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.