Vedanam 2023

I usually write about the temples of Lord Shiva on Mondays and about the temples of Lord Vishnu on Thursdays. It is a wonderful coincidence that the 9th Divya Desham of Maha Vishnu that I am going to write about today, i.e. on the eve of Ram Navami is dedicated to Shri Ram!  The temple is called as Valvir Rama temple and is located in Pullabhoothangudi near Kumbakon in Tamil Nadu. The deity is Shri Ram in bhujanga-shayanam (reclining posture) and His consort is Devi Sita. When Ravana was flying in his vimaan, carrying Sita with him, the brave bird Jataayu tried to rescue her by fighting with Ravana. However, Ravana mortally wounded the bird and he fell down, all the while chanting the name of Shri Ram.  While searching for Sita, Shri Ram came across the wounded Jataayu who took his last breath in the Lord's lap. Shri Ram performed the last rites for the bird. However, a married person was required to perform the last rites with his wife. As Sita was not present, Bhooma Devi ca...

  The 10th temple in the list of Paadal Petra Sthalam is the Pallavaneswarar temple in Kaveripoompattinam in Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Lord Shiva as Lord Pallavaneswarar and His consort is Devi Soundaryanaayaki. Sivanesar and Gyanakamalambikai, a couple who were staunch devotees of Lord Shiva, had a son named Tiruvenkadar who remained childless for many years after marriage. He finally adopted a child named Marudavanar, who, unknown to anyone, was Lord Shiva Himself having taken a human birth for the sake of His devotees. Marudavanar grew up and assisted his family in marine-trading business. Once, after spending a lot of time out on the seas, he returned home and offered a huge box to Tiruvenkadar who greedily opened it, expecting some treasure. He found only a dried cake of dung inside the box. On the cake it was written- 'Even a broken needle will not accompany the soul on its last journey.' Tiruvenkadar realized that it was time to renounce his life...

The 9th temple in the list of Divya Desham of Maha Vishnu is the Gajendra Varadha temple in Thirukaviththalam in Papanasam, Tamil Nadu. As the name suggests, Maha Vishnu resides here as Gajendra Varadha Perumal and His consort is Devi Ramanavalli. There used to be an elephant named Gajendra who was the leader of his herd. Once he came to a river to drink some water. Even as the elephant was drinking water, a crocodile sneaked up on him and bit his leg. The elephant cried out in pain while the crocodile only tightened its hold and showed no signs of letting go. Gajendra realized that the crocodile was slowly dragging him beneath the river. As a last resort, the elephant picked up a lotus and holding it in his trunk, offered it to Maha Vishnu with a prayer calling out "Aadimoolame!" His prayers reached Maha Vishnu who set off on His trusted Garuda. He let out His Sudarshana Chakra and killed the crocodile. Through this incident, Maha Vishnu liberated two beings - Gajendra and t...

In this article, we will read about Sayavaneswarar temple, one of the paadal petra sthalam of Lord Shiva. This temple is situated at Kaveripoompattinam in Mayiladuthrai, Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Lord Shiva as Sayaneshwarar, also called as Chaayavaneswarar and His consort is Devi Ambika. This temple is believed to be the birthplace as well as salvation place of Iyarpagai Nayanar, one of the 63 Nayanmars (devotees of Lord Shiva). His wife was also a great devotee of the Lord. Once, to test their level of devotion, Lord Shiva came to their house, disguised as a devotee. When Iyarpagai asked the devotee how he could serve him, the devotee requested that Iyarpagai's wife should accompany him on a journey. Both the husband and the wife agreed to this. The devotee then requested that Iyarpagai should also come with them to ensure a safe journey across the border where the devotee was expecting some resistance from people. Iyarpagai accordingly left with them, carrying a sword to...

The 8th temple in the list of Divya Deshams of Maha Vishnu is the Jagad Rakshaka Perumal temple situated in Vadakurangaduthurai in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Maha Vishnu in the form of Jagad Rakshaka Perumal and His consort is Devi Pushpavalli thayar, a form of Maha Lakshmi. There are many beautiful legends associated with this temple. We all are familiar with the legend of the Asura Hiranyaksha who forcibly took Bhumi Devi and hid her inside the oceans, and how Maha Vishnu in the form of Varaha, fought with him and brought Bhumi Devi to the land. It is believed that Varaha Swami tore into the earth at the place where the temple is now situated. In fact, there is an empty space in the sanctum next to the idol of Jagad Rakshaka Perumal and this space is believed to be the centre point of the earth. Also, it is believed that all the celestial beings gathered here together to hail Varaha Swami and as a gathering is called as Koodal  in Tamil, the place came to be c...

Today we will be reading about Kalikamoor temple, also called as Annappanpettai Sundareswarar temple, one of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalam of Lord Shiva. This temple is situated in Annappanpettai in Mayiladuthrai district of Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Lord Shiva in the form of Sundareswarar and His consort is Devi Parvathy in the form of Azhagammai.  The legend of this temple is associated with Sage Parashara. It is said that when the sage's mother was pregnant with him, a demon killed his father. Having grown up without a father and aggrieved by the widowhood of his mother, Sage Parashara took a vow to kill the demon who killed his father, and he succeeded in fulfilling the vow. However he incurred the sin of Hathya. To absolve himself of this sin, Sage Parashara visited many temples and prayed to Lord Shiva. It is in this place called Kalikamoor, that the sage got a vision of Lord Shiva, looking extremely handsome. On request of the sage, Lord Shiva agreed to stay there as...