Sri Nageswaram Udayar Temple / Sri Nageswaramudayar Temple / Adhi Rahu Sthalam, Sirkazhi, Mayiladuthurai District, Tamil Nadu.

15^th September 2019.

The visit to this Sri Nageswaramudayar Temple, also called Adhi Rahu sthalam at Sirkazhi, was a part of the temple visit in and around Sirkazhi on 15^th September. On the second day, before leaving for Chennai, I visited this temple. It was a little late after sunset when we entered the temple. With little light had the darshan of Lord Shiva,  Sri Nageswaram Udayar. This temple is also called Adhi Rahu Sthalam.

Moolavar : Sri Nageswaramudayar

Consort   : Sri Ponnaaga Valli

Some of the important features of this temple are…

The temple faces east with a 3-tier Rajagopuram slightly skewed towards the southeast direction (maybe to match the road junction). Stucco images of dwarapalakas are in front of Rajagopuram and the ardha mandapam. The sanctum sanctorum consists of the sanctum, antarala, and ardha mandapam. Balipeedam and Rishabam are in front of the sanctum sanctorum. Dakshinamurthy is in koshtam.

In praharam,  Sri Ponnagavalli Amman, Raghu,  Kethu, Naga devathas,  Bhairavar, Suryan, and Vinayagar. Saneeswarar Temple, with his consort, shares his place with Rahu in the same shrine, which is a special feature of this temple.

HISTORY  & ARCHITECTURE:

It was claimed that this temple is earlier than the Nageswaran temple of Kumbakonam and hence called Adhi Raghu sthalam. The temple is believed to have been built during the Chozha  period, and no inscription was found. The sanctum sanctorum is on a simple pada bandha adhisthana, and a eka tala vesara vimana is on the sanctum sanctorum.

Kumbhabhishekam was conducted in 2006.

LEGEND

As per the legend, while churning the milk ocean,  by the Devas and Asuras, the nectar came last. There was a fight between them over who had to drink. To resolve this, Vishnu took the Mohini avatar and appeared before them. On seeing Mohini, the Asuras forgot the nectar and went behind him. While distributing the nectar, one asura/demon, Swarbhanu, who was born to Vibrasita and Rania’s sister Simhi, took the form of a Devas and stood between Surya and Chandran and consumed the nectar. Sun and Moon gave signals to  Vishnu in the form of body gestures. Vishnu took a spoon and hit his head. The asura Swarbhanu split into head and body. The head had fallen down at Sirkazhi, and the body had fallen down at Sembambinkudi, now called Semmangudi, near Sirkazhi.

Since the Asura/demon drank the nectar, he reappeared as two snakes. Booth took penance, consuming only the air of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva appeared before them and  asked their wishes. Both replied that they want to rule the Sun and Moon since they are only responsible for their present condition. Lord Shiva said that he could not grant this boon; alternatively, they could harm them for a few hours, on no moon day and full moon day. One snake took the Asura/demon head with the snake body as Raghu, and another snake took the form of the Snake head with Asura’s body as Kethu. With Lord Shiva’s boon, Raghu has got the position of a planet.

This is a parihara sthalam for Rahu, Kalasarpa Dosha, Putra dosha, Mangalya dosha, and Kalathra Dosha would be solved after praying to Adhi Raghu of this temple.

TEMPLE TIMINGS:

The temple will be kept open from 07.00 hrs to 12.00 hrs, and from 17.00 hrs to 20.00 hrs.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Muthu Gurukkal may be contacted on his mobile 9443785862 for further details.

HOW TO REACH

The temple is at Thenpathi, a part of Sirkazhi city.

The temple is about 1.1 km from Sirkazhi Railway Station, 25 km from Mayiladuthurai, and 72 km from Nagapattinam city, the district headquarters.

The nearest Railway Station is Sirkazhi.

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE

 ---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---