Wish you all a Very Happy, Prosperous and Peaceful New Year 2013.
The past year has been great, more so in my path of spiritual development which has been highly fulfilling and satisfying.
An
opportunity to contribute to a spiritual forum dedicated to spread the
teachings of Kanchi Shri Paramacharya came out of the blue exactly one
year ago. Infact, I got the call while I was just stepping out of the
Brindavan of the Mahaswami at Kancheepuram !!
What started as a means of lending a helping hand to an old friend
running the site has transformed me so much in the past one year. Sri
Maha Periyava, the great Sage of Kanchi has been constantly guiding me
in everything I do, and the journey has been rewarding and fulfilling
spiritually. I am indeed blessed.
Please visit the forum
www.periva.proboards.com and
www.periva.org to know more about the Paramacharya.
I would like to begin this year's post on my short visit to
Thirukazhukundram temple last week. The temple is located near
Chengelpet.
It was just my husband and me for this trip as my son had exams.
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| Pillayar temple near the Arasa Maram |
This
was our first visit to this temple. We started early and
reached the foothill at 9.30 am. You need to climb the steps leading to
the temple on foot.
There is a temple for Pillayar at the foot hill
around an Arasa maram.(Peepal tree). In addition to Lord Ganesha, there
are beautiful deities of Dakshnamurthy and Lakshmi Varagar too.
The climb uphill was not
difficult as I thought. The steps are neatly laid and only about half
feet in height. The laying of the steps has been sponsored by several
devotees whose names are inscribed on the side walls. A steel raining on
either side provides a grip while climbing. We reached the temple at the
summit in 30 mins as I am a slow climber. However, the Sannidanam opened
at about 10.00 am only.
The moolarvar Shri Vedagiriswarar is
a beautiful sight to see and worship. There are deities of Vinayaka and Murugan at
the entrance. The unique feature is that there is no Nandi before the
Shivalingam. The floral decorations made to the main deity quickly
reminds us of the Shri Annamalaiyar temple at Thiruvannamalai.
We had a good darshan. The cool breeze and the view from the hill top was wonderful.
One has to return via another path to visit a cave and the place where
the two eagles were fed every noon by the temple priest till the 1990's.
Unfortunately, we missed this as we returned via the same path we
climbed. We realized it after climbing down about 200 steps, but were
too tired to climb up again!. So, when you visit, make sure you do not
miss these spots even though the pakshi's (eagle's) do not visit the
temple now. I got the reason for this from the archakar in the big temple at the
foot hill.
The temple dedicated to Goddess Tiripusasundari is at the foot of the hill. The Lord here is known as Shri Bakthavatsaleswarar. Ambal here is suyambu. The temple is currently under renovation.
Another significant feature is this town is the Sangu Theertham which is
one of the several theerthams in the regiion. It is a really big tank.
The legend has that Saint Markandeya, who visited the temple wished to
perform
abhishekam to the Siva lingam here, but he found no vessel to take the
water. Just then a conch suddenly emerged from the tank, and Markandeya performed the abhishekam. It is said that even now,
once in 12 years, a conch emerges from this Sangu Theertham , which the
temple
authorities collect with all honours and preserve in the temple.
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| Sangu Theertham |
The archakas at the temple told me that the last conch was collected during September 2011.
All these conches are used to perform the Sangabhisekham for Shri
Vedagiriswarar at the hill top temple once a year on the last Monday in
the month of Karthigai. After this, all the conches are preserved in the
temple at the foot hill only. You can have a darshan of the sacred
conches after buying a ticket for Rs:2/- per head.
Here is picture of the sacred conches. The big white conch that
you see is over 1000 years old and this is the one which appeared from
the Sangu Theertham to Saint Markandeya. The recent one collected in
Sept 2011 is the small one you will see right in the front. All these
conches are those collected in this century. The remaining ones are
preserved separately.
 |
| Sacred Conches from the Sangu Theertham |
I was actually curious as to why the two eagles have stopped visiting
the temple. Legend has that two Rishis Boosha and
Vithatha, are the two eagles that have been visiting Thirukazhukundram
daily since time immemorial, in order to worship Shiva and obtain
salvation from His curse. The archakar at the temple told me that since
the eagles (rishi's) have obtained salvation, there is no need for them
to be visiting again. The eagles have stopped coming after the 90's.
There is another Shiva temple in this town for Shri Rudrakoteeswarar. It
was after 12.00 noon by the time we reached the temple, and the temple
was closed at that time. We returned regretfully hoping that we will get
to visit the temple on another occasion.
On the whole, a nice darshan on Prodosham day.
Cheers!
