Pages

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Annamalaiyar Temple – Fifth Prakaram – Kambatthu Ilayanar Shrine

Annamalaiyar Temple – Fifth Prakaram – Kambatthu Ilayanar Shrine
Kambam means pillar and Ilayanar refers to Muruga. According to a legend, Muruga appeared in a pillar in response to a song of saint Arunagirinathar. During that time Thiruvannamalai was ruled by Pravuda Devaraya Maharaja.

Opposite the 1000 pillar mandapam on the bank of the Sivagangai Teertham there is a Shrine built by Vena Odeyan. This shrine is called Kambatthu Ilayanar and the figure of Lord Subramanya is carved on its north-eastern pillar. 

This shrine has seven steps leading upwards into the inner chambers of the Lord Muruga Temple. At the top there is statue of Lord Muruga seated on his Peacock.

This Shrine was probably built in 1421 A.D., by Pravuda Deva Raya or Deva Raya II of Vijayanagar to commemorate the vision King Deva Raya had of Lord Subramanya emerging out of the pillar (which occurred when Saint Arunagirinathar sang in praise of Subramanya at that place). It is believed that Saint Arunagirinathar was the inspiration for this construction. On the walls inside the mandapam is transcribed the Saint’s famous Kandar Anubhuti. 

Legends:
In the court of King Devaraya there was a famous scholar, Sambandan, who had a tendency to boast both about his spiritual attainments and his religious knowledge. When Sambandan, who was a favourite to the King, heard of the reception accorded Arunagirinathar he felt that his position in court to be threatened. 

His jealousy motivated him to hatch a plot against Arunagirinathar which he hoped would belittle his rival in the eyes of the King. Sambandan’s tapas had resulted in winning a boon from the Goddess Kali, his Ishta Devata (chosen deity). The boon was that for a period of twelve years she would appear before him whenever he summoned her. Knowing that he could call on Kali to appear at any time, Sambandan proposed to the King that he and Arunagirinathar should have a competition in which each would try to make their chosen deity manifest in a form that would be visible to everyone. The King agreed to the contest and also that the loser of the competition should leave the Kingdom and never return. 

The competition was held in publically at Arunachaleswarar Temple. Sambandan, full of confidence, undertook to manifest his God first. To the accompaniment of great pomp and ceremony, he called on Goddess Kali to appear, but for some reason she refused to manifest. In some versions of the story it is said that the twelve-year period of the boon had expired the previous day, so she was no longer under any obligation to appear. Since Sambandan was still able to communicate with her, even though he could not make her appear, he got her promise that she would hold Muruga tightly in her arms so that He would be unable to manifest when Arunagirinathar called on him.
  
Arunagirinathar began his attempt by singing a song. After praising Muruga at length in verse form, he summoned him to appear. As Muruga was being restrained by his mother, Kali, Arunagirinathar devised a strategy to counter Kali’s influence. He thus sang a song that was so entrancing; Kali unconsciously began to loosen her grip on her son. When Arunagirinathar sensed that this was happening, he sang another song to summon Lord Muruga’s vahana (the peacock) to appear and dance before Muruga and Kali. The peacock promptly appeared and danced in such an enticing way, Kali momentarily forgot to hold on tightly to Muruga. At this crucial moment Muruga leapt out of her arms, mounted his peacock and entered the physical world through one of the pillars of a mandapam in the Arunachaleswarar Temple. 

Legend has it that the Kambatthu Ilayanar Sannathi was built around the pillar to commemorate the great event. The manifestation of Lord Muruga was so dazzling; the light he emanated caused Pravuda Devaraya, the King, to lose his eyesight.  

Sambandan was so angry that he hatched another scheme. By the glorious sight of Lord Muruga, the king lost his eye sight. Sambandan requested the king to send Arunagiri to Svargaloka and bring back a Parijata flower; a few drops of the nectar from the flower squeezed in to his eyes could resume his sight. Arunagirinathar persuaded by the king and in order to go to Svargaloka, had to enter in to the body of a parrot which had recently expired. He moved his life force into the body of the parrot and left his own body quietly in the gopura and then proceeded to collect the Parijata flower, Sambandan showing the lifeless body to the king announced that Arunagirinathar was dead and asked the king’s permission to cremate it according to custom.

When Arunagirinathar returned with the flower he found that his body had been burnt and he no longer had human body. Realizing that he had been tricked, Pravuda Deva Raya Maharaja was grief stricken knowing that it would be impossible for the saint to resume human form again. Arunagirinathar untroubled by these events, rested on the gopuram in the form of a parrot, composed his famous Kandar Anubhuti as well as other famous hymns.

Architecture:
The shrine of Kambatthu Ilayanar had originally three chambers – a square garbhagriha, a rectangular ardhamandapa and a square mukha mandapa. A rectangular hall and a front piece supported by two pillars at the outside were added to the main structure. There was a gap between these two structures, but it was joined later. The adhishtana of garbagraha, ardhamandapa and mukha mandapa exhibit the following parts from the base: upana, padmam, kanta, pattiyal, kanta and vedhi while the latter structure has kapota between pattials and vedhi. The exterior walls of the garbhagraha have one niche on each side. The other parts have two niches on either side.

The front mandapa was exceptionally beautiful with a very fine sculpture over the entrance which emulates the history of the temple. On the extreme left the figures of Narada, Arunagirinathar, Pravudadadeva Maharaja; on the right the sculptured figures of Sambandan and the last figure is of Thirububar on horse face. On the walls of this chamber, there are pictures of Murugan of Tiruparankundram, Thiruchendur, Tiruvavinankudi, Swamimalai, Tiruthani, Alakarkoil and the court of Pravudadadeva Maharaja and Kambatthu Ilayanar. In the mukha mandapa there is a large Shatkonam symbol of Muruga on the south wall. On the right was a big photograph of Seshadri Swamigal, who came to Thiruvannamalai in his early age and lived there for over forty years. He used to sit and meditate in this shrine. In the Cella, there is the sculpture of Kambatthu Ilayanar.

In the first chamber the two walls to the left and right have a total of eight pictures.

Left Wall: 
1.        Tiruparankundram Temple:  Lord Muruga’s marriage to Deivanai
2.   Thiruchendur Muruga:  Muruga, Chandran, Sugah Prama Rishi (parrot faced) Veerabahu and Agastya Munivar. Centre Thiruchendur Muruga followed by Mahavishnu, Devendra, Brahma and Narada.
3.  Tiruvavinankudi; Palani Muruga. Muruga with Lakshmi, Kamadhenu, Bhudevi, Suriya and Agni.
4.        Swamimalai Temple: Muruga giving Upadesa to Siva
Right Wall:
1.        Tiruthani Temple:  Muruga with Valli and Deivanai
2.        Alagar Temple near Madurai. Muruga with Valli and Deivanai
3.        Muruga anointing Arunagirinathar
4.  Pravuda Deva Raya’s court showing contest between Sambandan and Arunagirinathar
In the second chamber there is a symbol of Lord Muruga on the left wall and a painting of Sri Seshadri Swamigal.