Sree Banapureeswarar temple, Kumbakonam

Sree Banapureeswarar temple, Kumbakonam
(ஸ்ரீ சோமகமலாம்பிகா சமேத பாணுபுரீஸ்வரர் கோவில், கும்பகோணம்)

Sree Banapureeswarar temple is situated in the place from which Lord Siva as Kirathamurthy aimed the arrow (banam- பாணம்)  on the nectar pot-Kumbam, to enable life to continue from the spillings from the Kumbam.    The temple is behind the Pachaiyappa street if you go from Bazaar street and also is about 1 km from the Bus Stand.    The entrance gopuram is a 3 tier one and on entry you see the raised Mandapam in which the main deity's Sannidhi facing east is there and facing South by the side is the goddess Somakamalambika sannidhi.

In the raised level entrance mandapam, on the walls are painted the story connected with Pralaya and Lord Siva breaking the kumbam with his arrow, taking the form of Kirathamurthy.

The first paint two parts depict the Pralaya and Lord Vishnu and others requesting Kailasanathar to save the world from extinction and Lord Siva agrees to save the earth.

The nector-pot (kumbam) with nectar, vilva leaves and seeds of creation were made to float in the Pralaya and it came and got settled in Kumbakonam.  This is depicted in Picture 2.

The third painting shows Lord Siva as Kirathamurthy, breaking the Kumbam with an arrow, so as to allow contents (seeds of creation) of the Kumba to spill all over.  The second part of this picture shows Lord Siva as Banapureeswarar settles under a Paarijatha tree.

Sage Vyasa praying Sree Banapureeswarar is shown in pic 4.

     View of temple from Prakara

Besides the sanctum sanctorium in a raised mandapam, the outer prakara has the sannidhis of Vinyagar, Dakshinamurthy, Subramanya and Gajalakshmi.  In this prakara, and opposite to the Dwaja Sthamba is the Navagraha sannidhi and a Vinyakar here also blesses the devotees.  The temple Gurukkal told the prathishtapanam of the Vinayagar had been done long back, and the reason is not known. Connected with the story of Kumbam, by which the place has got its name, Banapureeswarar temple has to be an itinerary on everyone who visits Kumbakonam for darshan at various temples.

Temple Timings:
Morning: 7.00 am - 11.30 am

Evening:  5.00 pm - 8.00 pm

SREE NAGESWARAR TEMPLE, KUMBAKONAM

SREE NAGESWARAR TEMPLE, KUMBAKONAM

The temple is centrally located and very near to the Bazaar street and and is just 2 kms away from the Bus stop.  From here, very good connectivity is there to all places of Kumbakonam by bus and the bus stop is just 5 minutes walk from the temple.  The temple is also known Kumbakonam Keezhakottam.

The legend of the temple connects the story of Pralaya and the Nector pot-Kumba and also Adi Sesha.   As Krathamurthy, Lord Siva broke the Nectar pot with an arrow so that the contents can spill all over for the benefit of humanity during Pralaya.   Vilva leaves fell at this spot of the Nageswarar temple.  Adi Sesha installed a linga here and worshipped and hence the name Nageswarar.

Adi Sesha who was bearing the earth found it difficult with the increase in sins of wicked people on earth.  He prayed to Kailasapathy to give him more energy to carry on bearing the earth.  The lord blessed him to do that with a single head (Adisesha has 1000 heads). He came to Kumbakonam and where the vilva leave dropped from nectar pot, he installed and worshipped this deity.   Apart from Adi Sesha, Dakshan and Karkotakan worshipped here and King Nala too worshipped here apart from Thirunallar.  Raghukala Pooja here is thronged by devotees.

The sanctum sanctorium is built like a chariot similar to the Sarangapani temple here and is of 9th centruy built by Aditya Chola.  In the arthamandapam, Gangai Vinayakar blesses devotees.  This vinayakar was brought by the victorious army of Rajendra cholan from Ganges expeditions.  

Lord Subramanya and Pralaya Rudrar are in the outer prakara.

There were lot of bushes around the temple andd the temple was in a dilapidated condition.   Even the merchants around felt the difficulties to renovate the temple.  Shiva devotee by the name Padagacheri Ramalingaswamy in the year 1923 collected funds by tying a hundial around his neck and collecting small coins from everyone and renovated the temple after clearing all the bushes in stages according the funds collected.  In the year 1959, the consecration of the temple was done. Again the Kumbabhishekam of the temple was done in the year 1988 and at the entrance of the temple itself there a statue of Padalacheri Ramalingswamy.

Saint Paa. Ramalingam, popularly known as Sri Padagcheri Swamigal was born on 9th May 1876 to Sree Kandasamy and Smt Arthanari in Manjampalayam Village, Pollachi taluk, Coimbatore district.  The couple had migrated from Andhra and belong to Saiva Jangamar community and their mother tongue is Telugu. Ramalingam lost his parents at an very early age.His guru was Eridhadha Swamigal of Bellary district of Karnataka and the significance of him was placed on record by none other than the Jagadhguru Sree Chandrasekara Saraswathi of Kanchi mutt.

The goddess here is called Periyanayaki and the sannidhi is in the entrance of the temple itself.   

Temple timings:

6 AM to 12.30 PM

4.30 PM to 9 PM

SIVAYOGINATHAR TEMPLE, TIRUVISAINALLUR

THIRU SIVAYOGINATHAR TEMPLE, TIRUVISAINALLUR
(Yoganandheeswarar)

Tiruvisainallur is 8 kms away from Kumbakonam and road from here goes to Suriyanar koil.   This temple is 1.5 kms away from the main road Bus Stop.   Those who have vehicles have no problem. Those who use bus, (Bus service timings are also not frequent Nos. 2 and 2A) will have to walk the distance or the alternative is to fix an auto for all three places (Sivayoginathar temple, Thiru Nandaan Koil and Sree Sridhara Ayyaval Ashram) of Tiruvisainallur from Kumbakonam.  For those who walk, will have to do so for all the three - Nandaan koil is another km from Sivayoginathar temple.  For Sree Sridhara Ayyaval Ashram, one has to come back to the main road and take another 200 metres towards Suriyanar Koil and take the left road which takes to the Ashram which is a km away from main road.

Lord Siva here is known by the names of Yoganandheeswar, Vilvavaneswarar and Purathaneswarar.   The area was full of vilva forest earlier and also Purathanan a staunch devotee got sivalogaprapthi in front of the Lord Sannidhi and hence the names.  It is also said that the Lord in 4 yugas were called by different names: In Krutha Yuga as Purathaneswarar, Thretha yuga as Vilvaranyeswarar, Dwabhara Yuga as Yoganandheeswarar and Kaliyuga as Sivayoginathar.

Lord Sivayoginathar was called by that name as Sage Sivayogi along with his seven brothers finally merged with the lingam here and the lingam on top portion has the Jadamudi like sages.  Sage Sivayogi along with his seven brothers were happily discussing the various Siva legends.  The other sages who were listening to this were blessed.  Sage Agasthiyar came there and told the Sage that the darshan of Sage Sivayogi by these other sages had made easier for them to have been blessed by the Lord himself, who blessed in all the three worlds all Devas and Rishis.  Hence he had come to have the darshan of him and further said after the darshan, he felt he had with the blessings of the Sage, realised that all his tapas, gnana and karmandra anushtanas have been fulfilled and payed his respects to the sage.  

Sage Sivayogi accompanied sage Agasthiya and had snanam in Cauvery and started his Ugra Tapas and the heat it generated could not be borne and the Devas prayed and requested the Sage to concentrate in his Atma and to become a gnananda swaroopi.  To this, Lord Siva and Ambal Uma gave darshan in Rishaba Vahana to the Sage and Lord Siva led the Ganga from his head on the Sage to immerse him.  The sage came out of the penance and happy with the Darshan of the lord, prayed him.   Lord Siva took the Sage and the brothers and merged with the Lingam.  The seven Jadamudis on the top of the Siva Linga here indicate that.  The Lord faces the east.

Ambal here is known as Sree Soundaranayaki.  

The Sivayoginathar temple is considered a Rishaba Rasi Parikara Sthalam.  The Nandhi here precedes the Dwajasthambam and Balipeedam.  He turns his head towards one side.  Legend has it that he saved a Siva devotee for his life with Yamadharmarajan.  The prayers here of the Nandhi thus frees one from fear of Yama and considered a parikara sthalam for Rishaba Rasi borns. He turned his head to hear the cries of the devotee as can be seen from the following picture.  

Sun Dial
This Sun Dial is opposite to the Amman Sannidhi on the parapet wall and based on the shadow caused by the vertical brass stem with the sun rays.   One has to take into factor that the temple was built around 700 years ago during the Chola Dynasty.

Thulabaram for Progeny
As directed by the Kulaguru Karuvooraar, Sundara Chozhan made a cow in gold and himself and the queen entered through the tail portion of the cow and came out of the mouth of the cow and gave that gold to various temples as Dhana.  This is recorded in one the inscriptions.  Present day people offer paddy equivalent to the weight of the husband to get progeny.  This is done in front of the Sivayoginathar Sannidhi.



Chathurkala Bhairavars
On the Easanya Moolai, 4 bhairavars bless devotees standing side by side.  It is said that they represent the 4 yugas (Thretha, Krutha, Dwabhara and Kaliyuga) and are known as Chathurkala Bhairavars. Lord Saneeswaran is by the side of Bhairavars and they are opposite to the Lakshmi sannidhi.   It is also said the four bhairavars represent the four Ashramas of life span namely - Brahmacharyam, Grahastham, Vanaprastham and Sanyasam.  Brahmacharya life span is dominated by quest for knowledge and represented by Gnana Bhairavar.  For the grahastha, Swarna Akarshana Bhairavar bestows growth in career with material gains.  Unmaththa Bhairavar is for Vanaprastham and Yoga Bhairavar for Sanyasa stage of life.

Lakshminarayanan sanndihi
On the Southwest corner, the sthala vinayaka is blessing devotess and next to that is the sannidhi of Lakshminarayanan. 

Theerthams and Sthalvirukshams

The temple has 8 theerthams and 8 Virukshas.  
Theerthams: nandhi, ilakkumi, saraswathi, Brahmakunda, Gangai, chakkara, Soola, chadaa are the eight theerthams.
Virukshams: Vanni, Vilvam, Punnai, Makizham, Peepal, Arasu, Nelli and Aththi are the eight Virukshams.

The entrance Gopuram seen from behind and from the Prahara:

The temple comes under the control of the Thanjavur Palace Administration.
Temple Timings:
6.00 AM to 12.30 PM
3.30 PM to 8.30 PM

THIRU KARKADESWARAR TEMPLE, TIRUVISAINALLUR

THIRU KARKADESWARAR TEMPLE, TIRUVISAINALLUR
(Thirunthudevankudi) 

                                                     Thirukarkadeswarar

                                        Entrance to Karkadeswarar temple

Tirukarkadeswarar temple in Tiruvisainallur is a km away from Thiru Sivayoginathar temple.  Moat (Agazhi-அகழி) surrounds the temple.  The moat is known by the name Tirumaruvum Poigai.

The Lord was worshipped by a Crab and got Mukthi and hence the name of the deity is Karkadeswarar.    The temple by tamil name is being called as Nandan koil (நண்டாங்கோயில்).  There is a hole in the top of the linga which was used aa a passway by the Crab to perform daily pooja.   Indra, head of Devas, performed pooja here with thousand lotus flowers daily for 48 days and blessed with more powers to govern Amarloka.  

The deity faces East and it has a Eka Dhala Vimana made of granite stone.
Once a Yaksha made fun of Durvasa Muni when he was conducting Siva pooja.  That angered the Muni and he cursed the Yaksha that you had made fun of a Siva Pooja.  Just like a crab which opens up its and closes its limbs, you would also do by becoming a crab ob Bhoologa.   Fearing the Yaksha prostrated to the Muni and requested for the relief from the curse.  The Muni said you would be a crab and since you made fun of the Siva pooja, you would do Siva Pooja to get out of the curse.   You would be born in the moat of Siva temple at Thirunthudevankudi and perform pooja with the lotus flowers from that Moat to the Lord there and this should be done for a mandalam (48 Days) and you would get Vimochana from the curse.  The Yaksha was born as a crab in the moat of Thirunthudevankudi and with the grace of the Lord, realised that it should perform Pooja there.  As the practices of the crab, it dug holes all along the Moat and reached the Siva Linga.  From there it made a hole through the Lingam to the head.  The crab took Lotus flower from the Moat and reached through this hole and performed Pooja daily by keeping a lotus flower on top of the Linga (Bhana-  உச்சி) and coming down the Avudaiyar and circumbulate three times.

At the same time, the king of the Devas, Indra who was fighting wars with the Asuras frequently, lost his strength and to get back his strength, he asked ways from Guru Bhagavan.  He directed  Indra to go the Bhoologa and in the place in the Northern Bank of River cauvery, Thirunthudevankudi and perform daily pooja to the Lord siva there with 1000 Lotus flowers for a mandalam.  Lord Siva there would restore his strength.   Indra came here and took bath in the Moat and he could collect only 999 lotus flowers and he was one short to perform pooja for the Lord.    Indra wanted to find out how he was not able to get the required number of flowers and as he was watching the Moat, he found one of the Lotus stems slowly shook with the flower and it disappeared into the water. Surprised by this, he reported to Lord Siva of one flower short of doing pooja and that one flower was disappearing into the water.    Then, he saw a crab coming out of the top of the Linga and that it brought a flower with its limbs. After keeping the flower on top of Lord, it came down to the Avudaiyar (Bottom portion of the Linga) and circumbualted thrice.

The Chozha Maharaja ruling from Woraiyur, near Trichirappalli was suffering from stroke, was bedridden and not able to move his legs and hands.  He prayed to Lord Siva for overcoming the disease.  One day Lord Siva as Vaidyar and Devi Uma as his wife came to the Chozha Palace.  They consoled the King and the Vaidhyar took Vibhuthi and applied on the forehead of the King.  He gave small amount of Vibhuthi in water to drink.  Then he took a Rudraksha and tied to a silk thread and adorned on the neck of the king.  Vaidhyar told the king - Vibhuthi and Rudraksham are symbols of Lord Siva  and these were the medicines to cure his illness and left the Palace.  That night, the King slept well and he got up next morning to find out that he could move his legs and hands freely.   The people in the Palace were surprised to see that.   Next day also the Vaidhyar couple came and the vaidhyar smilingly asked the King whether they can start the treatment.   The King who was overwhelmed to see the couple said that the Vibhuthi and Rudraksha had already cured him and they were the medicines and no further medicines was required.  The King said to the Vaidhyar to ask whatever he wanted and that he would give him.  Vaidhyar said that in his place on the northern banks of River Cauvery, sand bunds have covered the Siva temple due to floods and that had to be removed and the temple renovated and that was what he wanted.  He took the King and showed the place too and disappeared.  The king understood that the Vaidhyar was none other than Lord Siva and removed the sand bunds surrounding the temple and found that the Lingam was there among the ruins.  He renovated the temple.  The Ambal statue could not be found and he made a new one and made pradhistai as Arumarundammai and did Kumbabhishekam and returned to Woraiyur.
After some years, a farmer while tilling the land found an Amman statue and he informed the King.   The Chozha King built a tempe for the Ambal and did pradhistai as Abhoorvanayaki. 

Hence this temple has two Ammans Arumarundammai and Abhoorvanayaki.

                                                   Arumarundhunayaki

                                                        Abhoorvanayaki

Lord Siva with Uma Devi appeared and blessed the crab and the crab took the form of the Yaksha.   Lord blessed Yaksha and said that his curse was over and can go back to his place.   Indra seeing with surprise all that happened there and prayed to the Lord and requested for the strength of him to be restored.  Lord said to Indra to perform pooja with 1000 lotus flowers for a mandala to regain his strength.   Indra performed the said pooja and returned to Indraloga getting back his lost strength. 

Dhanvantri who was the Vaidhya for the Devas and the author of the Ayurveda Sastra came to find out herbs which are in Bhoologa.   After searching out at various places, one day he met Sage Agasthiyar and asked for his help in finding out medicinal herbs.  Sage directed him to go to Aushadhavanam on the Northern Bank of River Cauvery.  Dhanvantri found some rare medicinal herbs in the Aushadhavanam.  He also found that there was a Siva Lingam in the midst of the Vana and he prayed the Linga regularly and also was finding out the herbs.
One day, Lord Siva taking the form of a Vaidhyar came to Dhanvantri.  He identified to Dhanvantri that the people called him Mahavaidyanathan and all those medicinal herbs were his work and he had planted them.   He said to Dhanvantri it seemed that he had come there looking for some rare herbs and took him through the Vana explaining to him about the various herbs there.  He said anybody could take these herbs as he had planted for use of everyone and disappeared.   That surprised Dhanvantri and he understood that it was Lord Siva who had come and offered prayers to the Linga there and was in all praise of the Lord in his prayers.  Dhanvantri stayed there for sometime and took various herbs to Devaloga.  

The Karkadeshwarar temple is special for the Kataka Rasi people and Ayilyam Nakshatra (Ashlesha) in particular of this Rasi.

In the outer walls of Garbagriha, on the southern side, Vinayagar and Dakshinamurty bless the devotees.  On the northern walls, in West Khoshta Brahma and East Khosta Durgai are blessing the devotees.

Temple Timings:
09.00 AM to 01.00 PM
04.00 PM to 07.00 PM

The temple closes early in the evening and also opens late in the morning.