• Welcome to Tamil Brahmins forums.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our Free Brahmin Community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.

Arunachaleswarar Temple, Tiruvannamalai

Status
Not open for further replies.

praveen

Life is a dream
Staff member
The world famous Arunachaleswara temple at Tiruvannamalai, 190 kms from Chennai, is one of the pancha bootha shrines of Siva. Siva is said to abide here in the form of fire.

The temple has a well laid out procedure for conduct of worship to the God and Goddess. River Ganga is said to arrive symbolically in a pot carried by an elephant to cleanse the enclosures. After duly waking the Lord and his consort, six pujas are performed from dawn to night till the last puja, when the couple retire to the bedchamber.

Tiruvannamalai Temple.jpg

Legend: There is a beautiful story behind how Uma married Siva in Tiruvannamalai.

Once Parvati or Uma closed the eyes of Siva with her hands, in a playful mood, and all the worlds were plunged into darkness. This angered Siva, and Uma had to come down to earth. She went to Kanchipuram, where Siva bade her to go to Tiruvannamalai and perform austerities. He told her that she would then take her place on the left side of his body. (This is the concept of Ardhanareeswaraa, where Siva and Sakthi are found in the same morphology). Accordingly, Uma went to Iruvannamalai, as it was then called, and did penance. She killed the demon Mahishasura and organized a big festival on the day of Karthigai. The Lord appeared as a cosmic flare on the summit of the hill and Uma joined him there as his consort. This is said to be the origin of Karthigai Deepam. This legend of the separation and subsequent union of Siva and Parvati is connected with several temples in Tamil Nadu..

The lingodhbhava legend is also associated with this shrine. This is the subject matter of dispute between followers of Siva and Vishnu. According to the Saivites, Siva wanted to prove his supremacy to Vishnu and Brahma, the two other members of the Hindu Trinity. He appeared in the form of fire and challenged both of them to find his head and feet. While Vishnu, in the form a board, dug deep into the earth and then told Siva that he could not fathom the depths, Brahma in the form of a swan, went upwards. He happened upon a piece of floral fibre and learnt that it had been floating down from Siva’s head for thousands of years. On this basis, he told Siva that he had reached the top. Siva, angered by the claim, which he knew was false, cursed Brahma that he would not have any temple dedicated to him on earth.

There is another version to this legend, which is oft quoted by Vaishavites. In that, it is Vishnu, who asks Siva and Brahma to find his head and feet and both of them fail. At a metaphysical level, these legends convey that God is infinite and cannot be circumscribed.

It is also said that when Siva appeared as the infinite column of fire, it was so dazzling that Brahma and Vishnu asked him to take a more benevolent and accessible form so that all beings could worship him. Siva accordingly took the form of the Arunachala Hill, declaring “As the moon derives its light from the sun, so other holy places will derive their sanctity from Arunachala. This is the only place where I have taken this form to the benefit of those who wish to worship me and obtain illumination. I will appear on the summit of this hill every year at Karthigai in the form of a peace-giving beacon”

Celebrated when the constellation of Karthigai (Pleiades) is in conjunction with the full moon in November-December, a huge bonfire is built on top of the Arunachala Hill on this night each year. From a distance, it looks like a great fiery beacon. It is visible from afar and thousands of devotees gather in Tiruvannamalai to see the flame and walk around the hill along a 12km trail at tits base in a ritual walk called Girivalam.

Temple Architecture:
The temple is spread out on an expanse of 9 hectares at the foot of the hill. Built over centuries with each king adding to existing structures, the temple has an array of gopurams (9) and mandapams. The oldest, the kili gopuram in the third enclosure, is so called as Saint Arunagirinathar, who was adept at metempsychosis, had entered the soul of a parrot for a brief while. Meanwhile, his enemies interred his physical body. When Arunagiri saw this, he decided to live as a parrot on this gopuram, which is ahead of the main shrine.

The tallest is the rajagopuram on the eastern side, 41 metres tall and 30 metres wide, and credited to Krishnadeva Raya, the Vijayanagar king. The eastern gateway has the Vallala gopuram named after the Hoysala king Ballala, who made Tiruvannamalai his capital. It is auspicious to view all the 9 gopurams at one time. This can be done from a spot in front of the Maghizham tree (sthala vriksham), which is to the right of the Sambanda Vinayaka shrine, when facing away from the shrine.
The temple has 5 prakarams, which originated at various points of time, the first and second are the most ancient. While these have not been dated accurately, the third was built in the 12[SUP]th[/SUP] century. The fourth and fifth came up in the 16[SUP]th[/SUP] century.

There are residences in the outer prakarams, like in the temples of Chidambaram and Srirangam. In the outermost prakarams is the 1000-pillared hall with its impressive carvings and the Siva Ganga tank.

The main shrine of Annamalai is in the first prakaram and the sight of the massive lingam is truly awe-inspiring. On the northern side is Siva’s consort in the form of Unnamalai Amman. There is a massive rush of devotees in front of the sanctum sanctorum. In an ambience filled with fervour and devotion and the air thick with incense and myrrh, one can feel the divine presence even in a few seconds!

It is best to visit the temple on a non-festival day to appreciate the many facets of artistic and architectural beauty in the temple. Its carvings and paintings have been attributed to both Hoysala and Vijayanagara periods. Nayak kings also embellished the temple. The poet Sambandar, who lived in the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] century A D, has sung of this temple.

The temple conforms to the south Indian style of temple architecture. It is interesting to note that even the Hoysalas did not deviate from the Dravidian style of gopurams. The Ballalla gopuram does not bear any resemblance to the Hoysala structures of Belur, Halebid or Somnathpur. The temple therefore bears the stamp of Chola, Hoysalas, Vijayanagars and Nayaks.
There are 106 stone edicts. One of them narrates how a man hunting deer killed a human being unintentionally. In penitence, he donated cows and oxen to support the expense of lighting a lamp in the temple.

In the second prakaram is the famous Sthala Ganapathy installed by the queen of Gandaraditya Chola, under a Vakula tree. Sembian Mahadevi was renowned for her numerous benefactions to this temple and others. This temple has 22 idols of Ganapathy. He is present in various forms such as Sarvasiddhi Vinayaka, Anaithiraikonda Vinayaka and Sambanda Vinayaka (one of the largest Vinayaka idols in Tamil Nadu). There is a unique idol here, which people pray to after offering prayers to the God and Goddess (usually, Ganapathy is worshipped before one proceeds to the main shrines). This is a palm-sized Ganapathy, found in a crevice on a pillar near the Ashtalakshmi mandapam. In this temple, Ganapathy has a chariot to himself.
There is a shrine of Lord Venugopala (Krishna) in another part of the temple, and many paintings depict scences from the Krishna Leela and the Ramayana.

The main temple is actually the second temple to Lord Arunachaleswara in Tiruvannamalai. The original temple is some distance from the town, and it is said the second temple was constructed to make it easier for the Vijayanagara kinds to worship. The first, ancient structure is called the Adi Arunachaleswarar shrine. It is near the Girivalam circuit. The goddess here is called Abithagujambal.

Outside this temple, to the right, is a Vinayaka idol under a tree. It is believed that he has the powers to restore lost children to their parents. Many a time, when children get lost during the massive crowds at a festival time, they are told to go and wait near the Vinayaka, where their parents will come and find them! Another notable Ganesh is the idukku pillayar. One has to contort one’s body to enter this shrine through one end and exit through the other. This is a recipe for physical fitness, say the locals! From this point, if one looks up at the Arunachala Hill, 5 vantage points on the hill can be seen.

Arunagirinathar
– Tiruvannamalai is also the place where the great Tamil poet Arunagirinathar lived and wrote his divine hymns in the 14[SUP]th[/SUP] century. In his early years, Arunagiri, the son of a courtesan, led a dissolute life squandering all his money on women. He became so diseased that a day came when even women of loose morals shunned him. One day, he approached his sister for money. Whereupon his doting sister, penniless herself, asked him to use her own body to satisfy his lust! Arunagiri was so overcome with shame when she said this that he tried to kill himself by jumping from the Vallala gopuram of the Arunachaleswara temple. At that moment, Lord Muruga appeared in a vision and told him not to despair. He cured him and bade him sing his praise and the debauch was thus transformed into a poet. He wrote the famous Thiruppugazh, a collection of 1300 verses on Muruga’s glory. As manay of these hyms have been set to music they are a popular choice in Carnatic music concerts.

Ramana Maharishi
– Tiruvannamalai is also associated with the great sage Ramana Maharishi, who, as a young boy responded to an inner call to go to the Arunachala Hill and meditate. He performed penance in a cave in the hill and later in the temple of Arunachaleswara. The spot where he stayed can be seen near the Pathala Lingeshwara shrine in the temple. You have to go down a steep flight of steps to see the lingam where Ramana worshipped. During this time, it was in the midst of a forest. Ramana was guided by Seshadri Swamigal, another great saint who lived in Tiruvannamalai.

Ramana Maharishi attained enlightenment to become a great and powerful preacher and people came from far and wide to listen to him. The Ramanashramam was set up and still serves as a place of retreat for devotees. The Maharishi attained Samadhi in the year 1950.

In the Ramanashram, there is a shrine to Lord Mathrubhuteswarar and Goddess Yogambika. There is an image of Ramana Maharishi, installed on his Samadhi, to which pujas are done everyday. Poor feeding is carried out at the Ashram everyday. The ambience is pleasant, with a lot of greenery, amidst which peacocks move around freely.

Festivals
– Karthigai Deepam is what makes Tiruvannamalai so famous. Here, it marks the conclusion of the 10-day Brahmotsavam in the month of Karthigai. Bharani Deepam is lit before the Karthigai Deepam in the main shrine. Five lamps are lit to symbolize the five elemental forms of shiva.

Preparations begin with a group of men carrying fire inside an earthen container to the summit of the mountain, where a large copper dish filled with ghee and a giant wick made of cloth is placed. Meanwhile at the temple, the various deities are brought out and pujas are performed. At an auspicious time in the evening, the lamp atop the hill is lit and the crowd of devotees goes berserk with devotion. People revere the flame of the lamp as none other than Siva himself. As soon as the lamp is lit, the main shrine is closed as it is held that Siva abides there as long as the flame burns till the next morning.

Several other festivals are celebrated through the year. Each pournami or full moon devotees congregate in the town. On this day, devotees perform the Girivalam or walk around the Arunachala hill. Devotees walk the 12km circuit barefoot, because this ritual is said to relieve one from a million rebirths. First, devotees pray at the shrine of Irattai Pillayar just to the left of the rajagopuram, where you see 2 idols of Ganapathy seated side to side. Then begins the walk. There are 8 lingams on the route, where devotees stop to worship. They are the Indra, Agni, Yama, Varuna, Niruda, Vayu, Kubera and Eesana lingams. There is also a Surya lingam, which faces the main shrine, and is therefore called the “Thiruner lingam”. It is not part of the Girivalam circuit. There is an Unnamalai Amman shrine next to the Surya lingam. There are shrines to other deities on the route.

Arudra Darsanam in Margazhi is special worship performed to Lord Siva. During the Thiruvoodal festival, a mock quarrel between Annamalaiyar and Unnamalai Amman s enacted in the presence of the idol of Sundaramoorthy Nayanar in the Tiruvoodal Street.

During this quarrel, the Goddess enters the temple by herself, leaving Siva. The Lord goes around the hill in apparent anger. While doing so, he grants liberation to Rishi Bhringi. Siva’s jewels are “stolen” during the circuit. After recovering them, he enters the temple in the morning. There is also the festival in which the Lord is crowned, as the dauphin, as one of the Hoysala kings, Ballala, did not have an heir.

arunachaleswarar-unnamalaiyaal-tiruvannamalai-temple-tamilnadu.jpg
 
Hello Praveen sir ,such a wonderful presentation and description .one can really vision frame the temple as on they read this.As you have stated ,its the thazampoo that had given false version to lord bhrama ,so its not include in any pooja to lord siva. King Vallala ,was a faithful devotee of lord siva ,as he had no heir ,its Lord Siva who had performed the last ritual rights to the king. so on the particular day,thiti a gurukul perform still this procedure .In This temple one can find the difference from the raja gopuram from other temples in tamilnadu is that thiruannamalai , is painted completely in white only ,as others in tamilnadu will be exibhiting in colourful version.One can really feel the presence and vibration of the almighty as we enter the scantum scantorium even its central air conditioned, we can feel the hot /warm feel ,being Agani stalam.(not in crowded days, any one can feel ,but do not do it as experiment ,feel the eternal bliss by his blessings) I thank Praveen sir for giving me a chance to share this wonderful topic.
 
The following links to youtube can enable one to see the temple (if one is unable to visit the temple from a far away place)


Part 1
Tiruvannamalai Temple Documentary Part-1 - YouTube
Part 2
Thiruvannamalai - Shiva Temple (Happy Shivrathri 13/03/10) - YouTube
dear msk !
able to enjoy the visual given by HR&CE.the writeup by sri .prasad is very nice .the dinamar gave the other great saints viz.sesadri swamigal and vesiri samiyar.please visit sathanoor dam also.
guruvayurappan
 
The sacred city of Tiruvannamalai with its temples, ashrams and mutts possesses a sublime mystery which is its true greatness. It is the abode of the Supreme, where sages and self-realized beings walk the earth. It is believed that people residing within thirty miles of this holy city obtain liberation without any effort. This has been attested to by Bhagavan Ramana himself. When we enter the temple, one gets tuned to the sacred atmosphere of the temple and is able to immediately feel its spiritual power. OM ARUNACHALESHWARAYA NAMAHA.
 
The sacred city of Tiruvannamalai with its temples, ashrams and mutts possesses a sublime mystery which is its true greatness. It is the abode of the Supreme, where sages and self-realized beings walk the earth. People residing within thirty miles of this holy city obtain liberation without any effort. This has been attested to by Bhagavan Ramana himself. One of the thousand and eight names given to Arunachala by Adi Sankara is Giripradakshinapriya - the Lord who loves giripradakshina (circumambulation). As we enter the temple, one gets tuned to the sacred atmosphere of the temple and is able to immediately feel its spiritual power.
 
The world famous Arunachaleswara temple at Tiruvannamalai, 190 kms from Chennai, is one of the pancha bootha shrines of Siva. Siva is said to abide here in the form of fire.

The temple has a well laid out procedure for conduct of worship to the God and Goddess. River Ganga is said to arrive symbolically in a pot carried by an elephant to cleanse the enclosures. After duly waking the Lord and his consort, six pujas are performed from dawn to night till the last puja, when the couple retire to the bedchamber.

View attachment 1769

Legend: There is a beautiful story behind how Uma married Siva in Tiruvannamalai.

Once Parvati or Uma closed the eyes of Siva with her hands, in a playful mood, and all the worlds were plunged into darkness. This angered Siva, and Uma had to come down to earth. She went to Kanchipuram, where Siva bade her to go to Tiruvannamalai and perform austerities. He told her that she would then take her place on the left side of his body. (This is the concept of Ardhanareeswaraa, where Siva and Sakthi are found in the same morphology). Accordingly, Uma went to Iruvannamalai, as it was then called, and did penance. She killed the demon Mahishasura and organized a big festival on the day of Karthigai. The Lord appeared as a cosmic flare on the summit of the hill and Uma joined him there as his consort. This is said to be the origin of Karthigai Deepam. This legend of the separation and subsequent union of Siva and Parvati is connected with several temples in Tamil Nadu..

The lingodhbhava legend is also associated with this shrine. This is the subject matter of dispute between followers of Siva and Vishnu. According to the Saivites, Siva wanted to prove his supremacy to Vishnu and Brahma, the two other members of the Hindu Trinity. He appeared in the form of fire and challenged both of them to find his head and feet. While Vishnu, in the form a board, dug deep into the earth and then told Siva that he could not fathom the depths, Brahma in the form of a swan, went upwards. He happened upon a piece of floral fibre and learnt that it had been floating down from Siva’s head for thousands of years. On this basis, he told Siva that he had reached the top. Siva, angered by the claim, which he knew was false, cursed Brahma that he would not have any temple dedicated to him on earth.

There is another version to this legend, which is oft quoted by Vaishavites. In that, it is Vishnu, who asks Siva and Brahma to find his head and feet and both of them fail. At a metaphysical level, these legends convey that God is infinite and cannot be circumscribed.

It is also said that when Siva appeared as the infinite column of fire, it was so dazzling that Brahma and Vishnu asked him to take a more benevolent and accessible form so that all beings could worship him. Siva accordingly took the form of the Arunachala Hill, declaring “As the moon derives its light from the sun, so other holy places will derive their sanctity from Arunachala. This is the only place where I have taken this form to the benefit of those who wish to worship me and obtain illumination. I will appear on the summit of this hill every year at Karthigai in the form of a peace-giving beacon”

Celebrated when the constellation of Karthigai (Pleiades) is in conjunction with the full moon in November-December, a huge bonfire is built on top of the Arunachala Hill on this night each year. From a distance, it looks like a great fiery beacon. It is visible from afar and thousands of devotees gather in Tiruvannamalai to see the flame and walk around the hill along a 12km trail at tits base in a ritual walk called Girivalam.

Temple Architecture:
The temple is spread out on an expanse of 9 hectares at the foot of the hill. Built over centuries with each king adding to existing structures, the temple has an array of gopurams (9) and mandapams. The oldest, the kili gopuram in the third enclosure, is so called as Saint Arunagirinathar, who was adept at metempsychosis, had entered the soul of a parrot for a brief while. Meanwhile, his enemies interred his physical body. When Arunagiri saw this, he decided to live as a parrot on this gopuram, which is ahead of the main shrine.

The tallest is the rajagopuram on the eastern side, 41 metres tall and 30 metres wide, and credited to Krishnadeva Raya, the Vijayanagar king. The eastern gateway has the Vallala gopuram named after the Hoysala king Ballala, who made Tiruvannamalai his capital. It is auspicious to view all the 9 gopurams at one time. This can be done from a spot in front of the Maghizham tree (sthala vriksham), which is to the right of the Sambanda Vinayaka shrine, when facing away from the shrine.
The temple has 5 prakarams, which originated at various points of time, the first and second are the most ancient. While these have not been dated accurately, the third was built in the 12[SUP]th[/SUP] century. The fourth and fifth came up in the 16[SUP]th[/SUP] century.

There are residences in the outer prakarams, like in the temples of Chidambaram and Srirangam. In the outermost prakarams is the 1000-pillared hall with its impressive carvings and the Siva Ganga tank.

The main shrine of Annamalai is in the first prakaram and the sight of the massive lingam is truly awe-inspiring. On the northern side is Siva’s consort in the form of Unnamalai Amman. There is a massive rush of devotees in front of the sanctum sanctorum. In an ambience filled with fervour and devotion and the air thick with incense and myrrh, one can feel the divine presence even in a few seconds!

It is best to visit the temple on a non-festival day to appreciate the many facets of artistic and architectural beauty in the temple. Its carvings and paintings have been attributed to both Hoysala and Vijayanagara periods. Nayak kings also embellished the temple. The poet Sambandar, who lived in the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] century A D, has sung of this temple.

The temple conforms to the south Indian style of temple architecture. It is interesting to note that even the Hoysalas did not deviate from the Dravidian style of gopurams. The Ballalla gopuram does not bear any resemblance to the Hoysala structures of Belur, Halebid or Somnathpur. The temple therefore bears the stamp of Chola, Hoysalas, Vijayanagars and Nayaks.
There are 106 stone edicts. One of them narrates how a man hunting deer killed a human being unintentionally. In penitence, he donated cows and oxen to support the expense of lighting a lamp in the temple.

In the second prakaram is the famous Sthala Ganapathy installed by the queen of Gandaraditya Chola, under a Vakula tree. Sembian Mahadevi was renowned for her numerous benefactions to this temple and others. This temple has 22 idols of Ganapathy. He is present in various forms such as Sarvasiddhi Vinayaka, Anaithiraikonda Vinayaka and Sambanda Vinayaka (one of the largest Vinayaka idols in Tamil Nadu). There is a unique idol here, which people pray to after offering prayers to the God and Goddess (usually, Ganapathy is worshipped before one proceeds to the main shrines). This is a palm-sized Ganapathy, found in a crevice on a pillar near the Ashtalakshmi mandapam. In this temple, Ganapathy has a chariot to himself.
There is a shrine of Lord Venugopala (Krishna) in another part of the temple, and many paintings depict scences from the Krishna Leela and the Ramayana.

The main temple is actually the second temple to Lord Arunachaleswara in Tiruvannamalai. The original temple is some distance from the town, and it is said the second temple was constructed to make it easier for the Vijayanagara kinds to worship. The first, ancient structure is called the Adi Arunachaleswarar shrine. It is near the Girivalam circuit. The goddess here is called Abithagujambal.

Outside this temple, to the right, is a Vinayaka idol under a tree. It is believed that he has the powers to restore lost children to their parents. Many a time, when children get lost during the massive crowds at a festival time, they are told to go and wait near the Vinayaka, where their parents will come and find them! Another notable Ganesh is the idukku pillayar. One has to contort one’s body to enter this shrine through one end and exit through the other. This is a recipe for physical fitness, say the locals! From this point, if one looks up at the Arunachala Hill, 5 vantage points on the hill can be seen.

Arunagirinathar
– Tiruvannamalai is also the place where the great Tamil poet Arunagirinathar lived and wrote his divine hymns in the 14[SUP]th[/SUP] century. In his early years, Arunagiri, the son of a courtesan, led a dissolute life squandering all his money on women. He became so diseased that a day came when even women of loose morals shunned him. One day, he approached his sister for money. Whereupon his doting sister, penniless herself, asked him to use her own body to satisfy his lust! Arunagiri was so overcome with shame when she said this that he tried to kill himself by jumping from the Vallala gopuram of the Arunachaleswara temple. At that moment, Lord Muruga appeared in a vision and told him not to despair. He cured him and bade him sing his praise and the debauch was thus transformed into a poet. He wrote the famous Thiruppugazh, a collection of 1300 verses on Muruga’s glory. As manay of these hyms have been set to music they are a popular choice in Carnatic music concerts.

Ramana Maharishi
– Tiruvannamalai is also associated with the great sage Ramana Maharishi, who, as a young boy responded to an inner call to go to the Arunachala Hill and meditate. He performed penance in a cave in the hill and later in the temple of Arunachaleswara. The spot where he stayed can be seen near the Pathala Lingeshwara shrine in the temple. You have to go down a steep flight of steps to see the lingam where Ramana worshipped. During this time, it was in the midst of a forest. Ramana was guided by Seshadri Swamigal, another great saint who lived in Tiruvannamalai.

Ramana Maharishi attained enlightenment to become a great and powerful preacher and people came from far and wide to listen to him. The Ramanashramam was set up and still serves as a place of retreat for devotees. The Maharishi attained Samadhi in the year 1950.

In the Ramanashram, there is a shrine to Lord Mathrubhuteswarar and Goddess Yogambika. There is an image of Ramana Maharishi, installed on his Samadhi, to which pujas are done everyday. Poor feeding is carried out at the Ashram everyday. The ambience is pleasant, with a lot of greenery, amidst which peacocks move around freely.

Festivals
– Karthigai Deepam is what makes Tiruvannamalai so famous. Here, it marks the conclusion of the 10-day Brahmotsavam in the month of Karthigai. Bharani Deepam is lit before the Karthigai Deepam in the main shrine. Five lamps are lit to symbolize the five elemental forms of shiva.

Preparations begin with a group of men carrying fire inside an earthen container to the summit of the mountain, where a large copper dish filled with ghee and a giant wick made of cloth is placed. Meanwhile at the temple, the various deities are brought out and pujas are performed. At an auspicious time in the evening, the lamp atop the hill is lit and the crowd of devotees goes berserk with devotion. People revere the flame of the lamp as none other than Siva himself. As soon as the lamp is lit, the main shrine is closed as it is held that Siva abides there as long as the flame burns till the next morning.

Several other festivals are celebrated through the year. Each pournami or full moon devotees congregate in the town. On this day, devotees perform the Girivalam or walk around the Arunachala hill. Devotees walk the 12km circuit barefoot, because this ritual is said to relieve one from a million rebirths. First, devotees pray at the shrine of Irattai Pillayar just to the left of the rajagopuram, where you see 2 idols of Ganapathy seated side to side. Then begins the walk. There are 8 lingams on the route, where devotees stop to worship. They are the Indra, Agni, Yama, Varuna, Niruda, Vayu, Kubera and Eesana lingams. There is also a Surya lingam, which faces the main shrine, and is therefore called the “Thiruner lingam”. It is not part of the Girivalam circuit. There is an Unnamalai Amman shrine next to the Surya lingam. There are shrines to other deities on the route.

Arudra Darsanam in Margazhi is special worship performed to Lord Siva. During the Thiruvoodal festival, a mock quarrel between Annamalaiyar and Unnamalai Amman s enacted in the presence of the idol of Sundaramoorthy Nayanar in the Tiruvoodal Street.

During this quarrel, the Goddess enters the temple by herself, leaving Siva. The Lord goes around the hill in apparent anger. While doing so, he grants liberation to Rishi Bhringi. Siva’s jewels are “stolen” during the circuit. After recovering them, he enters the temple in the morning. There is also the festival in which the Lord is crowned, as the dauphin, as one of the Hoysala kings, Ballala, did not have an heir.

View attachment 1768
hi praveen ji,
now it looks really a TAMIL BRAHMINS FORUM......
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest ads

Back
Top