Goddess Saraswathi Temple, Koothanur – The Temple
Ottakkoothar and his grandson Ovathakoothar established
the beautiful temple for Goddess Maha Saraswathi. Goddess Saraswathi, in a
penance performing posture, confers her blessings on this world as the prime
deity, only in this temple. A beautiful three eyed form, with one leg folded in
a yogasana pattern, is a feast for the eyes. Another special feature is that
there is no veena in Ambal’s hands in the prime deity.
She is a seated on a white lotus, attired in white silk.
She symbolizes her inherent presence in studies, having a palm script in her
hands. The other hand has the ‘Chinmudra’; blessing devotees. Another hand has
the ‘Akshamala’, signifying penance. The fourth palm has the nectar pot, conferring
happiness and spiritual bliss to devotees. With her benevolent smile and eyes,
she has her third eye giving us the highest form of spiritual knowledge. In
short she gives all who worship her absolute bliss while giving us education,
knowledge, intelligence and welfare.
The temple has shrines dedicated to Valampuri Vinayakar,
Narthana Vinayakar, Lord Brahma, Lord Nagaraja, and Bala Dhandayuthapani (Lord
Muruga). The Vinayaka idol in this temple is assumed to be natural with rare
divinity.
The swan, Sarswathi’s vehicle, is pure white in color.
It has the unique characteristic of absorbing only milk while leaving any water
that is mixed in it. This is symbolic of discernment that is needed to take in
only the essence and goodness of information while discarding the unwanted
elements.
The uniqueness of the Koothanur temple is that there are
very few temples in India dedicated to Saraswathi, the Goddess of Learning. She
is represented along with other deities in most temples, but a shrine dedicated
to her is very rare.