79 Friday Temple Visit
12th August 2022
வாரம் ஒரு கோவில் தரிசனம்
by S. Subramaniam
SHRI SOMANATHA SWAMY TEMPLE, NEEDUR, MAYILADUTHURAI, TAMIL NADU.
Location:
Shri Somanatha Swamy Temple is located in village Needur and lies about 6 Kms from Mayiladuthurai and 39 Kms from Kumbakonam. River Cauvery flows to the South of the village.
Salient Features:
The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Shiva and is referred to as Shri Arul Somanatha Swami or Shri Gana Narthana Shankarar or Karkadeswara and Devi Parvati is known by the name Shri Veyuru Tholi Ambigai or Shri Aditya Abhaya Pradambika. The Holy waters of the temple (Sthala Theertham) is Senkazhuneer Odai and the Tree associated with the temple called Sthala Vruksham is Magizham Poo (Bakul tree).
Name of the place:
Needur gets its name from Tamil word Neenda meaning long or everlasting and this place is believed to remain intact even during the Pralayam or the great deluge. In ancient times the place was known as
Vakularanyam or Maghizha Vanam. Another ancient name of Needur is Saptapuri.
Uniqueness:
The temple houses several idols of Lord Ganesh (Vinayaka) such as Sivaloka Ganapathy, Siddhi Vinayaka and a set of three Ganathys called Chinthamani Ganapathy, Selvamangala Ganapathy and Sivanaatha Ganapathy.
History:
The temple is a very ancient one but unfortunately the date of construction is not exactly known. As the temple is mentioned in the Thevaram hymns, the temple might have existed from 6th Century CE. There are inscriptions available in this temple dating back to the reign of Chozha Kings Kulothunga Chozhan I (1070-1112 CE), Rajathiraja Chozhan II (1166-1178 CE) and Rajaraja Chozhan III (1216-1246 CE).
Legends
Legend 1 of 4 - Relating to Indira
Devendra Or simply Indira had the habit of worshipping Lord Shiva on a daily basis. Once he reached this place but could not find a suitable Shivalinga for the purpose. He collected wet mud from the banks of river Cauvery to create a Shivalinga for worship. Indra performed pooja by singing a melodious devotional song in praise of Lord Shiva.
Pleased by his devotion, Lord Shiva granted his darshan and performed the cosmic dance called Rudra Thandavam. Hence, the Lord came to be called Gana Narthana Shankara (Lord Shiva who danced to a devotional song).
It is believed that the above incident happened on Arudra Darshanam (Thiruvathira) Day in the Tamil month of Margazhi (Dec-Jan). As the Lingam is made of sand, no abhishekam is performed to it directly. It is always covered with Kuvalai (a metal covering). The fingerprints of Indira are visible on the surface of the Lingam.
Legend 2 of 4 - Relating to demon Thanmasudhan
As per Sthala Puranam or legends relating to the temple, a demon by name Thanmasudhan was born as a crab due to a curse in his previous birth. As advised by sage Narada he visited this temple and worshipped Lord Shiva. Pleased with his penance, the Lord granted darshan to him.
To facilitate his merger with him, Lord also made a hole in himself. The crab entered the hole and got merged with Lord. Hence the Lord also came to be known as Karkadeswara in this temple. (Karkada means Crab in Sanskrit).
Legend 3 of 4 - Relating to Moon God Chandra.
Lord Chandra, who was cursed by his father-in-law Daksha, visited this place and did penance to get his curse cured. The Lord appeared before him and absolved him of his sin and relieved him of his curse. Soma is another name of Moon God and the Lord got the name Somanatha.
Legend 3 of 4 - Relating Maa Bhadra Kali
As per another legend, Devi Bhadra Kali visited this place after worshipping Lord Shiva at Kedarnath and Varanasi. On her arrival here, the Lord made her responsible for the safety of the villagers. Therefore she is called the Yellai Deivam or the God of the borders of the village. A separate shrine for Maa Bhadra Kali known by the name Aalala Sundari, can be seen on the outskirts of the village.
Munaiyaduvar Nayanar:
Munaiyaduvar, who is generally counted as the 52nd in the list of 63 Nayanars, hailed from this place. By profession he was a mercenary soldier, who would engage in battles f for the weak and use the fees received in service of his patron deity Lord Shiva and his devotees.
Sundara Murthy Nayanar venerates him in his composition Tiruthonda Thogai, a hymn to Nayanar saints, and praises him as a warrior who wields a spear in war. He has a separate shrine in this temple and is depicted with a crown, folded hands and a mace in the crook of the arm. So deep was his devotion that the Lord not only granted him Moksha but also gave him the honour of being a procession deity in the temple.
Other deities:
Other than the shrines of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy, shrines and idols of Siddhi Vinayaka, Muruga with his consorts, Somaskandar, Mahalakshmi, Sapthamatas, Sinmayanantha Ganapathy in the main corridor. In the koshtam there are idols of the Sin god Surya, the Moon god Chandra, Kala Bairavar, Dakshina Murthy, Chadikeswara and Maa Durga.
At the main entrance of the temple, there is a separate shrine for Sri Sivaloka Ganapathy.
It is significant to note that this temple has a set of three separate idols of Lord Vinayaka - Chinthamani Vinayaka (the Lord who is wise and elderly), Selvamangala Ganapathy” (the Lord who is experienced) and Sivaanantha Ganapathi (the Lord who acts as an advisor).
The procession idols of this temple include idols of Lord Indra, Goddess Badrakaali and Saint Munaiyaduvar. There is no procession idol of Lord Natarajar. In this place, there is only an idol made out of stone and there is no metallic idol of Lord Nataraja.
Literary Mentions:
This Temple is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams glorified in the early medieval Thevaram hymns by Tamil Saivite saints Sundara Murthy Nayanat and Tirunavukkarasar. Needur has been mentioned in one of the ancient Sangam literature, Akananuru.
Vanchi Virutham is a special type of four liner poems inTamil belonging to Sangam Period and Needur temple is credited with one such composition called Thiru Needur Siva Mani Malai.
Contact
Shri Somanatha swamy Temple,
Needur Post,
Mayiladuthurai– 609 203,Tamilnadu.
Phone: +91 4364 250 424 / 250 142
Mobile: +91 99436 68084 / 99436 68084 / 97868 79971
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