Vedanam 2023

The fourth temple in the list of 276 Paadal Petra Sthalam is the Tirukkazhippalai Palvannanathar temple. This temple is situated in Sivapuri in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Lord Palvannanathar in the form of a Lingam and Devi Vedanayaki.  Legend has it that sage Kabila made a Lingam to worship Lord Shiva. As the king of the region was passing through on his horse, the animal stepped over the lingam and split it into two. Although disappointed and aggrieved, the sage tried to construct another Lingam. Pleased with his devotion, Lord Shiva and Devi Parvathy advised him to worship the damaged Lingam and provided milk from the divine cow Kamadhenu to strengthen the idol. Since Lord Shiva provided milk to strengthen this Lingam, the deity came to be called as Palvannanathar (Pal - milk).  Apart from the presiding deities, the temple has idols of Nandi, Lord Vinayaka, Lord Muruga with His consorts Devi Valli and Devi Devyani, Lord Vishnu, Devi Lakshmi and...

In this article, we will read about the third temple in the list of 108 Divya Desham of Maha Vishnu. This temple is referred to by many names - Uthamar Koil, Thirukarambannur and also Bhikshandar Koil.  The highlight of this temple is, it is one of those extremely rare temples where we can find the Holy Trinity together - Maha Vishnu as Purushottamar, Lord Shiva as Bhikshadanar and Lord Brahma, along with their respective consorts.  The temple is situated in the outskirts of Tiruchirapally in Tamil Nadu. Its origin dates back to the 8th century, during the reign of the Cholas. Several legends are associated with the origin of the temple. It is said that Lord Vishnu appeared at one place as a Kadamba tree, wanting to test Lord Brahma's devotion. The later recognized the divine form of Maha Vishnu and worshipped the tree with Thirumanjanam (holy water). This water filled up a nearby tank which came to be called as Kadamba Teertham. Happy with Lord Brahma's devotion, Maha Vishnu ...

This article is dedicated to Sivapuri Uchinathar temple which is situated at Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu and lies about 5 kms away from Chidambaram. The presiding deity of this temple is Lord Shiva, referred to as Shri Uchinathar and His consort is Devi Uchinayagi. The lingam is considered to be swayambhu (self-manifested). Behind the deity of the temple, there is a sculpture of Lord Shiva and Devi Parvathy decked for their wedding.  There are other shrines to deities like Lord Vinayagar, Lord Subramaniam, Kaala-bhairavar, Dakshinamoorthy and so on.  There are many legends surrounding this temple. It is also referred to as Thirunelvayil (nel meaning rice) as there used to be many paddy fields surrounding it at one point of time. The temple is associated with the legend of Thirugnana Sambhandar, one among the 63 devotees of Lord Shiva who called themselves as Nayanmars. Sambhandar was born to Shivapada Hrudayar and Bhagawati who were staunch devotees of Lord Shiva. Once, w...

Last week, we read about Srirangam, the first temple in the list of 108 Divya Desham of Shri Maha Vishnu. In this article, we will read about the second temple -  Azhagiya Manavala Perumal temple, also referred to as Nachiyar Koil. This temple is situated in Uraiyur in Tiruchirapally (Trichy), Tamil Nadu. This temple is one of the few temples from the Divya Desham where the Goddess has more prominence than the Lord. Maha Vishnu is worshipped as Azhagiya Manavala Perumal (The God in form of a handsome groom) and His consort is Devi Kamalavalli, a representation of Maha Lakshmi. This is the only Divya-Desham where the Devi has a north-facing shrine.  The Devi faces the direction of Lord Ranganatha in Srirangam. The temple also has shrines for Shri Ramanuja and Shri Nammalvar, two prominent Alvar saints.  Legend has it that there was a king named Nanda from the Chola dynasty. He worshipped Maha Vishnu with the hopes of getting progeny. Pleased with his devotion, Maha Vishnu ...

In the ancient times, devotees of Lord Shiva called themselves Nayanmars. There were 63 of them prominently. Three of these saints wrote hymns in praise of Lord Shiva, titled as Thevaram. Thevaram mentions 276 temples which Lord Shiva graced with His presence. These temples came to be called as Paadal Petra Sthalam (The place where the Lord placed His holy feet). Last week, we read about one such place - The Chidambaram temple. This article is about another temple from the list of Paadal Petra Sthalam.  In the town of Chidambaram, there lies a temple called as Tiruvetkalam Pasupatheswarar temple where Lord Shiva, in His linga-roopa, is worshipped as Shri Pasupatheswarar. He is accompanied by His consort Satgunambal, a form of Devi Parvathy.  This temple dates back to the Chola period, almost 2000 years ago. Legend has it that before the Kurukshetra war, Shri Krishna advised Arjuna to meditate on Lord Shiva and to request Him for His divine weapon Pasupatam - astra. Accordingly...

From time to time, India has been blessed with the presence of saints who brought in a spiritual revolution in the country, enticing people into the path of devotion with wonderful songs and prayers.  The Alvars were a group of 12 saints who carved a niche for themselves in the spiritual world with their unsurpassable Bhakti and dedication to the Divine. One of their magnanimous works consists of 4000 verses, referred in Tamil as Naalaaiyaram Divya Prabhandham (Collection of 4000 divine verses). In these verses, they have mentioned about 108 Divya Desham (Divine abode) of Shri Maha Vishnu. Of these, 105 are in India, 1 is in Nepal and 2 of these divine abodes are believed to be outside the earthly realm. Every week, I will be covering one Divya Desham in my blogs.  In this article, we will be reading about the first Divya Desham - Srirangam. This magnificent temple needs no introduction. Situated in Tiruchirapally (Trichy) in South India, Srirangam houses the largest temple-co...

Lord Shiva is said to represent all the five elements of Nature - Akash (Space / Ether), Agni (Fire), Vayu (Wind), Jal (Water) and Prithvi (Earth). There are five temples referred to as Pancha Bhootha Sthala that individually house an idol of Lord Shiva representing each of the Pancha-Bhootham. The temples are: Ekambareshwarar temple in Kanchipuram housing the Bhumi Lingam representing earth; Jambhukeshwarar temple in Thiruvanaikaval (near Trichy) housing Varuna Lingam representing water; Arunachaleshwarar temple in Thiruvannamalai housing Agni Lingam representing fire; Sri Kalahasti temple in Andhra Pradesh housing Vayu Lingam representing air and Chidambaram temple in Tamil Nadu housing Akasha Lingam representing Space. This article is dedicated to the Chidambaram temple, one of the oldest temples in India, dating back to the period of Cholas who bear the distinction of having constructed this temple to honour their family deity Lord Nataraja.  Several legends are associated with...