This is one of the saptasthana Shiva temples of Mayiladuthurai. The temple is on the southern bank of Kaveri. This temple is considered to be one of the six temples on the bank of Kaveri which are equal to the temple at Kashi. This is also one of the Pancha Dakshinamurti kshetra around Mayiladuthurai. This is one of the Padal Pethra sthalam revered by Shaiva saint Sambandhar and Appar. Saint Arungirinathar has sung sacred hymn on Shri Murugan of this temple. This temple finds mention in Skanda purana, Shiva purana, Brahmanda purana and Chidamdar purana. This temple must have existed even before the 7th century. Later, it was reconstructed as a stone structure by Chola kings. Extensions were done by the Vijayanagar kings. There are 16 stone inscriptions belonging to Chola and Pandya kings.
Moolavar: Shri Mayurnathar, Shri Gauritandaveeshawarar, Shri Gaurimayurnathar
Devi: Shri Abhayambika, Shri Anjalnayaki
Sacred vruksha: Mango tree, Shami tree
Sacred teertha: Rishabh teertha, Bramha teertha, Agastya teertha and river kaveri
Puranic name: Mayuram, Thirumayiladuthurai, Mayavaram, Sundarvanam, Bramhapuram, Sikandipuram, Thenmayilai.
Kshetra purana:
1. We have mentioned about Daksha yagnya in our earlier blogs. When the yagnya was being desecrated by Lord Veerabhadra and Goddess Kali, a Peahen (which was to be sacrificed) sought asylum at the feet of Goddess Parvati. As she saved the peahen, she is known as Goddess AbhayAmbika. Since Goddess Parvati ignored advice of Lord Shiva, He cursed Her to become a peahen. As an atonement for the curse, she was advised to pray at Mylapore and then at this place for the entire Tamil month of Aippasi. Hence she took birth as a peahen and did severe penance at this place. While performing penance, she consumed Mango leaves. Lord Shiva took the form of a peacock and entertained her with his dance. This Tandav is known as GauriTandav/MayurTandav and it took place on the 25th day of Tamil of Aippasi. Hence Lord Shiva is praised as MayurNathar and the place got the name Mayiladuthurai. He gave darshan to her and restored her back to her original form. It is believed that Lord Shiva married Goddess Parvati at this place on the 27th day of Aippasi in the presence of a great assembly of sages and Devas.
2. Tula snan: The Tamil month of Aippasi is known as Tula masam (month) as the Sun is in Tula rashi. The rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Sarswati sought the advice of Kanva maharshi to get rid of the sins left behind by the people who bathed in them. He advised them to come to this place during the month of Aippasi (Tula) and take bath in the Kaveri and worship Lord Shiva. They did as per his advice and got rid of the sins. Hence it is considered to be very auspicious to take bath in Kaveri and worship Shri Shiva during the month of Tula. This is known as Tula snanam.
3. Kadaimugam (muzukkai) dip – Taking bath on the last day of the month of Tula and worshiping Lord Shiva is known as Kadaimugam (last dip). This day is considered to be the most sacred and it is believed that one attains moksha.
4. Muduvan muzukku – Nadasharma and his wife, Anavidyambika were ardent devotees of Lord Shiva. They wished to lay their life at the feet of Lord Shiva. Hence they used to visit several Shiva sthalams. Finally, they reached this place for Tula snanam on the last day. By the time they reached there, the time for Kadaimugam was over. They stayed on the bank of the river for the night worshiping Lord Shiva. Pleased with their devotion Lord Shiva appeared before them. He told them that, He is extending the Kadaimugam to the next morning up to sunrise. He advised them to take bath before sunrise in the river so that they will get the full benefit of Tula snanam. Hence the 1st day of Tamil month of Karthigai is known as Mudavan muzukku. Based on this, the 1st day of the Tamil month of Karthigai is also very auspicious. As Lord Shiva froze the bath, it is known as Muduvan muzukku. The couple finally merged with the Linga on the left side of Ambika’s shrine. Hence the Shiva Linga is always draped with a red saree.
5. Rishabh teertha: Once Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu were on their way to Mayiladuthurai. They were traveling on their respective mounts namely Rishabh (Nandi), Swan and Garud. Nandi was in the lead and he felt proud as he was carrying Lord Shiva ahead of others. Lord Shiva decided to remove his ego. He placed a strand from his matted hair on the head of Rishabh. Rishabh was unable to bear the weight of the strand of hair, he felt crushed and then immediately he realized his mistake. Nandi asked for pardon. Lord Shiva advised him to stay in the middle of river Kaveri at Mayiladuthurai and do penance at an atonement. Later He gave Nandi upadesha as Lord Medha Dakshinamurti. This particular part in the Kaveri where Nandi did penance for atonement, is known as Rishabh teertha. Later, the saptamatrikas and the sacred rivers were also directed by Lord Shiva to take bath at Rishabh tirtha.
6. Once Shaiva saint, Thirudnyan Sambandhar was held up on the northern bank of river Kaveri, which was flooded. He wanted to reach the southern bank and worship Lord Shiva at this place. Sambandhar sang sacred hymns on Lord Shiva to help reach the southern bank. Lord Shiva ordered river Kaveri to make way for Sambandhar so that he can reach the temple. On reaching the temple, Sambandhar worshiped Lord Shiva and sang a sacred hymn.
7. Above 300 years ago, a boy named Krishnaswami was living in a nearby village. He was alone and was without food but his mind was on Goddess AbhayAmbika. The Goddess AbhayAmbika was pleased by his worship and devotion. She brought food in the disguise of an ordinary woman in a golden bowl and fed him. He was blessed by her with wisdom, education and excellence in poetry. From that day, he visited the temple in the morning and stayed till ArdhaJama pooja. One day, on his way back home he stumbled on a stone and got hurt in the darkness. He prayed to Goddess AbhayAmbika to guide him with some light so that he could reach home safely. It is believed that she guided him with a light (torch) and took him home. He was overjoyed and he praised her for her affection. It is believed that from that day onwards, a lantern guided him after the ArdhaJama pooja to reach his home. The villagers were astonished to see a floating lantern guiding him. One day, when he was worshiping Goddess AbhayAmbika, the divine voice directed him to compose hundred sacred hymns in praise of Goddess AbhayAmbika. As he was not sure of his ability, he conveyed his difficulty to her. He was blessed by her and she gave him the capacity to compose the sacred hymns. Thus he composed the AbhayAmbika Satakam. From that day, he was praised as AbhayAmbikai Bhattar of Mayiladuthurai.
Those who worshiped at this place:
Goddess Parvati, Lord Vishnu, Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Brahma, Lord Indra, Goddess Saraswati, Saptamatrikas, Lord Muruga, Nandi, Sage Bruhaspati, Sage Agastya and sacred rivers – Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Kaveri, Godavari, etc.
Salient features:
1. ShivaLinga is a SwayambhuLinga.
2. The vimanam over the sanctum is a tridala-viman.
3. The kshetra vinayaka is praised as Shri AgastyaChandaVinayaka.
4. Lord Shiva performed Gauri/Mayur Tandav at this place.
5. Near the Moolavar, Goddess Parvati is depicted in the form of a pea-hen worshiping him.
6. Saint ArunagiriNathar has praised Lord Murugan of this temple.
7. Lord Nataraja is in a separate shrine opposite to the shrine of Goddess Parvati. The evening pooja is first performed to Lord Nataraja in this temple.
8. In this temple, both Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati are depicted as peacock and a pea-hen.
9. In koshta, Lord DakshinaMurti is under a banyan tree on which there is a peacock and a pea-hen along with two monkeys. Below this tree there is an idol of Nandi.
10. It is believed that Shaiva devotees NadaSharma and his wife merged with Lord at this place. There is a ShivaLinga of NadaSharma facing the west. There is one more ShivaLinga near the Ambika shrine which is named as AnavidyaAmbika.
11. Lord DakshinaMurti is in a sitting position with left leg folded, leaning to the left under a banyan tree.
12. In the NavaGraha shrine, Lord Shanishwar has flames of fire on his head. He is praised as JwalaShanishwar. By his side, there is an idol of Lord Shanishwar on his mount, the crow, facing North.
13. Near the feet of Lord Nataraja, we come across the idol of Lord JwaraHareshwarar, which is unique – not found anywhere.
14. Near the idol of Lord Nataraja, we come across the idol of AlinganaMurti of Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva.
15. Under the feet of Goddess Durga, we find demon Mahishasur. At the same time we also come across two more asuras by her side, which is rare and unique.
16. There are 2 Lord Chandikeshwarar in the same shrine praised as ShivaChandikeshwarar and TejasChandikeshwarar.
About the temple:
The present temple is about 300 years old. There are about 17 stone inscriptions which give an account of the work done by various Chola kings.
This is an east facing temple. Its Raja Gopuram is about 165 ft in height. The temple covers an area of about 3.5 lacs sq. ft. The temple has 5 parikramas. The entrance to the temple from North, South and West directions has no RajaGopuram. At the entrance to the inner parikrama, there is a 3 tier Raja Gopuram. At this entrance, we come across Nandi, Balipeetham and Dhwaja stambha facing the sanctum. In the maha mandap, there is a shrine of Lord Nataraja. This idol is depicted as performing Gauri Tandav. This tandav is also known as Mayur tandav. The first pooja of the evening is done to Lord Nataraja.
In the sanctum, the Shiva Linga is facing the east and it is a swayambhoo linga. The sanctum is Linga shaped and the vimana (roof) over the sanctum is known as Tridala vimana.
Koshta Murti: Lord Nardana Vinayaka, Lord Nataraja, Lord Medha Dakshinamurti, Lord Aalinganamurti, Lord Lingothbhavar, Lord Bikshadanar, Lord Brahma, Goddess Durga, Lord Ganga Visarjana Murti and Nandi.
Lord Dakshinamurti is seated under a banyan tree in padmasana along with his disciple. There are 2 monkeys and 2 peacocks on the banyan tree. Lord Nataraja is having jwaradeva under his foot.
Goddess Durga is depicted with demon Mahishasur at Her feet and 2 other demons standing by Her side.
In the shrine of Lord Chandikeshwar, we come across the idols of Lord Shiva Chandikeshwarar and Lord Tejas Chandikeshwarar.
The shrine and idols in the prakaram:
ShivaLinga worshiped by Surya and Chandra, Sage Patanjali, Sage VyaghraPada, Sekkizhar, SahasraLinga, PanchaLinga, Lord MahaVishnu and Goddess Mahalakshmi, ArunaChaleeshwarar, Nataraja sabha and Lord Brahma.
In the inner prakara, we come across the idols and shrines of - Lord Chandra, Goddess Mayilamman (Goddess Parvati), Shri Shaiva saint Nalvar, Saptamatrika, 63 Nayanmars, Lord Somaskandha Murti, Lord Vinayaka, Lord Subramanya with consorts Valli and Deivanai, Goddess Mahalakshmi, Goddess AshtaLakshmi, Navgrahas and Lord Surya.
The shrine of Goddess Mayilamman (Goddess Parvati) is opposite to that of Lord Nataraja. Here we come across idols of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati in the form of Peacock and Pea-hen. Near her shrine, there is a ShivaLinga of AnavidyaAmbika. This ShivaLinga is draped in a saree.
In the Navagraha shrine, we find Lord Shanishwar with Agnee on his head. There is another idol on his mount i.e. crow. We also come across shrines and idols of Lord Sattainathar, Sage Patanjali, Sage Vyaghrapada, Lord Bhairav, and a number of Shiva lingas in the parikrama. One of the great siddhas - Kuthambai Siddha attained salvation at this place.
Devi is housed in an east facing shrine. She is depicted in a standing posture with 4 hands. She holds a conch and a chakra on two hands with lower left hand on her thigh and she holds a parrot on lower right hand.
A Nandi and balipeeth are placed facing Her shrine.
The Utsav Murty is kept in a separate shrine. In this parikrama we come across Lord Subramanya with consorts Valli and Deivanai, Lord Varasiddhi Vinayaka and Lord Chandikeshwarar. Lord Muruga’s shrine is known as Kumarakattalai.
Nadasharma merged with the Shiva linga on the left side of the sanctum. In the outer parikrama, there is an east facing shrine which houses Lord AadhiMayurNathar.
Prayers:
Devotees pray to Lord Shiva for peace of mind and for pardon of sins committed knowingly and unknowingly, for excellence in dancing.
At Rishabh teertha, devotees take a holy dip during Tula-Snan, MudavanMuzhukku for getting rid of sins.
Devotees pray here for relief from Shanidosh.
They pray to Lord Vinayaka for excellence in Mathematics.
Poojas:
Regular daily, weekly, fortnightly (pradosha) puja, and monthly poojas are performed.
Festivals:
Chitrai (Apr-May): Sapta sthana festival of Mayiladuthurai on Chaitra pournima
Vaikasi (May-June): 10 days of Bramhostav, Vishakha nakshatra festival
Aadi (July-Aug): Lakshadeepam festival on the last Friday, festival on the puram nakshatra
Aavani (Aug-Sept): Festival on the moola nakshatra
Aippasi (Oct-Nov): Also known as Tula month. 30 days Tula snanam festival, Annaabhishek and Skandha shasti festival
Karthigai (Nov-Dec): Somvar pooja
Margazhi (Dec-Jan): Thiruvathirai
Temple Timings: 5.30 am to 12 pm and 4 pm to 8.30 pm
Address: Shri Mayurnathar temple, Mayiladuthurai, 609001
Phone: - +91-4364222345; +91-4364223779; +91-4364223207
Courtesy: Various websites and blogs
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