Sathyamurthy Perumal Temple, Thirumayyam, Pudukottai
Sri Sathyamurthy Temple is an ancient temple. It is a
rock cut temple (Kudavarai Kovil) where Lord Shiva temple is also present
adjacent to it. This temple is situated just 21 kms from Pudukottai, place
called Thirumayyam named after Lord Tiru Mayyar. It is one of the magnificient temples
among the 108 Divya desas. The presiding deity of this temple is Lord Sathyamurthy
with his wives standing on a rock. The other Sanctum found here is Lord
Vishnu's sculpture in sleeping position which is called "Aari Thuyil"
in Tamil. This position represents the sense of knowing the present situation. Along
with the beauty of Fort, both Lord Shiva temple and Lord Vishnu temple appears
in the same place which is the best tourist attraction.
Sathyamurthy Perumal
Temple lies inside the massive Thirumayyam Fort near Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu
next door to the Sathyagiriswarar temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. The presiding
deity is Sathyagiri Nathan or Sathyamurthy Perumal. This swayambu Moorthy holds
a Prayoga chakra and Shanku in his hands. The temple is legendary because the
idol of Thirumeyyar or Lord Vishnu in a sleeping posture is possibly one of the
biggest in the whole of India. The Anantasayi (Vishnu in a reclining pose) is
housed in a natural cave which was altered into a shrine.
Sathyagirinathan Perumal Temple is most definitely worth
a visit because it’s a lovely temple and the many stone sculptures around are
quite striking. The main statue of the Lord stands tall at 7 feet on a rock,
alongside his wives. The temple has many sannidhis with superbly sculpted
idols.
The Siva temple is older than the Perumal temple and one
would find the Lord inside the cave known here as Satyagirishwar. The Perumal
temple and Siva temple were constructed by Pallavas to foster harmony among Shaivites
and Vaishnavites. Amman here is known as Venuvanesvari, there are also shrines for Ganesha and Bhairavar. There is no circumambulation
path for Shiva temple and it is common one for Siva and Perumal temple put
together.
These temples are supposed to be more than 1000 years old. These temples are protected and controlled by Archaeological Survey of India. The
main Sannidhi shows Vaikunta katchi engraved on the wall. Thirumeyyar Perumal
is on Adisesha as Pallikonda Perumal - much bigger than the Sriranga Perumal himself.
The Perumal is surrounded by Chitragupta, Dharmaraja, and Brahma from his
navel, Devas, Rishis and Asuras. Bhooma Devi is at the Lord's feet.
The name of the Thayar is Ujjeevana Thayar and is in a
separate Sannidhi. Other Sannidhis include those of Chakrathaazhwar, Lakshmi
Narasimhar, Andal, Krishnar, Sathyamurthy Perumal, Garuda, Viswaksenar, Ramar
and Anjaneyar. The temple is open from 6.30 am - 12.30 pm and from 4.30 pm to
8.15 pm. Thailakappu is performed on the presiding deity once in 12 years.
Greatness of Temple
Lord Perumal praised as Sathyamurthy Perumal graces the
devotees from the sanctum sanctorum under the Somachandra Vimana, holding his
discus and conch in standing posture. The place is praised as Sathya
Kshetram after the name of Lord Perumal. Lord Tiru Meyyar after
whose name the place is named as Thirumayyam is in his reclining posture on the
Adisesha serpent bed graces from another shrine.
It is said that this reclining Perumal is the biggest
in India. His eyes are half closed. Perumal is surrounded
by Sages and Devas. Lord Brahmma appears from His naval
chord. Mother Mahalakshmi graces devotees from Lord’s chest. Every
sculpture is as beautiful as in Mamallapuram infusing Bhakti and love of
art. Lord granted darshan to Sage Sathya Maharshi in this
temple. This is a seventh century temple.
Legends
While Lord was in his Yoga Nidhra on Adisesha –
pretending to be asleep - two demons Madhu and Kaidaba came there to abduct
Mother Mahalakshmi and Mother Bhoodevi. Afraid of them Mahalakshmi
hide in Lord’s chest and Bhoodevi at his feet. Unwilling to disturb the
sleep of Perumal, Adisesha spit his venom from his tongues and drove away the
demons. Adisesha was afraid that he acted without the permission of
Lord. Lord said that he did only good and appreciated his
action. To prove this event, Adisesha appears in a shrinking
posture, says the Sthala Purana – local history.
Fascinatingly, the Pallavas sought to harmonize the
relationship between Saivism and Vaishnavism. In keeping with this goal, they
built the Sathyagirinathan Perumal Temple and Sathyagirishwarar Temple inside a
single compound wall. The temples are hewn from a single rock and Girivalam
(going around the hill) can be achieved only by covering both the temples.
General Information
·
This is one of the
celebrated 108 Divya Desam of Perumal
·
The place is praised as
Sathya Kshetram after the name of Lord Perumal
·
It is said that this
reclining Perumal is the biggest in India.
·
Sri Sathyamurthy Perumal
is the Moolavar of the temple.
·
Azhagiya Meyyar is the
Urchavar and Ujjeevana Thayar is the Amman.
·
Banyan tree is the Sthala
Vruksha of the temple.
·
Sathya Pushkarani is the
Sthala Theertham.
·
Thirumangai Azhwar has
sung about this temple.
·
Devotees cannot
circumambulate a single temple but only jointly.
Architecture
Satyamurti Perumal Temple is a cave temple
dedicated to Vishnu who is present in his Anantashayana (reclining)
form. This colossus image is about 9 meters long covering the whole area of the
cave. Vishnu is shown recumbent of Adi-Sesa (mythological
serpent) coil facing south with his head in west and legs stretched out to east.
He is surrounded by many deities. Brahma, seated on a lotus, emerges out
of his naval.
Lakshmi is shown seated near his chest
while Bhu-devi is near his feat. Near Brahma are
shown Sapta-rishis (seven saints). Garuda is shown standing
behind Sesa. Two demons, Madhu and Kaitabha, are standing near
his feet ready to attack him. Vishnu’s weapons Sudarshana
Chakra (discus), Panchajanya
Shankha (conch), Nandaka (sword) and Kaumodaki (club)
are shown flying towards Madhu and Kaitabha to defend the
attack. Adi-Sesa spits fire from his hoods to scare the demons. The
fire blocks moving towards the demons are very nicely carved on the back wall.
As the inscription of Muttaraiyar lady talks
about renovation which suggests that the cave was already in existence. This
inscription is dated to second half of eight century. If a temple needs a
renovation then it could be estimated that the temple is at least 100 years
old. Hence this cave would have been excavated in middle of sixth century. This
is well before the time when the Pallava king Mahendravarman
I(580-629 CE) started with his cave excavations at Mandagapattu which is the first such specimen ever tried
in Tamilnadu.
Originally excavated as an open cave, it was fitted with
a mandapa in a span of 100-120 years and thus started the journey of
an amazing temple. Thirumangai Alvar referred it
as Meyyamalaiyan in his hymns. After the donative records of
eight century, the next available inscription is of 12th century CE hence
history of about 400 years is missing.
Later inscriptions talk about few edifices like temple
tank etc which were not talked in the earlier inscriptions. Hence these could
be the constructions done during those 400 years. The present form of the
temple was taken during Vijayanagara rule when they constructed
various separate shrines and gopurams. There is a mandapa constructed
in front of the original cave with its extended small mandapa. On left of this
large mandapa is a separate shrine
for Vishnu as Satyamurti. Near this shrine are shrines for Viswaksenar and Rama.
There are many other small shrines all around the compound.
The current name of the temple, Satyamurti Perumal
Temple, is not how it was called in earlier days. The lord is referred
as Pallikontarulina Alvar and Alakiyameyyar in earlier
inscriptions. The name Satyamurti might have been popular after it
was referred by Thirumangai
Alvar as Thiru-meyyamalaiyalan which translates to ‘The Lord of
Truth’ which is same as the translation
of Sanskrit word Satyamurti. It is very probable that this
name, Satyamurti, came into existence during
the Vijayanagara rule.
Inscriptions
There are many inscriptions in and around this temple
complex. Few of these are detailed below:
No 402 of the Annual Report on Epigraphy/No 13 of the
Inscriptions of the Pudukkottai State – Found on a parapet slab in the
west prakara (complex boundary) of the central shrine of Satyamurti – Written
in 11 lines in Tamil – dated about second half of the eighth century CE –
Records a renovation, probably of the temple, by a lady named Perumbidugu
Perundevi who was the mother of Videlvidugu Vilupperadiaraisan alias Sattan
Maran and the gift of lands in Andakuddi, including the cultivation and
proprietorship rights to the central shrine (unnaligaippuram) of the temple.
No 406 of the Annual Report on Epigraphy 1906 –
Found on the west wall of the Sathyanarayana Perumal temple – Written in Tamil
but stones are not in original order of the inscription – dated to 22nd regnal
year of Kulasekaradeva Pandya – Records a gift of land
No 405 of the Annual Report on Epigraphy, 1906 –
Found on west wall of the Sathyanarayana Perumal temple – Written in Tamil but
stones are not in original order of the inscription – dated in 26th regnal year
of Kulasekaradeva Pandya – Registers gift of land mentioning the name of the
temple as Kandi deva Vinnagar Emberuman.
Poojas
In this temple six kala Poojas are going.
·
Vishvaruba Pooja
·
Sirukala Shanthi Pooja
·
Kala Shanthi Pooja
·
Uchi Kaala Pooja
·
Sayarakshai
·
Artha Jamam Pooja
Festivals
10 day Vaikasi Poornima car festival in May-June; 10 day
Aadi Pooram festival in July-August; Aavani Krishna Jayanthi in
August-September; Tamil and English New year days, Deepavali, Pongal are the
festivals celebrated in the temple drawing huge crowds.
·
Thailakappu is performed
once in 12 years for the presiding deity.
·
Krishnajayanthi, Aadi Pooram
are celebrated.
· Vaikasi Pournami is a
special celebration. At that time Car festival (Ther Thiruvizha) take place.
· Diwali, Thai Pongal and
both Tamil & English New year are celebrated.
Offerings
Devotees perform Thirumanjanam to Thayar, offer vastras,
bangles and dolls. To Perumal they offer butter and vastras, Tulsi garlands and
light lamps. The nivedhana offered to Perumal is distributed to the devotees
coming to the temple. Some arrange feeding – Annadhana.
Contact
Sri Sathyamurthy Perumal Temple,
Thirumayyam, Pudukottai district - 622507
Phone: +91-4322 -221084
Mobile: 99407 66340
Timings: 6:00 - 11:00 am
and 5:00 - 8:00 pm.
Connectivity
By Road: Buses are
available from various parts of Tamilnadu to Pudukottai (Thirumayyam).
By
Train: Nearest railway station located at Pudukottai
(20Km) and Karaikudi.
By Air: Nearest airport located
at Trichy (50 Km) and Madurai (115Km).