After I was directed by the Pettavaithalai temple priest to Thirupparaithurai Temple I headed in that direction. This Thirupparaithurai Shiva Temple of Tharugavaneshwarar is one more of the important, but less-popular Trichy temples like Pettavaithalai.
I took the bus no.97 from Pettavaithalai, just as the that temple's priest as instructed. Unlike Pettavaithalai where the bus-stop was located almost 2km from the temple, here luckily here the bus stopped just 100 m away from the temple. But I had my fingers crossed as it was already 12.00 noon and smaller temples close earlier for ‘Nadai Moodudhal’ or temple closure for noon. The belief here is that God is considered & treated like a human being and like humans, Gods take a little nap noon.
Well, as I guessed, I ended up looking at the closed Sanctum Sanctorum of Paraithurainathar also called Tharugavaneshwarar. It had just closed by 11:30 or so. I just walked upto the door and came out. The temple was open, except the Sanctum Sanctorum and here too was a wedding that had just taken place and the whole group was having the wedding lunch in the temple’s mandapam. On my way out I saw a little room on the side with lights on. I peeped in to see if I could find someone. And ahoy I did…!!! I met Mr. Pazhaniyandi the meikkavalar of the temple. I enquired him if I could meet the priest. He said the priest had left and enquired where I was from. When I said I was bitten by the wanderlust and came here exploring, he said he could open the Sanctum Sanctorum for me. Wow!!! I said why not and I had a nice darshan of Tharugavaneshwarar aka Paraaithurai Nathar and Pasumpon Mayilambikai aka Hemavaranaambikai.
A specialty here is that in the Tamil month of Purattasi (Aug-Sept) on the 18th the sunlight directly falls on the lingam in the Sanctum Sanctorum thus giving a Surya poojai (solar prayer). Its a version of Autumn Equinox in Indian temples. (Read about Summer Solstice & Autumn Equinox observed in Stonehenge, UK & Megalithic Temples of Malta).
Another major festival here is on Aippasi (Sept-Oct) on the 1st day when the Goddess goes on a Thiruveedhi Ula and takes a dip in river Cauvery. It is believed that bathing in river Cauvery on that day is very special & sacred.
I asked Mr. Pazhaniyandi the lore and legend of the temple. That’s my favorite part in temple tours. I get to know my history and the rich cultural heritage of my dear India, which is more often passed on generation to generation with oral traditions like songs & stories, than documentation. Well, this place was an eden of so many ‘Paraai’ trees and this forest was called Tharugaavanam. So this place is called Thirupparaaithurai and Lord Shiva here is called Tharugaavaneshwarar and also Paraaithurai Naathar. Several Rishis lived here. There were these so many Rishi Pathni’s (Wives of Rishis’) here who were extremely beautiful and the Rishi’s were too proud of their wives. And Lord Shiva taught them a lesson in his incarnation as Bikshadanar.
The Sanctum Sanctorum of Tharugavaneshwarar has a suyambu lingam that is it was created by itself and not man-made. All of the Saiva Nalvar have sung hymns on this temple making this a paadal-petra-sthalam, thus making this place one of the important temples to visit in Trichy. This temple was built in the Chola reign about 900 years back. It was renovated during the Kanaadhu Kaathan time by Naagappa Chettiar. There is a sculpture of him in the Nandi Mandapam.
After chatting with him and gaining so many details, I looked into the circum-ambulation passage. It was pitch dark in there with no lights. I stared at the passage and stared back at Mr.Pazhaniyandi. He said, ‘You may go and have a circum-ambulation done while I wait for you. I’ll close the temple after u leave.’ That was so sweet of him, isn’t it..??? So I sported into that dark passage.
But as I went in it was not that dark. Since I was coming in from scorching sun at 12 noon, the whole interiors appeared so dark for me. It was not lighted as well. There were these occasional lights from the gaps of the ceiling. It was pleasant inside there but with no one besides in that dark surrounding, it was slightly freaky, too.
As I circum-ambulated the east facing temple I offered my prayers to Sapthamadha on the eastern wall. For a change, rather unusually there was a statue of Ayyanar - the village god, here. Then as usual in all Saivaite temples, there were the Saiva Nalvar, Naagar, the snake God and then Vigneshwarar and Nardhana Ganapathy in the south facing side.
Then comes the specialty. The shrine of Dakshina Murthy. Its an awesome shrine with an intricate work. The ‘Simhathoon’ pillars are exquisitely carved with lions that hold the whole pillar and the leaves on the tree behind Him were so intricate. Care had been taken to show each and every leaf than the tree as a whole. This shrine looked amazing and stood out from the rest despite of the pitch darkness and lighting that was lesser than a zero watt bulb. I think I’m gonna go this temple just for this shrine, once again. Let’s see…!!!
Then on the east facing walls were the several shrines including Somaskandhar, Valli Deivanai samedha Subramaniar, and the lingams of the elements of nature – Appulingam - Water, Theyulingam - Fire, Vaayulingam - Wind. Ardhanareeshwarar was on the western side. On the northern side were Durga, Lakshmi, Mahalakshmi. On the south facing wall were the shrines of Mahalakshmi, Gajalakshmi, and a separate special shrine for Chandikesar. Then were the Navagraha in which only Sanishwara stands with his Crow. And I was again standing in front of the Sanctum Sanctorum.
There Mr. Pazhayandi was waiting for me and wondering where I had gone. A sweet and caring man he was. Then he showed me a ‘Chakra ’ – a circular relief-sculpture on the ceiling. That was called the ‘Rasi Chakra’ or the Moon-Sign cycle. He said, if someone offers their prayer to Paraaithurai Nathar standing below their respective Moon-Sign the wishes would come true.
Further ahead on the South-Western corner was the shrine of Sri Dhandayudhapani. Then ahead was a small Mandapam where the wedding lunch was going on which instantly triggered my stomach as well. Now, home or hotel…??? My cook would have taken efforts and prepared my lunch and having my dinner out wouldn’t be justified at all. So I drank some water and caught the bus back home…
This is not one of the typical tourist places of Trichy, but one of the special pilgrimage places to visit in Trichy. It is definitely one of the historic & most important Shiva temple in Trichy.
6:00AM to 11:30AM and 4:30PM to 8:30PM
On Google Maps - Thirupparaithurai Shiva temple
From Trichy: 20 km in NH 67 en-route to Pettavaithalai and Kulithalai
From Karur: 57 km in NH 67 via Kulithalai, Pettavaithalai
From Mukkombu & Perugamani: 1.5km (its located between the 2, almost at mid-point)
Frequent buses available from Trichy and Karur.
Nearest railway station for passenger trains: Perugamani & Elamanur
Nearest railway station for express trains: Pettavaithalai. Town bus no: 97 from Pettavaithalai, drops you right in front of Paraithurainathar temple.
HINDU PILGRIMAGE TOURISM IN INDIA - TRICHY TEMPLES:Here's the Trichy Temples List that I have been to & written about in this blog. Click to read my blogposts about each of these temples: Pettavaithalai Madhyarjuneswarar Temple, Thirupparaithurai Temple, Kulithalai Kadambar Temple, Manathattai Agraharam, Thayumanavar Temple, Uchi Pillayar Temple (Rock Fort), Pallava & Pandya Cave Temples, Bhuloganathar Temple, Sirugamani Bakthavathsaleswarar Temple, Thiruchendurai Chandrasekarar Temple, Gopurapatti Amaleeswarar Temple, Srinivasanallur Kuranganathar Temple, Allur Panchanadeeswarar Temple, Allur Nakkan Temple, Andanallur Vadathirthanathar Temple, Srirangam Ranganathar Temple, Thiruvanaikkaval Jambukeswarar Temple
My first tour of Thirupparaithurai! Thanks Mitr.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, about your question on my Parshuram Waterfall [परशुराम धबधबा] post, the place is in Konkan :)
A Mind Without Control
Tis is a beautiful tour of the temple Mitr. Thanks for taking us along with you :))
ReplyDeleteThe sketches you linked too are lovely! Thank you so much for your kind visits, and very kind comments, I really appreciate them.;)
ReplyDeletexo
So jealous of your travels. Things I may never live to see, but wish that I could. I better start saving my pennys.
ReplyDelete@Bhavesh,
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure dear.. :)
And thanks for that info.. :)
@Aysegul,
My pleasure dear... :)
@Protege,
Thanks for ur kind visit and appreciation.. :) Do drop in often.. Would love your visits n comments.. :)
@Christine,
Welcome to my blog dear... Thanks for dropping by and commenting.. Do drop in often.. Would love ur visits n comments...
And do visit Incredible India...!!! :)
So rich history and culture appear on these beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteHey Phivos,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your appreciation dear.. :)
Amazing shots all
ReplyDeletethanks for so many beautiful photo's :)
Very interesting tour through the temple!
ReplyDeleteHey Anya,
ReplyDeleteThanks dear.. :)
Hi Janie,
Thanks sweety.. :)
Hello and thank you Mitr-Friend for your kind wishes.
ReplyDeleteMy neighbour went to South India to visit temples and they had a grand time. And I can picture their trip from your blog.
There is so much history here. Thanks for the tour of the temple .
ReplyDelete@Ocean girl,
ReplyDeleteU r welcome dear...
Wow... Ur neighbours must have had a great time.... Being in Malaysia, your neighbours might be natives of TamilNadu, India.... Just a wild guess... :)
@Diane,
Its my pleasure sweety... :)
It is good to hear that even Gods take a little nap :D
ReplyDelete@Mridula,
ReplyDeleteOf course, they too get so tired after so much of creation, care and destruction and our never ending list of wishes... :D Lolz...
Welcome to my blog dear... Nice to have you here. Do drop in often.. :)
Thanks for stopping by my blog. You have some interesting posts here about off-beat places. I'll be back to take a closer look!
ReplyDeleteHi Bindu,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my blog dear... Nice to have you here.. Thanks for dropping by and commenting.. Do drop in often.. Would love ur visits n comments...
I liked your blog very much. I appreciate for your beautiful presentation with wonderful photos. I have visited Trichy several times as I am from Pondicherry.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome in my blogs.
Hi Urmi,
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot and welcome to my blog dear... Thanks for dropping by and commenting.. Do drop in often.. Would love ur visits n comments...
And I'll visit yout blog soon...
You have beautifully covered the temple. You are fortunate one to enter the sanctum. Even I have seen that they open the temple on request in some places for Darshana. It was wonderful to know about the history of temple.
ReplyDeleteI think I yam very late here :) Nothing is late than ever :) I don't miss to read ur blog da :) Now, this place is marked n ma notebook :) will visit soon... I've to meet you and arrange a trip
ReplyDelete:)
I loved this place. Always feel fascinated about these ancient temples. Nice info and great post this one! :-)
ReplyDelete@Rajesh,
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot dear...
@Sow,
Come back soon. Ur comments are a must in each n every one of my posts... U know that.. :D
@Kcalpesh,
Thank you dear...
Lovely travel account. I'd love to visit this temple and the surrounding areas sometime soon. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Kamini,
ReplyDeleteWelcome back dear.. Thanks for dropping by again. Do visit and do share ur experiences too...
Another fantastic temple with such an intricate architecture!
ReplyDeleteHey Jose,
ReplyDeleteThanks dear... :)
Thanks.I am searching the Lord Siva temple with Ambal Manimekalai.If know anybody pls inform me.
ReplyDeleteThanks
sivakumar
Tamilnadu.S.India.
My Mail:sivkumar_2000@yahoo.com
@Vinesh,
ReplyDeleteThanks dear.. :)
@Siva,
I do not know for now. I'll try to find. Your comment is in my blog and hope someone who stumbles here might help you!!!
And if you come to know, pls let me know as well!!! :)
Hi Bhusha,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Comments in my blog on Thiruppaaraithurai. I have been reading your blog since October and i had commented in one or two of your posts. Your writing is good. Keep writing.
The interiors of this Temple are mostly dark.... just like most of the old temples in TN.
@Venkat Nagaraj,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for stalking my blog! :) I'm glad! :)
Thanks for your kind appreciation. That's what keeps me going! :)
Yeah, but some temples have electric tubelights in them now.
And some have spacings in the ceiling done in ancient times itself!
This one didn't not have any space in ceiling and thanks to the timing i went there, the tubes were off!
Paraai tree is the tree of Kettai Natchathira. So it is Natchathira temple for Kettai people.
ReplyDelete@Mohana,
ReplyDeleteOh! Thanks for the info dear! :)
Its nice to read this,,,
ReplyDelete@Singai Ram,
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it. Thnks. :)
Thirupparathurai is one of the peaceful and historical place in South India . By Ramesh kannan
ReplyDeleteIndeed it is, Ramesh! Thanks for your comment!
Delete