19th
January 2020.
After
a gap of 2 months, once again started the temple Visit along with Mr Kesavan, a heritage enthusiast from Arasar Koil to Koovathur on the banks of Palar River, near Chengalpattu. Koovathur
was our last stop to visit both Vishnu and Shiva Temples.
Moolavar
: Adhi Kesava Perumal
Thayar : Maragathavalli
Some
of the salient features of this temple are...
The
temple faces east with a Deepasthambam. Balipeedam and Garudalwar are in
front of the mukha mandapam. Moolavar Sri Adhikesava Perumal is in a standing
posture like Venkatesa Perumal without Sridevi and Bhudevi. His Upper hands are
holding conch and Chakra and his lower hands are in abhaya and ooru hastham. In koshtam Paramapada Nathar, Sri Varagar,
Narasimhar, Krishnan and Adhi Kesava Perumal.
In
prakaram sannadhi for Vinayagar, Vishnu Durgai, Maragatha Valli Thayar,
Chakkarathalwar, Alwars and Andal. Thayar is in a separate sannidhi in a sitting
posture. Holding lotus in the upper hands and lower hands are in abhaya and
Vara hastham.
Also, there are 8 holy wells in the Prahara of which one is in the Anjaneyar temple on
the opposite side of the temple. It is believed that these wells represent 8
holy rivers of our country.
ARCHITECTURE, HISTORY
AND INSCRIPTION
The word Koovam in Tamil means well. Since the 8
Holy rivers took the form of Wells, this place is called a Koovathur. The
old temple was completely renovated and reconstructed with cement and concrete. Even though it was claimed that this temple is more than 1000 years old, the
temple bears a new look without any antiquity.
An inscription in the Angalamman temple of the same place mentions about
this temple. Based on that it is believed that this temple was constructed
during the Vijayanagara Period by
Sadashivayyadeva Maharaya, son of Saluva Manga Udayar Devamaharaya of
Vijayanagara Dynasty.
Ready-made molds of sculptures
Moolavar sannadhi
LEGEND
It
is believed that the eight wells are 8 rivers namely Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati,
Sarayu, Godavari, Narmada, Tungabhadra, and Kaveri. The 8 rivers, felt that they
had become dirty & unclean with sins, washed by human beings, and wanted
to cleanse themselves. When they approached Brahma, in turn, he advised them to go to
Bhooloka, where the sage Veda Ghosha would give a solution. They came down to
Bhooloka and prayed to Veda Ghosha and sought his help to cleanse
themselves. Veda Ghosha advised all the 8
rivers to worship Lord Adhi Kesava Perumal, who is the supreme to grant their
prayers.
The 8 rivers took the form of 8 women and prayed Adhi Kesava Perumal in
the form of service like abhishekam, cleaning of temple, creating Nandavanam,
growing garden, etc. Pleased by their devotion, sincere prayer & service, Lord
Adhi Kesava Perumal granted their prayers to become clean. Before returning to
their respective places, they thanked Veda Ghosha and promised that they would
stay in this temple in the form of 8 wells, and whoever ever take bath in all the 8
wells and prayed Adhi Kesava Perumal would get rid of all their sins.
In
continuation to this, another legend goes like this… Rama has got the
Brahma hathya dosha after killing Ravana. To get rid of it, he wants to do pooja
to Shiva Linga. As per Rama’s instruction, Hanuman rushed to Kashi to bring the
Shiva Linga. He didn’t turn up before the end of the auspicious time. So Sita
made a Shiva Linga out of sand and Rama performed the pooja. When Hanuman
returned, the pooja was over, and got disappointed. He expressed dissatisfaction
on his face. It is equivalent to sin against Sita’s Actions since Hanuman
considers Sita as his own mother. To get rid of the sin he came to Koovathur,
took a bath in the 8 wells, and worshiped Sri Adhi Kesava Perumal of this temple.
TEMPLE TIMINGS:
The
temple will be kept open between 06.00 hrs to 10.00 hrs and 17.00 hrs to 20.00 hrs.
CONTACT DETAILS:
Gopu
Bhattar may be contacted on his mobile at +919790846554, for further details.
HOW TO REACH:
About
500 meters from the Koovathur bus stop.
Koovathur
is on the ECR Road, 13 KM from Kalpakkam, 38 KM from Chengalpattu, and 80 KM
from Chennai.
Alwars
Garudan Sannadhi
Anjaneyar temple
---OM
SHIVAYA NAMA---
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