Marundeeswarar Temple | |
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Marundeeswarar Temple and Tank glow in the morning sunlight |
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Coordinates: | 12°59′08″N 80°15′41″E / 12.98556°N 80.26139°ECoordinates: 12°59′08″N 80°15′41″E / 12.98556°N 80.26139°E |
Name | |
Proper name: | Marundeeswarar Temple |
Location | |
Country: | India |
State: | Tamil Nadu |
Location: | Tiruvanmiyur, Chennai |
Temple Details | |
Primary Deity: | Marundeeswarar (Shiva) |
Temple Tank: | Jenmanasini, Kamanasini, Pavanasini, Gnanadhayini, Motchadhayini |
Architecture and culture | |
Architectural styles: | Dravidian architecture |
Temple Tree: | Vanni |
Marundeeswarar Temple (Tamil: மருந்தீஸ்வரர் ஆலயம்) is a temple dedicated to Hindu deity Shiva, located in the Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai adjacent to the beach of Bay of Bengal. It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, where the three of the most revered Nayanars (Saivite Saints), Appar and Tirugnana Sambandar have glorified the temple with their verses during the 7th-8th century. The temple has been widely expanded by Chola kings during the 11th century.[1] The temple has two seven tiered gateway towers, a huge tank, with the overall temple area covering 1 acre. The Marundeeswarar temple has been a place of curative worship for people with diseases. The latest coronation of the temple after renovation was performed in May 2008. The temple is administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
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Legend
Lord Marundeeswarar is known so because he taught sage Agastya about some magical medicine.[1] Since then the Marundeeswarar temple has been a place of worship for people with diseases and various problems with their health.[2] It is said that even The Sage Valmiki, who wrote The Ramayana, came here to The Marundeeswarar temple to worship The Lord.[3] Sage Valmiki was said to be blessed here. After this incident, this place was to be known as Thiruvalmikiyur, after a long period of time, the name gradually changed to Thiruvanmiyur.[4] There is a place present in Thiruvanmiyur called Valmiki Nagar in his honour. There is also a temple built for Sage Valmiki in the middle of the East Coast Road,[4] very close to the Marundeeswarar temple. The lingam for which Lord Hanuman performed pooja, The lingam(meenakshi sundareswarar) that cured the curse of Lord Indra, the Lingam for which Saint Bharadwaja performed pooja are present here. Markandeyar performed a penance and prayed to lord Shiva here, Lord Brahma is believed to have conducted a festival here for lord Shiva.There is a story that Vishnu worshipped Shiva with his family here to get a son ,but he forgot to worshipp parvati devi who cursed his son to die at once after birth .Vishnu apologised and she took away the curse. This son was Kama deva.Parthasarathy is also said to have worshipped this lord for teaching wrong things in his Bhagvad Gita like preventing Shiva worship.
History
The road starting from Marundeeswarar temple, now called ECR was an important route during the Chola period and was known as Vadagaperuvazhi, connecting the kingdom to places in Thanjavur and Andhra Pradesh.[5] Inscriptions can be found in the shrine of Tripurasundari Amman dating back to the 11th century during the period of Rajendra Chola.[3][5] The origins and antiquity of this temple is corroborated by the inscriptions found in other temples in the city namely Kapaleeswarar Temple, Virupaksheeswarar Temple and Thiruvidandai which bear testimony to Tiruvanmiyur's existence. A new life has been put into this ancient worshipping place, first in the year 1903 and then in 1970's.
The Temple
The temple has two entrances, one from East Coast Road and the other from West Tank Street both adorned by 5-tiered gopuram (gateway tower).[2] The Entrance from the West Tank Street has got three gates whereas the entrance from the East Coast Road has only one gate. The temple occupies an area of about 1 acre - numerous images adorn the pillars of the temple, while stucco figures adorn the gopurams.[2] The mandapam (hall) housing the Somaskanda form of Shiva has 36 massive pillars adorned with carvings.[2]Devasriyan mantapam inside the temple conducts shaiva sidhantha lectures every day between 7 pm and 8.30 pm.
The Shrines
The temple has smaller Shrines for Lord Ganesha, Lord Murugan,there is ashire for 3 ganeshas who control all there time periods adajecent to this a vedagama padasalai is situated . a thirumurai mandapam has been set up in which thirumurais are sung daily for the pat 11 years. the shrine of Lord Shiva, which has the idols of Lord Shiva in his three forms, Lord Theyagaraja, Lord Marundeeswarar, and Lord Nataraja. Lord Nataraja is supposed to be Lord Shiva in his dancing form. Lord Theyagaraja and Lord Nataraja are the only forms of Lord Shiva in which he is not in the Lingam form. The last shrine is for Lord Marundeeswarar's consort, Goddess Thirupurasundari, who is actually Goddess Parvati. The samadhi of Pamban Swamigal is also found near the shrine.[4]
inside shiva shrine
inside sivas shrine ganesha is situated in the SE corner moving clockwise from there we can see statues of 4 saiva samaya kuravar gaja laksmi skanda with his consorts,arunagirinathar and veerabahu(ne) utsava murthis nataraja 1o8 shiv lingas bhairava(nw) arunchaleswarar and other lingas surya ganesha(sw) 63 nayanmars in the east west axis
The Deities
The Primary deity, The Marundeeswarar Lingam is said to be naturally formed and not sculpted by anyone. This formation is known as svayambhu or Idumbu in Tamil. In the Mahamandapam where The deity resides, there are 108 lingams, and the replicas of the five lingams of the five elements. The divine cow Kamadhenu is believed to deliver milk to the lingam daily and hence the lingam is white. Another name for the lingam is 'Paalvannanathar' (in Tamil, 'Paal' means milk, 'Vanna' means colour). And hence, Paalvannanathar means 'one whose colour is that of milk'. Other names of the Lord here are Oushadheeswarar, Marundheesar, Vedapureeswarar.in the goshta there are statues of durga ,brahma sri maha vishnu ,dakshinamurty, ganesha.one unique feature of this temple is the presence of 2 chanigeswaras ,some say the 2nd statue may represent appaya dikshitar who visited this temple. The Goddess or ambal is known as Thirupurasundari, Chokkanayagi and Sundaranayagi.there is paaliarai,shrine for sukravara amman etc in the devi shrine
carvings in pillars
in the thegaraya mandapam there are carvings of valmiki ,kannapa,palani andavar,hanuman , kamadhenu etc in the shiva shrine the are sculpturing of swastic etc .In the outer prahar of the devi shrine there are carvings of dakshinamurthy,shanmuga sitting on a elephant,sarabadeva,nrisma,vishnu,kamakshi tapas avtars of vishnu etc.in the inner prhar there are sculpturs of hanuman duga etc
Literary Mention
The temple is reverred in the verses of Tevaram, the 7th century saivite canonical work by the two saint poets namely, Appar and Campantar.[6]
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- "கரையு லாங்கட லிற்பொலி சங்கம்வெள் ளிப்பிவன்
- றிரையு லாங்கழி மீனுக ளுந்திரு வான்மியூர்
- உரையு லாம்பொரு ளாயுல காளுடை யீர்சொலீர்
- வரையு லாமட மாதுட னாகிய மாண்பதே."
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translating to
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- "Tiruvāṉmiyūr where the fish leap in the back water where the strong waves move about, taking from the sea which moves towards the shore the shining conches, and white oysters. Lord who rules over the world, being the meaning of the words please tell me about the dignity of having a beautiful lady who wanders in the mountain.".[7]
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Another verse explains the devotion towards the goddess of the temple as
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- "விரையார் கொன்றையினாய் விடமுண்ட மிடற்றினனே
- உரையார் பல்புகழா யுமைநங்கையொர் பங்குடையாய்
- திரையார் தெண்கடல்சூழ் திருவான்மி யூருறையும்
- அரையா வுன்னையல்லா லடையாதென தாதரவே."
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translating to
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- "Civaṉ who wears koṉṟai flowers abundant in fragrance!
- who has neck which consumed the poison!
- who has many forms of fame which are spoken by devotees!
- who has Umai;
- a lady of distinction, as a half!
- the King who dwells in tiruvāṉmiyūr, surrounded by the clear sea full of waves.
- my love will not reach other gods except you".[8]
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Arunagirinathar has visited this temple and has sung praises of Subramanya here.
In News
It came as a surprise that the builders of the ECR (East Coast Road) had even considered demolition of the temple of Sage Valmiki lying opposite to the Marundeeswarar temple in order to complete the project (of building the ECR). The high court of Tamil Nadu then directed that the temple be in its place and not to disturb it.
The Kumbhabhishekham (coronation after renovation) of the temple was performed on 23 May 2008.[6] The construction of the Rajagopuram on the eastern side of temple started 45 years ago, but was completed only before the function following the Government issued orders for completing it at a cost of Rs 45 lakh.[6] Rs 1 crore was spent for improving infrastructure at the temple, which included construction of additional compound wall, Annadanakudam, office complex and amenities for devotees.[6]
Gallery
Notes
- ^ a b Hodgetts 2008, p.55
- ^ a b c d "Tamil Nadu Tourism Newsletter March 2009". Tamil Nadu Tourism. Mar 2009. p. 2. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
- ^ a b Kamath 2002, pp.40-41
- ^ a b c V. 2006, p. 14
- ^ a b "10 years of East Coast Road: Monumental neglect". The Hindu. 10 Mar 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
- ^ a b c d "‘Kumbabhishekam’ in progress at Sri Marundheeswarar Temple at Thiruvanmiyur on Friday". The Hindu. 24 May 2008. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
- ^ "Second Thirumurai". thevaaram.org. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
- ^ "Third Thirumurai". thevaaram.org. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
References
- Hodgetts, Jim Brayley (2008), Madras Matters At Home in South India, Hodgetts, ISBN 978-1-4357-0887-7.
- Kamath, Rina (2000), Chennai, Chennai: Orient Longman Limited, ISBN 8125013784, 9788125013785 Check
|isbn=
value (help). - V., Subburaj (2006), Tourist Guide to Chennai, Chennai: Sura Books, ISBN 81-7478-040-8.
External links
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