SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-5

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 Suchindhram-Thaanumaalayan

  


SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-5

    SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN




 Immediatly he proceeded to the angel world and saluted the three goddesses and praised the glory of Anusuya in such a way  as to create jealousy in their mind. As expected by Naradha, the three Devis began thinking of testing the power of the woman's chastity. As desired by them,their husbands, the divine Trinity got into the form of a brahmin each and reached the Asramam of Athri maharishi when the sage had gone to the Himalaya mountain. They begged the Sage's wife for food and she was not aware as to who these brahmins really were. She extended all the courtesy to them and began serving food to them. But the brahmins told her that they do not eat food served by a person wearing clothes. On hearing this,she got worried and after thinking for a while, sprinkled drops of water stored after washing her Husband's sacred feet and at once all the three divine entities got converted into small kids. These kids thereafter were brought up in the Asram.Finding that their husband's have not returned for long, the three goddesses got worried and contacted Sri Narada. As advised by Narada, they reached they reached Gnanaranyam and begged Anusuya for returning their husbands.


To be continued 


   

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-4

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        THANUMALAYAN-SUCHINDHRAM

    


SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-4
    SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN


     'Kondrayadi Nathar' is seated under the Kondrai tree which is also the temple tree here.This figure represents the three prime deities, Lord Siva, Vishnu and Brahma. We see three Lingas under this tree. They are always covered with golden frame.Therefore we can see the Linga's real forms only when Abishekam is performed.There is a puranic story for the appearance of the three deities together here.


   Once a sage named Athri was living in an Ashramam in this area called Gnanaranya at that time (now Suchindram) along with his wife Anusuya who was a chaste and devoted woman.At one time, the rains failed and there was famine everywhere.Therefore all the Rishis and other people approached the Sage in this Asramam for getting relief. The sage was away at Brahmalogam (the world of Brahma) for attending the yaga there.Therefore his wife Anasuya began worshipping varuna with the sacred used for cleaning her husband's feet.  Immediatly, there were torrential rains and the famine was wiped out.The people praised and bowed to Anasuya. On coming to know about this miracle, Sage Narada wanted to test the power of Anusuya's chastity and thought of a plan by which he wanted to worship all the three of the divine trinity in one place and at the same to put down the pride of the three goddesses, Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Parvathi.


To be continued


                                          


















   

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-3

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THANUMALIAN -SUCHINDRAM

                                                                    

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-3
    SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN


 Two different aspects add to the glory of this temple. One is its arts and cultural workmanship. The other and more important is the presence of deities in interesting formand figures. Apart from the presiding deity 'Thanumalayan' the statue of Bhaktha Anjaneya rises to a grandiose height of 18 feet and represents the viswaroopa of Hanuman when he stood before Sita Devi in the Asokavanam in the Ramayana. The majestic figure with folded hands creates a wonderful feeling in the devotees. It is customary to decorate the Anjaneya statue with garland of 'Vada' and to cover the whole body with white butter with a cloth - like appearance. 


To be continued


The Sucindram Temple: A Monograph
   












   

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-2

   தானுமாலியன் கோவில் முகப்பு     

          



SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-2
    SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN




   It is one of the very famous temples in Tamil Nadu and is located in the ancient 'Nanchil' region. The celestial, Indra got purified of his sins here and hencewas known as 'Gnanaranyam' and later as Suchindram. Even today it is the customary belief in this temple that Indra himself is performing the pooja to the presiding deity 'Thanumalayan'in the midnight daily. It is about 6 k.m from from Nagarkoil on the rote to Kanyakumari on the banks of Pazhair river amidst rich fields and trees. 


      It is understood that major part of the temple was built by the Chera,Chola,Pandiya kings. The 'konrai' tree in this temple is ancient as 2000 years as per popular belief. Therefore the kondrai yadi Nathar seated under this tree is also a very ancient shrine. The mandapams, stone pillars, stone idols, paintings etc. are really of very high artistic value and the temple looks like a cultural centre for various arts. It also shows that our country is famous as storehouse for different cultural works and creations The stone carvings show the intricate dancing forms, and the paintings explain the puranic stories and events. A very wonderful feature here is the set of a few stone pillars standing majesticlly in a mandapam which produces the sapthaswaras i.e. the seven basic notes of carnatic music and this is really a very innovative piece of sculpture. In 1984, the old paintings in the Gopuram depicting the ancient stories were renovated nicely.


To be continued
The Sucindram Temple: A Monograph
  












   















               
            





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SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-1

 SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE

          

    SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-1
    SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN


    In the Hindu mythology, it is our belief that the divine Trinity of Lord Brahma Vishnu and Siva are respectively in charge of the main functions like creation,protection and destruction (Annihilation). We have many mythological stories with this background. We have also a philosophical belief that 'Hari' and 'Siva' are one single entity ultimately and as an                     example we have a few temples to substantiate this belief. The Sankaranarayanan temple at Tirunelveli is one such example.Similarly the Thanumalayan temple at suchindram serves as an example for the saiva, vaishnava philosophies being one and the same in the ultimate analysis. This has an ancient historical background and very rich in arts, sculpture, carving and painting works. It is the seat of a variety of deities in various forms.  We can see the deity under a very ancient Konrai tree, as a Linga in the santum sanctorum, with a human figure in another shrine, and as an omni present deity in the 'chit sabhai' there. This holy place Suchindram serves as a cultural centre for different arts and  a holy center for spreading devotion among the people.


To be continued


 The Sucindram Temple: A Monograph          

   




HAVE A NICE DAY!

  













 Om Sakthi Om SakthiAnchuthalai Kondavane  Kadaloram
Kadaloram
Om Karamaaga

Mandaikadu Bhagavathi