Pradosha Punitha Payanam on a Parveen Bus
17/8/09 & 18/8/09
It is a
great and rare opportunity to identify
45 Siva Bakthas unanimously and jointly,
with unadulterated delight in participating in the Pradhosha Punitha Payanam,
that too to a sacred sthala of invaluable merit and punyam, in particular to
Thiruvaiyaru sporting a colourful badge
identifying each as part of LDSFT who organized the tour..
Collecting the devotees all over from Mylapore,
Valasarawakkam, T. Nagar, Ullagaram,
Virugambakkam and Nanganallur the
bus was full when it left for Melmaruvathur on 17.8.09 at 7.30 am. There was welcome drizzle to feel cool
adding to the calmness of the inner Self.
Adhi Parasakthi is a swayambhu idol and Melmaruvathur (92 km from Chennai on the Chennai-Trichy national
highway NH45). In this sthala, 21 Siddha
saints, both male and female, are present in their jeevasamadhi status actively
blessing as Holy spirits to the devotees thronging at the temple of Adhi Parasakthi . All saffron clad Sakthis serve the devotees
with Prasadhams, guiding them to sanctum sanctorum and help with a smile.
Having prayed to Sakthi we next proceeded to Thiruvadhigai where Veerattaneswarar blesses the devotees for all
strength. Here Saint Thirunavukkarasar
had the miraculous relief from the incurable and painful stomach ailment, at
the instance of his sister Thilagavathiyar.
This sthalam is just 2 km from Panruti.
Lord Siva destroyed the demon Thiripuranthakan aided by Vishnu and all
Devas. But he never needed any help and just destroyed the demons from the fire
of his 3rd eye on His forehead.
Lord Siva is worshipped specially in 8 Veerattanams (Ashtaveerattanam) and Thiruvadhigai is an
important Veerattanam. This huge temple
has excellent sculptures and paintings of over 800 years. It was lunch hour and we had delicious food
excellently served by fellow devotees both men and women.
We had a long tour from Chennai to Thiruvaiyaru of
about 400 km and so when we touched
Chidambaram, the temple was closed and
we proceeded towards Mayuram. On the
Mayuram Kuthalam route Therazhundur branches off
about 5 km from the main road. Poet Kambar was born here and his birth place
is marked as Kambar Kottam. There are
two ancient temples here and one of them is Amaruviappan temple a divya desam
out of 108 divyadesams. Lord Devadhi Rajan of about 10.5ft height is
the presiding deity of the village also known as Aamaruviappan (Vishnu as Go
Sakan) the Utsavar. (instead of facing Vishnu from outside in this
temple Lord Garuda is on the left of the
Lord and Prahlada is on His right while Goddess
Kaveri kneels before Him in the same sannidhi.
Therazhundhur has another beautiful Vishnu temple
housing Lord Govindarajan, a huge imposing idol of the Lord and His eyes send
vibrations direct to the heart when standing before Him.
Anyone passing by Govindapuram on the Mayuram Kuthalam
road cannot miss the Pandurangan
Temple on this road. There
are many devotees staying in this huge temple premises living on the annadhanam
and accommodation freely given here and this temple is the heart throb of
Bhajan lovers.
Thiruvaiyaru is Dhakshina Kailash inasmuch as 5 rivers
flow within 5 km here.(vadavaru, vannaru, vattaru, kudamurutti, & Kaveri). Saint Thyagaraja lived and
ended his mortal remains here. His adhistanam where music festivals are
annually held has a large open ground for this purpose. The idol of Rama,
Seetha and Lakshmana and Hanuman worshipped by Saint Thiagaraja is still there
for devotees to see and re-live the days of the saint and feel His vibration in
the serene atmosphere in which the adhisthanam stands still by the flowing
Kaveri. Thiruvaiyaru is one of the famous saptha sthanams and we had the rare
privilege of a heart warming river bath
for nearly an hour in the early morning of 18th August 2009. On the Pradhosam occasion, we had the
privilege of sitting in a large
gathering at the Dhyana mandapam in front of the Panchalingam and participate
in the abhishekam of mixed waters of holy places, Gangajal and Kaverijal we
brough in large quantity, water from Manasarovar brought by some devotees. Everyone tried to hear the sixtime echoing of
his/her voice in the outer praharam.
Lord Panchanadheeswarar is a swayambhu of this Mukthisthalam
It was a grand sight to see all the 45, after bathing,
lighting the lamps supplied and placing before the 5 lingams, while many of us
reciting the Rudram, Chamakam, Purusha suktham and other Sivasthuthi manthrams,
thevaram etc., participating in the abishekam.
At Thanjavur, we met the prince, who was explained
about our Thevaram mission by this writer.
The prince Serfoji, evinced keen interest in our mission and he promised to circulate the news in 60+ temples
under his governance. We had dharshan of
Lord Brahadheeswara and Goddess Brihannayaki,
were shown the herbal paintings of the Chola period, overlapped by the
Naik rulers later. The meals we had at
Mariamman Koil under the Prince’s control. We did not miss seeing the Bangaru
Kamakshi Amman .
We were in time to return to Thiruvaiyaru again for
participation in Pradosham abishekam. We
sat before the Moolavar and recited Thevaram and chanted Vedas
At 6pm we started visits to other temples nearby. Thillaisthanam, known in ancient records as Thiruneythanam has Lord Neyyadiyappar as the presiding deity. The Sivachariar explained us like how ghee is the endproduct of milk and there is no more transformation, the human soul has to purify itself to the Paramathma within, the eternal Bliss derived out of which is inexplicable. Thiruneithanam is just 1 km away from Thiruvaiyaru. Our visit to Thiruvedhikudi was abandoned due to poor road condition and it was not practicable for the huge Parveen bus to negotiate the unreliable road conditions. Thiruneithanam is one of the sapthasthanams.
At 6pm we started visits to other temples nearby. Thillaisthanam, known in ancient records as Thiruneythanam has Lord Neyyadiyappar as the presiding deity. The Sivachariar explained us like how ghee is the endproduct of milk and there is no more transformation, the human soul has to purify itself to the Paramathma within, the eternal Bliss derived out of which is inexplicable. Thiruneithanam is just 1 km away from Thiruvaiyaru. Our visit to Thiruvedhikudi was abandoned due to poor road condition and it was not practicable for the huge Parveen bus to negotiate the unreliable road conditions. Thiruneithanam is one of the sapthasthanams.
We had to
remain contented with the visit to Thirukantiyur which has Lord Brahma Sira
Kandeswarar as the presiding deity. An
ancient temple it is, and yet it offered solace to mind and heart when prayers
were offered to Him.
Thirukantiyur has a Vishnu temple also. It is Hara papa vimochanar temple. The Lord herein is a pleasing idol offering a
grand feast to the eye.
Our pilgrimage ended with this temple for want of time
to visit the other temples we listed and desired to visit. Perhaps we may do it
in the near future or sometime later at His Grace.
The photos attached to
this note will speak volumes more effectively than what is possible for
me to express herein.
Namaskarams,
J.K. Sivan
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