the Ultimate Web on Indian Gods & Temples

 by Padmani,

Abodes of Shiva

The main Shivalingam here is believed to have been installed and worshiped by Sage Parasarar. The lord is praised as Sri Thalavaneswarar (Thalam means palm tree). Another legend is that when Saint Sundaramurthy Nayanar was at the entrance to this village, Lord Shiva blessed him by showing the saint a vision of his cosmic dance. There is a place near this temple called Manikka Nachiyar Thittu. Here there is a tank called Santhitha Theertham which symbolises the meeting of Lord Shiva and the Nayanar (santhitha means met in Tamil). In his hymn, Saint Sundaramurthy Nayanar has mentioned about the lord’s dance darshan to him. It is believed that Goddess Mahalakshmi, Sage Parasarar, Saptha Rishis (Kausikar, Kasyabar, Bharadwajar, Gauthamar, Agasthiyar, Athiri and Birugu), Saint Thirugnanasambanthar and Saint Sundaramurthy Nayanar and Chola kings Musukunda Chakravarthy and Karikalan have worshiped the lord here.

This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 73rd Shiva Sthalam on the Southern bank of the river Cauvery in Chozha Nadu (Thenkarai). Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested). This east facing temple’s main tower is not tiered. In fact, the tower itself is very small. In place of the Gopuram, there is a beautiful sculpture depicting Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy. This temple has two corridors and it does not have a flag post Dwajasthambam. The great Chola King Karikalan lived in this place in his childhood. The historical name of this place is Thalavanam and the temple is known as Thalavaneswaram (Thalam means palm tree). Of the 276 Paadal Petra Shivasthalams, very few temples have Palm tree (Panai) as their Sthala Viruksham. This temple is one of them. The other temples having this sthala viruksham are - Thiru Panaiyur, Thiru Vanparthan Panankattur, Thiru Puravaar Panankattur, Thiru Cheyyar, Thiru Mazhapadi, Thiru Valampuram and Thiruppanandal. According to history, the great Chola King Karikalan grew up in this temple and lived here for around 10 years so that he could be shielded from his enemies. Karikalan was born after his father King Ilamchetchenni was killed by his enemies. After his father’s death, Karikalan and his mother were sent to this temple by his maternal uncle, Irumbidar Thalaiyar who was a Sangam era poet. Irumbidar Thalaiyar did so to ensure that the boy could be raised in peace. At this temple, Karikalan’s mother prayed to the lord asking him to protect them from their enemies. It is believed that Lord Vinayakar here started protecting them. When Karikalan attained the age of 13, with his uncle’s help, he fought and regained his kingdom. It is believed that when the Chola ministers sent a state elephant to look for the prince, the elephant found Karikalan and garlanded him. At the entrance of this temple, there is an idol of Vinayakar called Thunai Iruntha Vinayagar (thunai means escort, iruntha means side by in Tamil). There are about 14 stone inscriptions in this temple which date back to the periods of Chola king Kulothungan-I, Sundara Pandiyan, Parakirama Pandiyan, Rajathi Rajan-I and Rajarajan II. In these inscriptions, the lord is mentioned as Panaiyadiyappan and Panangattiraivan. It is also mentioned that this temple was built in granite in the early 11th century. The village around this temple is referred to as Rajendra Chola Panaiyur. This temple is under the administrative control of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of Government of Tamil Nadu (HR&CE). In this temple there are two palm trees (Sthala Viruksham) – one male and the other one female. It is believed that these trees have grown by themselves without any seed. Similar to plantain, it is believed that new trees came up in place of the older ones. It is believed that Sage Parasarar dropped a small portion of the celestial nectar, Amirtham, into the temple’s pond and hence this pond is called Amirtha Pushkarini.There is a Vinayakar in the Thiruvarur temple called Matru Uraitha Vinayagar which is connected to Saint Sundararamurthy Nayanar’s legend. In this temple also, there is a Vinayakar by the same name and this Vinayakar can be seen in the corridor. This temple is considered to be significant for its three important attributes – Moorthy, Sthalam and Theertham - glory of Lord, sacredness of the land and the auspicious temple tank. There are a couple of paintings in the main hall which depicting this temple’s legend such as Karikala Cholan’s early childhood here and Lord Shiva of this temple granting his darshan to Saptha Rishis and Saint Sundararamurthy Nayanar. The front hall (Mandapam) of this temple is designed to look like the forehead of a bat (Vovval Nethi Mandapam). This looks very beautiful. There is a pillar in the main hall that has a relief of Lord Karkadeswarar (Lord Shiva being worshiped by a crab).Devotees seeking for transfer or promotion in their workplace can worship the lord here. Devotees also believe that by worshiping the lord here, obstacles from their marriage proposals will be removed.

Some of the important festivals celebrated in this temple are – 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), Makara Sankranthi in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan-Feb), Shivrathri in the Tamil month of Masi (Feb-Mar) and Panguni Uthiram in the Tamil month of Panguni (Mar-Apr). Pradosham is also observed regularly.