Kalyana Sundareswara Swami temple - Nallur The Linga manifesting in five different colors in a day Even today, the miracle of the Shiva linga manifesting itself in five different colors in the same day continues to happen! The linga manifests in copper color in the early morning, in light red in the morning, in melted gold color in the noon, in Navarathna green in the afternoon and in the evening in a color that cannot be identified! If we are to have the darshan of all the five colors, we have to stay at the temple from morning to night. We learnt about the antique glory of the temple and the various festivals that had been celebrated at the temple through the sthalapurana and through the local people. But today, all these have disappeared. When we enquired at the temple office, they quoted lack of funds as the reason for the deteriorated state of affairs. But still, people belonging to the place, though they have migrated to various other places, keep coming to the temple once a year to perform abhishek, aaraadhanaa, kalyana utsav etc. Those who beget a progeny through prayer requests fulfill their prayer commitments. The function of valaikaappu, done to pregnant women are also held here when the women become pregnant with the blessings of the Lord. Cause for name Once, Sumathi, the daughter of Adisesha was worshipping the Lord at Nallur with a prayer request for a husband who would be dear to her heart. Harithuja, the prince of Sonaadu visited the shrine. Attracted by her charms, he married Sumathi. Nallur is famous for blessing the devotees with a good marriage. Lord Narayana performed penance at this spot before assuming the form of Narasimha for His task of destroying Hiranyakashyap. A figure of Narasimha has been carved at the top of the vimana of the sanctum. Kunti Devi, the mother of the Pandavas reached this sthala on the day of Maasi maham, the day auspicious to bathe in the sea. Kunti Devi prayed to the Lord and the Lord answered her prayer by directing the water from the seven seas to flow into the tank at the Nallur temple. The tank got the name Saptasaahara theertham because of this incident. Marriage sthala An image of Kalyanasundareswara and His consort in wedding costume is seen in the sanctum behind the Shivalinga. The Goddess in the sanctum is Girisundari, also called as Thirumalaichokki. Usually, in all the temples, the devotees conduct the marriage of the Lord and His consort for the sake of their own happiness. But Thirunallur is the place where the Lord Himself blessed the sage and His devotees with a vision of His marriage. The people here say that even if we pray to the Lord from our house for the marriage of a family member, the prayer would be granted! Most of the men and women at this hamlet have been named Kalyanasundaram and Girisundari. Sometimes, even two members of the same family are given the same name! They are addressed as chinna Kalyanam, periya Kalyanam! All the Shivalayas have been sung in verses. Thirunallur has the special glory of having been sung in all the twelve Thirumurai. Saivite saints Appar, Sundarar, Gnanasambhandar, Manickavasagar, Arunagiri and Sekkizhaar all have sung its praises in their verses. Sundaragiri mahathmiyam and Nallur puranam extol the glory of this shrine. The late Bramasree Kalyanasundara Sastrigal compiled all the verses. All the details are seen on the stone inscriptions. And all the verses have been written on the walls of the temple prahara for the devotees to read. The practice of placing a blessed icon on the head of the devotees usually seen in Vaishanava temples is being followed at this temple. When we enquired the chief priest Sri Sundaresan about this unique feature, we got interesting information. When Thirunavukkarasu was suffering from chronic stomach pain, he applied the marks of saivite symbols Thirisoolam and Rishabham on his shoulders. And, he wished the imprint of Lord Sivas feet to be placed on his head. The Lord asked him to visit Nallur to get his wish fulfilled. And, the Lord fulfilled Thirunavukkarasars wish by placing His feet on his head. To commemorate this divine incident, even today, the practice of placing an icon with the imprint of the Lords feet on the heads of the devotees is being continued. Unable to balance the weight of the huge assembly of devotees who came in millions to watch the divine wedding of Lord Siva to Sakthi at the Kailash, the earth tilted towards the north. At this, the Lord asked sage Agasthya to restore the stability by staying back at the southern side and Agasthya obeyed the Lords order though upset over his ill-luck in being deprived of the bliss of attending the divine wedding. At this, the Lord blessed the sage with a vision of His marriage and Thirunallur is the spot where the Lord played this leela. Due to this reason, the place is equally valued on par with Kailash and is known as Dakshin Kailash. About the temple Date : The temple was built about 2000 years ago by a Chola king Senganarkatiyen who is also one of the 63 Nayanmars. Architecture : The temple measures 316 ft. in length and 228 ft. in width. The deity is Kalyanasundareswarar. The sanctums of the deity and His consort have been built at a higher level with steps facing the east after the style of Malaimalku temples. The images of Kasi Vinayaka, Kasi Viswanathar and Ashtabhuja Mahakali are also seen. Devotees from north keep visiting the temple to have darshan of Mahakali. Temple tank : Saptasaharatheertham is the foremost among the other sthala theerthas. Temple tree (thiruvritcham):Vilva tree is the sthala vritcham of the shrine. Location : The temple is situated at 13 km distance from Kumbakonam on the Kumbakonam - Thanjavur route, preceding Papanasam, at the interior area and away from the main road. Festivals Thiruvavaduthurai Aatheenam is performing daily worship services and festivals. The devotees are swelling in number day by day. Thirukalyanam, abhishek, turmeric kaappu, sandal kaappu etc. are also being arranged by the devotees as part of their prayer commitments. Vaikaasi visaaka sabhthasthana vizha, Aarudra darisanam, Thiruvempavai vizha in the Tamil month of Margazhi and Maasi maham are among the most important festivals that are celebrated by the temple. Let us pray to Lord Kalyanasundareswarar and Girisundari to bless all the varans registered with Kalyanamalai and also those waiting to get married with early and happy marriage!
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 13:32:05 +0000
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