Sri Agastheswar Temple and Sri Prathyangira Devi Temple, Padur, near Villupuram, Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu.

16^th April 2019.

After Ulundandar Temple’s visit our next destination was Parikal. On the way to Parikal, it was suggested to Visit an old Shiva and a Perumal Temple at Padur.  Since Padur is on the way to Parikal, visited the Shiva temple first and then the Perumal Temple. Local people guide us to this temple if we ask for Sri Prathyangira Devi Temple. 

Moolavar   : Sri Agastheswar

Consort     : Sri Abithakusambigai

Some of the salient features of this temple are…

The temple faces east with an entrance arch on the south side. The temple does not have Rajagopuram. Ambal sannidhi is facing south in the abutting artha mandapam.

In the praharam sannadhi for Ganapathy, Valli Deivanai sametha Subramaniar, Thirugnanasambandar in dance posture and a donor statue. The Prathyangira Devi sannadhi is near the south side entrance. The Local people know more about Prathyangira Devi than Lord Shiva of this temple. On no moon day, "Nikumbalaa" Homam will be conducted in which, Red Chilli, fruits, and vasthram are offered. 

ARCHITECTURE

The temple consists of sanctum sanctorum, antarala, and artha mandapam. There is a 2-pillar mandapam at the south side entrance of the main sanctum. The sanctum is on a prati bandha adhistanam with virutha kumudam.  A Vesara Vimanam is on the sanctum. A viyyalavari is above the Kumudam. 

 

HISTORY AND INSCRIPTIONS 
Parantaka Chozha-I’s brother and the Rashtrakuta King Kannara Devan ( to be checked ), Kulothungan-II, Rajarajan-III, Seenatharayan,  and Krishnappa Nayaka, who ruled Senji period inscriptions mention  the donation of Lands, Villages, differing of Taxes, burning of perpetual lamps. The Chozha King Kulothunga Chozha donated this Village Padur to Brahmins and called as Chaturvedi mangalam.  From the above details, this temple might have existed before the 11^th Century. 14^th to 16^th Century Vijayanagara Nayak period inscriptions are also found on the kumudam, inscribed during renovations/ Thirupani.

Ashta Bandhana Maha Kumbhabhishekam was held in 1988 in that Kanchi mutt Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal also participated.

Vijayanagara/ Nayak  period inscriptions

LEGENDS

Agasthiyar and Shukracharya worshiped Lord Shiva of this temple. As per the legend, Shukracharya was the Kulaguru for the Mabali Chakravarthi. When Vishnu in Vamana avatar was about to get the three feet of land, Shukracharya advised Mabali not to give, even after Knowing that Vishnu only came as Vamana. As per the law of Sin, obstructing the giving gift to someone is also a sin.  

To get rid of the sin caused Shukracharya worshiped Lord Shiva of this temple. The stucco image of this sthala purana is on the south side wall of the prakara. Agasthiyar found out this swayambhu Shiva Linga, installed and worshiped. Hence Lord Shiva is called Agastheeswarar.

 Sthalapurana

TEMPLE TIMINGS:

The temple will be kept open between 07.00 hrs to 09.00 hrs and 17.00 hrs to 19.00 hrs.

HOW TO REACH:

Padur Village is on the  Villupuram to Kallakurichi Road.

The Temple & The village Padur are about 28 KM from Villupuram and 10 KM from Ulundurpet.

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE

 Stucco Gajalakshmi

---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---

Sri Ardhanatheeswarar Temple/ஸ்ரீ அர்தநாதீஸ்வரர் கோயில், Elavanasur Kottai / Elavanasur, Kallakurichi District, Tamil Nadu.

16^th April 2019.

It was planned to visit some of the old temples around Villupuram on 16^th April 2019, during our visit to Koovagam Koothandavar temple Thiruvizha. After reaching Villupuram, First we had been this Shiva Temple at Elavanasur Kottai. The temple is on a rocky place / hill called Thirumalai. Since the temple was built like a fort with Guarding deities on all 4 sides, the place is called as Elavanasur Kottai and moolavar is called in different names.

 

Many people spells Shiva of this temple's name as Ardhanareeswarar, which is wrong. The correct name is Sri Ardhanatheeswarar, since Shiva was called in the inscription as ..ஊர் பாகம் கொண்டருளிய மகாதேவர் / நாயனார்.

 

Moolavar   : Sri Arthanatheeswarar, Sri Grama Arthanatheeswarar,

                  Sri  Oor Bhagam Kondaruliya Nayanar,

Consort     : Sri Brahan Nayaki, Sri Periyanayagi.

Some of the salient features of this temple are….

The temple faces west with a 6-tier Rajagopuram built during Vijayanagara period. There is a 3-tier Rajagopuram on 2nd level. Ambal Sri Periyanayagi is in a separate temple facing east immediately after the Rajagopuram.  

Balipeedam, Dwajasthambam and Rishabam are before the second level Rajagopuram. The Rishabam and the Prakara rishabam are facing west in the same direction like Moolavar. 

In the koshtam Vinayagar, and Dakshinamurthy. In Praharam sannidhi for Saniswaran, Nagar, Brahma sastha (wrongly written as Govinda Raja Perumal), Suryan, Bairavar, Navagrahas, Naalvar, 3 idols of Saptamatrikas Group, Vinayaki, Valli Devasena Subramaniar and west facing Rishabam.

 Brahma Sastha

Chandikeswara

Dakshinamurthy

Kowmari and Brahmi

Vinayagar & Vinayagi

Vinayagar and Vinayagar with his Consort

ARCHITECTURE

The temple consists of a raised level as a Mada Temple sanctum sanctorum, antarala and artha mandapam. The adhistanam is a simple pada bandha adhistanam with Jagathy, three patta Kumudam. Kumbha Panjaras and Vishnu Kantha pilasters are on the Sanctum Sanctorum wall. The vesara vimanam is on the sanctum Sanctorum. The terrace of the raised level of the corridor may be used for circumambulation. The temple tank and a urchava vavval nethi 100 pillar mandapam is on the left.

 

 Ambal Sannadhi

INSCRIPTIONS:

From the inscriptions Lord Shiva was called as Oor-Bhagam-Kondaruliya Nayanar / Mahadevar, Oorudaiya Paramesvarman etc. The place was called as Iraiyanaraiyur & Iraivasanallur. The same has got corrupted to the present name of Elavanasur. As per the inscriptions this place was also called as Sri Chozha Kerala Chaturvedi mangalam in Palur Kottam of Miladu Jananatha Valanadu. The second level 3 tier Rajagopuram was built during Chozha's period and inscriptions are found with title.  

The temple has inscriptions from 900 CE to 1500 CE. The inscriptions belongs to Rajaraja-I, Rajendra –I, Uthama Chozha, the son of Sembiyan Mahadevi, Kulothunga –I, Vikrama Chozha, Rajaraja-II & III, Rajadhiraja-II, Kulothunga-II, Pallava King Koperunsingan, and Vijayanagara dynasty.

One inscription records the gift of 132 Cows to burn a perpetual lamp for killing a person by an another person by  mistake in the process of hunting a boar. 

Vikrama Chozha’s inscription mentions a gift of land for reciting Thiruchalal from Thiruvasagam composed by Manickavasagar. 

The other inscriptions records the donations of lands and money towards functioning of daily poojas and burning perpetual lamps.

Ref:

1. South Indian Inscriptions Volume 12 - 234 - 235.

2. Select Inscriptions (Social life) Page 164. 

LEGENDS

As per the legend “Deiveegan, a Malayaman Chief Killed an asura Karundan, who was Brahmin in his previous birth. So Deiveegan got the Brahmahathi dosha. To get rid from the dosha he performed  sacrifice and gifted  4 neighbouring Villages to 400 Brahmins and found  400 more are left out. He got confused and do not know what to do. Lord Shiva in the form a Brahmin appeared before him, asked to gift half of this Village to the 400 Brahmins and rest of the half to him. Deiveegan does so. On receiving the half village the Brahmin disappeared and reveals himself as Lord Shiva. From this incident Lord Shiva was called as Oor Bhagam Kondaruliya Nayanar ( ஊர் பாகம் கொண்டருளிய நாயனார் )  and the sanskritised version is Grama Arthanatheeswarar.

 

POOJAS AND CELEBRATIONS

Apart from regular poojas, special poojas are conducted on Pradosham, Maha Shivaratri, etc.

TEMPLE TIMINGS:

The temple will be kept opened between 07.00 hrs to 11.00 hrs and 16.00 hrs to 20.00 hrs.

 

HOW TO REACH:

The place Elavanasur is on the Junction of  Salem to Ulundurpet Highway and Thirukoilure to Asanur ( Vellore to Tuticorin).

59 KM from Villupuram, 15 KM from Ulundurpet, 25.5 KM from Kallakurichi.

 

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE

---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---

A Wrongly Identified Sri Durga Vigraha / தவறாக அடையாளப்படுத்தப்பட்ட ஸ்ரீ துர்கை விக்ரகம், IIT. MADRAS, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

15^th April 2019.

The place where the IIT Madras  established was originally belonged to Tharamani and had many temples. After the purchase of land by the Armenians and East India Company's Madras Government the people were evacuated and the temples were unattended.  This leads to the temples being ruined and some disappear into the thick forest.

In that, the Vigraham is one of them. Now the Vigraha is under a banyan tree in the IIT Madras Swimming Pool complex. Vigraha was chiseled out of black granite stone. An enclosure was constructed in recent years. Daily poojas are conducted by one Mr. Arumugam, a retired employee of the Swimming Pool.

This Vigraham was referred to Dr Nagaswamy. He is of the opinion that this may be a Durga Vigraha, may belong to the 8^th Century, and may be one of the saptamatrikas group.

It is to be noted that the idol is wrongly identified as a Durga Vigraha. Actually, it is a male image. The image may be a Chandikeswarar. Maybe further studied, who could be...? 

REFERENCE:

The article was written by Arun Ayyar, Harish Ganapathy, and Hemanth C, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Madras in consultation with Kanchi Sankara Mutt, Controller of RajBhavan and Dr Nagaswamy. For the link to the article Click Here.

LOCATION:12.988878, 80.237060

Mr Arumugam who takes care of this shrine and Prof Sampath Kumar
---OM SHIVAYA NAMA--- 

Sri Varasiddhi Vinayagar Temple and Sri Adhipureeswarar Temple / Adipureeswarar Temple / ஆதிபுரீஸ்வரர் கோயில், IIT. MADRAS, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

15^th April 2019.

This Varasiddhi Vinayakar temple is a part of IIT Madras campus temples, which has many important heritage structures and statues right from the periods of Chozhas, Pandyas, and Vijayanagas and also to the present period. Since we had discussed the details of this place & IIT  Madras Campus in the Sri Jalakandeswarar Temple, IIT Madras’s Post, we will restrict the details of this temple alone in this post. The original post was written by three alumni of this institution Arun Ayyar, Harish Ganapathy, and Hemanth C after extensive research. They had interviewed many old timers, and archaeologists like Dr. Nagasamy and Raj Bhavan authorities. Thanks to them. I also extend my sincere thanks to Mr Sampath Kumar, Prof of IIT Madras who took me to this temple.

This complex is not like Sri Jalakandeswarar Temple or Sri Durgai Peeliamman Temple. The Complex is with two simple separate sannadhis for Siddhi Vinayakar and Sri Adhipureeswarar. The rest are installed in the open space

The Complex consists of….

1.   Sri Varasiddhi Vinayagar.

2.   Bhajana Madam and Tulasi madam

3.   Sri Adhipureeswara Lingam & Rishabam

4.   Sri Kailasanatha Lingam

5.   A Black stone on the back side of Rishabam.

SRI VARA SIDDHI VINAYAGAR

The Moolavar is Sri Vinayagar, without any ornamental carvings. In addition to this, there is an Urchavar in the sanctum. Experts of the opinion that the Moolavar is more than 200 years old. As per the Taramani Local people, the Sri Siddhi Vinayakar Sannidhi existed from their grand, great great grandfather’s period.

BAJANA MADAM & TULASI MAADAM

This Thulasi madam is on the right side of the Sri Vara Siddhi Vinayakar Sannadhi. A small madam with a Mahavishnu Photo was kept before the establishment of IIT Madras. The Thulasi madam was in front of the madam. People used to do Bhajans, especially during Tamil Margazhi month. Now the Thulasi Madam only exists as a witness of the past and the fate of Bajana Madam is not Known.

SRI ADHIPUREESWARAR SANNADHI WITH RISHABAM

On the left side of Varasiddhi Vinayagar Sannidhi is the Sri Adhipureeswarar Sannadhi. This swayambhu Shiva Linga banam was unearthed from the bushes near Sri Varasiddhi Vinayagar Sannidhi by the then Security officer Mr. T N Venkatraman. During Sri Jalakandeswara Temple’s Kumbhabhishekam in 1966 CE Mahaperiyava visited this temple and conducted a pooja for this Shiva Linga banam. He instructed me to make an avudayar. Due to financial problem Mr T N Venkatraman had done avudayar in concrete. The second time Mahaperiyava Visited was in 1975-76, when Somu Gurukal was the priest ( now at Dhandeeswaram Shiva Temple who served as a priest between 1976 – 2008 ). Mahaperiyava placed his dhandam on Shivalinga and did meditation. After meditation, he instructed Somu Gurukal to take proper care of Sri Adhipureeswarar. In 2000 CE a copper kavasam was provided on the swayambhu banam. The Kavasam will be removed for three days a year,  during Thirukarthigai and champirani/sambrani oil will be applied.

PC: Alumni's  article 

RISHABAM

The Rishabam is in front of Sri Adhipureeswarar Sannadhi. As per Dr. Nagaswamy, this Rishabam belongs to the 8^th Century Pallava period after examining the distinct hump, short ears, and small horns. He also told that this variety of Rishabam is called “Nellore / Ongole Bull” considering the distance between the hump and the tail. The Rishabam was made out of laterite stone. The red color was changed to black over a period due to applying oil and abhisheka.

SRI KAILASANATHA LINGAM.

This Shiva Linga is on the back side of Sri Varasiddhi Vinayagar Sannadhi. This Linga was unearthed during excavation for the construction of Ganga Hostel. The same was kept at the CCW office, before shifting to the present place in 2005.

BLACK STONE WITH VIJAYANAGARA AND PANDYA EMBLEMS.

A Black stone is installed on the back side of the Sri Adhipureeswarar Sannadhi rishabam. This stone has some engravings, which are not clear. After taking the estempage  of the engraving Dr Nagaswamy said that the engraving contains a “bull”, the royal emblem of 15^th Century Vijayanagara on the upper portion. The lower portion contains two fishes and cendu in between. This was the royal emblem of 12th-century Pandyas.   The engraving also contains a sun and a moon. As per Dr Nagaswamy, this stone may be a boundary stone for the Vijayanagara and Pandya empires.

                                        PC: Alumni's  article 

                          Vijayanagara Emblem PC: Alumni's  article 

                                  Pandya Emblem PC: Alumni's  article 

HOW TO REACH:

This temple is located in the Hostel Zone, behind Taramani Guest House.

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE

---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---