Vanmutti Perumal of Kozhikuthi
Sapthaswara Anjaneyar vigraha in Kozhikuthi
Pippala theertham or Viswaroopa Pushkarani
Entrance Gopuram of Kozhikuthi
Vanmutti Perumal
Kozhikuthi is
around 5 kms from Mayiladuthurai and is on the way to
Kumbakonam. The temple of Margasagayeswarar
of Moovalur is nearby. Srinivasa perumal, the deity, is carved
out of a single fig tree (Aththi maram) and stands 14 feet
tall. The temple built around the aththi
tree is around 1200 years old.
Sage Pippalar,
once a king and later renounces it to be a sage was afflicted with chronic skin
disease. He prays Lord Vishnu, as his personal efforts did not cure
the disease. Lord Vishnu appeared before him and said to travel
along the banks of Cauvery river and Lord Margasagayeswarar would help him to
guide the place where he could get cured. The lord also told
him that he would have the Viswaroopa darshan at that place and that his
disease was due to ‘Hathi Dosham’ and would get cured by taking bath in the
viswaroopa pushkarani for 48 days. When he reached the place, he
indeed got the Viswaroopa darshan and also got rid of the disease and hence the
place was called the Kodihathi Papa Vimochana Puram which later turned out as
Kozhikuthi.
Later, when the
Chola king approached the sage for coming out of sin committed during wars,
Pippalar advised the king to worship Lord srinivasa Perumal and to have bath
for 48 days in the pushkarani there. The Pushkarani is called as
Pippalar Theertham. During festvities in Mayuranathar temple, the
theertham from this Pushkarini is taken for Abishekam. The
Chola King arranged for the carving of the lord from the fig tree and
painted over the wood. As the Lord was growing further,
he was called Vanmuti perumal. The people also
covered the head with a ‘maraikkal’ normally used to measure rice, to prevent
the growth of the perumal. The other sannadhis in this temple are
for: Varadharaja Perumal, Yoga Narasimhar, Chakarathazhwar, Narthana
krishnar, Garudazhwar, Vinayagar, Sapdhaswaroopa Anjaneyar, Vishvaksenar,
Ramanujar and Pippala Maharishi. The Anjaneya Vigraha has the tail with
the bell over the head as in Suseendhram and is famous for the sound of
sa,re,ga,,ma....it produces when tapped different positions of the vigraha.
Sage Pippalar has also written Sani Gayathri and hence this temple
is also known as a Sani preethi sthalam.
No comments:
Post a Comment