This temple is also known as Vallalar Kovil.
In this Shiva Temple, Chamundi, one of the sapta matrikas, worshiped Lord Shiva in order to get rid of the sin that was acquired by her by killing the demon, especially Mahishasur.
Description of Chamundi:
She is also known as Pidari and Bhadrakali. She manifested from the third eye of Lord Shiva with protruding teeth and fierce face. Later she changed into Chamundi. She has one face, 16 hands. She wears tiger skin. She has black complexion and 3 eyes. Sometimes she is depicted sitting on a dead body. She wears a garland of snakes. She has tusks. By worshiping her, one can get rid of his enemies and can obtain all the desired boons. She is considered as Rudramsha. She manifested to annihilate the demon Chanda and Munda. As Chamundi, she has one head, four hands, 3 eyes, sharp pointed teeth, black complexion, wears tiger skin, skull garland. She also wears a skull garland and holds a trishul on the left hand and a severed head. Her top right hand holds a sword, in the left hand she holds a skull. She is seated on a dead asura i.e. Mahishasura. Has a ferocious and fearsome face. She is considered as a goddess of victory. People worship her to win over enemies and protect them from enemies. By worshiping her, the couples get harmony between them. She is the first manifestation of Sapta Matrika.
At this place she graces as AshtaDashaBhuja Durga.
This temple is also known as Medha Dakshinamurti temple. This is one of the Pancha Dakshinamurti sthalam. It is situated on the northern bank of river Kaveri.
Mulavar: Vadaranyeswarar, Vallalar
Devi: Gnanambika
Sacred Tirtha: Kaveri River
Location: Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu
Temple timing: 7 am to 12 am and 4 pm to 9 pm
The temple is about more than 1200 years old. The temple is believed to have been constructed by Chola kings. The temple is under the control of Dharmapuram Adhinam. This is a west facing temple with 5 tiered rajagopuram. It has two parikramas and the temple is spread over 2 acres. At the entrance, we have the idols of Vinayaka, Muruga, Parvati and Dakshinamurti. The presiding deity faces the west. And it is a swayambhu linga. The koshta murtis are Ganapati, Medha Dakshinamurti, Lingodbhavar and Durga. Chandikeshwarar is in a separate shrine. The unique feature of this temple is the idol of Lord Dakshinamurti (known as Guru Bhagwan). He is one of the Koshta murtis facing south sitting on a Nandi. He is under a Banyan tree, wears a crescent moon, right hand has dnyana mudra and in left hand he holds a book. Another special feature is that Nandi is facing Lord Dakshinamurti. At the feet of Lord Dakshinamuri, we find four Sanatkumars. Lord Dakshinamurti is seen here as very young compared to four rishis. Lord Dakshinamurti has Ganga, Fire and smeared with holy ash. There is a demon under his feet, considered to be representing ignorance.
Devi is housed in a separate shrine. Here we find the idols of Sapta Matrikas, Ganesha, Lord Muruga with his consorts Valli and Devasena, Shanishwar, Agastya Linga, Brahma Linga, Surya, Chandra, and Angarakan.
According to the Puran, once Rishabha (Nandi) carried Lord Shiva to various places. At that very same period, Goddess Parvati was performing Shiva Puja on the earth in the form of a peacock. To participate in this puja Lord Brahma on his mount white swan, Lord Vishnu on Garud and other devatas on their respective mounts, came to this place. Due to Lord Shiva’s grace, Nandi overtook all the others. In doing so, Nandi became egoistic. In order to remove his ego Lord Shiva kept one of his matted hair on Nandi’s back. Nandi became unconscious and started going down. At that very moment he understood his mistake. He prayed to Lord Shiva to excuse him. Lord Shiva directed him to do penance at a particular place in river Kaveri to get rid of his sin as he had disgraced Lord Vishnu. This place where he did penance is known as Rishabh tirtha. Nandi was asked to bathe daily in river Kaveri and worship Lord Shiva with bilva. At the end of his penance, Lord Shiva appeared as Lord Dakshinamurti and gave him upadesh. Nandi requested Lord Shiva to be at this place forever in the form of Lord Dakshninamurti seated on his back. He praised Lord Dakshinamurti with 8 sacred stotras. And Lord Dakshinamurti is known here as Medha Dakshinamurti. Lord Shiva performed Ananda Tandav for Nandi at this place.
According to Puran
1. Those who recite the eight stotras sung by Nandi and worship Lord Dakshinamurti at this place will obtain dnyan, lose their ego and will get rid of all their sins and doshas.
2. Those who take bath in Rishabh tirtha will get the benefit of bathing in Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Narmada and Tamra bharani rivers. They will also get the same benefit of bathing in Kurukshetra, Prayag and other holy places.
3. The place is a parihara sthalam for the planet guru. People worship here for the removal of marriage obstacles, child boon, knowledge, intelligence and education.
Festivals:
Special worship is held on the day of transit of planet jupiter
Special worship in the month of of Aippasi and Tula
In Aippasi, in full and new moon days, special abhishek is performed
On the last Thursday of the month of Kartikeya, special pujas are performed
The other festivals are Mahashivaratri, Panguni uttara, Masi magham, Karthikeya deepam, Arudra darshan, Aadi Puram, Pradosha puja, Navaratri.
Chandi homam is performed on Chaitra purnima day.
Pancha Dakshinamurti sthalam around Mayiladuthurai are 1. Mayuranathar temple (Mayiladuthurai), 2. Maragasaheshwarar temple at Moovalur, 3. Uchiravaneshwarar at Thiruvilanagar 4. Vedaranyeswarar temple at Mayiladuthurai, 5. Vageshwarar temple at Perumcheri
In 2,3,4,5 temples, Lord Shiva is addressed as Vazhikattumvallal, Thuraiakattum Vallal, Kakattum vallal, Mozhikattum Vallal
There is another place where Chamundi worshiped Lord Shiva along with Parvati during Navratri. The place is known Pullamangai and lord’s name is AlanthuraiNadar (Please note that this temple is already described in earlier blog for Shri Alanthurai Nathar Temple
Courtesy: Inputs are from TamilNadu-favtourism.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment