Kailasanathasamy Temple, Pasuvanthanai, Thoothukudi

Kailasanathasamy Temple, Pasuvanthanai, Thoothukudi

Kailasanathasamy Temple is dedicated to Hindu God Shiva is located in Pasuvanthanai which is 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the district headquarters Thoothukudi of Tamilnadu State. The main deity Kailasanathar is in linga form and it is a Suyambu in origin, goddess is Anandavalli.

Legends

The legend goes by the way that, this village and surrounding village were grazing ground for the cows of local chieftain from Kayathar. Everyday a cow moved away from its herd and worshipped a linga under the Vilvam tree and offered its milk. Taking cognizance of total volume of milk going down gradually, king ordered to find the reason. To a surprise, his servants found a cow worshipping and offering milk. They dug the place and found to a lingam underneath the tree. A temple was raised on the same place.

The Temple

This temple is rich in sculptures and pond with its flight of steps adds beauty to the temple & the village. Currently the temple is maintained by Arulmighu Kailasanathasamy Devasthanam board. The noteworthy feature of the temple is Bala Murugan as Somaskandar is present in a separate shrine in between the main deity Kailasnathar shrine and Goddess Ananthavalli shrine and also the temple has statue of all 64 Nayanmars facing north.

It has separate shrine for Mahalakshmi, the goddess of wealth and Saraswathi, the goddess of wisdom. It also has a separate shrine for Sanishavarar apart from the Navagraham shrine. Beautifully crafted magnificent pillared halls add splendid beauty to the temple. On an ordinary day visitors could see all the mounts of the deities parked inside the temple premises in the pillared halls.

Visitors could also see permanent huge pillars cut out of single granite rocks standing in front of the temple as it serves to put huge Pandal in front of the temple during festivities. These pillar rocks are very old and few of them have paved way to concrete pillars.

Inscriptions

Couples of inscriptions are found inside Kailasanathasamy Temple and these throw light in the history of the temple and its origin. The inscription says about the land donations given to the temple by Aalasundara Perumal for the construction of the Sivan temple. These inscriptions belong to 1245 AD the period of 7th regnal year of Great King Maravarman Sundarapandiyan II. Interestingly the inscription also says on the country & old name of the village, as per the inscription, this village belongs to "mudhukudi nadu" and its classical name is "pasunthalaiyana pavithra maanikapuram"

Festivals

The Grand Chithirai festival in celebrated with religious fervor and gaiety during the Tamil month of Chithirai. The festival is celebrated for 11 days with deities taken on a grand procession on different mounts on each day. The main event, Therottam (Temple Car festival) falls on the 9th day of the festival where people hailing from distant villages of the district participate to pull the grand temple car around the 4 majestic streets surrounding the temple.

The festival ends with the Thirukalyanam (celestial wedding) of Sri Kailasanathar with Sri Anandavalli Amman on the 11th day. The festival starts with the Flag hoisting (Kodiyetram) in the Temple's Kodimaram, followed by procession of deities, Sri Balivinayagar Hustiradevar, Shiva and Amman.

·        2nd Day - Procession of deity on Karpaga Vriksham and Kamadhenu mount.

·        3rd Day - Procession of deity on Pudhu Simha mount.

·        4th Day - Procession of deity on Rishaba mount.

·        5th Day - Procession of deity on Indira vimana mount.

·        6th Day - Procession of deity on Elephant and Annam mount.

·        7th Day - Procession of deity on Natarajar

·   8th Day - Procession of deity on Horse, palanquin, ravaneeswaran and parrot mount.

·        9th Day - Procession of deity on Temple Car/chariot.

·        10th Day - Theerthavari.

·        11th Day - Celestial Wedding, and bring the 11 day festival to end.

Annabishekam is celebrated on the full moon day of Tamil month of Ippasi and Siva-Rathri is observed in traditional way during the month of Maasi. Surasamharam is also celebrated in much colorful way, with artist performing acts of Surasamharam with huge dolls.

Heavy and huge pots (3 in no) made of copper are present inside the temple and it is used to store paddy which is harvested from the land belonging to temple. These pots are very old in age and it attracts the visitors-by for its size and shape. Visitors could see huge bats present in the tall ilupam tree present in the backyard of the temple.

Connectivity

Pasuvanthanai is 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the district headquarters Thoothukudi. It lies 10 kilometres (6 mi) east of Kadambur on the Madurai-Nellai railway line, 10 kilometres (6 mi) east of Kayathar off the North-South Corridor, and 11 kilometres (7 mi) west of Eppothum Vendran on the Madurai-Thoothukudi National Highway.

State Highway 77 crisscrosses through Pasuvanthanai and connects it with Kovilpatti and Puthiamputhur. Regular bus service operates to places like Thoothukudi, Kovilpatti, Thirunelveli, Kayathar, and Chennai. The nearest railway station is 14 kilometres (9 mi) away, at Kadambur. Nearest Airports are located at Thoothukudi and Madurai.