Kripapureeswarar Temple, Thiruvennainallur, Villupuram
Kripapureeswarar Temple (also
called Arut – konda – Nathar or Thiruvennainallur temple) in Thiruvennainallur, a panchayat town in Villupuram district in the
South Indian state of Tamilnadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Constructed in
the Dravidian style of architecture, the present structure of the temple is believed to
have been built during the Cholas period in the 10th century. The temple has
received gracious endowments from the Chola queen Sembiyan
Mahadevi. Shiva is worshipped as
Kripapureeswarar and his consort Parvathi as Mangalambikai.
The presiding deity is revered in the 7th century Tamil
Saiva canonical work, the Thevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the Nayanmars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its
shrines. The temple has a five-tiered Rajagopuram, the gateway tower. The
temple is closely associated with Sundarar, the Saivite saint of the 8th century, who started
singing his Thirumurai starting with "Pitha Piraisudi" verse in
this temple.
The temple is open from 6 am - 11 am and 4 - 8:00 pm on
all days except during festival days when it is open the full day. Four daily
rituals and many yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the Aadi
star day celebrated during the Tamil
month of Aaadi (June
- July) for Sundarar and Panguni Uthiram festival
during Panguni (March - April) with a float festival being the most
prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and
Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Legends
As per Hindu legend, the sages in Tharukavanam were very
proud of their achievements and started doing a penance to destroy Shiva. Shiva absorbed all the evils from the penance and realizing
their mistake, the sages started their worship to Shiva. Shiva blessed them
with their wishes and came to be known as Kripapureeswarar, the "God who
would bestow wishes of the devotees".
As per another legend, Sundarar, the famous Saivite saint and Nayanmar, was stopped by an old man from marrying at Tirunavalur.
He showed a document indicating Sundarar was indebted to the old man for
serving him for a lifetime. Sundarar called him Pitha, a lunatic. The
village elders after analyzing the document, asked Sundarar to follow the old
man. Sundarar followed the old man and served him in his household.
It was later revealed to him that Shiva appeared as the
old man to test his servitude. Sundarar felt guilty of accusing Shiva, but
Shiva revealed to him in a divine voice that he enjoyed the verse and requested
him to sing verses starting with "Pitha". Sundarar started singing
his Thirumurai with "Pitha Piraisudi" verse in this
temple and later would go on to become one of the four most venerated saints of
Saiva literature.
General Information
The temple is called Tiru Arul Thurai – Home of Divine
Blessings. Mother Mangalambikai graces from the sanctum sanctorum
with her four hands in a standing form. The mandapam where the
panchayat took place between old man Shiva and Sundarar still exists in the
temple. Lord Vinayaka of the temple is praised as Polla Pillayar.
Greatness of Temple
The celebrated Saivite Epic Periyapuranam by Sekkizhar
begins with the story of Alala Sundarar in Mount Kailash who
came to earth at the direction of Lord Shiva assuming the name
Sundarar. The epic also ends at Mount Kailash with
the return of Sundarar after his earthly life.
Sundarar was in his wedding attire ready for the related
rituals at Tirunavalur. Suddenly, an old man, no less a person than Lord himself
intervened and claimed that Sundarar had been assigned to him as his attendant
by his forefathers and proved his case. After verification of the
signature in the document produced by the old man, the panchayat men asked
Sundarar to go along with the old man as his servant.
Sundarar in his fury, called the old man a
lunatic. The old man took Sundarar to Thiruvennainallur and disappeared
at the sanctum sanctorum. Sundarar was shocked and came to realize that the old
man who demanded his service was Lord Shiva. He cried
apologetically. Lord asked him to sing his praise. When
Sundarar said how he could without any knowledge, Lord asked him to use Pitha
(lunatic) as the first word and start singing.
The first song of Sundarar – Pitha Pirai Soodi – thus
came into being and was followed by hundreds later in various Shiva temples he
visited then. He was one responsible for the resurgence of Saivism
in south challenged by rival faiths then.
The Panchayat Mandapam where the case was argued by Lord
Shiva and Sundarar is on the north of the right side of the
entrance. The pillar on which the old man was leaning during the
panchayat proceedings is still warm. People use to collect the sand in the
mandapam and keep it in their puja rooms. There are three Lingas in
the temple, the Vijaya Linga worshipped by Arjuna seeking child boon,
Sundaralingam worshipped by Devendra and Sundaralingam worshipped by Lord
Vishnu.
Lord Muruga granted darshan to saint Arunagiriar in a dancing
form with his peacock vahanam in this temple. It is here Mother
bathed in the river to cool herself from the fury of destroying demon
Mahishasura. Mother graces with all features of Mother Mahalakshmi
with Sanga Nidhi, Padma Nidhi and also with Sri Chakra. It is here Arjuna
cleansed himself from the guilt of interfering in the privacy of his brother
Dharma with Panchali and sought child boon. A Brahmin got
relief in this temple from the sin of using a pregnant cow for sacrifice in a
yajna, by bathing in the Arul Thurai sacred spring.
All description of the reputation of Tiruvennai Nallur
would be incomplete if we fail to recollect the life of and contribution of
great philanthropist Sadayappan Vallal who was instrumental for the writing of
Ramayana in Tamil by Kavi Chakravarthy Kambar. Kamba Ramayanam came into
being with the support of Sadayappa Vallal whom Kambar has used in select
episodes for some examples.
Architecture
The exact year of building could not be ascertained from
the inscriptions, but the inscriptions found in the Visalur temple indicate
benevolent gifts to the temple from Raja
Raja Chola I (984-1015 CE) and
his successors. Based on the inscriptions, researchers point out that the
temple had gardens, which were supposed to have both floral plants and fruit
bearing trees. The temple has received gracious endowments from the Chola
queen Sembiyan Mahadevi and is believed to have established various
sculptures.
Kripapureeswarar temple is located in Thiruvennainallur, a village located 19 km (12 mi) from Villupuram on the Panruti - Thirukkoilur road.
The temple has a seven-tiered Rajagopuram, the gateway tower that pierces
the rectangular wall that houses all the shrines. The sanctum houses the image
of Kripapureeswarar in the form of Lingam, an iconic form of Shiva. There is an Ardha Mandapam
and a Mukha mandapam, pillared halls leading to the sanctum. The first precinct
has the images of Vinayakar, Murugan, Durga, Dakshinamurthy and Chandikeswara. The hall where the case was fought between the old man
and Sundarar is believed to be the Panchayat Mandapam located on the right side
of the entrance.
Culture
The temple follows Saivite tradition. The temple priests
perform the pooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis.
The temple rituals are performed four times a day: Kalasanthi at
6:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 11:00 a.m., Sayarakshai at
5:00 p.m, and Sayarakshai between 7:45 - 8:00 p.m.
Each ritual has three steps: Alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food
offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both
Kripapureeswarar and Mangalambikai. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly
rituals performed in the temple. The temple is open from 6am - 12 pm and 4 - 8:30
pm.
Aadi star day celebrated during the Tamil
month of Aaadi (June
- July) as Sundarar's birthday and Panguni Uthiram festival during Panguni
(March - April) with a float festival being the most prominent festivals. There
are other common festivals like Shivarathri, Vinayaga Chathurthi, Vijayadasami
and Karthigai Deepam celebrated in the temple.
Sundarar, an 8th-century Tamil Saivite poet, venerated
Kripapureeswarar in ten verses in Thevaram, compiled as the Seventh
Thirumurai. As the temple is revered
in Thevaram, it is classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam, one of the 276 temples that find mention in the Saiva
canon. In modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by the
Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Villages
The villages nearby Thiruvennainallur have got
importance for its Tradition and tourist resource. Thiruedayaru (T.Edayaru) is
a small village is at a distance of 6 km from Thiruvennainallur. This
village is being respected for having its monumental evidence of chola
kingdom's Lord Shiva temple. The temple here was built for Lord Marutheeswarar
(other name of Lord Shiva), is a 1,000-year-old build and having wonderful
sculptors and monuments. The Temple is another sign of Chola rulers and equally
respected with Tanjore Lord Bragadeeswarar Temple. T. Edayaru is also well
known for banking Pennar River and beautiful landscapes nearby.
T. Edayaru is considered a good example of Tamil culture
and History. One of the famous Tamil poets, Vennaivelan belongs to
Thiruvennainallur. Well-known Sivagnanabotham writer maikandar (earlier name:
suvethana perumal) born in Pennadam, but stayed here in Thiruvennainallur from
the age of three. While he was playing on the street of Thiruvennainallur he
got blessings (sivagnanam) from sage Paranjothi; from that he came to know well
about "mai" (soul, life, and god). Later he was called Maikandar.
Then he wrote the poem Sivagnanabotham. Now his book became one of the
important poems among Saiva sithaantham. Well-known writer Kamban (writer of Ramayanam)
was helped by sadaiyappa Vallal, whose birthplace is this same
Thiruvennainallur.
Temple Opening Time
The temple is open from 6.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. and from
5.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.
Prayers
Lord Shiva blesses the devotees with total mental peace,
oratory skill and excellence in education, above all his full
blessings. Polla Pillayar in the temple is not a man-made idol but a
swayambu. He taught the great Saivite Acharya Meykanda Thevar when
he was 5. Those dumb pray to him to gain speech
skill. People also light lamps with a mixture of four oils – ghee,
iluppu, coconut and gingelly oil – for wedding boon, child, job and
professional success boons.
It is the staunch belief of the devotees that their
wedding plans would be successful if they worship Nandhi the bull vehicle of
Lord Shiva with a garland & also wearing one themselves. Nandhi is revered
as the deity of Darmas-righteous law. People from other countries like Japan
come here and perform yajnas for good health.
People also conduct yajnas for relief from sins of past
birth. The Jyoti Linga worshipped by the Navagrahas the nine planets is in this
temple. If a devotee worships the sacred tree of the temple and light 5 lamps,
he/she would not be affected by the adverse aspects of any of the nine planets
either during their main or sub periods during their zodiac transits.
Devotees perform abishekam to Lord with gingelly oil,
turmeric, flour powders, milk, curd, fruit juices, sugar cane juice, honey,
green coconut, panchamirtham a mixture of five items, sandal, rose water,
sacred ash etc. They also offer vastras. Light ghee lamps. They perform abishekam
to mother with turmeric powder and offer saris and undertake feeding of
visitors.
Festivals
Aadi Swathi star day in July-August with a two day
festival for Sundarar is celebrated grandly. 10 day Panguni Uthiram with flag
hoisting and float festival in March-April; Arudra darshan-Margazhi
Tiruvadhirai in December-January; Aavani Puttu-pudding festival in
August-September; Skanda Sashti in October-November are other festivals
devotionally celebrated in the temple.
Singers
This is the temple where Saint Sundarar uttered the
first song on Lord addressing him with the first word granted by Lord Himself -
Pitha-Mad Man, promising that he would be for Him alone in the world.
This is the 14th Shiva temple in Nadunaadu region praised in Thevaram hymns.
Contact
Sri Kripapureeswarar Temple,
Tiruvennainallur-607 203,
Thirukkoilur taluk, Villupuram district
Mobile: +91-93456 60711
Connectivity
Thiruvennainallur is 7 km far from the branch road on
Cuddalore -Thirukkoilur road. Bus facilities are available to Thiruvennainallur
from Thirukkoilur. Nearest Railway Station is Villupuram & Nearest
Airport is located in Chennai.