This is one of the Sapta Vidanga. Vidanga at this place is known as Sundar Vidangar. This is one of the Padal Pethra Sthalams revered by Nayanmars. The place was revered by Thiru Dnyanasambandhar, Appar and Sundarar. The present temple is about 2000 years old which was built by Cholas and Pallavas.
Mulavar: Kayarohaneshwarar
Utsavar: Chandrashekharar
Devi: Neelaydakshi
Sacred Tirtha: Pundarikaksha tirtha
Kshetra Vruksha: Mango tree
Puranik Name: Nagaykaronam
Present Name: Nagapattinam
District: Nagapattinam TamilNadu
Though this is a shiva temple, it is popularly known as Neelaydakshi Amman Kovil. This temple was originally constructed by Lakolica cult. The only other temple constructed by them in Tamil Nadu is at Kanchipuram. The temple is also a shakti peeth. The temple is also called as Shivarajadhani as Lord Shiva rules as a king. And is located near sea shore. The shiva linga is a swayambhu. The present lingam is not the original as original was stolen long back. The present lingam is made of gomed (topaz). The temple is located in the city of Nagapattinam. The temple rajagopuram is five tier. There is a balipith, flagstaff and nandanvan inside corridor.
About other shrines and special features.
Sundar Vidangar: The vidangar in this temple is very beautiful and is known as Sundar Vidangar. To the right side of Lord Shiva's sanctum sanctorum, we come across the shrine of Lord Tyagaraja. In most of the temples we can have darshan of the face of Lord Tyagaraja’s only. In this place during Vaikasi (Vishaskha nakshatra) and Margazhi (Thiruvathira nakshatra) alankar of Lord Shiva is done in such a way so that we can have darshan of right hand and feet of Lord Tyagaraja. During the festival, the procession dances back and forth like a wave and is known as paravar nrutya (nadana).
Devi Neelaydakshi: It is believed that she bestows boons to the devotees like ocean. To indicate this, her eyes are blue (like ocean) in color. She has a separate shrine with a flagstaff. She is depicted as a virgin girl before marriage i.e. Yuva stage. Hence the Adipuram festival is celebrated on a grand scale. She is taken in procession in chariot of china clay. The Ambal sanctum sanctorum is constructed like a chariot. As Ambika is a virgin, Lord Shiva sent Nandi dev to guard her. But Nandi was reluctant to leave Lord Shiva. Lord advised Nandi Dev to have his darshan also by staying with Ambika. Hence we find that Nandi is facing the Ambal, but his face is toward Lord Shiva. His left eye is towards Lord Shiva and right eye is towards Ambika. People worship this Nandi to get rid of eye related problems.
Lord Vinayaka: He graces from another shrine. He has one serpent coiled around his body and another one above his head like an umbrella. Hence he is known as Nagaabharan Vinayaka (Nagabhushan Vinayaka). People worship him for relief from Rahu and Ketu effects. They perform special pujas during Rahu Kaal and Rahu-Ketu transit. Lord Bhairav has a lion as a mount instead of a dog. It is believed that when Sage Pundarikaksha worshiped Lord Shiva at this place, Ganges sprang up along with Lord Bhairvav. So Bhairava graces here as a Kaala Bhairav. He is facing south with a furious face. To calm him down we have two Vinayakas standing in front of him. It is customary in South India to close the temple doors when the procession of a dead person passes near it. But in this place, the dead body is garlanded, with a garland and vastra from the Shiva temple. This is done in honour of a great devotee of Lord Shiva from the fisherman community. Generally during the festival the Lord is taken in procession along the four streets surrounding the temple. But at this place the processional deity is taken through seven villages surrounding Nagapattinam. This is in honour of SalisaMaharaja who has darshan of Lord Shiva in bridal form when he came to this place after performing Shiva puja at the village.
Mohini procession: Generally Lord Shiva goes in procession on a rishabha vahan during pradosha puja in shiva temples, but in this temple Lord Vishnu also joins in the procession in Mohini avatar. After the samudra manthan, Mohini avatar took place just before pradosha when Lord Shiva danced to forgive the devas for their mistake of not worshiping him before taking the amrut. Hence we can have darshan of Mohini during the pradosha puja. At other times Mohini is kept in sanctum sanctorum of Lord Shiva. There is a shrine of Kali (Ashtabhuja Ambika). We come across idols of Ashta Bhairav and Gajalakshmi in this temple. Behind the Shiva linga we have the idol of somaskanda and Lord Muruga with weapons in twelve hands. We have shrine of Chandikeshewarar on the corridor. The mango tree (kshetra vruksha) fruits are sweet, bitter and sour. When we look at the tree from southeast parikrama, it looks like a Nandi.
Kshetra Puran:
Emperor Dasharath came to know that Shani will be aspecting star Rohini which will cause famine. He decided to fight Shani and was advised by Surya not to fight Shani and please him by worshiping. Shani was pleased by the worship of Dasharath and accepted the desire of Dasharath by which he troubled to a lesser extent. Hence all the Navagrahas in this temple are facing the west.
There was a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva who was a fisherman. When he used to fish in the ocean he had the habit of throwing away the first fish back into sea as an offering to Lord Shiva. In order to test him, Lord Shiva made him to catch only one fish on a particular day. But the fisherman (Athipathar) threw the first fish into the sea and did not bother about starving. Once, Lord Shiva gave him a golden fish. The other fisherman advised him to keep it. But, Athipathar threw it back into the sea as a routine. Pleased by his devotion Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati gave darshan and gave him mukti. He attained the status of Nayanmar. He has a separate shrine inside the temple complex.
Azhuguni Siddhar: Like children cry to their mother to get their desire fulfilled, this siddha used to cry in mother Parvati’s shrine begging the divine mother to grant him salvation. She gave him salvation with the consent of Lord Shiva. There is a jiva samadhi at this place for Azhuguni siddhar. Special worship is done on Vishakha nakshatra in the month of Vaikasi and on full moon day with kheer (payasam) as the naivedya.
Sage Pundarikaksha did penance at this place for attaining mukti. Lord Shiva gave darshan to the sage, embraced him and gave him mukti. Generally mukti is attained only for atma but not for the body, but in this case Lord Shiva gave mukti to Sage Pundarikaksha by embracing him (arohan) with human body (kaya). Hence the lord is known as Kayarohanarar.
Once the king of serpents worshiped Lord Shiva and got a female child. The child had three breasts. Shiva assured the king that the third breast will disappear when a king from Surya dynasty visited him. When king Shalisuhan came to this place the third breast vanished. The naga king gave his daughter in marriage to king Shalisuhan. Since Naga king worshiped here, the place came to be known as Nagaikaronan.
In the mandap of sanctum sanctorum ceiling, we have the twelve zodiacs sculptured.
By worshiping Lord Shiva in this mandap, people believe that they get relief from grahadosha.
Two elephants, with four tusks each, are depicted doing puja to Gajalakshmi who has her legs hanging down.
Koshta murti of Lord Dakshinamurti, in a separate shrine outside the koshta, is with eight disciples instead of four.
Sundarar obtained a garland of pearls, garland of diamonds, kasturi and a horse etc from Lord Shiva by praying him with sacred hymns.
Sages who worshiped here: Sapta rishi, Markendeya, Pundarikasksha
Festivals:
1. Ani (Ayilyam nakshatra, Ashlesha in Marathi). On this day Sage Pundarikaksha entering Lord Shiva’s shrine and attaining mukti is held by ArdhaJama puja, last puja before closing the temple.
2. Vaikasi (May-June) Wedding festival
3. Aadi (July-Aug) Adipuram festival,
4. Maasi (Feb-Mar) Shivatratri festival
5. Aippasi (Oct-Nov) Annabhisheka
6. Karthigai (Nov-Dec) Deepam
Daily abhishek at 9 pm and 8 pm
Courtesy:
https://tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com/
https://temple.dinamalar.com/en/
GREAT INFORMATION
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