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, Tamraparni
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 Thamra 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 !!
No comments:
Post a Comment