Its amazing how many important temples are in sight but not patronised well. This temple was in the news recently as the Bronze Nataraja of this temple was retrieved a few years ago from abroad
The names of the lord and ambal corresponds to the names of the parents of Adi sankara
How to reach:
The temple is on the southern bypass of Kumbakonam on the east about 5 kms in Sivapuram area and very easily found out. The approach from the highway is very narrow but the travel is worth it
When I visited it was sunset time and it was totally deserted
Legends and Stories:
The child prodigy Thirugnanasambandar refused to set his foot here and moved around rolling on the ground as he felt there are thousands of Shivalingas in Sivapuram.
This place is very famous for the Bhairava here and you can see a separate sannidhi for him well maintained and of course lot of Bhairava vahanas as you can see in the pictures. In fact they were brazen enough to enter all the sannidhis and a few even locked out the oil lamps which were lit. Maybe the fried wicks are a delicacy who knows?
Thirunavukkarasar(Appar) has sung about the temple.
Notably this place is famous for devotees doing angapradakshinam for fulfillment of prayers.
It is also famous as Kubera kshetra locally
Inside we find a carving depicting that Mahavishnu came in the form of a white boar and prayed to lord Sivagurunatha offering a bunch of plantains.
The temple by itself is compact and neat with an east facing Shiva sannidhi and a south facing Aryambal sannidhi.
The kosta vigrahas are beautiful.
Bhairavar sannidhi is present outside.
View from inside the Gopuram where you can see Bairava sannidhi on the right and other bhairavas free roaming
Nandi in the outer praharam
The Aryambal sanidhi is on our right facing south
Below are the Koshta vigrahas
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| Mahavishnu worshipping as a boar |
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| Dakshinamurthy |
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| Lingodhbhavar |
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| Brahma |
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| Durga |
A look at the Bhairavar Sannidhi in the outer praharam all decked up
very useful information. good photos
ReplyDeleteExcellent.... None of the point missed.
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