VELUDHARAN TEMPLES VISIT : Sri Sukreeswarar Temple / சுக்ரீஸ்வரர் கோவில் – Sarkar Periyapalayam, Tiruppur District, Tamil Nadu

Friday, 11 November 2016

Sri Sukreeswarar Temple / சுக்ரீஸ்வரர் கோவில் – Sarkar Periyapalayam, Tiruppur District, Tamil Nadu

13^th October 2019.

கொங்கிற் குறும்பிற் குரக்குத் தளியாய் குழகா குற்றாலா

மங்குல் திரிவாய் வானோர் தலைவா வாய்மூர் மணவாளா

சங்கக் குழையார் செவியா அழகா அவியா அனல்ஏந்திக்

கங்குல் புறங்காட்(டு)ஆடிஅடியார் கவலை களையாயே

----சுந்தரர் தேவாரம்

This second visit to this Sarkar Periyapalayam Sri Sugreeswarar Temple was a part of the Kongu Heritage Walk scheduled on the 12^th and 13^th of October 2019.

Sundarar has mentioned this temple’s Iraivan in his Tiruvarur hymn and hence this is one of the Thevara Vaippu Sthalam of Kongu Nadu. This temple is also called Kurakkuthali Aludaya Nayanar Temple.

Moolavar : Sri Sugreeswarar

Consort : Sri Aavudai Nayaki.

Some of the important features of this temple are...

The temple faces east with an entrance on the south side. Nandhi balipeedam is on the east side. Dwajasthambam and Garuda thoon / Deepa sthambam / Vilakkuthoon are missing, which are found in most of the Kongu Nadu Temples.

There are two Rishabams kept in a mandapam and one of the Rishabam's ears is in broken condition. In the outer prakaram Sannadhi for Vinayagar, Ambal, Subramaniyar, Chandikeswarar, Vayu Lingam, Kubera Lingam, Bhairavar, Esanya Lingam, Bathrakaliamman and Suryan. In Koshtam Dakshinamurthy are the latter Addition.

In the inner mandapam, No shrines and no Dwarapalakas. At the entrance of the artha mandapam, Ganesha is on the left, and Anjaneyar is on the right. There is a Navakanda statue in the Artha mandapam and the history is not known.

Ambal is in a separate temple facing east ( instead of South ) with Nandhi under a mandapam in front. In the mandapam, old statues of Saptamatrikas, Subramaniyar, Vishnu, and Vishnu Durgai ( Poojas are not conducted to these statues).

ARCHITECTURE

The temple consists of sanctum sanctorum, antarala, and artha mandapam. The sanctum sanctorum is on upana and prati bandha adhisthana with virudha kumuda. Sugreeva and a Cow worshiping Lord Shiva are in the upana. A kapotam with Nasikudus is shown on the adhistanam and prastaram. A vyyalavari is shown above the prastaram. Koshtam / niches are on the walls of the sanctum sanctorum. The koshtas are empty now. Koshtas are also shown in the salai of the vimanam.

HISTORY AND INSCRIPTION

The Moolavar Lingam was claimed as the 5^th century. Since this temple was mentioned in Sundarar’s thevara hymn, the original temple might have existed before 7 to 8^th Century. The oldest inscription found belongs to 1220 CE. There are about 11 inscriptions in the temple, of which one belongs to Kongu Chozha, 9 belongs to Kongu Pandyas and one belongs to Mysore Umathur King Veerananjarayar.

As per the inscriptions, this place was called Mugunthanur which belongs to Veerachozhavalanadu, and Lord Shiva was called Kurakkuthali Aludaiya Nayanar.

Veerarajendran’s period (1220 AD ) inscription mentions about donation of 30 Kazhanju gold by a Shivabrahmanan to participate in the festival, pooja, and Abhishekam, without expecting a credit.

During Sundara Pandya’s period ( 1289 AD ) inscription mentions that an order has been issued to cultivate a donated/Devathana land at Sithakuruchi village and dig wells, pond / eri, and channels for the requirement of water and 50% of the yield has to be given to this Temple.

The 15^th Century Mysore Wodeyar king Nanjaraya Wodeyar ( 1499 AD ) created a 200 coconut farm in a purchased land for 4 gold. The income from the coconut trees was utilized for the pooja of this temple.

A Sundara Pandya’s ( 1289 AD ) period inscription mentions that an order has been issued to regulate the water from the Noyyal river, the downstream side Eri and Noyyal Dam for cultivation at Sooralur village, donated to this temple authorizing Perur Nattu Vetralur Sembadavan Pillaiyan.

Above all, to meet the expenses for the Vaikasi ( a Tamil Month ) festival of this Sukreeswarar Temple, an agreement was signed by the 64 merchant guilds ( and some signed in Vattezhuthu, one of the oldest Tamil script) to pay taxes for the materials, like minerals, Cotton clothes, wood ( Sandal ), Elephant, Goat, Horse, etc., carried by them for sale through this Village. This Kongu Chozha Sundara Pandya’s ( 1289 CE ) inscription is the biggest and most important one with 24 lines and each line consists of 130 to 140 letters. The merchant guilds are from various parts of ancient Tamil Nadu and Kerala ( Ernakulam ). From this, we may conclude that the place Sarkar Periyapalayam was on one of the 20 trade Trade Routes passed through Kongu Nadu.

The temple is being maintained by the Archaeological Survey Of India.

The inscriptions mention the temple as KurakkuthaLi

Merchants agreement inscription

LEGENDS

As per the legend, when the Rishabam grazed on a farm, the farm owner cut both ears. The next day the devotees observed blood was coming from the ears. From then onwards his decedent's family will born as a dump. It continued for generations. To get rid of this sin, the farmer's family installed a new Rishabam keeping the old on the back. As per Lord Shiva’s wish, the old Rishabam came to the front and the New Rishabam moved back. After seeing this miracle the devotees installed both in the mandapam.

It was believed that Sugreevan worshiped Lord Shiva of this temple, hence Lord Shiva is called Sugreeswarar. The bas-relief is on the south side of the main sanctum sanctorum adhistanam.