Vedanam 2023

  The next temple in the list of Divya Desham is the famous Uppliappan temple, also called as Thiruvinnagar temple, located in Thirunageshwaram in Kumbakonam district of Tamil Nadu. Lord Vishnu is the presiding deity as Lord Uppliappan and His consort is Bhudevi. Legend has it that this place is the  avathara-sthal (birth place) of Bhudevi. Rishi Markandeya harboured hopes of acquiring Devi Lakshmi as his daughter. In the course of his travels, he came to Thiruvinnagaram and undertook severe penance to beget Devi Lakshmi as his daughter. One day, he finally found a girl-baby lying under the Tulasi plant in the place where the temple is currently situated. The Rishi's joy knew no bounds as he realised that his penance had been rewarded. He raised the child as his own daughter. When the time came for her marriage, an old man approached Markandeya and asked for his daughter's hand in marriage to himself. The Rishi gently refused on the grounds that the old man was at the prime-en...

The next temple in the list of paadal petra sthalam is the Thirukkarukavur temply situated in Mayiladuthrai district of Tamil Nadu. Lord Shiva is the presiding deity in the form of Somaskanda Swamy and His consort is Devi Kaviaganni.  There was a devotee of Lord Shiva, named Sundarar who wished to worship the Lord at the said temple. He wandered along with his group for a long while but could not find the temple as it was covered by a dense forest. Feeling miserable, he decided to give up on the search. Just then, an old man approached him and said that he was feeding devotees of Lord Shiva at a nearby place and invited Sundarar and his group. They followed the old man and enjoyed a hearty meal that was served by him. Feeling tired, Sundarar decided to take a nap. On waking up, there were no signs of any shelter where the feeding had taken place, nor were there any people around. Sundarar realised that Lord Shiva Himself had come to his aid. The Lord appeared before him and Himself...

The 108 Divya Desham temples of Maha Vishnu have been mentioned in the outstanding work of Naalaayira Divya Prabhandham (Naalaayiram - 4000, Divya - divine and Prabhandham - verses) which were composed by the Alwars, 12 poet saints who are considered among the prime devotees of Maha Vishnu. The temple which we are going to read about in this post, is said to be the place where the presiding deity advised Nathamuni, another devotee of Maha Vishnu to compile all the 4000 verses together.  The temple is none other than Sarangapani temple, situated in Kumbakonam. It is the largest Vishnu temple of Kumbakonam and has the tallest gopuram (temple-tower) in the town. The presiding deity is Maha Vishnu in the form of Lord Sarangapani and His consort is Devi Komalavalli Thaayar. The deity is in reclining posture, His head resting on His right hand.  Sage Bhrigu once visited Vaikuntham to meet Maha Vishnu. Seeing the Lord engrossed in some other work, the sage lost his temper and kicked ...

T he next temple in the list of paadal-petra sthalam is the Aranyeswarar temple situated in Tirukattupalli in Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Lord Shiva in the form of Lord Aranyeswarar and His consort is Devi Akhilandeshwari.  Once Lord Indra got caught up in the ill-effects of his wrongdoings and lost his power. He was advised by Guru Brihaspathi to descend to earth and pray to Lord Shiva. As Indra was wandering through a forest (called as Aranya in Tamil), he came across a swayambhu shiva-lingam and worshipped it. Pleased with his devotion, Lord Shiva appeared before Indra and told him that the karma of all actions will have to be borne by everyone themselves. Lord Shiva is believed to have stayed back in the forest and thereby got the name Aranyeswarar. Lord Brahma is said to have consecrated and worshipped ten shiva-lingams here, of which seven remain as on date. These seven lingams are called - Muniyeswar, Brahmeswar, Agasteeswar, Pulastheeswar, Vyagrapades...

The 10th Divya Desham of Maha Vishnu is the temple referred to as Thiru Adanoor temple which is located in a village named Olaipadi situated 7 kms from Kumbakonam and just 2 kms away from Swamimalai. Maha Vishnu is in Bhujanga-shayanam here (reclining posture), worshipped as Andalakkum Aiyan Perumal and His consort is Devi Ranganaayaki. This temple has been constructed in the same style as that of Ranganatha temple of Srirangam.  Thirumangai Alwar, a prominent devotee of Maha Vishnu, exhausted all his funds in the renovation of Srirangam temple. In a dream, Maha Vishnu instructed him to assemble at the banks of the Kollidam river with the workers whose wages had to be paid. The Lord promised to help him. Accordingly the next day, Thirumangai Alwar came to the banks of the river along with the workers. There he met an old man who was holding a marakkal ( a measuring bowl) and a writing instrument in his hand. The old man said that he would take sand from the bank of the river, in th...

The 10th temple in the list of Paadal Petra Sthalam is the Swetharanyeswar temple situated in Thiruvenkadu in Mayiladuthrai district of Tamil Nadu. Lord Shiva is the main deity here, worshipped as Swetharanyeswarar and His consort is Devi Brahmavidyambigai.  There are several interesting legends associated with this temple. There was a demon named Maruthavasuran who performed severe penance to gain the favour of Lord Brahma. Ultimately, he got the vision of the Lord and was blessed with immense strength. The demon began to trouble saints and the Devas who sought the help of Lord Shiva to vanquish him. Lord Shiva sent His trusted Nandi to fight and conquer the demon. However, Maruthavasuran slashed Nandi 9 times in his body with his weapon. Seeing His beloved Nandi injured so, Lord Shiva took on His ferocious form of Aghora and fought and killed the demon. It is said that the Nandi in the temple has 9 scars. The tree beneath which Aghoramurthy killed the demon is still in the premis...