Today I had a whirl wind visit of three temples in Pondicherry on a visit.
The first visit was to the above temple which I passed by 2 months ago and was longing to visit. The temple was chock a bloc full of people as some yaga was going on and I could not take pictures of the temple on the inside
HOW TO REACH:
On the pondy Vizhupuram road at 8 kms you reach Villianur . There is a new rail overbridge being constructed on the state highway hence local detours on narrow side lanes were in order and we reached the temple
The temple is famous for the solar worship in april (Tamil month Panguni 9-12) when the sun’s rays fall on the shivalinga directly
LEGENDS ANDSTORIES ;
Brahma was directed by Shiva to plant Vilva trees here to atone for the sin of lying . Hence the place was known as Vilvanur which is now referred to as Villianur. He prayed here to the lord and received release for his sin
A chola king Dharmapala Chola was suffering from leprosy and was cured after taking a bath here in the pond and he re built this temple in 1500 AD
The French under Dupleix helped renovate this temple in 1800 AD
As you enter there is an outer praharam leading to a small inner praharam with the dhwaja stambha.This place today was hosting a homam with many people crowding it
The dwajasthambam has 3 Nandis around it one facing the Shiva linga the other two at right angles facing each other one is a bigger one and the other facing a small calf is referred to as prasava Nandi one who helps deliver as in childbirth and women pray here for a safe delivery.
(Pic courtesy Dinamalar.com)
The main temple is quite small we enter from the south and see a small shivalinga . In a weeks time the sun's rays will illuminate the lord at dawn
The walls of the shrine have the Koshta vigrahas, Ganapathy, Dakshinamurthy , Perumal,Brahma and Durga.
There are separate shrines for Ganapathy and Murugan and also huge Murugan. there are many prahara Shivalingas, including a koti linga . The Navagraha sannidhi is in front
the Kokilambal sannidhi is in the front facing south with a petite amman standing and smilingly blessing devotees
There are statues of Somaskandar,Sivagami, Nataraja all exquisite
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