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Friday, September 21, 2018

Sivagurunathaswamy Temple, Sivapuram – The Temple

Sivagurunathaswamy Temple, Sivapuram – The Temple
This east facing temple has two corridors and its main tower (Rajagopuram) has 5-tiers. The present temple in the village dates back to the Later Chola period and covers an area of 1.3 acres (5,300 m2). This is one of the temples noted for Angapradakshinam (rolling physically around the temple). There is no flag post (Dwajasthambam) here. The inner praharam has a 3-tiered Gopura entrance.

Presiding Deity is called as Sivagurunathaswamy / Sivapureeswarar / Brahmapureeswarar / Sivapuranathar. Lord Shiva is a Swayambumurthy in the temple and he is facing east. It is believed that Lord Suryan (Sun) worships Lord Shiva of this temple by directing his rays on the lingam every year in the morning hours for three days – 3rd, 4th and 5th in the Tamil month Chithirai (Apr-May).

Nardana Vinayaka, Dakshinamurthy, Lingodhbava, Brahmma and Durga are the Koshta Deities located around the sanctum walls. The unique feature of Lord Dhakshinamoorthi’s idol is that reliefs of Varaha (Avatar of Vishnu) and Rahu can be seen below it. Also, the idols of the Sanakathi rishis are placed on either side of Lord Dakshinamurthy. It is also believed that a Shiva Lingam lies buried at this spot. This Shivalingam was worshipped by the Saivite saint Tirugnanasambandar.

Mother is called as Aryambal / Singaravalli / Periyanayaki. She is facing south. In front of the hall of Goddess Parvathy’s shrine, on the ceiling, 12 zodiac signs (Rasi) are carved beautifully in stone. It is believed that by standing under one’s respective zodiac sign and praying to the goddess, one’s wishes will be fulfilled. There is also a sculptured image of the Sthalapuranam depicting Varaha worshipping Shiva with flowers.

In the outer corridor, there is a separate south-facing shrine for Bairavar in front of the idol of Nandhi. Bairavar’s mount (dog) is seen on the left side with his head facing the lord. The dog’s left ear is lifted up as if to signify that our prayers are being heard by him and forwarded to Lord Bairavar. On the eighth day of Krishnapaksham homam and special pujas are performed to Kala Bhairavar. The Bhairava shrine is considered to be of significance here; two worship services are offered to Bhairavar.

Agni, Indrani, Indran and Kuberan are placed here in the form of lingam. Idols of Nalvar can also be seen here. Sundarar can be seen along with his wife Paravai Nachiyar. There is no separate Navagraha shrine in this temple.  It is believed that the custom of installing Navagraha shrines has started only later, perhaps during the Pallava period.

There are shrines dedicated to  Vinayaga, Lord Subramanya with his consorts Valli and Deivanai, Gajalakshmi, Theyu Lingam, Vayu Lingam, Prithvi Lingam, Balamurugan, Bairavar (2), Chandran (2), Suryan, Saneeswarar, Mahavishnu, Chandikeswarar and procession idols of other deities can be seen in the main hall and the corridors.

The procession idol of Natarajar of this temple is believed to be very beautiful. It was smuggled into America and was retrieved after many legal battles. Now it is kept under safe custody in some other temple. The Natarajar idol kept here for worship is not the original one.

Sthala Vriksham is Shenbagam (not existing now). Theertham associated with this Temple are Chandra Pushkarini and Sundara Theertham. Both are located opposite to each other. Sage Pattinathar appears in a sitting form in the Pattinathu Vinayaka temple nearby.