Agniswarar Temple, Kanjanur –
The Temple
This
Temple is facing towards east with five tiered Rajagopuram and has two
prakarams. The Raja Gopuram is facing south towards the River Cauvery. Kodimara
Vinayagar, Dhwaja Sthambam, Balipeedam and Nandi can be found facing the
sanctum. Dhwaja Sthambam is located inside the Mandapam. There is another
two-tiered Gopuram at the entrance of the Sanctum Sanctorum. The Artha Mandapam
follows Vovval Nethi style architecture.
The Sanctum Sanctorum consists
of Sanctum, Antrala and Artha Mandapam. Presiding Deity is called as Agneeswarar
and is facing east. Lord is a Swayambumurthi. A special feature of the Linga of
Agniswarar is that it absorbs all the oil poured on it during the process of
Abishekam. Narthana Vinayaka, Brahma, Dakshinamurthy, Lingothbhava and Durga
are the Koshta Idols located around the sanctum walls.
Chandikeswarar can be found in
his usual location. Normally, Lord Dakshinamurthy (Guru) is always seen with a
demon Muyalagan being crushed under his feet or tortoise or four rishis. But
here, an idol of Haradatta sitting at his feet along with Muyalagan can be
seen. It is a unique feature in this temple. There is no separate shrine for Lord
Sukra as Lord Shiva himself is believed to have incarnated as Venus here.
Mother is called as Karpagambikai.
She is housed in a separate east facing shrine. Her Shrine is situated on the
right side of sanctum. The idol of Goddess Aadhi Karpagambikai can be found near
Mother shrine. Nataraja Sabha in this
Temple is called as Mukthi Mandapam. It houses stone idols of Nataraja and
his consort Shivagami. The Shiva Thandavam here is called as Mukthi Thandavam.
There are shrines and idols of Karpaga Vinayaka, Mayura Subrahmanya, Nalvar,
Surya, Kalikkama Nayanar, Manakanchara Nayanar, Vishwanathar, Mahalakshmi,
Anjaneya, Chandra, Saneeswarar, Navagrahas and Bhairava can be seen in the
temple premises. Idols of Haradatta and Suraikkai Bhakthar with his wife
can be seen in the prakaram. Idols and sculptures depicting legends related to
Haradatta Sivachariyar can be seen in the
temple premises.
The idol of the stone Nandhi called
as Pullunda Nandhi can be seen in the prakaram. It is believed that Nandi is
said to have taken the grass from Haradatta. There is a
Linga called Kamsa Lingam, said to have been installed by Kamsa, uncle of Lord
Krishna, in the outer prakaram. There is a shrine for Mathisoodumperuman
along with his consort Umadevi to the south of the sanctum.
Theerthams associated with this
Temple are Agni Theertham, Brahma Theertham (Cauvery River), Manikarnika
Theertham, Chandra Theertham, Anjaneya Theertham and Parasara Theertham. Sthala
Vriksham is Purasu / Palasa tree. The vilva tree in this
temple is unique as it comes in bunches of five leaves instead of the usual
three leaves. There is a shrine for Haradatta below the banyan tree at
the entrance of the town. He is seen offering Pooja to Lord Shiva in this
shrine.
