Inscriptions from the time of Aditya Chola I (870-907), Raja Raja I (10th - 11th cent) & his descendants speaking of endowments made by the Chola rulers to this temple are found here. Vikrama Cholan built the Vikramacholan Tirumandapam (1118-1135).
The present structure of the temple as well as the beautiful bronze images in this temple are a contribution of the Great Chola emperor Raja Raja Chola I. Some of these bronzes were recovered in treasure troves unearthed here. The Ardhanareeswarar and Chandeswarar bronzes are now housed in the Chennai Museum. Natarajar, Somaskandar, Devi, Bhoga Sakthi are housed in the temple, while images of Subramanyar, Rishabhavahanadevar, Bhikshatanar, Kalyanasundarar Kannappar and others are housed in the Thanjavur Art Gallery.
1. thiruvengadu is nearer to poompuhar 2. its the only existing temple that was mentioned in valmiki ramayan 3. swetha means white and aranyam means kaadu( ven- kaadu) 4. idol behind the amman temple holds a child in the hip. reportedly uma devi and sambandar who refused to tread ito the town seeing " uurellaam sivalokam, mannellam siva lingam) recently i noticed a similar statue in thirukadaiyur also. 5. 3 thiirthams with water noticebaly different in temparature.
has a wonderful set of devarams
kan kaattum nuthalaanum kanal kaattum kaiyaanum.....
This holy shrine is one among the 100 temples called Tirupathy. The goddess Lakshmi is also called as `Thiru'. The presiding diety is holding her on the left side. So it is called Thiru-Idathu-Eanthai which over a period of time came to be called as Thiru-vidanthai. Tamil Saint Thiru Mangai Alwar has sung the glory of this holy place in ten places in his famous `Pasuram'. There are several messages relating to this is available in the stone scripture of first Raja Raja Cholan and Vijaya Rajendra Cholan
Thiruvenkaadu also close to my heart. Recently I had been there.
I think Venkatesh family constructed Bhuthan Temple nearby AmbaL temple- or some other structure (?).. It is also Bhuthan's kshetram
One Archakar told me that there are only very few Archaka families left in the town now and future looks bleak.
Due to the stature of Navagraha kshetram, number of pilgrims are visiting the Temple. It is a very good sign.
Saiva Samaya first Acharya Meykandar's father was asked to take bath in the tank before birth of the great Acharya. It is said the bath at Tirevenkaadu Tank is suggested for those who do not have kids.
This story reminds me of saying by Ramanujacharya who went up the Tirupathi hill on his knees saying that the whole hill is the Lord himself. It would be curious to know of the history of the sthalam vs gyanasambandar's entry there. That will give clues of the real time line on ramayana.
One can confidently say that Skanda puranam is much earlier to ramayana's time, I would say close to Macha avatar. Looking at instances in thirupugazh where Arunagiri cites Hanuman reading between lines of his command to search for Mother in the southern direction, in the process, gets blessed by Muruga at Kathir kamam (which opens another link of where is the Lanka portrayed in the epic, according to the vision of Arunagiri , Hanuman seeks Skanda's blessing after burning lanka and returning to India - so geographically the locations point to lemuria.....again). Ref: Song about Kathirkamam in thirupugazh - udukka thugil vendum, again a melter for those aanmigam sinthanaiyalars and tamil literacy lovers.
this temple is close to chennai on the ecr close tocrocodile bank. a ps group ( sivaram sathish vk etc)visited this 3 months back. sivaram should be having the photos. RRC edicts were in the temple. varahar here and adi varhar in mahabalaipuram. at first sight this sea facing temple seemed so out of place. but straight to the east across the canal and 20 km of land we have singa perumal koil( narasimar) straight to the east (another 20 km)we have sriperumbudur another holy vaishnava shrine
Kalki mentions in Parthiban kanavu that siruthondar's wife was from thiruvenkadu... is it the same? any idea? Because I know one Venkadu near sriperumbudur... thiru being a mariyaathai peyar, how does one distinguish which venkadu is being referred to?
Hi thanks dhiwaker for recalling. my wife's grandfather built the (kal thirupani)budhan shrine and amman shrine ( hence many vidya names in their family) it happened in 1942 and a kalvettu on the entry of the amman shrine says so. during the recent kumbabishekam also they did some work for the gold kumbam. venketesh
Burnt the lust, which could burn all the discipline, with the beautiful eye between the brows - that Lord's graceful abode is thiruchcheN^kAttaN^kudi . In that town came the man of unimaginable great deeds paranychOdhiyAr . He learnt AyurvEdam, saMskR^itam and the usage of arms in a flawless way. With a matured knowledge he came to the conclusion that crown all the arts is crawling snake ornated God's feet and nurtured steadily the growing love for that comforting feet. Serving the devotees of the Deedless, he undertook the position of the head of the king's army. He won the battle of vAdhApi exhibiting his splendid valiance, brilliance and knowledge. When the king was wondering about his magnificent performance the ministers told him as paranychOdhiyAr was the servant of the Three- eyed Lord there was nobody to defeat him. Hearing that he was a devotee the judicious king was afraid that he had sent a devotee to the killing battlefield. He gave him a lots of gifts and properties and requested him to serve the Lord dedicating his time for that. paranychOdhiyAr returned to his town and spent the all time in serving the sha.nkara at the gaNapathIchcharam temple of the town. He got married to the girl veNkAttu n^aN^gai who stood for the principles of the devotee.
For the devotees of the God ornated by feather, flowers and flowing river, the devotee of thriuchcheN^kAttaN^kudi everyday used to host feast and then only eat. This he followed as a ritual without failure and his hospitality was known in all the directions. He being so humble in the presence of the limitlessly famed devotees he was known as chiRuth thoNdar (small servant). While his service was continuing blissfully praying the unmeasurable feet of the Lord the couple got a child. They named him chIrALa dhEvar . To celebrate the birth of the child who arrived like the fruit of the austerities the devotee made it a grand festival for the entire town. He donated liberally to the devotees and made all the rituals with the sound of vEdas reverberating the sky. The kid was brought up with utmost care of the parents. When he was three years old they sent him to the school to learn the worth learning arts. That time the Sun that rose to drive away the illusions and enlighten the world in shaivam - the prodigy thirunyAnachampan^dhar (1) came there. Holding his soft feet on his head and heart the devotee saluted him. The saint stayed in his place for some days and he praised the honest and whole-hearted service of chiRuththoNdar in the hymn he sang there.
The Lord who is independent of external enjoyment wanted to demonstrate that the great are capable of doing deeds which are terrific even to think of for others. In place of lightning like matted hair He took dark cloud like matted hair, in place of the young growing crescent - a crescent shaped stripes of Holy ash, in place of snake ear-ring - a floral ring, in place of the ornament of skulls - a shining string of white stones, in place of the fierce elephant skin cladding - cladded in clothe, obscuring the black throat, with unlimited grace in the eyes, smile in the lips, beauty throughout the body, holding up the spear, the kazal worn in the legs inviting everybody to salute that form of Mercy, the Supreme came in the form of a bhairAgi. The God who feeds the entire world, acting as if He was terribly hungry came to the devotees house enquiring where it is. Only his wife was there in the house. The Lord in the form of bhairAgi asked was there the servant of Lord in the house who everyday gives food for the devotees. Realizing a sage had come the chaste thiruveNkAttun^aN^gaiyAr came out and said saluting him that her husband had gone out and invited Him to come inside the house. The bhairAgi replied He would not come inside the house where a woman is alone. Immediately the humble lady went to the other extreme of the house and told Him that as her husband did not find any devotee that day to host he had gone searching for one and would be really happy if he knew that a devotee had come on his own. She asked Him to sit inside the house. The Lord appreciated her that they followed in the right way the discipline of family life, but still He would not enter the house without the devotee present and would be waiting for him under a tree near the temple.
To the sincere servant who came back sad unable to find any devotee, his matched wife told that a devotee from the north in the form of bhairAgi came there and was waiting near the temple tree for him. With growing eagerness he went to the bhairAgi and saluted to be asked by Him "Are you the great small servant ?". The great even though they consider themselves small would be acknowledged as great only by the Truth ! The humble servant replied that he was not praisable in the group of devotees but out of mercy the devotees call him so. He told it was the effect of all the good deeds he would have done, for Him to come to his house. The sage who claimed to come from the north said the food He wanted was very difficult to prepare. He wanted a life to be cooked that too a human in the age not exceeding five, having no physical impairments, should be the only child for the family and the child s parents should cook it happily ! The devotee with uncomparable dedication said there is nothing in the world that is impossible to achieve for the devotees. Saluting Him he came back home.
The devotee told his wife the type of food the sage asked for. They decided to cook their loving young son for the devotee to have food. Father went and brought the child from the school. He bathed him, cleaned his body completely. With the mother holding the child s hands and legs, the child enjoying their great deed, father cut his head and did the unimaginable deed. The couple of synchronized thoughts were not sad but were happy about serving the devotee. Removing the head considering it would not be good for feast the loving mother cooked the rest with other food materials. Then the superior servant invited the sage to accept the feast, begging pardon for any delay he would have made in preparing the feast. Washing the Feet that kicked the death to death, they sprinkled that holy water on themselves and throughout the house. His principled
Yes, staunch devotees do find odd ways to worship - karaikkal ammaiyar (in her her skeleton form) - is said to have proceeded to kailash. Feeling that it would be a great sin to place her foot on those sacred grounds, she made the last part of the journey on her head. that would have been quite a feat...walking upright in human form with two legs up the trimala hills was itself an herculean effort for me
Exactly, and when we visited there last week, we were told that karaikal ammayar came to thiruvengadu from palaiyanur on her head. She attained samathi in thiruvengadu - rathina sabai - portion of the rathina sabai is hence sealed. I was also told that she never travelled to kailash.
Physical travel is one and travel on astral planes is another. I believe Karaikal ammaiyar as much as many many other saints travelled far off places through the later mode. Bogar history has quite a bit of examples and Arunagiri's songs depict of temples which physically he was not documented to have visited. I know of people who can describe places and temples accurately without having moved out of their homes...
Vijay said: Yes, staunch devotees do find odd ways to worship - karaikkal ammaiyar (in her her skeleton form) - is said to have proceeded to kailash. Feeling that it would be a great sin to place her foot on those sacred grounds, she made the last part of the journey on her head.
and
Venkatesh said:
out of respect for karaikal ammaiyar I think either appar or sundarar refused to enter thiruvalangadu and sang from outsid the town.
Hence I told about thiruvalankadu. Sorry if i have derailed the conversation....
> > Sembian Madevi changed this from Brick to Katrali..
Her efforts seem to cap every major temple - since we are in the mood to compile lists - would be great to run up a list of temples that were rebuilt in stone by sembian madevi ....am sure it will be a impressive list and an apt tribute to this noble lady.. there is but a glancing mention of her in wiki, we could possibly compile and add there as well vj
Dear SPS, Is it not Thiruvalangadu where the Shiva-Parvathi dance duel happened? And Karaikkal Ammayar saw it? Not Thiruvengadu, perhaps? Correct me if I am wrong.
Kudamuzha a book by Dr. Kudavoil deals with 5 dances of shiva in an extremely elegant manner
> > Much much Later, for the sake of Karaikkal Ammayar, exclusively the > couple performed a friendly " Sabha Dance " ! at Thiruvalangadu ! > > anbudan / > sps >