Nellaiappar Temple – Nellaiappar Shrine
The entire temple of Nellaiappar and Kanthimathi can be
considered as two separate temples - one for Kanthimathi and another for Nellaiappar.
Similar to that of Kanthimathi temple, Nellaiappar temple also has a main
entrance and big temple tower. Once you enter the temple through this entrance,
you can find the very interesting feature of the temple - the beautiful
sculptures of Pavalakodi, Alli, Manmadan, Rathi, Kuravan, and Kurathi. Each of
the sculpture is so beautiful on its own. Each main sculpture is supplemented
with some small sculpture on both sides and slightly behind. The area where
these sculptures are located is called as Somavara Mandapam. You can also find
the big flag stand and white colored Nandi idol in this mandapam. The flag
stand is very ancient - it was set up in the year of 1155 AD.
After crossing the flag stand before entering the inner
side of the temple, you can find few more beautiful sculptures - Veerabhadra,
Arjuna, and Bheema. You can also find the sculptures of Lord Ganesha and
Muruga. There is small place named Nandi Mandapa which has the idols of
Nayanmars and Sekkizhar. There is also a small flag stand and an image of Lord
Surya. After you enter inside, you can find another master piece of the temple
- Mani Mandapam - the hall with musical pillars. This is one of the highlights
of the temple. The hall has musical pillars - each pillar has a big pillar
surrounded by 48 smaller pillars and the whole lot was constructed using a
single stone. Each pillar when tapped produces a musical sound. This musical
pillar hall was constructed by the king Nindraseer Nedumaran in the 7th century
AD.
After you cross the hall, you can enter into the main
shrine of Nellaiappar. Nellaiappar is also called as Venuvananathar in this
temple. These are the names given to Lord Shiva in this temple. As we saw in
the legend of the temple, the idol of Shiva linga in the main shrine has a cut
on the left side. You can also find the images of Lord Ganesha and Muruga in
the entrance of the main shrine. On the other side of Nellaiappar shrine, there
is a separate shrine for Lord Nellai Govindan - which is Lord Vishnu in the
reclining posture.
The inner corridor of Nellaiappar has the idols of
Dakshinamurthy, Bikshadana Murthy, and Chandikeswarar. There is a small shrine
for Shiva in the name of Tiru Moola Nathar, which is believed to be present in
the site even before Nellaiappar idol. The corridor also houses the Utsav idols
of Nellaiappar and Kanthimathi, Durga, Bhairava, Sapta Kanni, Sapta Rishis, 63 Nayanmars,
and Polla Pillayar (Ganesha).
There is a shrine which depicts Ravana lifting Kailash.
If you take the steps up, you can reach to the shrine of Lord Shiva on top of
Ravan's idol. There is Tamara Sabha located in the corridor, where the dancing
ceremony of Lord Natraja takes place in this temple. (Natraja is the dancing
form of Lord Shiva, and this temple is one of the five adobes of Lord Nataraja
- Tamira Sabha). There is a separate shrine for Lord Nataraja in the form of
Sandal idol - called as Sandana Sabapathi.
The corridor also houses the idols of Ashta Lakshmi -
Lakshmi in eight different forms and Saneeswara. There is a shrine for Chakkara
Linga (the idol of Shiva Linga with thousand eyes), Kubera Linga and Natraja.
You can also find the Sthala Vriksham - Moongil and the idol of Rama Kone who
was the main reason for this temple to be built in the corridor.
If you come out of Nellaiappar shrine, diagonally
opposite to Navagraha shrine, there is a big shrine for Lord Natraja with his
consort Sivakami. This is the Tamara Sabha Nataraja - one of the five most
important idols of Lord Nataraja. The idol is located here whereas the Tamara
Sabha - one of the five adobes is located in the inner corridor of Nellaiappar.