Friday Temple Visit - Week # 91
4th November 2022
வாரம் ஒரு கோவில் தரிசனம்
by S. Subramaniam
Sri Madhuvaneswarar Temple (Nannilam), Tamilnadu, India
Location
Sri Madhuvaneswarar Temple is asituated in the town of Nannilam in the Thiruvarur district of Tamilnadu. The temple stands on the banks of River Mudikondan and lies about 15 Kms from Thiruvarur and 30 kms from both Kumbakonam and Mayiladuthurai.
Uniqueness:
Lord Shiva in the temple is a Swayambhu Lingam and in square Peetam.
The temple also has four Shiva Lingas installed in four directions by Yama in South, Varuna in West, Indra in East and Kubera in North.
There is a shrine for Chitragupta in this temple
Salient features:
The presiding deity of the temple is known by various names such as
Sri Madhu Vaneswarar, Sri Brahatheeswarar, Sri Deva Aranyeswarar and Sri Prakasa Nathar. Devi Patvati is known by names like Sri Madhu Vana Nayaki, Sri Periya Nayaki, Sri Deva Kaanthara Nayaki etc. The sthala vriksham (holy tree of the temple) is, Vilvam and the sthala theertham (holy waters of the temple) are four in numbers, namely, Brahma Theertham, Sula Theertham, Deva Theertham and Chakra Theertham.
History:
As per stone inscriptions in this temple, the temple was built by Chola King Kochenganan.
The historical names of this place are Sundaravani, Madhuvanam, Devaranyam, Sundaravanam and Bruhathpuram.
This place is surrounded by fertile agricultural land; hence it gets the name Nannilam (“Nalla” means good and “nilam” means land in Tamil).
The temple is referred to as the Perungkoil (Big temple). Both the Perunkovil tag and name of the Lord Brahadeeswara were adopted by king Raja Raja Chozhan for the temple he built at Thanjavur.
Legends:
Legend : 1 of 4 : Devas in the form of bees
During Dwapara Yuga, Lord Shiva had converyed all Devas into bees to protect them from the harassment of demon Vruddhasura. As Devas in the form of honey bees worshipped the Lord here, He is named as Madhu Vaneswarar.
Even today one can see bee-hives inside the temple, one in the Somaskandar shrine and the other in the Subramanya shrine.
Legend: 2 or 4: Yama, Varuna, Indira & Kubera installed Lingams in four directions:
Due to a certain curse, the four main demi-gods Indra, Yama, Varuna and Kubera had lost all their glories and powers and advised by Lord Brahma, the four visited this temple, installed four different Shiva Lingas in the four directions, Yama, the Lord Death, in the south, Varuna, the God of rains, in the west, Indira, the king of Devas, in east and Kubera, the God of wealth, in the north, and worshipex the Lord at this temple to regain their powers and positions.
Legend: 3 of 4: Chakra Theertham.
Once Lord Vishnu had a fierce battle with the demon Jalandhara. At the end of the battle, the Lord had set out his weapon, the Sudarshsna Chakra, to behead the demon. After killing the demon, the Chakra had fallen at the place where the pond known as Chakra Theertham can be seen today.
Legend: 4 of 4: Piece of Mt. Meru falling at this place.
Once Vayu, the God of wind, and divine serpent Adisesha had a tough fight to establish their superiority. While Adisesha covered the peaks of Mount Meru with his thousand heads, Vayu shook the Mountain with his mighty power but could only manage blowing away a small portin of the peak which fell on planet earth at different places. As per Sthala Puranam (Holy legends relating to the temple, Nannilam is one such place. The temple is believed to have been built on the Mount.
The Temple:
This is one of the Maadakovils built by Chola king Ko Chenkat Chozhan. It is built on a land covering an area of 270 feet in length and 135 feet in width. The Temple has two prakarams. The 30 feet tall 2 tier Rajagopuram is facing east with five Kalasams.
Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambhu Murthy and can be seen in an unusual square Peetam. The shrine for Lord Shiva is situated at an elevation. The shrines of Devi and Agastheeshwara are located at a lower level.
Other deities:
In a small hill within the temple complex, there are shrines for Lords Ganapathy, Durga, Somaskanda, Dakshinamurthy, Annamalaiyar and Brahma.
In the Prakara down the hill there are shrines for are Lords Siddhi Vinayaka, Subramanya, Chandikeswara and Bgairava. Dhakshinamoorthy is found in the Koshtam in the Upper level. Lord Nataraja graces in the form of picture from a separate shrine (Sabha) near the sanctum.
Specialities of this temple
There are many specialties in the temple such as Bairavar is present by the side of Surya God; All the Navagrahas are facing the direction of Sun God; Surya and Guru are facing each other; Chithra Guptha is present in a separate shrine. etc..
Chandikeswarar can be seen with his wives in this Temple. The Soola Theertham, created by Lord Shiva himself with his trident, is located to the north of the temple.
Literary Mentions:
The temple is one of the 275 odd Padal Petra Sthalam, and has been praised by Saint Sundaramoorthy Nayanar in his Thevaram hymns. This temple is referred to as Perum Kovil by Sundarar.
Contact
Sri Madhu Vaneswarar Temple,
Nannilam – 610 105,
Thiruvarur District, Tamil Nadu, India.
Mobile: +91 – 94426 82346 / 99432 09771
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