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Saturday, February 3, 2018

Margabandheeshwarar Temple, Virinchipuram – The Temple

Margabandheeshwarar Temple, Virinchipuram – The Temple
This beautiful temple is 1300 years old and is known for its impressive Rajagopurams and sculptures. ‘Virinchipuram Madhil Azhahu’ is a popular saying. There are miniature Rajagopurams on the temple wall itself on two sides. If a small Rajagopuram itself can be built on the temple wall, the grandeur of the temple wall can be imagined. Also, this has a sacred significance that the Siddhars, Sages and Celestial Gods are believed to come here for worship during the nights through these exclusive entrances for them where the normal humans cannot enter.





The Temple is having 7-tiered east facing 110 feet high Rajagopuram. There are 5 praharams in the temple. The entrance door is almost 18 feet high made of wood. The temple walls, the Rajagopuram and the big Mada streets all add up to a beautiful view and set the tone for what is in store inside. The first mandapam after entering the houses the Dwajasthambam, Bali peetam and Nandhi.





As a rare sight, there are two Dwajasthambams in this temple, one for the main shrine and another, exclusive for the Amman shrine as well. Presiding Deity is called as Margabandheeswarar / Vazhi Thunai Nathar and is facing east. The presiding deity is a Swayambumurthy in a leaning form. There is a dance hall in the front of the sanctum and two big & beautiful Dwarabalakars at the entrance. Margabandheeshwarar is present as a big Swayambu lingam with the top portion tilted a bit towards accepting the Abhishekam from Lord Brahma, as a small boy.





Rays of Sun fall on the presiding deity during the Panguni month (March-April). The importance of the temple lies in the Rudraksha roof above the Sanctum sanctorum. The main Vimanam is in Gaja Prashta Vimana structure. Ganapathy, Dakshinamurthy, Vaasudeva Perumal in the back with Brahma and Durgai are the Koshta Idols located on the walls of the sanctum. Mother is called as Maragathambigai / Maragathavalli and is facing east.





The Ambal shrine also has an inner praharam. The sanctum to the Goddess is a separate shrine to the right of the Siva shrine, but within the same temple. Mother is a small four-armed idol in standing posture. Amman Shrine can be reached from the northern side of middle praharam. The Ambal sannidhi is a self-contained structure with its own dwaja sthambam and Balipeedam.





At right angles to the sanctum to Siva are shrines to Nataraja - a tall bronze, and Bhikshatana, an impressively painted, probably a stucco idol. The latter sanctum is a riot of art work, stunningly beautiful as befitting the deity housed there. The outer praharam houses a small Sakthi Mandapam and a 14 pillar mandapam. Adjacent to them is the Simha theertha well with a lion faced sculpture entrance and footsteps inside. There are very big Mandapams on the three corners of the outer praharam – two Kalyana Mandapams at two corners and another mandapam at the third corner.





All the Mandapams have enormous pillars and sculptures that have been intrinsically and artistically carved out. You can find the various forms of Shakthi, Shiva, Vishnu and other Gods in the form of beautiful sculptures in the pillars of these mandaps. Narasimha coming out of pillar, Narasimha killing Hiranya, Vishnu with musical instruments, and other such rare sculptures are carved in these mandaps.





1008 Maha Linga shrine is in the north-west corner of the Temple. 1008 small lingams are enshrined in a single Maha lingam. There is a 108 Mahalinga shrine located in the north-east corner in the middle praharam. By the side of the 1008 Mahalinga shrine, the 2nd Kalyana mandapam is present in the corner. Near the Kalyana Mandapam is present a stone called ‘Kaalam Kaatum Kal’ (stone indicating the time). Once this stone might have been used for knowing the time of the day with its shadow but now it has lost all its markings and stands as a mute testimony of the past.




There is long Alankara mandapam running through the entire northern praharam wall. Like the Southern Praharam, there is a miniature Rajagopuram on the Northern side temple wall also. In the north-west corner of the middle prakaram, is present a group of lingams called Yuga lingams along with Pancha Muga Sadhasiva lingam and Karaikkal Ammaiyar idols. On entering to the left in the entrance praharam is the idol of Lord Ganesha. The idol is huge about 10 feet. To the right is the idol of Lord Muruga. The specialty in this temple is all the idols are big.





63 Nayanmars Idols and Panchalingam along with goddess Lakshmi and Saraswathy are present in the prakaram outside the sanctum. An idol of late 19th/early 20th century vintage is a delightfully large Ganesa, housed in the entrance pavilion. A stone inscription by its side has it that it was installed by Parvathi Ammal, the wife of Arcot overseer Munisami Maistry, in memory/as per the wishes of her sister Pappathi Ammal. The stone is dated to the month of Karthikai in Vikriti year but with no numbers given.




Shrines for Lord Ganesha, Lord Muruga, Lord Nataraja, Navagraha, Bairavar and there is also a separate idol of God Soorya along with Sthala Linga in the middle prakaram. Kala Bhairava Shrine can be seen in the outermost prakaram. The Kala Bhairavar sannidhi is seen behind the Nandi in the outer praharam. The Selva Vinayagar Shrine is located behind the Nandi and dwaja sthambam and in the entrance to the second praharam. Bhikshandar sannidhi in the second praharam look at the wonderful art work. A tunnel found here is believed to run till the Jalakandeswarar Temple in Vellore.





Sthala Vriksham is Palm Tree and is in the inner corridor – prakara of the temple. This has a peculiar character of giving the fruits in black in a year and white the following year. Theertham associated with this Temple are Simha Theertham, Sooli Theertham and Brahma Theertham. Another feature here is the Simha Theertham, a small square cut stone well accessed by a flight of steps in the belly of a large stucco lion. Every Karthigai (Tamil calendar month) last Saturdays, thousands of female devotees take bath in this tank and sleep in the temple mandaps with wet clothes. It is believed that if God appears in their dreams, their wish come true.