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Saturday, January 9, 2016

Mahalingeswarar Temple, Thiruvidaimarudur – Temple Significance

Mahalingeswarar Temple, Thiruvidaimarudur – Temple Significance
Generally in all Shiva temples, the main deity will have a specific name but here it is called Mahalingam (Big lingam) since legend says that Lord Shiva worshipped Himself here in the process of teaching and demonstrating the Saivite worship procedures to the seven great sages.
The Shiva Lingam here is a swayambu (self manifested) facing east. This is referred to as Madhyarjunam Kshetram and is said to be on par with Varanasi (Kasi). The main deity is called Mahalingeswarar or Madhyarjunar. The pooja is first performed to Mahalingaswamy in this temple and then only to Vinayakar. Here Vinayagar Himself is worshipping Shiva.
Once when Parvathi Devi playfully blind folded Shiva, the whole universe was in total darkness and deep trouble but Thiruvidaimarudur alone was illuminating as a fire with the Jyothirmaya Sri Mahalinga Swamy
This huge temple, in a sprawling campus of 20 acres, bejeweled with 7 lofty towers, 7 Praharams and many ornate mandapams is one of the greatest Saivite shrines in Tamilnadu
The Ambal Shrine is one of the Sakthi Peetams and is on the right side of the Swami shrine that is on southern side as a Kalyana Kolam – a rare one. Chakra Maha Meru is installed here.
Uma, Vinayaka Muruga, Thirumal, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kaali (Deities); Vashista, Agasthya, Pattinathar, Badragiriyaar, Romarishi, Kapila, Markandeya rishi, (Saints); Sivavakiya (Siddhar); Varagunadeva, Sukeerthi, Veerasena, Chitrakeerthi, Uvanasuvan, Maandada, Vasuman., Anjatthuvasan (Kings); Nandagan (Brahmin); Vedas, Airawatha (Elephant vehicle of Indra) and others were bestowed with grace by the Lord.
Lord Shiva blessed Markandeya by appearing before him in the form of Ardhanareeswara. The saints Appar, Sundarar, Manickavasakar and Sambandar visited and praised the Lord. Also Pattinathar and Karuvoor Thevar Sung Pasurams about the Deity.
Usually, a temple will have a Linga in the sanctum and Parivara Devatas in the temple around. Such is the grandeur and glory of this temple that it is considered that some of the grand temples by themselves in the vicinity constitute the parivara Devata shrines of this temple. For instance, this temple is flanked by:
·        Tiruvalanchuzhi with its grand temple dedicated to Vinayaka,
·        Swamimalai with its revered shrine to Subramanya,
·        Thiruvarur the greatest of the Vitanka Stalams with Somaskander,
·        Tiruvavaduthurai with its shrine to Nandikeswarar,
·        Sirkazhi with its shrine dedicated to Bhairavar,
·        Tirucheingalur (Thiruvoypadi) with its shrine to Chandikeswarar,
·        Suryanar koil with shrines to the nine celestial bodies Navagrahas
·        Alangudi known for its Dakshinamurti
·        Thirukkadaiyur for Ambal
·        Thirunallar for Saneeswaran
·        Patteeswaram for Durgai and
·        Chidambaram for Natarajar shrine respectively,
There are 3 temples having Marudha tree (anjanam) as their Sthala Vriksham. They are: Mallikarjuna (Thalai-top) at Srisailam, Andhra; Madhyarjunam (Idai-middle) at Thiru-Idai-Marudur (here) and Sputarjuna (kadai-end) at Thiruppudaimarudur Ambasamudram (Thirunelveli District). This place is named as Idaimaruthur as it is in between Srisailam and Ambasamudram. It is also called Shenbagaranya, Saktipura, Tapovanam, Muktipura etc. One of 275 Thevara Paadal Petra Sthalams
The temple has three famous Praharams: (i) Aswamedha pradhakshina praharam – Going around this will give the effect of doing Aswamedha yaga. This should be at least half a KM and is quite divine and popular here like Thiruvannamalai Girivalam. Those in ill health believed to have been caused by evil spirits, are said to find relief through prayers offered in this shrine and through circumambulation of this outermost prakaram. (ii) Kodumudi praharam – Going around this will give the effect of going to Kailash. (iii) Pranava praharam – Going around this will give Moksha.

Sri Sridhara Iyyaval of Thiruvisainallur, a great scholar of Sanskrit of 17th century, got into Jeeva Samadhi in the form of Jyothi Swaroopa at the sanctum of this temple.