Abhimana Kshetram !! Suchindram Sri Thanumalayan Swamy Temple!!

Jai Sriman Narayana !!

 

 

 

Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara !!

 

 

Suchindram / Gnanaranya Kshetram is one of the Abhimana Kshetram of  Trinities as Sthanumalayan (Sthanu – Lord Shiva +  Mal – Lord Vishnu + Ayan – Lord Brahma ) located in Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu.  This is one of the most prominent temples famous for its stunning architectural and intricate stone carving work. In this temple Trinities worshipped in the form of a Linga, the upper portion of the Linga represents Lord Shiva and the middle and down portion symbolizes Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma respectively.  Nayaks, Emperors of Travancore also have made abundance of contributions to this temple.  This is one of the famous temples where Lord Indra was purified by the Trinities, thus it has got its name Suchindram ( Suchi+Indram = Purify + Indra).

                                                                   

Presiding deity – Sri Thanumalayan Swamy / Sthanumalayan Swamy  an embodiment of Trinities in the form of a exquisite Linga in this temple.   Lord  Sthanumalayan with his consort Goddess Sri Aram Valartha Nayaki/Umayammai

Sthalavruksham – Kondrai

Theertham – Indra Theertham, Prapancha Theertham,

Worshipped by – Sri Adi Sankara, Sage Agastya, Lord Indra, Udayavar Sri Ramanujar,

Sannidhis – Lord Ganesha worshipped by Lord  Indra, Lord Nandikeshwara – tallest idol, Lord Anjaneya 22’ft monolithic image, Navagrahas with their celestial vehicles,  Lord Subramanya, Kalabairava, Lord Dakishnamurthi, Lord Ayyappa, Lord Rama,

Festivals – Thiru Karthikai, Markazhi Utsavam, Panguni Uthiram, Skandha Shashti, Aippasi Annabhishekam, Maha Shivaratri, Navaratri, Masi Makam, Arudra Darisanam,

The legend has that Sage Atri, one of the Saptha Rishi’s and son of Lord Brahma was leading a peaceful life with his chaste wife Anasuya who was the ultimate paradigm for the faultless wife. Once, Maharishi Narada visited the Abode of Lords and narrated the chastity of Anasuya to Goddesses Sri Parvati, Sri Saraswathy and Sri Mahalakshmi. After listening to Maharishi Narada, the three Goddesses decided to conduct a test on this. As planned earlier, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva was disguised into mendicants and arrived at the hermitage of Sage Atri on the Earth.  The Trinities were received with great reverence by Anansuya.   She requested her guests to accept feast from their hermitage.  The Trinities were disclosed their pre-planned thought in unison that she should serve them with no clothes on.   After listening to them Anasuya was remained very calm with the power of mind and chastity, she had already found a solution for this issue.  She sprinkled water from the Kamandalu of Sage Atri on the three mendicants.  Instantaneously, the Trinities were turned into babies and began to weep.  Soon, Anasuya picked up the three children and cradled them with lots of love and affection.  This incident created lots of turmoil in the Deva Loka, they all worried about that the Universe would come to standstill in the absence of Trinities to perform their responsibilities. The three Goddesses appealed to Anasuya and requested for forgiveness.   Anasuya instructed them to undergo severe penance and finally regained their partners.  Thus, once again the three babies were turned into Trinities and left their particles in the form of a Linga.

Another legend has that Lord Indra approached Ahalya, the chaste wife of Sage Gautama with a lustful desire. He disguised into a cock and gave out a cry. Sage Gautama prepared to leave his hermitage for early morning rituals at the cock’s cry.  At this point of time, Lord Indra camouflaged into Sage Gautama and approached Ahalya, she was surprised to see her husband back too early from ablations.  Sage Gautama sensed some kind of unruliness on his way to river, so he hurried back to his hermitage. As he was entered, found Lord Indra sneaking out of the hermitage in the form of a cat. The most infuriated Sage Gautama cursed Lord Indra for his disruptiveness.  Hence, Lord Indra’s handsome stature turned into ugly with female productive organs all over the body.   He arrived on this sacred temple and paid initial obeisance to Lord Ganesha and Lord Nandikeshwara.  He underwent severe penance worshipping Lord Sthanumalayan, Lord was pleased at the devotion of Lord Indra and relieved from the curse.  Consequently, Lord Indra earnestly prayed to the Trinities to reside here forever.

This temple remains open from 4.30AM to 1.30 PM in the morning and 3.30 PM to 9.00 PM in the evenings.

Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara !!

 

 

 

Jai Sriman Narayana !!