Tamilnadu Tourism: Sathyagireeswarar Temple, Senganur

Sathyagireeswarar Temple, Senganur – Religious Significance

Mada Kovils:

Kochengat Chola was an early Chola king and one of the 63 Nayanmars (Saivite saints) of Saivism. He is believed to have attained spiritual rebirth of a spider that fought with an elephant in its previous birth over the worship of the Lord Shiva. He had red eyes during birth as he remained in his mother’s womb a little longer. His mother, looking into the baby red eyes said Kochengkannano (in Tamil Ko=king, Cheng=red, Kan=eyes), which literally means king with red eyes and hence he was named Kochengat Cholan. After becoming a king, he followed Saivism and built 70 Maadakovils, temples with elevated structure where elephants cannot reach the sanctum, in the Chola empire. It is believed that this is one of the temple built by him.

Moola Linga Sthalam:

According to legend, Mahalingaswamy is the centre of all Shiva temples in the region and the Saptha Vigraha Moorthis (seven prime consorts in all Siva Temples) are located at seven cardinal points around the temple, located in various parts of the state.

The seven deities are;

· Nataraja in Chidambaram Nataraja Temple,

· Chandikeswarar in Senganur Satyagireeswarar Temple,

· Vinayagar in Thiruvalanchuzhi Vellai Vinayagar Temple

· Muruga in Swamimalai Murugan Temple

· Bhairava in Sirkazhi Sattainathar Temple

· Navagrahas in Suriyanar Koil Suryanar Temple

· Dakshinamoorthy in Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple

The other deities of a Shiva temple associated with Mahalingeswarar are;

· Durga in Patteeswaram Thenupuriswarar Temple

· Somaskanda in Thiruvarur Thyagaraja Temple

· Nandi at Thiruvaduthurai Gomuktheeswarar Temple