Tiruveezhimizhalai temple is located on the banks of Arasal aaru – A distributary of River Kaveri, Hari sol aaru, meaning the river while flowing produces a sound “hari hari“. It is also said that Vishnu who came down to Earth to worship Lord Shiva in this place pleaded with River Kaveri to come to his proximity so that it will be easy for him to do the pooja. Hence the river that came to this place upon the request of Hari got the name Hari sol aaru and eventually arasalaaru. This temple is located 28 km to the East of Kumbakonam.
The temple is praised by saivaite saints Appar (8 pathigams), Sudarar (1 Pathigam), Sambandar (14 pathigams) and Chendanar (1 Pathigam) in Tiruvisaippa (9th thirumurai). Tiruveezhimizhalai is the 61st paadal petra sthalam in Chola nadu, on the southern bank of River Kaveri.
Lord Shiva is known by the name Veezhinaathar (Nethraarpaneswarar) and Ambal is known by the name Sundara kuchambikai. As we approach the temple, a huge tank brimming with water welcomes us. Opposite to the tank is a small gopuram which leads to another large gopuram full of sculptures depicting Shiva ganas, Nataraja’s dance etc. Before entering this gopuram, to the right one could see a majestic hall, but completely dark. This is known by the name vowaal mandapam (hall of bats), mainly due to non usage of the hall. The roof architecture of this hall resembles Chidambaram temple’s Ponnambalam. Once upon a time, the celestial marriage celebrations were performed in this hall. But now a days since the population has grown and due to some difficulties in providing lighting arrangements, the celebrations are shifted inside the temple premises in an open hall. Wedding is performed to the utsava moorthis – kalyanasundarar – kathyayani ambal in the month of chithirai on magam nakshatram day.
Maha Vishnu wanted the sudarshana chakra that Shiva used to kill Jalandarasura (சக்கரம் மாற்கு ஈந்தானும் சலந்தரனைப் பிளந்தானும் – சம்பந்தர் தேவாரம் – திருவெண்காட்டுப் பதிகம் – chakkaram maaRku eendhaanum jalandharanaip piLandhaanum – sambandhar thEvaaram – Tiruvenkaattup pathigam) and it was by worshipping Lord Shiva here that he got this chakra. He performed pooja with 1008 lotus flowers. While completing, he was short of one flower and for that he offered one of his eyes which itself is a lotus. Vishnu is described as Aravinda Nayanam or lotus eyed in scriptures. Lord Shiva was happy with that and asked Vishnu to take his chakra from the temple tank. Hence the name Veezhinathar (Nethrarpaneswarar). Even today there is a utsavam symbolising this episode in the temple. This tradition was reinstituted in 1991 by the order of Sri Maha Periyava and devotees perform 1000 lotus archanai to Mappillai Swami (Kalyanasundara moorthi – Kathyayani ambal) by reciting Panchakshara Sahasranamam and Lalitha Sahasranamam.
Arunagirinathar describes this episode in a tiruchendur tiruppugazh – padar buviyin.
அடல்பொருது பூசலே விளைந்திட
எதிர்பொரவொணாமல் ஏக சங்கர
அரஹர சிவா மஹாதெவென்றுனி அன்று சேவித்து
அவனி வெகுகாலமாய் வணங்கி
உள் உருகி வெகு பாச கோச சம்ப்ரம
அதிபெல கடோர மா சலந்தரன் நொந்து வீழ
உடல்தடியும் ஆழி தா என் அம்புய
மலர்கள் தச நூறு தாளிடும் பகல்
ஒரு மலர் இலாது கோ அணிந்திடு
செங்கண்மாலுக்கு உதவிய மகேசர்
adalporudhu pUsalE viLaindhida
edhirporavoNAmal Ega sankara
arahara Siva mahAdhev endruni andrusEviththu
avanivegu kAlamAy vaNangi uL
urugi vegu pAsa kOsa samprama
adhibela katOra mA jalandharan nondhuveezha
udalthadiyum Azhi thA en ambuya
malargaL dhasa nURu thALidum pagal
orumalar ilAdhu kO aNindhidu
sengaNmAlukku udhaviya magEsar
When Devas fought with the demon, Jalandharasura, there was a lot of trouble; So, being unable to fight the demon face to face, they retreated from the battlefield and prayed to Lord Siva saying “Oh Sankara, HaraharA, Siva and MahadevA!“. Siva killed Jalandharasura. Vishnu prayed for the grant of that disc. Vishnu offered a thousand lotus flowers at the feet of Siva daily; One day, as the flowers fell short by one, (to make up for that) Vishnu, the lotus-eyed Lord, offered His own eye; Lord Siva presented to Vishnu the great disc (sudharsana ChakrA).
By worshipping Lord Shiva, one could get the illness related to eyes cured. Also by worshipping kalyanasundaramoorthi and kathyayani, unmarried boys and girls get married to good individuals.
We enter the large gopuram and find ourselves amidst broad open prakara that hosts the dwajasthambam and bali peetam. In front of this is a peetam where the lord offered coins to saint Tirugnanasambandar. Further we find a mandapam and this has a lingam Tirumoolanathar.
We come around this outer prakaram and there are three other peetams on the other three sides. Peetam where Saint Sundarar was offered jewels, then on the back side there is the peetam where Saint Tirunavukkarasar was offered gold coins. Here we find the sannidhi of padikkasu vinayakar who offered coins to the saints on behalf of Lord Siva, during famine times, for enabling them to perform annadaanam.
During the times when Appar and Sambandhar stayed in this place to sing the glory of the Lord, famine persisted and people suffered a lot. To alleviate this, Appar and Sambandhar sang hymns in the praise of the Lord, for which they got a gold coin from the Lord through the Padikkasu Vinayakar. They would sell the same in the market and buy food grains and do annadaanam. Coins received by Appar would be sold easily in the market while Sambandhar’s coins took a lot of time to get sold. Because of this there was a lag in doing annadaanam for Sambandhar when compared to Appar. Hence Sambandhar sang a Pathigam:
வாசி தீரவே காசு நல்குவீர்
மாசில் மிழலையீர் ஏசல் இல்லையே
vaasi theerave kaasu nalguveer
maasil mizhalaiyeer yesal illaye
Oh the blemishless lord of Tiruveezhimizhalai, please give me the treasure that is pure and gets sold out easily in market so as to enable me to do annadaanam without any problem.
We also see another gopuram after this sannidhi. We come to the prakaram and move further to find the peetam where manikkavachagar was shown the paadam by the lord. There is also a separate small sannidhi for Mahalinga swamy and Mayuranatha swamy.
We come to inner prakaram, where there are two temples. One for Veezhinathar and the other for Sundarakuchambikai. Before entering the sannidhi, there is a nandi which is located at a lower level. This is known as Patala nandi.
There are 12 steps known as maasa padi – symbolizing 12 months in a year – to climb the main sannidhi. On the other side, for exit, there are another 7 steps known as Graha padi – symbolizing 7 grahas (excluding chaya grahas rahu and ketu). This is a maada koyil. We enter the sanctum sanctorum of Veezhinatha swamy. It is believed that Lord Vishnu brought this vimanam above the moolavar from the heaven by travelling through the clouds and the vimanam is called as vinnizhi vimanam – meaning the vimanam descending from the upper world.
Chendanar’s Tiruvisaippa describes as follows:
புயல்வணற்கு அருளிப் பொன் நெடும்
சிவிகையா ஊர்ந்த மேக நாயகனை மிகு
திருவீழிமிழலை விண்ணிழி செழுங்கோயில்…
puyal vaNaRkku aruLip pon nedum
sivigaiyaa oorndha mEgha naayaganai migu
tiruveezhimizhalai viNNizhi sezhum kOyil…
The one who blessed Lord Vishnu, as dark as cloud, to bear the vimanam in the form of golden cloud, to be brought down from the heavens and installed in this place Tiruveezhimizhalai.
Like Tillai vaazh andhanar (Brahmins of Chidambaram) – 3000 people, King Sibi Chakravarthi brought 500 Brahmins and made them to worship the Lord here. The same is mentioned in Chendanar’s Tiruvisaippa as –
எண்ணில் பல் கோடி எல்லைக்கு அப்பாலாய்
நின்று ஐஞ்ஞூற்று அந்தணர் ஏத்தும்
எண்ணில் பல் கோடி குணத்தர் ஏர் வீழி…
eNNil pal kOti ellaikku alpaalaai nindru aignooru andhaNar yEththum eNNil pal kOti guNatthar yEr veezhi…
Five hundred Brahmins praise the lord at Tiruveezhimizhalai who is standing at a level beyond our limit and whose virtues are boundless..
Behind the linga, there are sculptures of Siva – Parvati in kalyana kolam. Very few temples have these kinds of arrangements in the garbha graham. To the right side, there is the sannidhi of Kalyanasundaramoorthi and Kathyayani in kalyana kolam. There is also a Nandi to the left of Siva. The arrangement is in such a way that Siva keeps his hand on Nandi in a resting posture.
Inside the mandapam hosting garbha graham, there are places for other utsava idols like Balambal, Bikshandar, Mahavishnu and a few more.
We come around this inner prakara and we see Dakshinamoorthi. Here there is no muyalagan below his feet. Instead, his feet rest on a lotus. There is a hole on the back side of Siva sannidhi through which parrots used to worship Lord Siva daily. Usually, lingothbhavar will be in this place in all other temples. This is a rare one. There are many other lingas like Ekamreswarar etc.
The sthala vruksha is Veezhi tree in this Kali yugam. It was Sandal tree in Treta Yugam, Champaka tree in Dwapara yugam. In the next yugam it will be Jack tree.
The vahanas are also present in the mandapams in this prakaram. Other sannidhis for Nataraja – Sivakami, Vaidyanathar, Suryan, Chandran, Bhairavar, Murgan, Irattai Vinayakar are seen in the front entrance of this prakaram.
We then enter the temple of sundarakuchambikai (Azhagiya maamulai amman). This too has a gopuram, to enter from the outer prakaram, but it is rarely opened. Normally we enter from Siva temple. This gopuram has sculptures, predominantly those of female deities. This has a sannidhi where Sundarakujambigai blesses her devotees in a standing posture. With four hands, top two holding sankha and chakra and bottom two with varada abhaya mudras, this deity is said to have beautiful breasts full of grace and hence the name Azhagiya maamulai amman. There is a sannidhi for Vinayaka on one side and Subrahmanya on the other side in this prakara.
This temple is maintained by Tiruvavaduthurai aadheenam.
