SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-13

HAVE A NICE DAY!

 THAANUMAALAYAN

                                         SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-13

                                           SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN
   

    The festivals of the Suchindram Temple are mainly in the months of Margazhi and chithirai for 10 days. On the festival days, the Deity is taken in procession on the streets. On the nineth day car festival takes place.Lakhs of people join and parttake in dragging the thick rope of the charriot on the procession route.It presents a festive look. On the tenth day, the float festival is celebrated and thousands of people throng to witness this.Bright colorful lights and flowers adore the decorated Float on the water tank and the Deity along with Goddess Uma Devi is beautifully decorated and seated in the middle of the float. The float comes round the Mandapam to the great rejoice of the  huge crowd gathered there. In the months of Avani and Masi also,some celebrations take place in this temple.


      The Suchindram temple is very famous and popular among the devotees. Prayers of devotees for marriage,progeny etc are fulfilled by the Lord. Devotees who visit this temple and sincerely worship the deities are sure to be blessed by the grace of the Almighty.


Subam


   


















   


















  

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-12

HAVE A NICE DAY!    

  

 THANUMALAYAN

           SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-12

    SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN
   

      Near the Kodi Mandapam, Vinayaka is seated with the name 'Satchi Vinayaka'.He is supposed to be the witness for the punishments imposed on the culprits.The punishment is called 'Kaimukku'. It seems that in olden days a person charged with an offence was asked to dip his hand in the Ghee kept boiling in a big vessel as a punishment. This practice was stopped by Swathi Thirunal Maharaja who ruled over Trivancore in the 19 th century.Next we get across two Dwarapalaka(sentries ] named Aaatkondan and Uyyakondan and go into the shenbaga Raman Mandapam. This is also like Art Gallery.  We see scenes from the epics Ramayana, and Mahabharatha carved as beautiful figures on the pillars and also painted on the walls. It is really a feast to the eyes.From this Mandapam, we go to the sannadhi of Tanumalaya. this is called 'Vadakkedam'. The Ardha mandapam here is  bright with many many oil lamps and from and from here we have a darshan of 'Thanumalaya' in the form of a Linga in the sanctum sanctorum.The linga is covered with golden frame {Kavacham} fitted on it. In the temple on the left side, we see the temple of Lord Nataraja as a copper statue facing the south and this reminds us of the famous Thillai {Chidambaram] temple on the right side of Thanumalaya,we find the temple of Lord Vishnu. This is called 'Thekkedam'The statue of Thirumal 7 1/2 feat tall majestically resembles the famous perumal at Tirupathi {venkadam}. A silver frame is fitted on this figure. No abishekam is performed because the statue is made of sugar and mustard seed. Below this statue, we can see Sri Devi,Bhoo Devi and Vishnu in the form of Copper idols and flanked by the statues of Vedavyasr and Narayana on both sides.


To be continued 


     
















            

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-11

HAVE A NICE DAY!

  Thaanumaalyan

         SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-11

    SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN
  


      We then go to West Prahara and worship Sastha Sannadhi and go to the Sanndhi of Sri Rama and Seetha seated gracefully with Laksmana and Hanumantha standing with folded hands.


   When we reach North Praharam we see Lord Muruga with valli and Deivayanai in a beautiful form. Next we see Jayantheeswara temples It is beleived that Pancha Pandavas worshipped these temples during their exile(Vanavasa). They are therefore called Pancha Pandava temples.Here we find temples temples seperately for Narayaneswara, Mahadeva,Rameswar,Sri Chakram,Durgai and Kannan.


   Next we come to East Prahara and see Garudazhwar and Kondraiyadi Nadhar.There is a  big statue of a stone bull, 12 1/2 feet tall opposite to the 'Thanumalaya' shrine. After this, we see the Garuda Mandapam near Kondraiyadi Sannadhi. Here 6 1/2 feet Garudazhwar is seen with folded hands offering prayers to Lord vishnu in the temple. Opposite to this, is the Kodimandapam.We find flag posts Opposite to Thirumal and siva temples.

To be continued


   












   

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-10

HAVE A NICE DAY!

  THAANUMAALAYAN   

    



SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-10

    SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN


      Next, we come to the south praharam which is said to be the next biggest prahara after that in Rameswaram temple in South India. On the two sides of the Prahara, we can find many pillars carrying beautifully carved figures of the mythological animal 'Yazhi' and women with lantern in their hands. Here, we can see the shrine of Gangala Nathan standing in a begging pose. Next to that, we see on a rock, Lord Kailasa Nathar temple. Except the the door, the entire temple is built with stone and kailasanatha is in Linga form. On the adjoining rock, we see many carvings which are said to relate to 5th century A.D. 


   The stone pillars in this Mandapam serve as a repository of stone carvings. Near this Mandapam, we can see the temple of 'Aramvalartha Nayagi'.This shrine is in memory of a 13 year old girl, who out of intense devotion to God, got merged with the Almighty. Even now, during the Masi Magam festival, the temple celebrates the marriage of this girl with the Almighty as a festival. Then we go to the chithra Sabha where we see figures of deities in carvings and paintings. There is a mirror in the sanctorum which signifies probably the fact that the Lord is in our heart.


To be continued


   












   

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-9

HAVE A NICE DAY!

      THAANUMAALAYAN-SUCHINDRAM

          

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-9

    SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN

   Now, let us see the structure of the temple and the deities sanctified there and the artistic items, and the festivals.The Gopuram with seven levels towering to a height of 134 feet can be seen even from a distance. It has many artefact works,paintings and carvings on it. On the front side we can see Lord Siva, Parasakthi and Mahavishnu. We cross the Nartakasala which is suported by majestic stone pillars and reach the  main entrance which has a gigantic door with beautiful hand work. On top of the door , the three Goddesses Kalaimagal, Thirumagal and Malaimagal can be seen sitting  in penance pose.


    Next, we come to 'oonchal mandapam' with a stone bench in the middle and on the pillars around that, we see the figures of Manmatha,Rathi, Karnan,Arjunan etc. beautifully carved with life - like features. Next we reach the Vasanta Mandapam. On the eastern side of it, we can see Dakshinamoorthy in a penance pose as a great preceptor. During the Vasantha Utsava festival, this mandapam will be decorated nicely and we can see water columns surrounding this Mandapam. Suchindhra perumaal along with Uma Devi will be majestically seated on the throne and placed on the stage here. A special feature in this temple is that Navagrahas are carved on the inner surface of the stone ceiling of the Mandapam and on the floor, we see Parvathi Devi and so Vinayaka sprinkled the water from the vessel in his hand and the Navagrahas were lifted upwards and got stuck into the upper ceiling. Thus, vinayaga saved his mother from the bad effects of Saneeswara and affectionately got her seated on his lap. So goes the Puranic story.


To be continued


    














    

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-8

HAVE A NICE DAY!

THAANUMAALAYAN 

            SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN

       The next story relates to an incident in Kanyakumari temple near Suchindram temple. In olden days a demon Banasura was creating trouble for all the three worlds.The celestial Devas prayed to Parasakthi for succour. There was  a curse on Banasura by which Lord Brahma had ordained that the demon was to meet his end in the hands of a spinster. Therefore Goddess Devi had taken the form of an unmarried woman and was seated in Kanyakumari. Lord Thanumalaya, having his abode in Suchindram nearby, wanted to marry Goddess Devi and so the marriage was fixed for a day in the night. Sage Narada coming to know of this engagement, began to think that if this marriage took place, Banasura could not be killed and so wanted to stop this marriage. He cleverly took the form of a cock on the road from Suchindram to Kanyakumari and began crowing as if it was dawn time. Lord Thanumalaya who was passing that way for attending his marriage with Devi thought that night time was already over and that it was dawn and he was late for the marriage which cannot take place after mid midnight. So, he retraced his steps and went back to Suchindram without marrying the Devi. The Goddess therefore continued to be seated there as a spinster and even now we worship her there in this form. Thereafter, banasura was annihilated  by the Goddess and She saved the Devas. Even today we can see on the sea beach in Kanyakumari the place where the cock did the crowing.


To be continued 

   














   

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-7

HAVE A NICE DAY!

           THAANUMAALAYAN- SUCHINDRAM

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-7

    SRI.S.V.VARADHARAJAN




  There is also another puranic story in Puranas about this area. This is the place where Indra, the celestial head washed off his sins. Once Indra was very much attracted and fell in love with Agalya, wife of the great sage Goutama.He waited for an opportunity to get near her. One day in themid night time, he reached the Sage's Asram and began crowing like a cock there. Thinking tht it was dawn, the Sage went out to the river for taking bath. Indra, taking advantage of this, got into the form of the Sage and entered the Asramam.Goutama however on reaching the riverfound that was not really dawn, got angryand immediatly returned to his Asramam and found Indra and Agalya together. His eyes turned turned red with anger. He cursed Agalya to get converted into a stone. He threw a severe curse on Indra by which Indra's body was having eyes everywhere, which made him an ugly figure. Feeling highly ashamed of his action,Indra did penance for a long period and reached Gnanaranya and took a dip in the tank there and worshipped the Deity Thanumalaya there. By this he got rid of his curse.Being extremly happy with this, Indra created a temple for the three prime Deities in Gnanaranyam.


To be continued





    













  The Sucindram Temple: A Monograph

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-6

HAVE A NICE DAY!

    

THAANUMAALAYAN                             

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-6

    SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN




   Anusuya advised them to worship Devi Parasakthi and accordingly they performed severe penance for forty one days and went back to Anusuya. The sage's wife then sprinkled the holy water sanctified by her husband's feet on the small kids. The brahmins at once got their original divine forms as Divine Trinity. Saint Narada, Devas, Rishis, and Sages bowed and worshipped the three Lords who appeared with their Goddess wives and felt very happy.When the celestial beings disappeared, three idols of Linga sprang up under the Kondrai tree which was there at that time. Even now, we can see these three Lingas under the Kondrai tree in the Eastern prahara in the Kondraiyadi Nathar temple.


To be continued.



   












   

SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE-5

HAVE A NICE DAY!

 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

HAVE A NICE DAY!

        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