Papanasanathar Temple, Papanasam – The Temple
A
granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines, pierced by a
seven-tiered gateway tower. The image of Papanasanathar in the form of Lingam is housed in the sanctum. The shrine of Ulagammai
is housed in a west facing shrine. The shrine also houses the images of Vinayaka, Subramanya, Dakshinamurthy, Durga, and Navagrahas on the walls. Of the nine Kailash Kshetras –
Nava Kailash – Papanasam is the first attributed to Sun God. Hence, the place
is known as Surya Kshetra and Surya Kailash. Sthala Vriksham is Kala tree.
Outer Prakaram:
The
beautiful temple of Papanasar is huge. It is located in a very scenic
spot surrounded by trees, Tamirabarani River on the opposite
direction and with the Western Ghats hills behind. It has gigantic seven-tier
tower (Raja Gopuram). A vast pillared front side mandapa before entering into
the tower with a beautiful entrance arch having stucco images and another
mandapa facing towards the tower enhance the elegance of the site. Nandi
Mandapa is artistically beautiful. Bali peetha and the flag staff are huge. All
of them are located in a hall full of huge pillars. Ganesha and Subramanya
idols are located at the entrance. Navagraha shrine is located adjacent to the
flag staff.
Papanasar Shrine:
The main
deity of the temple is Papanasar, a small sized Shiva Linga, located in
the east facing sanctum sanctorum. The body of Lord Papanasar is wholly and
naturally made of Rudraksha who is also known as Rudraksha Nathar. The old name
of Papanasar is Vairaja Lingam. The Shivalinga here is known as Mukkila
Lingam and Lord Shiva graces his devotees as Rudraksha in the sanctum sanctorum
and also under the Mukkila tree in the corridor-prakara.
The
entrance of ardha mandapa has the bas relief images of Ganesha and
Subramanya-Valli-Devasena. In the maha mandapa, a sub shrine of the metal idols
of Nataraja and Sivakami is found. There is a separate pillared mandapa outside
the maha mandapa. The entire shrine is built as per the maada kovil
architectural style. Nandi is found facing towards Lord Shiva in this mandapa.
Inner Prakara:
The
deities that are found in the inner prakara surrounding the shrine of
Papanasar:
·
Adhikara Nandi
·
Surya
·
Aditya Linga
·
63 Nayanmars
·
Veerabhadra
·
Sapta Matas
·
Ganesha
·
Kali
·
Kanni Vinayaka
·
Dhakshinamoorthi as the
niche image
·
Madhya Linga and Nandi
·
Shiva Linga – Parvati –
Nandi – Ganesha
·
Pazhamarai Nathar (Shiva
Linga)
·
Soma Linga
·
Chandran
·
Bhairava
·
Saneeswara
Bas-relief Images:
One of
the highlights of the temple is the numerous bas relief images that are found
in the exterior wall of the main shrine. Some of the images that are found
here:
·
Mahavishnu
·
Durga
·
Bhikshatana
·
Natesha
·
Shiva with eight arms
·
Shiva with bow and arrow
·
Ganesha
·
Amman with four arms
·
Various saints in groups
of two
·
Shiva dancing with his one
leg facing upwards
·
Krishna with four arms –
holding flute, conch and disc – surrounded by cows and snake
·
Andal
·
Garuda
·
Eka Pada Murti
·
Annamalai
·
Vishnu standing and
sitting postures
·
Agastya
·
Trivikrama
·
Subramanya
·
Various saints in
different postures
·
Durga with four arms
·
Brahma
·
Amman with four arms
·
Rama – Sita – Lakshman
Punugu Sabapathy:
The west
facing shrine adjacent to the flagstaff has a hall with yali pillars,
where Nataraja is housed. Nataraja is routed in Ananda Thandava
posture and also called as Punugu Sabapathy. It is located adjacent to
Rajagopuram.
Kalyana Sundarar Shrine:
There is
a rare and important shrine located in the prakara - Kalyana Sundarar shrine.
Here, Shiva along with his consort Parvati is sitting on top of Rishabha. The
sage Agastya along with his wife Lopamudra and also Gundodhara with his consort
are found. All are stone images; usually Kalyana Sundarar is found in the form
of metal idol.
Ulagammai Shrine:
The
Goddess of the temple Ulagammai is found in the standing posture; her
shrine is more or less equal to that of Papanasar shrine in size. It has its
own ardha mandapa, maha mandapa and the pillared exterior mandapa. A separate
Nandi is located facing the Goddess. Her shrine is located adjacent to
Papanasar shrine and it also faces the eastern direction.
Pounding Stone:
There is
a pounding stone (Ural in Tamil) in front of the shrine of Mother Ulagammai.
Women use to pound turmeric and make the turmeric water for abishek to the
Mother. They consume a little of this abishek water hoping they will be married
soon and blessed with a child. Married women believe that this abishek water
consumption would also increase the longevity of their Mangal Sutras.
Sculptures:
Similar
to the other ancient temples in Thirunelveli region, this temple also has big
sculptures in the pillars such as Yazhis, the mythological animal in different
postures, Arjuna, Karna, a soldier, a king with folded hands, etc. There are
beautiful and intrinsic sculptures of many Rishis, Kali, Urthuva Thandava,
Bitchadanar, Nirtha Ganapathy, Thiripura Samharam, Perumal, Ekapathamoorthy,
Brahmma, Subramanyar and Devi in between Sangamalai.
Theerthams:
The
temple tank in the temple is called Papanasa Theertham, while two other tanks
namely Agasthya Theertham, Tamirabarani River, Veda Theertham, Bhairava
Theertham and Kalyani Theertham are also associated with the temple.