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Thursday, February 27, 2020

Valeeswarar Temple, Sevur – The Temple

Valeeswarar Temple, Sevur – The Temple
The temple is facing east with a 5 tier Rajagopuram. The Temple is enclosed completely by compound walls. The temple is fully built on granite stone. A Garuda Thoon or Deepa Sthambam is situated in front of the Temple. Sculpture of Vali worshiping Lord Shiva can be seen at the base of the Deepa Sthambam. The Sanctum sanctorum consists of  Sanctum, Lord Murugan Shrine and Mother Shrine.



All these three shrines are situated in parallel to each other with a common Muka mandapam and facing east with Balipeedam and Vahanas forming Somaskanda form. Presiding Deity is called as Valeeswarar / Kapaleeswarar and is facing east. He is housed in the sanctum in the form of Lingam. Dakshinamurthy, Lingothbhavar, Durga and Brahma are the Koshta Idols located around the sanctum walls.



Mother is called as Aram Valartha Nayaki / Dharmasamvardhini / Araperunselvi. She is housed in a separate east facing shrine. Her shrine is situated to the left side of the Sanctum. She is having a lotus flower in her hand. There is Nandi in front of the Mother.



The shrine of Murugan with his consorts Valli & Deivanai, is situated in between sanctum and Mother shrine (Somaskanda form). He is facing east. Generally, in Murugan idols, he holds a flag in which the image of a cock is inscribed.  Here Murugan holds a cock on his left hand.  In addition to the peacock, a lion is also seen in the Peetam on which the Lord is standing. In addition, there is a separate shrine for Baladhandayuthapani behind the Mother shrine.



Lord Nataraja graces from a separate shrine. Nataraja Shrine can be found in the southern side of the front Mandapam. The Nataraja is unique in the sense that this idol is made as a combination of features found in Natarajas of five different temples.  Hence Arudhra Darshanam (Dec-Jan) is celebrated in a big way. There is a separate shrine for Sani Bhagavan similar to Kongu Temples. He is facing west.



The Vinayakar is housed below the Arasa (Bodhi) tree and hence he is called as Arasamara Vinayakar.  Rahu, Ketu and a Shiva Lingam can be found nearby this Vinayaga. There are shrines of Pancha Linga, Sahasra Linga, Thiruthala Vinayagar, Naalvar, Venakataramana Swamy, Navagrahas, Kalabhairava, Suryan and Chandran in the temple premises.




This Temple is considered as a Theertha Vishesha Temple, temples known for the specialty of their holy water ponds (Theertham). Theertham associated with this Temple are Pathala Ganga, Amirtha Theertham, Garuda Theertham, Vaali Theertham. Sthala Vriksham is Vanni Tree. The birth place of Karikala Chola is located just diagonally opposite the temple.