Viswanathar Temple (Navagraha Temple), Pazhur, Trichy
Viswanathar Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to
Lord Shiva located at Pazhur Village in Trichy District of Tamilnadu. The temple is also called as Navagraha Temple or
Navagraha Sthalam in this region. People from this village and the nearby
places visit Navagraha of this temple, as it is believed that Navagrahas of
this temple are very powerful. However, this temple is actually a Shiva temple.
Presiding deity is called as Vishwanathar and Mother is called as Visalakshi.
History
This temple
was built by an Pandian Emperor. The speciality about this is, Trichy was the
capital of Chola Kingdom. And Hostility existed between Cholas and Pandians forever.
Still it’s a mystery that how the Pandyan temple was built in Chola’s place. In
the temple wall Pandian’s have established their sign. The fish sign in the
wall denoting that the temple was built by Pandian Emperor. Another mystery in
this temple is, the main god is Lord Shiva but the temple was built by Sri
Vaishnavas who worship only lord Vishnu.
The
Temple
The
small temple has very small size Linga as the presiding deity. Presiding deity
is called as Vishwanathar. The sanctum is east facing. The south facing shrine
enshrines a small idol of the Goddess, Vishalakshi. The temple also has
other sub-shrines such as Ganesha, Dhakshinamoorthi, Subramanya-Valli-Devasena
and Chandikeswara. The idols of Surya, Bhairava and Saneeswarar are also found
in the temple.
Navagraha
idols were installed in 1932 CE, as per the instructions from Kanchi Maha
Swamigal. All Grahas are found with their respective consorts. Their vahanas
are found as the relief images below them. Twelve Rasis are installed below
Navagrahas. Thus, the Navagrahas in this temple are unique. All the Navagraha
god has weapon in their hand. Each Navagraha god has its own Chakra encrypted
in the sculpture.
The
temple is probably a later Pandya period temple. It is not maintained properly.
Layers of oil is found on the floor all over the temple, thanks to the
religious belief of the devotees. The old temple is completely renovated with
concrete. There is nothing found in this temple for those who love heritage,
history or sculptures.
Connectivity
The
Temple is located at about 1.5 Kms from Allur, 350 meters from Pazhur Bus Stop,
1.5 Kms from Allur Bus Stop, 2 Kms from Mekkudi Railway Station, 1.6 Kms from Mutharasanallur,
5 Kms from Jeeyapuram, 28 Kms from Kulithalai, 14 Kms from Vayalur, 9 Kms from Woraiyur,
13 Kms from Srirangam, 16 Kms from Thiruvanaikoil, 15 Kms from Trichy, 68 Kms
from Karur, 13 Kms from Trichy Railway Station, 8 Kms from Chatiram Bus
Station, 12 Kms from Trichy Central Bus Stand and 20 Kms from Trichy Airport.
This
temple is in Trichy – Karur Road after Mutharasanallur. There is an arch
announcing the way to the temple at about 1.5 kms from Mutharasanallur. There
is also a small village road from Mutharasanallur connecting Pazhur without
crossing over the railway line. Nearest Railway Station is located at Mekkudi
and Nearest Airport is located at Trichy.
