Ekambareswara Temple - Kanchipuram

Ekambareswara temple is one of the famous hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, located in Kanchipuram. It is one of the Pancha bootha sthalams representing the Earth , Prithvi Sthalam. It is also one of the Divya desam for Vaishnavites. This vast temple with high rising Gopurams dominates the skyline of Kanchipuram.

Ekambareshwar temple is one of the largest temples in Kanchipuram, spreading over an area of 12.14 hectares. This ancient temple is surrounded by a huge stonewall built in the early 16th century during the days of the Vijayanagar Empire. Ekambareshwar temple is of hoary antiquity, beginning as a small fane, it has grown over the centuries into a large one with innumerable shrines, Mandapams, Gopurams and Tanks. It is considered to be one of the most ancient temples in India and has been in existence even prior to 600 AD. It enshrines many traditions.

Deities : The presiding diety here is Ekambareswarar or Lord Shiva, worshipped as Prithvi Lingam. No seperate shrine for Goddess Parvathi exists here. There is a small shrine for Lord Vishnu named Thiru Nilaaththingal Thundathan, and he is prayed as Vamana Moorthy.

Legend : Once Parvathi was doing Tapas under the Mango tree. Inorder to test her devotion Lord shiva set fire on her. Goddess Parvathi prayed to her brother, Lord Vishnu inorder to save her, he took the moon from Lord Shiva's head and showed the rays which then cooled down the fire. After that, Lord Shiva made river Ganga to flow over Parvathi and to distract her from doing the tapas. Parvathi devi prayed to Ganga and convinced her that both of them are sisters and should not harm her. Ganga also did not disturb her after that. Then Parvathi made a Shiva Linga out of sand and got united with lord Shiva.

According to another legend, it is believed that Parvathi worshipped Shiva in the form of a Prithvi Lingam under a mango tree. And legend says that the neighbouring river Vegavathi overflowed and threatened to engulf the Shiva Lingam and that Parvathi embraced the Lingam. Shiva touched by the gesture materialized in person and married her. In that context he is reffered to as Tazhuva Kuzhainthaar , ie., "He who is melted in Her embrace".

Festivals : Six worship service are offered each day in this temple , namely :

• Ushad Kaalam
• Kaalasanthi
• Uchi Kaalam
• Pradosham
• Sayratchai and
• Ardhajamam

Festivals which are celebrated throughout the year are as follows :

• Thai Poosam (Jan - feb)
• Panguni Uthiram (March - April)
• Chitra Pournami (April - May)
• Vaikashi Visakam (May - June)
• Ani Thirumanjanam (June - July)
• Adi Krithikai (July - August)
• Avani Moolam ( August - September)
• Navaratri ( September - October)
• karthikai Deepam (November - December)

The panguni festival lasts for 13 days and it is during this festival , wedding of the presiding diety is celebrated, and the venerated Tamil poems of the Nayanmars are sung in great splendor.

Source : wikipedia & http://www.templenet.com/Tamilnadu/ekamkanc.html

Chidambaram Temple

Chidambaram is one of the Panchabootha sthalas , where the lord is worshipped in his manifestation as sky or Aagayam. Chidambaram is also one of the five dance halls , they are as follows : The Hall of Gold - Kanakasabha at Chidambaram, The Hall of Silver Velli Sabhai at Madurai, The Hall of Rubies - Ratnasabha at Tiruvalankadu, The Hall of Copper - Tamrasabha at Tirunelveli and The Hall of Pictures - Chitrasabha at Kutralam.The word Chidambaram may be derived from the words "Chit" , meaning "Consiciousness", and "ambalam", meaning "Sky" , it refers to Chidaakasam, the Sky of Consciousness, which is the ultimate aim one should attain according to all the Vedas and scriptures.

The word Chidambaram may also be derived from Chit + Ambalam. Ambalam means a "stage" for performing arts. THe chidakasam is the stage of bliss or aananda natanam.



Special features : A unique feature of this temple is the bejeweled image of Lord Nataraja. It depicts Lord Shiva as the Lord of dance Brathanatyam. Here in this temple LOrd Shiva is represented by an anthropomorphic murthi rather than the classic, anionic Lingam.


The Ananda Tandava Posture :

The Ananda thandava depicts him as the enjoyer of his creation - the Universe.

• The demon under Nataraja's feet signifies that ignorance is under his feet.
• The fire in his hand means destroyer of evil.
• The raised hand signifies that he is the savior of all life
• The ring at the back signifies the cosmos.
• The drum in his hand signifies the origin of life.

Significance about the temple : Chidambaram is also referred to as Thillai , Perumpatrapuliyur or Vyagrapuram. This temple is supposed to be located at the lotus heart of the Universe,Virat Hridaya Padma Sthalam. The spot where Lord displayed his dance of bliss - is exactly south of the Thirumoolataaneswar temple, today this is known as Ponnambalam or Porsabbai. The Lord is also hence refferred to as the Sabhanayakar, meaning the lord of stage.

To know more about Chidambaram temple , check these links
http://hindutradition.blogspot.com/2009/01/chidambaram-nataraja-temple.html &


http://hindutradition.blogspot.com/2009/01/chidambaram-natarajar-temple-part-2.html
Source : wikipedia.

Kalahasti Temple

Kalahasthi temple is one of the Pancha Bootha Sthalam and , represents the Vayu Sthalam . This temple is located in Chitoor district in Andhra pradesh. Sri Kalahasthi temple is situated 36kms away from Tirupathi and it is the only shrine for the God of Vayu . This temple was construced by the Chola King, Rajendra Chola . Vayu is incarnated as Lord Shiva and worshipped as Kalahasteeswara. Goddess Parvathi devi is worshipped here as Gnanaprasunambika.


The Temple :

Vishwakarma brahmin Sthapthis was the one who sculpted this temple. This temple features an enormous, ancient Gopuram over the main gate. The entire temple is carved out of the side of a huge stone hill. The temple is surrounded by two sacred hills, The Durgamba temple is found on the northern hill, while Kannappa Nayanar temple on the southern hill. It is found on the banks oif the river Swarna Mukhi.

The Lingam here is swayambu , and it is white in colour. The Main lingam is untouched by the human beings , even by the priest. Abhishekam is done by pouring a mixutre of water , milk, camphor and panchamrita. Sandal paste , flowers, and the sacred thread are offerred to th e Uthsava murthi , not the main Lingam.

There is a lamp inside the inner sanctum that is constantly flickering despite the lack of air movement inside. The air can be observed even when the priests close the main deity room, which does not have any windows. One can see the flames on several ghee lamps flicker as if blown by moving air.

The temple is also associated with Rahu and kethu, as per astrology to be redeemed from the clutches of Sarpa dosham. The temple is considered as the Kailash of the south or Dakshin Kailash.

Legends :

Sri Kalahasthi is named after the staunch devotees of Lord Shiva. They were Spider (sri), the serpant (kala) and the Elephant (Hasti). Lord Shiva pleased by their devotion , gave them a boon that their names be merged with the Vayulinga and called as Sri Kalahasteeswara. According to the mythology, the elephant used to clean Shiva by watering the idol with the help of river water carried in his tusk and pray for him by offering Vilva leaves. The Spider tried to protect the deity from external damage by weaving his web and to provide shelter. The snake used to place its precious gem on the Lingam to adorn the lord. The elephant not knowing that this is the form of pooja by Sri and Kala , pours water on the linga and cleans it up. This causes a war between the three and in this war the snake enters the elephant trunk and in the process kills itself. Spider is squashed against the linga by the elephant's trunk and the elephant dies due to snake poison. Lord Shiva then appeared and gave moksha to all the three of them for their selfless devotion.

The other legend that go with this temple are the restoration of the original form that of a ghost to Ghanakala who worshipped the lord with the Bhairava Mantra, the redemption of Chandra, Mayura and Devandra from their curses and lord shiva's proclamation of the importance of Guru or the spirutual master to Markandeya, deeming the guru to be Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

Goddess Parvathi's curse :

Goddess Parvathi who was once cursed by the Lord to assume a human body, engaged herself in a long penance here which pleased the lord. He presented her with a body that was incomparable to the older form and initiated her with various mantras including the Panchakshari which ultimately bestowed her with Shiva Jnanam or the knowledge of the obsolute truth. She was henceforth then worshipped as Gnanaprasunambika.

Kannappar :
At Sri Kalahasthi, Kannappar plucked out one of his eyes and placed in the eyes of Linga which was oozing with blood and tears. when the tears and the blood were still tricking from another eyes, Kannappa decided to remove his second eye and placed one of his feet on the right eye of Linga. before he could pull out his eye with the arrow, Lord shiva appeared and restored his eye while granting him a boon to occupy his place close to him.
Festivals : Mahasivaratri is an important festival , where people offers prayers to seek the blessings of the Lord to attain Mukthi.
Source : http://living.oneindia.in/yoga-spirituality/faith-mysticism/2008/kalahasti-panchaboothasthalam-151008.html & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalahasti_temple

Thiruvannamalai Temple - Part 2

Festivals :
check this link , http://www.arunachaleswarar.com/eArunaFestival.html
Pooja :
Daily poojas are conducted for six time . Special poojas are also conducted apart from the below mentionned poojas , they are Panchaparuva Poojas namely , Amavasai , Kiruthigai, Pradosham, Pournami, Chathurthi .


The significance of Girivalam :
In most of the holy places the Deity is found on a top of the hill. But here the Hill is the deity , and it is worrishpped . "Arunam" means sun and denotes the red colour of fire. "Asalam" means Giri or Malai. Thus Arunachalam means the holy hill which is red in colour. There are eight Lingams located at the eight directions and provides octagonal shape to the town. The circumbulation path is 14 kilometres. It is auspicious to perform Girivalam during every full moon day
The eight Lingams and its significance are as follows :



To view the photos of temple , check this link : http://www.arunachaleswarar.com/gallery/index.htm

Source : http://www.arunachaleswarar.com/eArunachalesHome.html

Thiruvannamalai Temple

Thiruvannamalai is one of the Panchabootha Stalas , and the temple represents Fire of the Five elements. This temple is one of the largest temple in India for Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva here , not only enshrined within the sanctum of the temple as Arunachaleshwara , but also appears as the mighty mistic hill called "Annamalai". The holy hill is said to have stood the passage of time rather yugas. It was a Mount of Fire in Krutha Yuga , Mount of Ruby in Thredha Yuga, Mount of Gold in Dwapar Yuga and the present rock hill during this Kali Yuga. Goddess Parvathi is worshipped as "Unnamalai Amman" or "Apeethakuchambal".


Temple Structure :

Arunachaleswarar temple consists of Six Prakarams. The sixth prakaram is the outer prakaram. Rajagopuram , Thirumanjana Gopuram, Pei Gopuram and Annamalai Gopuram are located between sixth and fifth prakarams. The Raja Gopuram, located on the eastern side between the sixth outer prakaram and fifth prakaram is the tallest of all the towers in this temple. It is the second tallest temple tower in south India.

Kambathu Elayanar Sannathi :

At the inner left side of the Raja Gopuram entrance stands this magnificient sannathi. This sannathi consists of seven steps which leads devotees to the innerr chambers. This sannathi marks the actual spot where according to legend , Lord Muruga appeared . (The legend is explained in detail in puranic history part)

One Thousand Pillarred Mandapam :

Parllel to Kambathu Elayanar Sannathi and to northern side of the fifth prakaram stands "One Thousand Pillared Mandapam". This mandapam is used for the deities to be seated for ablutions and worship on Aani Thirumanjanam and on the day of the star Thiruvaathirai. This mandapam consists of underground chamber which houses Sri Pathala Lingam.

Sri Pathala Lingam :

The sculptured vimanam of this shrine is at the floor level of themandapam.The stone lingam found in this shrine is at floor level of the mandapam. This was the shrine where saint Ramana Maharishi used to mediate during his early days.

The other sannathi and mandappam in this temple are Sivagangai Vinayagar Sannathi , Arunagirinathar Mandapam , Kalyana Sundareswara Sannathi, Vallala Maharaja Gopuram.

Legends related to this temple :
Lingothbavar :

Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma approached a huge 
Shiva linga and set out to find its beginning and end. Vishnu was appointed the end, and Brahma the beginning. Each took their journey, Lord Vishnu took the form of a boar and began digging downwards into the earth while Lord Brahma took on the shape of a swan began flying upwards. But neither could find their appointed destination. Vishnu, satisfied, came up to Shiva and bowed down to him as a swarupa of Brahman. Brahma did not give up so easily. As he was going up, he saw a kaitha(Thalamppu) flower. His ego forced him to ask the flower to bear false witness of Brahma's finding Shiva's beginning. When Lord Brahma told his tale, Lord Shiva, the all-knowing, was angered by the former's ego. Lord Shiva thus cursed him that no being in the three worlds will worship him. and that the thazhambu flower should not be used while praying to Lord Siva. The place where Lord Siva stood as a column of fire to eliminate the ego is Thiruvannamalai.


Arthanareeswarar :



Lord Siva's wife Goddess Umadevi once playfully
closed His eyes which plunged the world into darkness. All living beings suffered in the dark. To absolve herse of this sin Mother Umadevi created a Sivalingam out of sand and worshipped at Kancheepuram. At that instance, Lord Siva ordered her to proceed to Thiruvannamalai and do penance so

that she could get half of His body. Likewise Mother Parvathi did penance at Pavalakundru with the help of Saint Gowthama. A demon called Makidasuran disturbed the penance of Mother Parvathi. The Mother took the form of goddess Durga Devi and destroyed him on the full moon day of the Tamil Month of Karthigai during the auspicious period of pradosham. Lord Siva presented himself in the form of Fire atop the hill and merged Goddess Parvathi on the left half of his body. To commemorate this event, every year during the Tamil month of Karthigai in Kiruthigai Star, exactly at 6.00 p.m. Arthanareeswaramurthi presents himself as Jyothi Swaroopa to his devotees at the time of Karthigai Festival 10th day.


Appearance of Lord Muruga :


Saint Arunagirinathar was the ardent devotee of Lord Muruga. Sambandan was a scholar in the king's court and had obtained many boons from goddess Kali. Afraid of Arunagirinathar's popularity, he proposed to the king a competition between him and Arunagirinathar, as to who could bring his chosen deity manifest in the form visible to everyone present.In the competition the devotion of Arunagirinathar brought the appearance of Lord Muruga through a stone pillar. Since then this has became one of the famous places of visit for the devotees of Lord Muruga.


Arunagirinathar saved by Lord Muruga :
In his earlier years Arunagirinathar climbed the Vallala Maharaja Gopuram and attempted to fall off. Lord Muruga appeared before him and saved his life. Since then Arunagirinathar became known as Gopurathilayanar.

Arunagirinathar's Life force entering into the body of a Parrot :


The Vijayanagar King Pravda Deva Maharaya, once lost his vision and was blind. Sambandar, a confidant to the king advised him to get the flower Parijatham to regain his sight and suggested that Arunagirinathar could do the job. The king was convinced and asked Arunagirinathar to bring Parijatha flower.As the Parijatha flower is in heaven, Arunagirinathar moved his life force into the body of parrot, after keeping his own body in the gopuram. Even before his return with Parijatha flower his body was cremated. As he could not get his human form back, Arunagirinathar remained as parrot and composed great songs including Kandaranubuti.



(To be continued in part two)


Source : http://www.arunachaleswarar.com/

Thiruvannaikaval Temple

Thriuvanaikaval , is a famous shiva temple in tiruchirapalli . The presiding diety is Sri Jambukeswara also known as Appu lingam . This temple is one of the Pancha bootha sthalas and this temple represents the element of water .

The Legend :

As one of the pancha bootha sthalas, a lot of significance is attached to this pilgrim centre. The deity is said to have been installed by Goddess Akilandeswari , one of the forms of the Goddess Parvathi To signify that the devi worshipping the lord, even today the priest wears a saree and performs the noon pooja.

Jambukeswara, Lord shiva in Lingam form , is depicted sitting under a Jambu tree . Therefore the lingam came to be called as the Jambulingam . The Lingam grows over a small stream that engulfs the deity during the rainy season.

According to the legend there was once a forest of Jambu trees in the place of modern Thiruvanikkaval. Nearby was a tank called Chandratheertha which was filled by water from the Cauvery river. Due to a curse, two of shiva ganas Pushpadanta and Malyava, were born in a forest as a white elephant and a spider. The elephant worshipped the lingam with flowers and with water brought in its trunk. the spider too worshipped the lingam, spinning the web over the lingam to prevent leaves if the tree falling on it. the spider's web appeared to be unclean for the elephant and it destroyed the web. This lead to big clash between the two and ultimately resulted in their death. Lord shiva granted Mokshas to both. The spider was born in a royal Chola family as the great king Ko. Chenkannan , who built 70 temples , including the Jambukeswarar Temple at Tiruvanaikaval. Because the king rememberred about his earlier birth, he built the temple in such a way that no elephant can enter the sanctum sanctorum and come near the Sivalingam.Since an elephant worshipped the Shivalingam here, the place is known as Tiruvanaivakaval (Aanai in tamil means Elephant).

The Massive outer wall, known as the Vibudi Prakara, stretches over a mile long, Legend says that the wall was built by Lord Shiva , working along with the labourers. The legend is as :

The Myth is known as Pittukku Mann Sumatha kathai :

At the time of constuction, the king decreed that every household shall send one man to work on the temple's construction. An old lady of the village, with no male relatives requested a vagabond known to her to serve in her honor in exchange for a sweet dish called Puttu. The vagabond was actually Lord Shiva in disguise, who reluctantly accepted the offer. At the construction site of the Prakara, Shiva sang and danced without working, irritating the constuction supervisor whipped shiva on his back, an infliction of pain that was felt immediately by all people in the world and left the mark of spine on the backs of humanity. Henceforth , the supervisor and the king realised the folly and begged his forgiveness.

Goddess Akilandeswari Sannathy : The sannathy of Akilandeswari and prasanna Vinayaka are in the shape of the pranava manthram Called "OM". It is believed that people who go round the sannathy twelve times and for on efull mandalam (48 days) will get the blessings and have a good , healthy and wealthy life.

Auspicious days : As in all Shiva temples, full moon days and Prodhoshams are special occassions in this temple . Sivaratiri days are very special .

Pooja offerings : For Pooja coconut, banana , betel & nut are offerred. Castor oil is offerred which is kept in the feet of the goddess and when given to the pregnant women will help them with easy deliveries. And the Ghee which is offerred is also kept in the feet of goddess and returned back to the couples and they are blessed with children.

Theerthams : There are nine theerthams near the temple they are as follows :

1. Sreemath Theertham
2. Rama Theertham
3. Chandra Theertham
4. Agni Theertham
5. Indira Theertham
6. Akasthiya Theertham
7. Jambu Theertham
8. Surya Theertham
9. Brahmma Theertham

To conclude : Legend also says that Adi shankarar has offerred Sri Chakra as Thaadanga (ear rings) for devi. The other legend says that Devi made the Lingam out of water particles and offerred prayers to Lord Shiva. She took Upadeshas from the lord and hence this place is also known as Upadesa Sthala.

Sources : http://archives.chennaionline.com/festivalsnreligion/saranam/pancha/tiruvanaikaval.asp , http://panchaboothatemples.blogspot.com/2008/04/thiruvanaikaval-temple.html,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiruvanaikaval,

http://www.pariharam.com/TempleAkilandeswariAmman-Thiruvanaikaval,Trichy.aspx?TempleID=TMPL093

Pancha Bootha Sthalas

source : http://www.indian-heritage.org/temple/panchabp.html

The Pancha bhootha stalams are five towns in Tamil Nadu , each of which are considered to be representatives of five elements namely Water, Fire , Air, Ether and Earth. The five towns are as folows :

1. Appu Sthalam (Water) - Tiruvanaikaval
2. Thejo Sthalam (Fire) - Tiruvannamalai , Thiruvanamalai Part 2
3. Vayu Sthalam (Air) - Kalahasthi
4. Akasa Stalam (Space) - Chidambaram
5. Prithvi Sthalam (Earth) - Kanchipuram

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchabhootasthalas