Jai Sriman Narayana !!
Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara !!
Thirunelveli/Pancha Sabha Kshetram/Venu Vanam is
one of the 275 Thevara Shivasthalam of Lord Shiva located on the river banks of
Tamraparani at the heart of Tirunelveli, Madurai, Tamil Nadu. This is one of the prominent temples of Lord
Shiva built by the Pandya Kings date back to 17th century. This temple occupies 14 acres of acres
massive land with majestic Rajapouram, stunning Maha Mandapams, Tamra Sabha (celestial
cosmic dance hall) with exquisite paintings and murals.
Presiding deity – Sri
Nellaiappar/Venuvananathar/Veimathanathar/Nelvelinathar/Salivatheswar/Venuvaneswarar/Venuvana
Mahalingeswarar/Tamra Sabhapathy/ Swayambhu Moorthy with his consort Goddess
Sri Kanthimathi Ammai/Vadivudaiammai
Mangalasasanam – Thiru Gnana Sambandhar. Saint Arunagirinathar sung praising the
glories of Lord Subramanya in this temple.
Theertham – Potramarai Theertham, Karumari
Theertham, Sindhupoonthurai Theertham, Tamrabharani
Sthalavruksham – Moongil ( Bamboo)
Worshipped by – Sage Agastya
Sannidhis –Lord Ganesha, Lord Nandikeshwara,
Lord Subramanya with his consorts Sri Valli & Deivayanai, Lord Vishnu as
Nellai Govindan, Santhana Sabapathi, Lord Nataraja,
There are three wide circumambulatory paths
located in this temple. In the First
Praharam there are sannidhis of Lord Dakshinamurthy, Lord Brahma, Goddess Durga,
Lord Chandikeswara, Goddess Mahishasura Mardhini, Lord Bhairava and Lord Govinda.
In the Second Praharam there are astonishing
pillars which produces Sapthaswaras (Sa,Ri,Ga,Ma,Pa,Da,Ni) and Tamra Sabha of
Lord Shiva positioned here. In addition
to this, there are idols of 63 Nayanmars, Goddess Ashtalakshmi, Lord
Shaneeswara and Sahasra Linga.
In the Third Praharam there is a sannidhis of
Lord Subramanya with Goddess Sri Valli & Deivayanai.
Festivals – Maha Shivaratri, Navaratri, Arudra
Darisanam, Iyypasi Kalyanostavam, Brahmostavam, Karthikai, Thaipoosam, Ani Car
Festival,
There are several interesting myths associated
with this temple. There was a righteous
Brahmin Veda Sarma; he was a zealous devotee of Lord Shiva. He was meticulously followed the rituals of a
Brahmin prescribed in the Veda and sacred scriptures. He made his livings by Vedic chants in this
means he receive alms from the villagers.
It was his daily practice to offer Lord with whatever received as
alms. As any other day, he received harvested
rice but not yet processed as alms and kept it for parched. He went to have a
holy dip in the pond. Suddenly, the sky
turned cloudy and started raining heavily with thunder storms. Veda Sarma was hysterical at this sight,
thought of his alms were roughly washed off with the down pour. He dashed to the place where he had kept the
grains to dry, he earnestly prayed Lord to save the grains. He was surprised to see the heavy down pour
washed off the rest of the places, leaving behind the place where grains kept
for drying. His grains were remained untouched and dried
out on the bright sunlight when the remaining land was flooded with water. Veda Sarma hurried to the palace of King Rama
Pandya and informed the miraculous incident.
King and his men scurried to the spot to witness the spectacular event. Thus the presiding deity of this temple has
got the name Nelvelinathar.
Another legend has that there was Brahmin used
to bring Milk to the Palace on daily basis.
One day while he was on his way to Palace stumbled upon a stone and dispensed
the whole milk on the stone. This
incident repeated continuously for few days.
The poor Brahmin was worried of these bizarre happenings and informed
the King. King and his men arrived on
the spot and started the excavation process.
While the work was in progress, the spear strongly hit on the stone and
blood oozed out. The people gathered
were shocked to witness the incident, instantaneously there heard a divine voice
and a Linga appeared with abrasion on it.
In this temple the presiding deity – self manifested Linga can been seen
with a cut mark on it.
This temple remains open from 5.30AM 12.00 PM in
the morning and 4.30PM to 8.30PM in the evenings.
Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara !!
Jai Sriman Narayana !!
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