Just as we have a set of six famous temples of Lord Subrahmanya brother of Lord Ganesha ( alias Muruga) which are collectively referred to as the Arupadai veedu, Lord Vinayaka too has a similar set of Arupadai veedu or the Six holy shrines.
The six abodes of Lord Muruga are located at Thiruthani, Swamimalai, Palani, Pazhamudircholai, Thiruparankundram and Thiruchendur respectively.
The Six famous abodes of Lord Vinayaka are
1. Allal Pom Vinayakar, Thiruvannamalai
2. Aazhathu Vinayakar, Virudhachalam
3. Kalla Pillayar, Thirukkadayur
4. Mukkuruni Vinayakar, Madurai
5. Karpaga Vinayakar, Pillayarpatti
6. Polla Pillayar, Thirunaraiyur
Let's start the tour….
1. The Arunachaleswara Swamy temple at Thiruvannamalai is dedicated to Lord Shiva. A pradakshinam around the hill called Giri valam is considered very auspicious. The Vinayaka shrine in this temple is ranked as the first of the six Arupadai veedu. The Lord here is known by the name Allal Pom Vinyakar or the one who removes all obstacles.
Allal Pom (அல்லல் போம்) (let troubles go away) is a term found in a book called Viveka Sinthamani, (this one is in Tamil, and very different from the Sanskrit Viveka Choodamani) a collection of 135 poems written by an author unknown.
Allal Pom is the first song in the collection and dedicated to Lord Ganapathy. The full poem is quoted below:
அல்லல்போம் வல்வினைபோம் அன்னைவயிற் றிற்பிறந்த
தொல்லைபோம்
போகாத் துயரம்போம் – நல்ல
குணமதிக மாம்கருணைக்
கோபுரத்தில் மேவும்
கணபதியைக் கைதொழுதக்கால்
Essence of the poem: By praying to Lord Vinayaka, one gets rid of all troubles, miseries, rebirth cycle and is bestowed with rectitute and compassion.
2. At number two we have the Aazhathu Vinayakar shrine at the Vruddha-Giri-Ishwar temple at Virudhachalam (Thiru Mudhu Kundram) near Cuddalore. It is located on the banks of river Manimuthar (not to be confused with Manimuthar of Tirunelveli district). The idol here is placed inside a ditch and hence the name Azhathu Pillayar (ஆழத்து பிள்ளையார்).
An interesting story is associated with Azathu pillayar of this temple. Once the Tamil poet-saint Sundarar received a huge prize money of 12,000 gold coins (today's value Rs. 62 crores) from Vridhachalam Pazhamalai Nathar for his exemplary temple works (circa 700-750 AD) but he was deeply concerned about taking them back to his hometown Thiruvarur without getting them stolen enroute. So he approached Lord Vinayaka who advised him to drop all the coins in the tank before him and collect them from the Kamalalaya tank at Thiruvarur.
On reaching Thiruvarur he did get back his prize money but the quality of gold looked different. So he started singing several pathigams (poems) in praise of Lord and the Lord converted the gold coins back to their original glory. The Lord later informed Sundarar that he did this deliberately to create an opportunity for Himself to listen to Sundarar's sweet voice singing pathigams on him. The Vinayaka idol at Thiruvarur Thyagaraja temple thus got the name Maatru Uraitha Vinayaka (the one who asserted it differently).
3. The third Arupadai Veedu of Vinayaka is located at Thirukkadaiyur. The main deities of this temple are Lord Shiva (known as Amrita Gateswara) and Devi Abhirami (the famous Abhirami Andadhi was composed at Her shrine).
It is customary for people who reach sixty years of age to perform the ceremony called Sashti abda poorthi at this temple. Lord Vinayaka at this shrine is known as the Kalla Varana Pillayar or simply Kalla Pillayar. (கள்ள பிள்ளையார்).
The term kallan in Tamil refers to a thief. The story of how the Lord got the adjective 'thief' attached to his name is very interesting. A mischievous Ganesha, who got annoyed when the Devas and Asuras did not offer him puja before churning the milk ocean, took away the the pot containing the nectar (Amrit Kalash) and hid it at Thirukkadaiyur. Later, upon instructions from His father Lord Shiva (known as Amrit Gateshwar at this temple), Vinayaka returned the Kalash to the Devas, and in the process earned the (bad) name of a Kalla (Thief) Pillaiyar.
4. The famous Meenakshi amman temple at Madurai houses the fourth of the Arupadai veedu. Here the Lord is known by the name Mukkuruni Vinayakar. Kuruni is a unit of measurement for grains in Tamil and 1 kuruni = 3 kilograms. Mukkuruni or three kurunis therefore is = 9 Kgs. The Naivedyam, Vinayaka's favourite Modakam, is daily prepared using Mukkuruni (9kgs) of rice.
We have similar Mukkuruni Pillayars at the temples at Chidambaram and Nagapattinam also.
5. The Pillayarpatti temple that houses the famous Karpaga Vinayaka is the fifth Arupadai veedu. The Agama texts found on stone inscription mentions the period of the temple to be between 1091 and 1238 B.C. This temple should, perhaps, rank as the oldest existing Vinayaka temple in the world.
The Vinayaka sannidhi is inside a cave where a 6 feet idol of Karpaga Vinayaka has been carved out. Most importantly, Vinayaka’s trunk here is curved towards the right side (Valampuri Vinayagar) which is a unique feature.
6. The sixth of the Arupadai veedu is located at Thirunaraiyur, about 40 Km from Kumbakonam. A Gandharva who was cursed to become a bird by the sage Durvasa (who else?), took the form of a crane (naarai in Tamil) and used to fly daily to Varanasi to fetch water from the Ganges to worship Lord Shiva to get rid of his curse. Hence the place got the name Thiru-Naarai-yur.
The idol of Vinayaka here is made out of a single natural stone and no chisel was used to carve, giving the name Polla Pillayar (பொள்ளா பிள்ளையார்) to the Lord. The God is believed to have been moved by the deep devotion of Nambi Yandar Nambi, a Tamil scholar belonging to the priest community by accepting and consuming the Naivedyam offered by him.
Thus finisheth our holy tour of Arupadai veedu of Lord Vinayaka.
Praying to God on this auspicious Vinayaka Chathurthi day to bestow upon all those who read this, His divine blessings and to be the recipient of the Punya equivalent to visiting all the Six holy shrines (Arupadai veedu) listed above.
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