OVER A CUP OF COFFEE – JNU

OVER A CUP OF COFFEE – JNU

Gopu and Shyam met again for a cup of coffee and as usual exchanged views on all current topics. No doubt JNU figured in their discussion.  There are vociferous clammerings all around India telling free speech is being curtailed and some from the media and also so from called intellectuals who were honoured by awards previously by government and these people even returned their awards. There is another view that these intellectuals and media have an agenda to bring disrepute to the present ruling dispensation at the Centre.  Shyam was very critical of the fact that the award wapasis and some in the media were getting paid by the previous government and their fear is that some of the privileges enjoyed by them would be curtailed by the present government. He also talked about newspaper reports how people throng the Delhi Lutyens colony for free liquor in the evenings, which also served time for discussions among them and felt these would be lost now.  However more than all these Shyam was exercised over the unruly behaviour exhibited in the Jawaharlal Nehru University premises and some calling terrorists and their associates as loyalists to the nation. He told Gopu how on earth anyone could allow anti-India sentiments by the so called students and go to the extent of paying homage to traitors.  Traitors in whichever garb they appear should be dealt with seriously, you cannot differentiate by telling in teaching profession or say lawyers or doctors or even from defence services.  As could be seen of late, there are cases of passing on vital information of the defence services passed on for gain. Gopu too felt, Shyam is not overstating the happenings and the government had to come out with an acceptable policy for recruitment to JNU to eliminate such unwanted elements getting into JNU.  You can criticize a government and serve as a watchdog of society and set a trend for discussions for entire country but how anti-national activities can emanate from so called eminent institution.  Finally, Gopu told Shyam he agreed with many of his thoughts and also said this Institution has to be overhauled, if necessary, should not worry about any accusations of interference.   

This institution established in 1955 with an act of Parliament with Shri G.Parthasarathi as its first Vice-Chancellor cannot be misused for anti-national activities and to be dealt with as such.  Gopu also said there is a current inquiry going on the incidences and one has to wait for the same.  Needless to say, that the charges getting proved should result in dismissals from University of such students.  Many students come to this institution of its reputation in concerned areas of studies and a few cannot disrupt that.  A panel of eminent educationists and nationalists have to study the inquiry report once when it comes out and also see whether the students are going beyond the objective of the Institution.  The time has come to rejuvenate and if necessary take over and thoroughly overhaul the entire system in JNU to set matters right. Gopu and Shyam also agreed the only silver lining during these difficult times is the Supreme Court declaring the Gandhis’ should go to the lower court and present their case in NH case.  Friends decided to do meet again.

Neelayadakshi Sametha Kayarohanar temple, Nagapattinam

Neelayadakshi Sametha Kayarohanar temple,     Nagapattinam



                                                     SREE NEELAYADAKSHI

During my stay at Nagapattinam, on 03 02 2016 evening,  I had darshan at Sree Neelayadakshi Sametha Kayarohanar temple.  The temple is very well connected by road and frequent bus services are available from the central bus stand.   The bazaar is very near to the temple and flowers and archanai materials can be bought from the main market.  

The temple history dates back to Sage Pundarika/Sage Mushukunda.  Sage Pundarika as advised by Sage Kanwa sat in penance to attain salvation and Lord appeared and gave him moksha by embracing him with his body.  Thus moksha with "kayam" given by the Lord and is called as Kayarohanar. The main deity Kayarohanar  is one of seven vidanga lingas installed by Sage Mushukunda.  The sage helped Indra and in turn, Indra gave seven vidanga lingas to the sage and one of them was installed by the stage in Nagapattinam.  

                                       Sree Kayarohaneswarar swamy

Lord Thiagaraja also has a sannidhi here and right to the sanctum sanctorum of Kayarohanar. 
                                                      Sree Thiagarajar

The ambal here is Neelayadakshi with blue coloured eyes.  She was a virgin, Siva asked Nandhi to guard her.   Nandhi expressed the desire to be with the Lord always and the Lord said that Nandhi can have his darshan even though with the Goddess.    Hence the Nandhi in front of the Goddess Neelayadakshi is with half-head turned and sees with one eye the Goddess and the other the Lord. 

                            Nandhi in front of Neelayadakshi head half-turned

The Navagrahas in this temple face west- the Lord, this is because Saturn changed its transit route as per the request of Emperor Dasaratha.  There was a severe famine expected once as Saturn is to enter Star Rohini's path and to prevent that Emperor wanted to fight Saturn. But Sun God advised the Emperor to drop fighting with Saturn and instead request Saturn to change course and Dasaratha did so.  Saturn pleased with the Emperor's willingness even to fight with him to save his people and as requested by the Emperor acceded to his request.

Fishermen Athipathar was a staunch devotee of Lord Siva and he always had the practice of offering the first catch to the Lord by throwing into the sea.  Even on days he had caught only one fish, he used to offer it to the Lord.  One day a golden fish was caught and when all others prevented him to offer it to the Lord, he did not oblige them and threw it into the sea.  The Lord gave him salvation and also a place among the 63 Nayanmars.  This happened on a day with Star Ayilyam and in the month of tamil month Avani (september-October) and this is celebrated with all gaiety in the temple.  Also connected with the salvation of Athipathar is the practice of the temple offering the garland and clothes to the dead bodies here during final rites.  The temple is kept open and the body is brought in front of the temple and garlands and clothes of the lord are offered.
                                                         Sree Athipathar
                                                 

Azhguni Chithar, disciple of Gorakka Chithar cried vehemently in front of the goddess Neelayadakshi to get salvation.  Goddess referred to Lord Siva, he gave salvation to Azhugini Chithar and his jeeva samathi is in the temple and special poojas are performed on Vaikasi Visakam day here.

                                                  Azhugini Chihar samathi

Lord Vinayaga in this temple wears a naga as abharana and also one more forms the hood and umbrella.  He is known as Nagabharana Vinayagar.  Lord Muruga here gives darshan as Shanmuga with 12 hands.  Lord Bhairava normally having dog as his vahana has lion here and Sage Pundarika prayed here and the Lord as Kalasamhara Bhairava gives darshan to his devotees.  As the Lord appears furious two vinayagars have been installed in front of him. There is a sannidhi for Kali with Ashta Buja.   Gajalakshmi in sitting form blesses the devotees.  Lord Dakshinamurthy is in the Ghosta wall with his four disciples.

Vishnu darisanam in this temple is a speciality on Pradhosham days only and Lord instead of the Rishaba vahana comes with Mohini (Vishnu) in procession.

King of the Serpants wanted a child and prayed the lord and the child was born with 3 breasts.  The king was worried about this abnormality. Lord Siva this become alright when a king of the Surya dynasty visits his place. When King Saalisugan visited this place, the third breast of the girl disappeared.   As Naga king worshipped here, the place came to be known as Nagapattinam.

Thevarams in praise of the main deity, Lord Kayarohanar has been sung by the three greats - Appar, Sundarar and Thirugnanasambandar.  Sages Markandeya, Gauthama, Vashista, Kashyapa, Pulasthya, Agasthiya and Angeerasa worshipped here.  

Photos of deities from Dinamalar and temple taken by me with my mobile camera in this blog.  Deities pictures are from temple history books and web in all other blogs.  With this I have recorded the details of the temples I had darshan at Nagapattinam on 3rd and 4th February 2016 -

1. Soundararaja Perumal -
http://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.in/2016/02/soundararaja-perumal-nagapattinam.html …
2. Sikkal Singaravelan-
http://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.in/2016/02/sree-singaravelan-sikkal-nagapattinam.html …

3. Kayarohanar Swamy - here.

SREE SINGARAVELAN, SIKKAL - NAGAPATTINAM

 SREE SINGARAVELAN, SIKKAL - NAGAPATTINAM

During my stay at Nagapattinam, for a day, was fortunate to be at Sikkal on 4th February 2016 morning.  Sikkal bus stop on Thiruvarur-Nagapttinam main road is very close to the temple with hardly 50 metres to the temple.  I went very early in the morning (7 AM- was too early on a normal day, as there were less of activity at the place), the shopkeeper in front of the temple just was opening his shop which had all the items required for archanai as well as flowers. The Gurukkal as well as the temple authorities also just arrived and I was the lone member to have darshan in the morning on that day.

                                   

                       

The temple has a tall Rajagopuram thanks to sri Karumuthu Azhagappa Chettiar who was responsible for many improvements to the temple.  Just before his time, the temple was short of funds and even daily poojas were found wanting. The local people wanted him to take the activities of the temple and he agreed to come to the temple to have first hand knowledge as well as to decide on future course of action.  It is said that the next day he had news of huge profit in his overseas business and he agreed to take over the temple reins.  He not only took initiative in rebuilding the temple but also added a kalyanamandapam with his own resources in front of the temple after consulting on vastu aspects.  He also conducted the temple Kumbabhishekam in the year 1932.  Many people who were occupying temple lands without contributing to it, were made to pay for the temple by Sri Karumuthu Azhagappa Chettiar and he saw to it that the temple did not suffer for funds for not only daily poojas but also for its improvements.  His son Sri Karumuthu Thiagaraja Chettiar is helping with the functioning of the temple presently, though from 1944 onwards, the temple is under the control of authorities of Hindu Devaswom board.

Before the 4th century, Kochenkanaan, Chola king built around 70 temples and Thiru Sikkal also was one among them.  During the Muslim rule in the area, the people here hid the statue of Singaravelar in a nearby village known as Singaravelapuram.  Later on, the lord appeared to a devotee in his dreams duly indicating the place in which he statue is and the vigraha was found and installed in Sikkal.  Sikkal in its early days was a Jasmine forest and presently the thala viruksha also is Mallikai.  

                        

When Kamadhenu gave abundance of milk, the butter out of it was made as a Lingam by Sage Vashistar for prayers and hence the deity in Sikkal, Lord Siva is called Navaneeteswarar and in Tamil as "Vennaipiraan".  Vashista Muni wanted to move the Linga to another place for pooja and could not and the butter linga was as if made of stone.  As per the tamil word "Chik"-kena, the place was later called as Sikkal. Viswamitrar, Agasthiar, Kathyaayanar and Naratha also have worshipped here.   The amman here is southfacing and is known as Velnedunkanni and also called as sathyaayadhatchi.  Singaravelar gets the "Vel" from her to destroy Demon Surapadman and as he gets the vel from his mother during Shasti, he sweats and this is enacted every year as a festival in this temple.

   

                                           Sree Navaneeteswarar

                                 

                                                 Sree Velnedunkanni                                     

When there was severe drought for continuous 12 years, there was no grass too and Kamadhenu could not get anything to eat and as she was hungry she ate the flesh of a dead dog and Lord Siva cursed her to have a tiger face and she prayed to Lord to come out of the curse. Lord Siva advised to go to Mallikaiaaranyam bathe in Amirtha thadagam and pray and Kamadhenu followed this to overcome the curse.  In her happiness in overcoming the curse, she gave abundant milk and thus there became a "Sheerapushkarani" in this kshetram.

This temple at the rear leads to Sree Kolavamanperumal and Sree Varadha Anjaneyar temples and thus this temple is a siva-vishnu alayam.  Vishnu prayed Sree Navaneeteswarar here and got the necessary powers to defeact Mahabali Chakravarthi and thus he took Vamana avathara and here in this temple, he stands as Kolavamanaperumal.  

                                               Sree Kolavamana Perumal

                                                 Sree Varadha Anjaneyar

The anjaneya sannidhi is a later addition as the Vayuputhra appeared in the dreams of Chettiar and indicated the place in which the sannidhi should be present too and his sannidhi is thus in the Vayumoolai.

The temple celebrates 10 days festivals for Sree Navaneetewarar in Tamil Month Chithirai (April-May) and 10 day festivals for Singaravelar in Tamil Month Aipasi (October-November).  Thai poosam, Soorasamhara and valli and deivanai kalyana also are celebrated here which draws large number of people around the villages.  

SOUNDARARAJA PERUMAL NAGAPATTINAM

SOUNDARARAJA PERUMAL   NAGAPATTINAM

I was at Nagapattinam on 03 02 2016 and 04 02 2016 and had darshan at Soundararaja Perumal temple on 3rd February.  This temple is very near to the Railway station and at a distance of  2.5 kms from the bus stand and transport in the form of autos and share autos are available besides the town bus connects the Nellukadai Mariamman temple and from here it is nearby.  The Kayarohanar temple is also nearby to this place.

Small flower shops are available in front of the temple but for archanai it is better to take it from bazaar.  The temple's gopuram could be seen from the entry road itself.

This temple is one of the 108 Divya desams and also one among the forty divyadesams in the Thanjavur belt.  Soundararaja Perumal is facing east and in standing posture (நின்ற).   Soundara Aranayam is the forest in which he is present and hence the name Soundararaja Perumal and as in the name, the vigraha is so beautifully sculpted.  Santhanagopalan also is in the sanctum sanctorium. Thayar also is known as Soundaravalli. 



Bhoomidevi/Thirumagal came and stayed in this place and was in penance and had the blessings of Thirumal and enhanced her beauty.

Hearing the presence of God himself in Soundara Aranyam from Naradha Muni, Dhruvan, a prince comes and prays here in penance and gets blessed by Perumal.   Seeing the determination of the young prince, the Lord appeared to him on the Periya Thiruvadi and also gave the heavenly abode. Learning of the same, Markanda Muni came here and prayed to Lord and got his blessings.

Saleesugan was a Chola King and he was worshipping the Perumal regularly and one day saw a naga girl and fell in love  and on this the third dhanam in her chest disappeared.  She also wanted to marry him and they were blessed with married life and children by the Perumal.  This king built the temple for the Perumal and on a Panguni sukla paksha sapthami Friday with Rohini star he conducted the Brahmotsavam.  

Thus the perumal was worshipped by the Adishesha in Krathayuga, Bhoomidevi in the Trethayuga, Markanda Maharishi in the Dwabharayuga and by King Saleesugan in Kaliyuga.  The temple tank is known as Sarapushkarani.  Legend has it,  that Kandan, Sundan brahmin brothers attained a place in Vaikunda after taking bath in this Pushkarani.  They stand in guard on either side in the sannathi of the Ranganatha perumal. In 8th century A.D., Thirumangaiyaazhvar prayed here and has sung pasuram on the perumal.  

But Thirumangai Azhwar in his "Periya Thirumozhi", hails the Lord enshrined in the temple port city of Nagapattinam as Naagai Azhagiyar.  He describes the Lord's body as gold coloured; He wears an ornament studded with emralad and is embodiment of the Vedas.   Apart from chanting His names and singing the glory of places, where he is enshrined, the Azhwar employs mystic love as a way of enjoying union with the lord.  In all the 10 verses he addresses the Lord as "Acho,Oruvar Azhagiyavaa" (Beauty, thy name is God).

                                                SOUNDARARAJA PERUMAL

During the Dutch control of Nagapattinam, one Jakul Naayakkar son of Nagamalu Maamudinaayakkar was appointed the adviser to the Dutch and he was a fervent devotee of this Perumal.  When the Dutch wanted a good lighthouse and the one already they were using (from a Buddhist shrine) was in a dilapidated state and thus gave the necessary money to build a new lighthouse. Naayakkar rasied a seven-tier vimana for the Perumal and it is said that lights were lit up on top of this gopura to serve as a lighthouse.  Naayakkar also has done other kaikaryams to the Mandapam and outer walls of the temple besides offerings of aparanas and also land.  In the mantapa he had made, the silpas of Naayakkar and his wife in Saashtaanga Namaskara can be seen.

There are other sannidhis for Lord Nrusimha and Goddess Gajalakshmi.

Presently the Sarapushkarani is not in use and for temple festivals, Soundarya Pushkarani in the temple is being used.  In this temple, Perumal gives darshan in the standing posture as Soundararajan and Sree Ranganatha in kidantha kolam and as Govindaraja Perumal in irundha kolam and thus in all the three states.

Soundaraaranya vaibhavam (slogam)
yaprahichathi krunnaathi soundar aaranya bhoodale
thavubhouv punyakarmaa nouv
peththaarenala sooryamandalam
saarapushkarani dheeremadhye sundarakaanam
aavirppapoova: bhagavaan lakshmi schashirasaasaraath.

யப்ரஹிச்சதி கிருண்ணாதி சௌந்தர் ஆரண்ய பூதலே 
தாவுபௌ புண்யகர்மா ணௌ 
பேத்தாரெனள சூர்யமண்டலம்
சாராபுஷ்கரணி தீரேமத்யே சுந்தரகானம் 
ஆவிர்ப்பபூவ: பகவான் லக்ஷ்மி ஸ்சக்ஷிரசாசராத்

Sree Muthusamy Deekshitar, one of the trimurtis of Carnatic music has sung on the lord with the keerthanai, soundararaajam aasraye gajabrunthaavana... in the raga Brundhaavana Saaranga set to Roopaga Thalam. 

Nagapattinam can be reached from Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai or Karaikal and the nearest airport is Tiruchirapalli (140 kms) or Pondichery (150kms).