the Ultimate Web on Indian Gods & Temples

 by Padmani,

Abodes of Shiva

According to the Sthala Puranam, this is the second of the four sthalams where Lord Guru (Prahaspathy also known as Viyazhan in Navagraham) worshiped Lord Shiva and received his blessings. As per the Sthala Puranam, once Lord Shiva had cursed Goddess Parvathi that she would be born on earth in the form of a cow. When she pleaded for forgiveness, Lord Shiva told her that she would be rid of this curse at an appropriate time and place. Thereafter she would join him again. Goddess Parvathi, in the form of a cow, roamed all over the earth before reaching this Vilvaranyam. Angered by this curse, she was tearing the earth with her horns at various places. At one place, her horns hit on a lingam that was under the ground. As soon as her horns hit the lingam, it split and started oozing blood. On seeing the blood, the cow started pouring her milk on it to stop the bleeding. Once the cow started pouring the milk, it got transformed back to Goddess Parvathy and Lord Shiva appeared before her to lift the curse. The scar mark can still be seen on this lingam. Hence the lord here is praised as Sri Pasupatheeswarar (Pasu means cow) and this temple’s Theertham is known as Ksheera Pushkarini. Goddess Parvathy is worshiped here in the form of Kamadhenu and this place is also known as Kondeecharam (Kondi means ferocious cow). Another legend is that when Sage Agasthiyar visited this place, he was suffering from high fever. It is believed that Lord Shiva came in the form of Jurakeswarar and cured him.

This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 72nd Shiva Sthalam on the Southern bank of the river Cauveri in Chozha Nadu (Thenkarai). Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested). This east facing temple’s main tower does not have any tiers. In place of the Gopuram, there are beautiful sculptures depicting Lord Shiva, Vinayakar, Murugan and Goddess Parvathy. This temple has a beautiful arch at the entrance. This temple has a single corridor and it does not have a flag post (Dwajasthambam). This ancient temple is located on the southern bank of the river Mudikondan. According to legend, in ancient times, this region was densely covered with Vilwa trees. Hence, this place gets the name Vilvaranyam. The historical names of this place are Vilvaranyam and Thirukkondeecharam. However, now this place is known as Thirukkandeeswaram. There is a stone inscription in this temple which dates back to the period of Vijayanagara King Veera Krishnadevarayar. This temple is under the administrative control of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of Government of Tamil Nadu (HR&CE). This temple’s tank is in the form of a semicircle around the temple (Akazhi in Tamil). There is a separate shrine for Goddess Jyeshta Devi, sister of Goddess Mahalakshmi. She is the wife of Saneeswarar. It is believed that by worshiping her, devotees are blessed with wedding boon, child boon and relief from black magic (Pilli, Soonyam and Yeval). Behind the sanctum sanctorum, on either sides of Lord Lingothbavar, there are idols of Lord Mahavishnu and Lord Brahma in a worshipping posture. Devotees can enjoy the darshan of all the three lords (Trimurthys) – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. This is considered to be very auspicious. In the Navagraham, all the other idols are facing the Suryan. The front hall (Mandapam) of this temple is designed to look like the forehead of a bat (Vovval Nethi Mandapam). This looks very beautiful. In the Vovval Nethi mandapam, there are beautiful reliefs of Abathsahaya Maharishi, Goddess Parvathy in the form of a cow worshiping the lord and Jurakeswarar with three legs. There are seven Lord Shiva temples whose name ends with Charam. All of them are also Devara Paadal Petra Sthalams. They are – Thiru Mundeecharam, Thiru Patteswaram, Thiru Naraiyur Siddheecharam, Thiru Kondeecharam (this place), Thiru Pugalur Vardhamaneecharam, Thiru Ramadeecharam, and Thiru Ketheecharam. It is believed that worshiping Lord Shiva here will result in the reunion of estranged couples. Devotees suffering from fever can worship Lord Jurahareswarar here by performing abhishekam using hot water and then making an offering of cooked rice with hot pepper water (Rasam). It is believed that by doing so, they will be cured of all kinds of fevers.

Theerthavari festival is celebrated on a Thursday (during emakandam, between 06:00 AM and 07:30 AM) in the Tamil month of Karthikai (Nov-Dec). Thursdays in the Tamil month of Karthikai are considered important here and special poojas are performed on these days. Some of the other important festivals celebrated in this temple are – Aani Thirumanjanam in the Tamil month of Aani (June-July), Aadi Pooram in the Tamil month of Aadi (July-Aug), Vinayakar Chaturthi in the Tamil month of Aavani (Aug-Sept), Navarathri in the Tamil month of Purattasi (Sept-Oct), Skanda Shashti and Annabishekam in the Tamil month of Aippasi (Oct–Nov), Thiru Karthikai in the Tamil month of Karthikai (Nov-Dec), Thiruvadhirai in the Tamil month of Markazhi (Dec-Jan), Makara Sankranthi and Thai Poosam in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan-Feb) and Shivrathri in the Tamil month of Masi (Feb-Mar). Pradosham is also observed regularly.