அன்னையும் பிதாவும் முன்னறி தெய்வம் [annaiyum pithaavum munnaRi deivam – Mother and Father are the primary deities]
ஆலயம் தொழுவது சாலவும் நன்று [aalayam thozhuvdhu saalamum nandRu – It is extremely good to pray at a temple]
The above are the sayings of Avvaiyaar in her Tamil Literary work Kondrai Vendhan.
Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati are the universal Father and Mother. We visit several temples and worship them in different forms like Umamaheswara, Ardhanaareeswara, Bhairava, Durga etc. Let us now get to know about a kshetram, where the Universal Father came down as a mother of a devotee.
Manickavaasagar, in Tiruvaasagam – Siva Puranam declares Lord Shiva as the one who is much more merciful than a mother. [தாயிற் சிறந்த கோவிலும் இல்லை thaayiR chiRandha dayaavaana thaththuvan]. He also states that the lord will bestow his grace on his devotees with utmost kindness more than a mother who remembers to feed her child [பால் நினைந்து ஊட்டும் தாயினும் சாலப் பரிந்து – paal ninaindhoottum thaayinum saalap parindhu].
Tiruchirappalli, located at the central part of Tamil Nadu is glorified by Nayanmars, Azhwars, Arunagirinathar and several other great souls in their works. River Kaveri flows through the city and makes it a fertile place. Tondaradipodi Azhwar in his Tirumaalai glorifies Kaveri as கங்கையின் புனிதமாய் காவிரி [gangaiyin punithamaaya kaaviri – River Kaveri which is more sacred than the Ganga]. Arunagirinathar describes Tiruchirapalli as
அம்புராசி திரைகள் போல் அலை மோதிய சீதள குடகு காவிரி நீள் அலை சூடிய திரிசிராமலை [amburaasi thiraigaL pOl alai mOdhiya seedhaLa kudagu kaaviri neeL alai soodiya thirisiraamalai – Thirisiraamalai is surrounded by the long, cool waves of river Kaveri which has its origin at Kudagu (Coorg) and the waves look like oceanic tides].
The name of the temple is Tiruchirappalli ( now called as Rockfort temple or Malaikkottai), dedicated to Lord Shiva and the city itself is called by this name. It is one of the 276 thevaara paadal petra sthalams, situated in Chola Naadu, on the south bank of river Kaveri. Uchi Pillayar Temple on the hill top is a great attraction to all.
Swami: Thaayumanavar ; Ambal : Mattuvaarkuzhalammai ; Tree : Vilvam ; Tirtham:Brahmma tirtham.
Temples around the kshetram Tiruchirappalli are Manicka Vinayakar temple at the base, Mattuvaarkuzhalammai sametha Thayumana swami temple after climbing around 480 steps and Uchi Pillayar Temple at the top after climbing around another 150 steps.
There are two rock cut caves of the Pallava reign in 6th century – one at the south street (vanniyadi street) a few metres away from the entrance to Thayumana swami temple and one at the hill top before climbing Uchi pillayar temple.
Apart from these, there is a temple for Nandi to the west side of Rockfort temple called as Nandi Kovil and the entire stretch of the road is called as Nandi Kovil Street. It is in this street at the southern end we see a huge tank of the temple – Brahmma tirtham also known as teppakulam as the float festival of the temple takes place here in the month of Panguni (March-April) every year. The northern end of this Nandi Kovil street hosts another temple for Lord Shiva known as Anandavalli sametha Naganatha swami temple.
To the eastern side of the Rockfort temple, there is a road called as East Boulevard Road where there are two temples. One for Vinayaka with human face known as Adhi Vinayaka also known as Nandrudayaan Vinayakar. This is associated with one of the tirthams of Tiruchirappalli temple – Nandrudayaan. There is another temple for Lord Shiva in this road- Jagadambika Sametha Bhoolokanathar.
To the Southern side of Rockfort temple, in Big Bazaar Street, there is another temple for Lord Shiva, Kailasanathar temple.
Dakshina Kailasa or then Kayilayam
Thousands of years ago, there was a quarrel between Adhi Sesha and Vayu regarding who is the mightier among them. As it progressed, Adhi Sesha encircled a portion of one of the peaks of Mount Kailash with his tail and threw it away. It got split into three parts and fell down at three places. They are Kalahasti, Tirikonamalai and Tiruchirappalli. So these three kshetras have the name Dakshina Kailasa or then kayilayam – meaning Kailash of the south.
Trishiragirior Tirisiraamalai or Tiruchirappalli
Ravana’s army chief was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. He had three heads and hence he is known as Tirisiran or Trishira. He did tapas in this place and Lord Shiva appeared before him and stayed in this place upon his request. Hence this kshetra got the name Trishiragiri or Tirisiraamalai. During 6th century, this place was occupied by Jains. Places where Jains or people of other religion stayed were known as paLLi. Hence the name Trishirappalli or siraappalli emerged and now it is called as Tiruchirappalli. Manickavasagar addresses the lord as chiraappalli mEviya sivanE!
Sevvandhinathar
Saara Muni was a great sage and very much devoted to Lord Shiva. He once went to Nagalokam and brought a rare sevvandhi (chrysanthemum) flower from there and worshipped Lord Shiva here. He also created a garden for growing these sevvandhi flowers to worship the lord. Hence the lord is known by the name sevvandhinathar. The garden created by Saara Muni is still in the West Street in the pond, theeyadhillaan theertham, now known as oomaiyaan kulam. Originally it was umaiyaaL kulam. Even today, during the chithirai brahmmotsavam (April-May), when the celestial wedding between Lord Shiva and Parvati is performed, Goddess Sugandha Kuntalamba is brought up here in the procession and is believed to perform tapas before marrying the Lord. The Lord then comes with seer (gifts for marrying a girl) and takes the Goddess with him for a procession and then the traditional maalai maatruthal (exchange of garlands) will happen at the entrance of the temple and thirumaangalya dharanam will take place at the 100 pillared hall in the temple.
Let us now come back to Saara Muni. Tiruchirappalli was the part of Chozha
empire with Uraiyur as the capital. Some unknown person to win the favour of the queen, took the sevvandhi flowers from the garden, maintained by Saara Muni for worshipping the Lord. The sage was very unhappy about this. He pleaded with the King to look into the issue as it is not good to take the flowers that are meant for the lord and give them to an ordinary person (Queen is also an ordinary person when compared with Lord). The King didn’t lend his ears to the appeal from the sage. The sage was very much upset at this and he went to Lord Sevvandhinathar himself to get justice.
Uraiyur was located to the west side of Rockfort temple. The lord was facing east till this incident. As soon as the sage Saara Muni pleaded for justice, Sevvandhinathar turned towards west to see Uraiyur and showered sand on the place and ruined it. The King realized his mistake and pleaded to the Lord for mercy. Goddess Vekkaaliyamman who is the protecting deity of Uraiyur, also persuaded the Lord to stop the sand showers and thus it stopped and Uraiyur was saved. This incident is still celebrated in the temple as a small festival on Maasi month Pooram star day.
Thaayumaanavar
Ratnavathi, a girl from Poompuhar, got married to a vysya at Tiruchirappalli. She worshipped Sevvandhinathar daily. She was expecting their child to be born soon. Her mother was on her way from Poompuhar to Tiruchirappalli for her daughter’s delivery. It rained very heavily then and the river Kaveri was flooded. The mother was unable to cross the river to reach Tiruchirappalli. Ratnavathi developed labour pain and there was none to help her. She whole- heartedly prayed to Lord Sevvandhinathar to help her. In no time, the lord appeared in front of Ratnavathi, dressed up as her mother. Ratnavathi was not aware of this and she was relieved to see her mother on time and
thanked the lord for making her mother to be there by her side. A boy child was born and the lord dressed up as Ratnavathi’s mother, nursed the baby and fed Ratnavathi with food cooked specifically for ladies after delivering child. Everything went on smoothly. Rains stopped and the water level in Kaveri receded. The original mother from Poompuhar arrived at Ratnavathi’s house and was astonished to see that the delivery had gone on with ease and a grandson was born. Ratnavathi was puzzled to see her mother very much astonished on seeing the happenings. If it was not her mother who helped all these days with the labour, then who should be the one who was with her all these days. There came an answer in the form of bright light, where she saw, Sevvandhinathar along with Sugandha Kuntalamba, mounted on the bull. Everyone prostrated before the Rishabharoodha moorthy and from then onwards the lord was called as Thaayumaanavar or Matrubhootheswarar, meaning the lord who became the mother.
Every year during Chithirai Brahmotsavam, this is celebrated as a representative festival. In the morning, the idol of Ratnavathi with baby in her womb is taken out. She will be facing the lord dressed up as a woman along with Ambal carrying the medicines in a vessel following her.
After the procession, they go to the hundred pillared hall and the priests symbolically perform the delivery. In the evening, Ratnavathi with a child in her hand is taken out along the streets as a procession. She moves, facing the lord who follows her in the Rishabha vahanam.
It is believed that those who are pregnant and pray to Lord Thayumanavar will be granted a normal, easy delivery. People offer Banana bunches (vaazhai thaar) to the lord after their delivery and distribute them as prasadam to the people coming to the temple.
Saint Poet Thayumanavar was born to his parents upon the grace of the lord at this kshetra. Hence he got this name. Mahavidwan Tirisirapuram Meenakshisundaram Pillai, a great Tamil scholar resided in this kshetram and wrote Tirisiraamalai yamaka andhadhi on Lord Thaayumaanavar.
Appar and Tirugnanasambandhar have written pathigams on this kshetra. Manickavasagar has glorified the lord of this kshetra in various places in his Tiruvasagam. Arunagirinathar has sung Tiruppugazh on Lord Subrahmanya (Muthukumaraswami) in this kshetra.
Let us see more about this temple in the coming issues.