Uthamar Temple, Manachanallur – The Temple
The
temple is believed to have been built by the Medieval
Cholas of the late 8th
century AD, with later contributions from Vijayanagar kings and Madurai
Nayaks. During the war
between British and French in 1751, the temple acted as an infantry Camp for
both the troops. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its
shrines. The temples have images and separate shrines for Purushottamar,
Bikshadanar, Brahma and their consorts Poornavalli, Soundarya Parvathi / Vadivudaiya Nayagi and Saraswathi.
This is
one of the few historical Hindu temples in the world, where the Hindu Trimurti
are worshipped with their consorts in six separate shrines within the same
temple complex. The image of Vishnu in the form of Purushottamar is in
reclining posture with discus in one hand, in the central shrine facing the
east. The roof or vimana of the central shrine is called Udhyoga Vimana.
There are two shrines located to the south east, each housing the image of
Poornavalli and Mahalakshmi. Mother Poornavalli promising food in plenty graces
from a shrine near Mother Mahalakshmi. A rare darshan of two mothers
awaits the devotee here.
The
shrine of Shiva in the form of Bhishadanar is located in the sanctum exactly
behind the one of Purushottamar. The image of Bhishadanar in the form of lingam (an iconic form of Shiva) is housed in the shrine.
He also graces as Bhikshatana in the ghoshta – wall around the sanctum and also
as procession deity. Lord Shiva as Bhikshandar is facing west
and Goddess Soundarya Parvathi / Vadivudaiya Nayaki facing south.
The
granite images of the deities Ganesha (son of Shiva and god of wisdom), Murugan (son of Shiva and god of war), Nandi (the bull and vehicle of Shiva) and Navagraha (nine planetary deities) are located in the hall
leading to the sanctum. As in other Shiva temples of Tamilnadu, the first
precinct or the walls around the sanctum of Bikshadanar has images of Dakshinamurthy (Shiva as the Teacher), Durga (warrior-goddess) and Chandikeswarar (a saint and devotee of Shiva).
The
shrines of Brahma and his consort Saraswati are located in the south west
corner of the temple complex. Lord Brahma and Goddess Saraswathi are
facing south. Mother Gnana Saraswathi, without Veena but with palm leaves and
Japa Mala in her hands graces from a shrine left of Lord Brahmma. Devotees
worship Lord Brahmma with curd rice and Aathi leaves and Mother Saraswathi with
white clothes for longevity and achievement in education. Special pujas are
performed to Lord Brahmma on Jupiter transition day – Guru Peyarchi.
In the
northeast, Vishnu Guru Varadharaja Perumal, Brahma Guru Lord Brahma and
Knowledge Lord Goddess Saraswathi are present in separate shrines facing
south. Apart from this, Natarajar, Subramaniyar, Saneeswarar, Andal,
Lakshmi Narayanar, Ramar, and Bhama Rukmini samedha Venugopala are present in
separate shrines. There is a separate Hanuman in front of the Vishnu
sannidhi who is very powerful in granting wishes. He is called as Jayaveera
Anjaneyar with his left leg in front. Theertham of this Temple are Kadamba
Theertham, Ayyan Theertham, Prahaladha Theertham and Brahma Theertham. Sthala
Vriksham is Kadambam Tree.
It is
also a Guru Parihara Sthalam. There are seven different Gurus are appearing at
this temple. The Sapthaguru or seven forms of Guru at this temple are identified with the other
images. The seven forms are Sadasiva Guru representing Bhikshatana, Brahma
representing Brahma Guru, Soundarya Parvathy representing Sakthi Guru, Brihaspathi
representing Deva Guru, Varadaraja Perumal representing Vishnu Guru,
Subramanyar representing Gnana Guru and Sukracharya representing Asura Guru. As
per the Tamil literature, Sri Purushothaman Perumal Temple is said to be
glorified in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham.
