This temple is also known as Shri Pampunathar Temple (Pampu in Tamil means snake or serpent).
This is a Shiva temple situated in Thirupampuram, which is about 30 kms from Kumbhakonam on Kumbhakonam - Karaikkal road. This is a Padal Pethra sthalam on the southern bank of Kaveri. Shaiva Saint Appar and Sambandhar have sung sacred hymns in praise of Lord in this temple.
This temple was built by Chola kings somewhere before the 6th century. The present structure is about 1300 years old. There are 28 stone inscriptions which describe the work done and the donations made by Chola, Pandya, and Maratha kings.
Moolavar: Shri Sheshapureeshwarar, Shri Pambeesar, Shri Pampureshwarar
Devi: Shri Brahmambika, Shri Maamalayatti, Shri Vandupoonkuzhali
Kshetra Vruksha: Shami tree
Sacred Theertha: Adi Shesha Theertha, Naag Theertha
Puranic Name: Sheshapuree, Thirupampuram, Pumparnannagar, Urgapuram
Kshetra Puran:
1. The ashtanagas are Ananta, Vasuki, Takshak, Karkotaka, Sankhapal, Kuliga, Padma and Mahapadma. When Lord Vishnu was worshiping Lord Shiva, the serpent Vasuki around the neck of Lord Shiva became proud as it felt that Lord Vishnu is also worshiping him. Lord Shiva observed this attitude of the serpent and cursed all the snakes to lose their power (venom). All the eight serpents mentioned earlier approached Lord Shiva, pleading that all of them should not be punished for the mistake of one. They asked the method of atonement for the curse. Lord Shiva advised them to go to the earth and worship him on a night of Mahashivaratri at four places namely Kumbhakonam, Thirunageshwaram, Thirupampuram and Nagore. The serpents led by Adi Shesha went to these four places and got rid of their curse by worshiping Lord Shiva. Adi Shesha worshiped Lord Sheshapureeshwarar on the third part of the night at this place. As the flowers were not available for performing pooja at night they tied Agasthi flowers to the stems of the banyan tree and completed the worship. It is believed that the serpents worshiped Lord Shiva in this method on every Mahashivaratri day. Again from the local people we hear that the Agasthi flowers do not bloom and the stems of banyan tree do not touch the ground and give support during this period.
2. Goddess Gangadevi is believed to have come to this place in the Tamil month of Thula after taking bath at Kumbhakonam in the Mahamagham tank in the month of Karthigai. It is believed that in doing so, she purged the sins of others bathing in her water.
3. According to the Sthala Puran, Daksha came to this place with a goat's head fitted to him. He worshiped Lord Shiva as atonement for insulting Lord Shiva. He was graced by the Lord at this place.
4. Chola king Kochengatanan came to this place. He took bath in the sacred theertha and worshiped Lord Shiva. After that he got rid of Leukemia.
5. We have mentioned in our earlier blog the fight between Adi Shesha and Lord Vayu to prove their supremacy. By their dispute, the devas and others suffered a lot. Finally the devas led by Lord Indra approached Adi Shesha and persuaded him to stop this trial of strength. But Vayu continued to show his strength. This angered Lord Shiva and he cursed Adi Shesha and Vayu to become goats. When they asked for atonement Lord Shiva asked Vayu to do penance at the place which was north of river Vaigai and to the east of Madurai. He asked Adi Shesha to worship him for 12 years. Adi Shesha created the sacred theertha and did penance for 12 years and got rid of the curse.
6. According to the Puran, Adi Shesha supports the world on his head. Once he felt the burden to be unbearable and fell ill. He approached Lord Shiva for remedy. Lord Shiva directed him to worship him on Mahashivaratri night at Nageshwarar temple in Kumbhakonam and the Naganathar temple at this place. He did as directed by the Lord and got his strength back.
7. Sunithan, the king of Kashi, was advised by Sage Vasishtha in his dream to come to this place and worship Lord Shiva. He worshiped Lord Shiva and got rid of his epilepsy.
8. Lord Brahma created a celestial damsel Tilottama. She considered him as her father and went to worship him. When Lord Brahma made advances to her she ran to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva cursed Lord Brahma to lose his power of creation. Acting on the advice of rishis and Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma came to this place for a relief from the curse. He created the Brahma Theertha and did penance for one year and got back his power of creation.
9. Lord Indra was cursed by Sage Gautama to have thousand eyes all over his body for his illicit relation with his wife Ahilya. As an atonement he came here and worshiped Lord Shiva for 12 years on the advice of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva graced him in the first part of the night on Shivaratri day and relieved him of the curse.
10. Once Goddess Uma closed the eyes of Lord Shiva playfully. The whole world became dark and life came to standstill. Lord Shiva cursed Uma for this act and asked her to leave him. As an atonement he directed her to this place and asked her to worship him for 12 years. At the end of 12 years on the fourth part of night of Shivaratri he graced her and relieved her of the curse.
11. Once in Kailash there was an argument between Sage Agastya on one side and Rishis and Devas on the other side regarding the greatness of the languages Tamil and Sanskrit. Sage Agastya claimed that both languages are equal. As Rishis did not agree they cursed him. Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu were in agreement with Sage Agastya but they did not intervene. Rishis and Devas cursed Agastya to become dumb for contradicting them. Sage Agastya prayed to Lord Shiva and Lord Shiva advised him to pray and work for him for one year. Sage Agastya came to this place and prayed and worked for Lord Shiva for a year. In the first part of the night on Mahashivaratri day the Lord appeared before sage Agastya and gave him his voice back. Lord Shiva directed him to Podigai hills and asked him to spread the Tamil language.
12. Lord Agni was punished by Veerabhadra for attending Daksha Yagnya by cutting Agni’s hand and kicking him. Agni prayed to Lord Shiva for relief. Lord directed him to this place and asked him to worship him for 3 years. Following Lord Shiva's advice for 3 years Lord Agni was relieved of the curse.
13. Lord Surya once went around Naimisharanya asking Rishis about the source of his light. He was directed by them to Sage Vyasa. Sage Vyasa directed him to this place and asked him to worship Lord Shiva. Lord Surya first went to Kashi and took a holy dip in river Ganga. He first came to Mayiladuthurai. After worshiping Lord Mayuranathar at that place he came to this place. He worshiped the Shiva Linga for 12 years with 1000 flowers every day. After 12 years on a full moon day in the Tamil month of Chitrai granted him the boon that he will be bright forever.
14. According to the Puran, when Sage Bruhaspati was absent in the ashram, Lord Chandra had illicit relations with Vanatara. As a result, he got Budha as his son. Sage Bruhaspati cursed Chandra to fall ill with tuberculosis. When Lord Indra and other devas requested relief from the curse for Lord Chandra, Bruhaspati directed Chandra to this place and asked him to worship Lord Shiva. Chandra came to this place and worshiped Lord Shiva with 1000 flowers daily for 12 years. He was relieved of the curse on full moon day in the Tamil Month of Thai.
Those who worshiped at this place:
Lord Brahma, Lord Indra, Goddess Pavati, Sage Agastya, Lord Agni, King Daksha, Goddess Gangadevi, Lord Surya, Lord Chandra, Sunithan, Kochengat Chola, Lord Adi Shesha along with other eight serpents.
Salient features:
1. In this temple, both Rahu and Ketu are as a single idol having one body and worshiping Lord Shiva with folded hands. This is a Rahu-Ketu parihara sthala.
2. It is stated that we come across serpents moving about in the temple on Sundays and Tuesdays. It is believed that they come here to worship Lord Shiva.
3. This temple has the combined sacredness of the temple at Thirunageshwatam, Nagore, Keezhperum Pallam (planet Ketu temple), Kalahasti, Naganathar temple at Kumbhakonam. Hence according to the Puran, this is a Sarva-Dosha-Nivaran-Sthala.
4. This may be the only temple in which the King of Serpents Adishesha has a Utsava Murti.
5. In the Sanctum-Sanctorum the presence of Adi Sesha worshiping Lord Shiva is very unique.
6. In this place Goddess Parvati’s shrine is to the left of Lord Shiva which depicts wedding posture.
7. People very often have come across large serpents shedding their skin inside the temple. There are photographs to back up this claim. For example a 7.5 feet skin was shaded on 21-03-2002 on the idol of Goddess Parvati. 8.3 feet of skin was shaded on 26-05-2002 on Lord Shiva. There is no record of anyone dying because of snake bite in this village.
About the temple:
This is an east facing temple and the main Rajagopuram is three tiered and has two prakarams. There are no separate idols of Rahu and Ketu. They are represented in a single body praying to Lord Shiva with folded hands. Since they are in a single body, this place is a parihar sthala for Rahu and Ketu. This shrine is located in the northeast corner of the temple. There is a panchalinga which represents the five faces of Lord Shiva (Ishan, Vamdeva, Sadyojata, Tatpurusha, Aghora).
At the entrance we come across a partially damaged Dhwajastambha, Balipeeth and Nandi. At the base of Dhwajastambha there is a Lord Ganesha idol known as Lord Kodimara Vinayaka. There is a shrine for Thirumalai (Kailash Ishwarar). Lord Shiva’s shrine is east facing, has three parts namely Sanctum-S, Ardhamandap and Mahamandap. The Shiva Linga is small but beautiful. The Utsava Murti in Sanctum-Sanctorum represents Lord Adi Shesha worshiping Lord Shiva. The Utsava Murtis in a Mahamandap are - Lord Nataraja, Lord Somaskandha, Lord Muruga with a Vajra and Spear in his hand. The shrine of Goddess Durga is on the north side of Ardhamandap. A moat covers three sides of the sanctum.
Koshta murtis: Lord Ganesha, Lord Dakshinamurti and Goddess Durga. Besides this, we come across a number of Naga idols.
Devi’s shrine is east facing and is to the left of Lord Shiva’s shrine. She graces the devotees with four hands holding Lotus, Varada Mudra, Abhaya Mudra, and Rudraksha Mala.
Other shrines and idols:
The shrine of Lord Dakshinamurti is in the south part of Koshtha above the sanctum just like in Mada Kovils. We can see the shrine of Lord Sattainathar by climbing the steps just like in Mada kovils. It is a stucco idol. The shrine of Lord Sthala Vinayaka (Sacred vinayaka of this place) is in the western part. He is addressed as Lord Rajaraja Pillaiyar. Shrine of Lord Subramanya is with his consorts. Lord Chandikeshwar and Goddess Durga shrines are in the corner. The Kshetra Vruksha is presumed to be 250 years old. We come across a five headed serpent (believed to be Lord Adi Shehsa) under this tree. There is an idol of Lord Muruga with his peacock mount under this tree. The idol of Lord Adi Pampureshwar is in the trunk of the tree and is also addressed as Lord Vaneshwarar. On the east side we come across Lord Bhairava, Lord Surya, Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma, Panchalingas, Lord Adi Shesha, Rahu and Ketu, Lord Shanishwarar and Shaiva Saint Nalvar.
There are a number of idols dating between the 12th and 19th century and are kept in safe custody at this place. Some of them are Lord Vinayaka (worshiped as Lord Kanni Vinayaka), Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati idols, Lord Nataraja, two sets of Lord Subramanya with his consorts, a large idol of Lord Shiva in standing position representing destruction of asura, Paaliyarai (shayanagraha) chokkar, Lord Chandikeshwar, Shaiva Saints Nalvar, Goddess Yogashakti Ambika, Choladevar, Mari Amman, Chelli Amman, Lord Adi Pampureshwarar and Somaskanda murti are in the Mahamandap.
Prayers:
1. Devotees worship here for relief from KalaSarpa Dosha, Rahu Ketu Dosha, Kalatra Dosha, Putra Dosha, Marriage obstacles, Dosha due to killing of serpents knowingly or unknowingly. And when they dream of serpents very frequently, they have to perform a special pooja before 5 pm.
2. Devotees perform pooja at this place when they are passing through Rahu Dasha (for 18 years), Ketu Dasha (7 years), when Rahu and Ketu are in the second or eighth house from the lagna or the lagna of their birth chart and during the sub-dashas of Rahu and Ketu.
3. Devotees worship Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati for peace and prosperity.
Pooja:
1. Pooja is performed daily, four times.
2. In the shrine of Rahu and Ketu, pooja is done during Rahu kaal.
3. Special pooja during transit of Rahu and Ketu,
4. Besides this, Pradosha pooja, pooja on New Moon Day and Full Moon Day are conducted regularly.
Festivals:
All festivals from the Tamil month of Chitrai and Panguni, especially, Masi-Magam, MahaShivratri and Margazhi Arudra-darshan are celebrated.
Timings: 7 am to 12:30 pm, 4 pm to 8 pm.
Address:
Shri Sheshapureeshwarar temple /
Pampureshwarar temple,
Thirupampuram,
Taluka: Kudavasal
District: Thiruvarur
Tamil Nadu 612203
Phone: +91-4352469555, +91-9443943665, +91-9443047302, +91-9943848107
Courtesy: Various websites and blogs
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