Today i visited this ancient temple near Villupuram.It is very important place for shaiva siddhantha associated with the legends of great souls like Sundarar (van thondan),Thirunavukarasar,maithondar ,arunagirinathar ,vallal sadayappar , Kambar of ramayana fame . The place has been in existance since antiquity and there are stone edicts excavated at tiruvannamalai and other placed describing grants during the reign of Raja raja chola I as well as Rajaraja chola II, The ramayana of Kambar makes reference to this place and temple,and in the Coronation scene Kambarpays homage to his sponsor and well wisher shri sadayappa mudaliar of Tiruvennainallur.
It is a padal petra sthalam with the ranking of 15 in tamil nadu
How to reach:
The place is 15 kms from Vizhupuram and easily reached. on the Chennai tiruchy highway after crossing the first pass to vizhupuram, look for the board to Tiruvennainallur on the right it is reached after you cross the pennar river. Take the road on the right after agaram and proceed straight till you cross a village called gramam . Proceed further for about 8 kms and the road takes a bend to the left. The first left after this turning leads to the temple. The marker for this place are the flower vendors at the market on either side of the narrow road.. The road curves around to the temple and the entrance appears narrow it leads to a mammoth temple
The fore ground has the sannnidhi for Sundarar
(side enrance leading to the ambal sannidhi)
Legends with the temple:
This temple is associated with many interesting stories.The basic legend is that when Shiva had consumed poison and was unconscious Parvathi came here and created a hall of butter (hence vennai nallur) , and created a panchagni and reduced the poison. Hence Shiva was saved .
This place is one of the Shakthi peetams with Parvathy on a simha vahanam and sangunidhi and padmanidhi as gaurdians.of the door.Her ugram was pacified by the Meru installed in front and she is a shanta swaroopi here called Mangalambikai who bestows only good here.
Maikandar a renowned shaiva poet was blessed by Sage paranjothi when he was playing here as a five year old and he received the knowledge in front of the swayambhu Vinayagar ( unchiselled vinayakar) seen below.He saw the truth (Mai kandar) and started composinghis mammoth work here.
This is the temple(around about 600 AD) where Sivaperuman stops the marriage of Sundarar and proves that sundarar is his slave and brings him to the temple disguised as an old man. The sandals that Shiva wore are still seen preserved in the sanctum .It is huge and frayed . Sundarar realises that the old man who he called as a mad cap is Shiva and starts singing the first of his compositions”Pitha pirai soodi”(mad man wearing the moon as a head ornament) in this temple.
The hall where Siva argued withthe vilage elders to prove that Sundararis his slave is seen below It is a 100 pillared hall present at the entrance of the temple as seen below
Arunagirinathar is supposed to have had the vision of Muruga dancing on his peacock here
As you enter the temple you see the dwaja sthambam with a small vinayagar in front
The structure behind is the Sivan sannidhi . The nandi seen behind the dwaja sthambam is supposed to be dharmarajan himself. He also helps in people getting married, so he is very popular .
Seen above is the chamber leading into the Shivan sannidhi complex on the right. The way to ambal sannidhi is on the far left
The main hall has a garba gruha with a massive sivalingam and the anteroom has the paduka of shiva inside a glass box.
There are sannidhis for vinayaka and muruga in addition to the usual niche devatahas like bhikshandar, Dakshinamurthy, Lingodhbhavar, Brahma, Durga and chandiikeshwarar as in all shiva temples.(lingodhbhavar below)
Dakshinamurthy seen below
(Bhikshandar seen below)
There is a huge verandah running all around the main praharam
One of the sculptures seen in a corner
The ambal sannidhi is next door in the next prakaram
She is seen standing with four arms and a benign smile.There is a simha vahanam in front and a meru installed .
The Sthala vriksha here is the bamboo.It seems the vedas came here to worship the lord in the form of bamboos.
Kurukkal Ravi is seen in the picture of the ambal sannidhi he can be contacted on cell:7708638986
People light lamps for pariharam with a mixture of five oils hence the notice below to do it outside!
A view of the 100 pillar hall in front and the main praharam seen on the right as seen from The ambal praharam to give a sense of the size of the temple
It is a padal petra sthalam with the ranking of 15 in tamil nadu
How to reach:
The place is 15 kms from Vizhupuram and easily reached. on the Chennai tiruchy highway after crossing the first pass to vizhupuram, look for the board to Tiruvennainallur on the right it is reached after you cross the pennar river. Take the road on the right after agaram and proceed straight till you cross a village called gramam . Proceed further for about 8 kms and the road takes a bend to the left. The first left after this turning leads to the temple. The marker for this place are the flower vendors at the market on either side of the narrow road.. The road curves around to the temple and the entrance appears narrow it leads to a mammoth temple
The fore ground has the sannnidhi for Sundarar
(side enrance leading to the ambal sannidhi)
Legends with the temple:
This temple is associated with many interesting stories.The basic legend is that when Shiva had consumed poison and was unconscious Parvathi came here and created a hall of butter (hence vennai nallur) , and created a panchagni and reduced the poison. Hence Shiva was saved .
This place is one of the Shakthi peetams with Parvathy on a simha vahanam and sangunidhi and padmanidhi as gaurdians.of the door.Her ugram was pacified by the Meru installed in front and she is a shanta swaroopi here called Mangalambikai who bestows only good here.
Maikandar a renowned shaiva poet was blessed by Sage paranjothi when he was playing here as a five year old and he received the knowledge in front of the swayambhu Vinayagar ( unchiselled vinayakar) seen below.He saw the truth (Mai kandar) and started composinghis mammoth work here.
This is the temple(around about 600 AD) where Sivaperuman stops the marriage of Sundarar and proves that sundarar is his slave and brings him to the temple disguised as an old man. The sandals that Shiva wore are still seen preserved in the sanctum .It is huge and frayed . Sundarar realises that the old man who he called as a mad cap is Shiva and starts singing the first of his compositions”Pitha pirai soodi”(mad man wearing the moon as a head ornament) in this temple.
The hall where Siva argued withthe vilage elders to prove that Sundararis his slave is seen below It is a 100 pillared hall present at the entrance of the temple as seen below
Arunagirinathar is supposed to have had the vision of Muruga dancing on his peacock here
As you enter the temple you see the dwaja sthambam with a small vinayagar in front
The structure behind is the Sivan sannidhi . The nandi seen behind the dwaja sthambam is supposed to be dharmarajan himself. He also helps in people getting married, so he is very popular .
Seen above is the chamber leading into the Shivan sannidhi complex on the right. The way to ambal sannidhi is on the far left
The main hall has a garba gruha with a massive sivalingam and the anteroom has the paduka of shiva inside a glass box.
There are sannidhis for vinayaka and muruga in addition to the usual niche devatahas like bhikshandar, Dakshinamurthy, Lingodhbhavar, Brahma, Durga and chandiikeshwarar as in all shiva temples.(lingodhbhavar below)
Dakshinamurthy seen below
(Bhikshandar seen below)
There is a huge verandah running all around the main praharam
One of the sculptures seen in a corner
The ambal sannidhi is next door in the next prakaram
She is seen standing with four arms and a benign smile.There is a simha vahanam in front and a meru installed .
The Sthala vriksha here is the bamboo.It seems the vedas came here to worship the lord in the form of bamboos.
Kurukkal Ravi is seen in the picture of the ambal sannidhi he can be contacted on cell:7708638986
People light lamps for pariharam with a mixture of five oils hence the notice below to do it outside!
A view of the 100 pillar hall in front and the main praharam seen on the right as seen from The ambal praharam to give a sense of the size of the temple
I revisited the temple today 27/4/13 here are a few more pics. The road to the temple is freshly relaid and is great.
Legend from the amman sannidhi
Legend on the side of the vinayakar at the entrance in front of the dwajasthambam
Nandi at the entrance
Temple legend at the entrance
The Divine couple at the entrance
I visited this temple in 2011, traveling by road from Tiruvannamalai. I was shocked to find that most people on the way did not know how to reach the temple. On reaching the temple, i found it deserted and in a state of neglect. There was none at the sanctum sanctorum to help me and my wife offer pooja. The gurukkal was sitting somewhere outside. It was a sorry state of affairs for this great temple.
ReplyDeleteNow the situation has vastly changed.i visited last year too&7-11-12 there is a very good change.it is getting known now.it is not neglected any way.The more a temple getting attracting visitors the more problems we see in differentspheres.The old charm is lost if it becomes widely known.The first casualt is cleaniness.it is blessing in disguise if such temples are known only to few/some people.Many examples abound.I am afraid this temple may witness such things as it is getting"famous" now given the financial checks & balnces/audits are mere eye wash.
ReplyDeleteThis is the view of the old dharma karthas of temples
who donned the mantle for the service of god/temple.
Sir
ReplyDeleteI want to visit the temple. I happened to view yr. blog. thanks for the information. How is the road condition to the temple
The road upto villupuram is great. From the highway it is a SH where condition is poor. The road near tiruvenainallur has a broken bridge which was being rebuilt hence was very bad.A right turn here takes you to tirukoilur so take care to keep left . In a very short time you will se.e the market
ReplyDeleteToday 27//13 I visited the temple the roads are relaid and in excellent condition. The bridge repair work is over.
Deletesir vanakkam,en peyar t.n.kumaran,ungal tholai peasi en kidaithal ungalidam thodurbu kolla vasathiyaga irrukum.
ReplyDeleteen mobile number 9444793942.mikka nanri.
Thiruvennainallur info is very usefull for my vist. - vkasinat@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteSir vanakkam,en peyar kumaran,naan sitharkadu sivalayathil poojai seithu varugiren,engal aalayathil tharpothu tirupani nadai petru varugirathu,thaangal oru uthavi seithu thahravendum,ennaku tiruvennainallur aalyathin mugavari allathu mobile number kidaithal nanraga irrukum.mikka nanri
ReplyDeleteKurukkal Ravi is seen in the picture of the ambal sannidhi he can be contacted on cell:7708638986
DeleteI visit that the temple.that lord has some power.i feel some of the most wonderful moment.
ReplyDeleteAUM Nama Shivaaya
ReplyDeleteToday i visited the temple. It is one of most important temple. I expect more people to visit the temple.
ReplyDelete