi, Bala Subramanya, Shiva Lingas, Mukta Devi and five lingas representing pancha bhutas, MayurNathar, Surya, Bhairav, Meykandar in the corridor. There is a separate shrine of Shaneshwarar. Goddess Parvati is in a separate shrine with a separate corridor along with the shrines of Lord Muruga and Lord Ganapati. The procession idol (i.e. utsav murti) of Lord KalyanaSundarar has the idol of Lord Mahavishnu offering his eye.

Salient features:

Saints Appar and Sundarar stayed here in a mutt. There is a hole in the wall of the sanctum sanctorum through which a parrot is believed to be coming daily for worship of Lord Shiva. 

Kshetra Puran:

Sage Katya and his wife performed severe penance and got Goddess Parvati as their daughter who was named as Katyayani. Acceding to the request of the sage, Lord Shiva married Katyayani in the Tamil month of Chithirai on Magha nakshatra. At that time the Sage requested the couple to stay at this place in their bridal attire. And grace all the devotees. Hence Lord Shiva and Parvati appear in their bridal attire. 

A hunter named Meezhilaikurumbur used to worship Lord Shiva daily with a wood apple. Lord Shiva graced him and gave him ashta-maha-siddhi. People still believe that they can see the wood apple offered by the devotee even today at the feet of Lord Shiva. Hence this place is known as Veezheemalai. 

Once when Appar and Sambandhar stayed at this place a huge famine took place. They sang sacred hymns in praise of Lord Shiva to get over the famine. Lord Shiva appeared in their dream and told them that he will give one gold coin daily so that they can feed the people and avoid starvation. Lord Shiva gave one gold coin to Appar in the west balipeeth and one coin to Sambandhar in east balipeeth daily. These balipeethas can be found even now. And they are known as Padikkasu Balipeetha. Lord Vinayaka at this place is known as Padikkasu Vinayaka. 

Demon Jalandhar had snatched discuss of Lord Vishnu. Lord Shiva advised Lord Vishnu to come to this place and worship him (as Lord Shiva was among Veezhee plants) so that he can get back his discuss. Lord Vishnu came to this place and made a pond known as Vishnu Teertha and worshiped Lord Shiva with lotus flowers. He found one lotus flower short and he tried to make up for that by offering one of his eyes. Lord Shiva who was pleased with his worship got the discuss back. It is believed that the eye offered by Lord Vishnu is still at the feet of Lord Shiva. The mulavar Vimanam is believed to have been brought by Lord Vishnu. 

A plant known as Veezhee grows in abundance at this place, hence this place was known as Veezhekadu. 

It is believed that Lord Shiva gave darshan as Thoni Appar at this place. 

It is stated in purana that king Shwetaketu (from North) came here and worshiped Lord Shiva. He was told that he had a very short lifespan and can be saved only by worshiping Lord Shiva at this place. He was saved by Lord Shiva from Yama at this place. 

Those who worshiped here: Sage Vasishtha, Sage Katya, celestial cow Kamadhenu, Ratidevi (wife of Kamdev), Lord Vishnu and King Manu.

Festivals:

Chithirai (Apr-May) - 10 day brahmotsav

Avani (Aug-Sept) - Ganesh chaturthi and Mula nakshatra

Aipassi (Oct-Nov) - Annabhishek

Karthigai (Nov-Dec) - Deep and skanda shashthi

Masi (Feb-Mar) - Mahashivaratri

Adi (July-Aug) - Puram - ardra nakshta, navaratra, pradosh

Kazhi Mayanam - Sri Brahmapurishwarar Temple at Sirkazhi (Tanjavur district)

This shiva temple which is one of the pancha mayanam temples is located at Sirkazhi in Nagapattinam District of Tamil Nadu. This is about 20 kilometers of Mailaduthurai on Chidambaram - Kumbhakonam route. This temple is very huge. It is spread over a large area. It houses 3 shrines of Lord Shiva, namely Brahmapurishwarar, Thoniappar and SattaiNathar. It is one of the 275 Paadal Pethra Sthalam. Lord Shiva of this temple was revered by the three shaiva saints namely Appar, Sundarar and Sambandhar. Present temple structure is 1500 years old and was originally built by Chola kings. 

Mulavar: Sri Brahmapurishwarar, Sri Umamaheshwarar, Sri Thoniappar, Sri SattaiNathar and Vatukanathar

Devi: PeriyaNayaki, ThiruNilaiNayaki, Sthirasundari

Sacred Teertha: Brahma Teertha and 22 other teerthas

Kshetra Vruksha: Parijat (PavazhaMalli in Tamil)

Puranik Name: Brahmapuram, Sirkazhi, Venupuram, Thonipuram, Sirapuram, Poontharai, Venguru

The first temple is that of Sri Brahmapurishwarar. The main temple consists of three tiers. Shiva Linga is a swayambhu and devi is known as ThirumalNayaki. The temple in the second tier is that of Thoni Appar and devi is known as PeriyaNayaki. Here we find the Lord in a boat (Thoni in Tamil) along with Goddess Parvati. He is depicted as a teacher in temple. In the third tier the Shiva is known as SattaiNathar and he is present as Lord Bhairavar. 

Sirkazhi is the birth place of ThiruDnyanaSambandhar. Sri Kali is worshiped at this place, hence the name was Sri Kali which got changed with time to Sirkazhi. The three shiva saints have together sung seventy one sacred hymns. The main shrine of Brahmapurishwarar faces the east on the bank of temple tank. The shrine of Thoniappar is on an elevated place to the west of main shrine. SattaiNathar shrine can be seen from the southern side pathway. 

The shrine of Sambandhar is located on the outer prakaram. Adjacent to this shrine we have the shrine of devi ThiruNilaiNayaki. Outside the shrine of ThiruDnyanaSambandhar, we have idols of Appar, Sundarar and ManikVachigar. As ThiruDnyanaSambandhar is considered to be Lord Muruga we find his shrine in between Shiva and Parvati. This arrangement is known as Somaskanda arrangement. There are twentytwo sacred teerthas of which BrahmaTeertha, Kali Teertha, Parashar Teertha are considered more sacred. It is believed that Lord Shiva manifested as a bambu in reponse to the prayer of Lord Indra. Bambu is considered as Kshetra Vruksha. In the sanctum we have idols of Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati, Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Saraswati. In this kshetra Lord Vinayak is addressed as Runa Teertha Vinayaka. In the prakaram we have the shrines of Lord Muruga, Somaskanda, 63 Nayanmars. There is a separate shrine for Ashtabhairavas. In the corridor of the shrine of Devi ThiruNilaiNayaki we find idols of ShyamalaDevi, Sri Icchashakti, Sri Dnyanashakti and Sri Kriyashakti. 

Salient features:

After the great deluge, Lord Shiva wearing sixtyfour kalas with the pranav mantra Om as a boat (Thoni) manifested as UmaMaheshwar along with Goddess Parvati. He saw this place which was not destroyed during the pralay. He stayed in this kshetra as Thoni Appar and Parvati as Devi ThiruNilaiNayaki. 

Lord Brahma worshiped Lord Shiva as a shiva linga (known as Brahmapurishwarar) as one who destroys ego (SattaiNathar) at this kshetra.

Lord Vishnu got afflicted due to Brahmahatya dosha after killing King Mahabali. As Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu were considered as one and the same Lord Shiva wore the skin of Lord Vishnu as his garment. Goddess Mahalakshmi felt that Lord Vishnu was killed by Lord Shiva. As per the custom she stopped wearing flowers and sacred signs and was in deep sorrow. Hence even now when the women come to this temple they do not wear flowers and men do not wear shirt. This is the place where Lord Brahma got rid of his ego by Lord Shiva.

Goddess Parvati got dnyana-upadesh from Lord Shiva at this place after pralay. At this place Goddess Parvati graces as Goddess Mahalakshmi. This is considered as the eleventh shakti peeth.

This kshetra is considered as a Bhairav sthala greater than Kashi. 

There is a jiva samadhi of ChattaiMuniSiddhar who is one of the great 19 siddhas. It is located on a high pedestal in the sanctum of Lord Shiva. From here one can have darshan of SattaiNathar. Abhishek is done on the pedestal at 10 pm. At 12 midnight, naivedya is offered after alankar. 

Sage Urasana did penance at Kailash requesting Lord Shiva to come to south along with Goddess Parvati to grace the devotees in the south. Once during an argument between Adishesha and Vayu,  Adishesha with his 1000 heads engulfed Mount Kailash. Hidding to the request of Devas, Adishesha just moved one of his heads. Due to Vayu’s force (strength) a small portion of Mount Kailash broke. It was carried by 20 birds and was brought to Sirkazhi by the grace of Lord Shiva. The hillock is known as ThoniMalai (hill). Lord Brahma once became egoistic. In order to remove his ego, Lord Shiva made him forget Pranava Mantra. Realizing his mistake, Lord Brahma worshiped Lord Shiva by establishing a Shiva Linga at this place. Hence Lord Shiva is known as Brahmapurishwarar. In the temple in the first tier, six times abhishek and puja are done. In the ThoniAppar temple the puja is done four times a day.

On a Friday night Lord Shiva as SattaiNathar is believed to have removed the arrogance of Lord Thiruvikrama (known as Ulaganada Perumal). This was due to the fact that Lord Vishnu had destroyed Mahabali and hence got arrogance. 

Special worship for SattaiNathar is held on Friday night and is considered to be very auspicious. 

According to Kshetra Puran, ThiruDnyanaSambandhar was born at this place in a Brahmin family in seventh century. When he was three years old, he went to the Shiva Temple along with his father. He was left on the bank of temple tank as his father went for holy dip in the tank. Sambandhar started crying as he was hungry. Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati appeared before the child and gave him the milk of wisdom (dnyanapal, pal is milk in Tamil). When his father returned he was astonished to find droplets of milk around the child’s mouth. On enquiry, the child pointed to the sky and sang the first sacred verse of Thevaram. Hence Sambandhar is regarded as incarnation of Lord Muruga. 

Those who worshiped at this splace:

Lord Brahma, Lord Mahavishnu, Lord Muruga, Lord Indra, Brihaspati, Surya, Chandra, Rahu, Ketu, Adi Shesha, Goddess Kali, Sages Parashar, Romesh, Vedavyas and a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva known as Chakravarti Shibi.

Festivals:

Chitrai (Apr-May) - 10 days brahmotsav

Adi (July-August) - Adi Puram

Purattasi (Sept) - Navaratri

Karthigai (Nov-dec) - Deepam and Skandashasthi

Margazhi (Dec-Jan) - Ardra Darshan

Masi (Feb) - Mahashivaratri, Pradosha Puja

For UmaMaheshwara murti (ThoniAppar). On the first day of Tamil month Chitrai, Adi, Aipassi, Thai, oil (taila) abhishek is performed.

Special worship is held on new moon of Thai, on Mula nakshatra in Vaikasi, on Rohini nakshatra in Aani and on Shatabhishaka nakshatra in the month of Aipassi

People pray here for child boon and also for settling their litigation cases.

Kanchi Mayanam - Sri Ekambareshwarar Temple at Kanchipuram

We have already given a brief description of this temple in our earlier blog Kanchi Ekambareshwarar Kovil. This temple covers an area of about 40 acres and is about 2000 years old. It is also one of the Pancha Bhuta Sthalams representing the element earth (Prithvi). The main deity is Lord Shiva and it is a swayambhu linga also known as Prithvi Linga. There is no separate shrine for Goddess Parvati. She is known as Sri Kamakshi. There is no shrine for Goddess Parvati in any of the shiva temples in Kanchipuram as she is considered as the Rajarajeshwari - queen of queens in Kanchipuram. The temple was revered by four shaiva saints - Appar, Sundarar, Sambandhar, Manikavachagar.

Temple address: Arulmigu Ekambareswarar Temple, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, 631502