Sivayoginathar
Temple, Thiruvisainallur – The Temple
This temple is facing towards east with five tiered Rajagopuram. The Temple has two prakarams. Nandi, Balipeedam and Dwajastambam can be found immediately after the Rajagopuram. Nandhi is placed between Bali Peedam and Dwajastambam which is very unusual. Normally in other temples, Dwajastambam is placed in between Balipeedam and Nandhi.
It is to be noted that you can see the idol of Nandi with its head turning to a side. It is believed that those who pray to him here during the Pradosham (Twilight period in the evening on the 13th day of every lunar fortnight) will be absolved of all their past sins. There is another Gopuram leading to the inner prakaram housing the sanctum. The sanctum sanctorum consists of sanctum, antarala and Arthamandapam.
Presiding Deity is called as Sivayoginathar / Yoganandheeswarar / Vilvaranyeswarar / Puraathaneswarar. He is housed in the sanctum in the form of Shiva Lingam. Lord is a Swayambhu Moorthy and is facing east. Seven hair locks can be seen in the body of Shiva Lingam. It is believed that Lord Suryan (Sun) worships Lord Shiva of this temple by directing his rays on the lingam every year for three days (on 1st, 2nd and 3rd) in the Tamil month of Chithirai (Apr-May). Special poojas are performed during these days.
The legend has it that eight Siva Yogis merged with the lingam here after attaining salvation. Hence Lord Siva got the name Sivayoginathar. The sanctum is similar to Vaprabandha type with Arthapadma, a feature not mentioned in Vastu Shastra texts. The beautiful large vyalas in the prathimukha are among the most powerfully conceived of their kind. It is of modest proportions and consists of the sanctum and its attached mandapam (hall).
The two cover a total length of 15.3 m, with its vimana measuring about 15.3 m. The mandapam is a hall of 4 central pillars, and a vestibule provided at its back, leading to the sanctum, which is a square chamber of 3.7m. The lion motif is absent in the pillars though it reappeared in friezes where ever suited. The pillars in the interior are typical of Chola art. The usual deities are enshrined in the central niches outside the wall of the sanctum.
The toranas over the south and west niches are of good workmanship, especially that on the west, which is perhaps the finest in South India. Narthana Vinayakar, Dakshinamurthy, Mahavishnu, Brahma and Durga are the Koshta Idols located around the sanctum walls. Chandikeswarar can be seen in his usual location.
There is a beautiful relief on the wall of the sanctum which depicts Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu worshiping Lord Shiva. Mother is called as Soundara Nayagi / Santha Nayagi. She is housed in a separate south facing shrine facing the Sun Clock. As Lord Siva is in deep meditation inside, Ambal waits outside for him looking at the Sun Clock.
There is a sundial in the 35-feet-high periphery wall of this temple opposite to Goddess Parvathy’s shrine. It is believed that this clock is more than 1200 years old built during Parantaka Chola I period. This clock is constructed in such a way to measure the route of the sun from the sunrise in the morning till the sunset in the evening. It is said that during the colonial period, the British added numerals to make calibration easier.
It is carved out of granite and shaped like a semi-circle with numbers from morning 6.00 to evening 6.00 are carved around. It has a three-inch-long brass needle permanently fixed at the center of a horizontal line. As the sun casts its rays on the needle, the shadow of the needle indicates the right time. This shows the architectural, astronomical and scientific knowledge of the people during the Chola period.
There are 4 Bhairavar Idols placed in a row namely, Gnanakala Bhairavar, Swarnakarshana Bhairavar, Unmatha Bhairavar and Yoga Bhairavar are in north east corner of the temple premises along with Bala Saneeswarar. These 4 Bhairavar Idols collectively called as Chathur Kala Bhairavars. It is significant to worship them in the Ashtami day. In some of the Shiva temples, Lord Vishnu is seen alone; but, here he appears as Lakshmi Narayanan, along with his spouse Lakshmi. He is housed in a shrine in the outer prakaram.
There are shrines and idols of Vinayakar, Murugan with his consorts Valli & Deivanai, Pancha Lingams (Bhumi Lingam, Jala Lingam, Agni Lingam, Vayu Lingam and Akasha Lingam representing the five elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Sky respectively), Gajalakshmi, Mahalingeswarar, Niruthi Vinayakar, Naga Kanni, Saptha Mathas, Suryan, Saint Uyyavantha Nayanar, Naalvar, Sekkizhar, Chandran and Navagrahas in the prakaram.
There are eight Theerthams and eight trees associated with this temple. The prominent Theertham is Jatayu Theertham and Sthala Vriksham is Vilvam tree. Vilvam, Vanni, Punnai, Makizhamaram, Aalamaram, Nelli, Arasamaram are the trees found in this temple. There are about 97 inscriptions in this temple, dating back to Parantaka Chola I, Rajaraja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I. have also made several endowments to this temple. This temple houses the festival images of the Thirundudevankudi Temple nearby.
