Sub
Shrines Within The Temple
The various shrines within the temple
include the Shrine of Sri Subramanya in the northwest
corner, Shrine of Goddess Sri Brihannayagi, Sri Chandeeswara
Shrine, Shrine of Ganapati, Shrine of Dakshinamurti
in the north eastern corner, the colossal monolith figure
on Nandi, the sacred bull, in the central courtyard
and the Shrine of Karuvurar
The Shrine Of Sri Subramanya
The Shrine of Sri Subramanya has
been pronounced to be "As exquisite piece of decorative
architecture as is to be found in the south of India"
and "A perfect gem of carved stone work, the tooling
of the stone in the most exquisitely delicate and elaborate
patterns, remaining as clear and sharp as the day it
left thesculptor's hands".
Its correct place in the evolution of Dravidian temple
architecture would be modern, giving it a date not earlier
than 600 AD and is popularly believed to be of the Nayak
period.
The shrine consist
of a tower 55 feet high, raced on a base 45-sq-feet,
covered with delicately carved figured, pillars and
pilasters and carried on along a corridor 50 feet long,
communicating with another Mandapam 50 feet sq. to the
east. Flights of steps lead up to either side of the
shrine but the principal entrance is to the east. The
walls of the pillared Manadapam are decorated with the
portraits of the Mahratta rulers.
The Shrine Of
Goddess Brihanayaki
The Shrine of Goddess Brihanayaki
is a later addition, constructed in the second year
of a konerinmaikondan-probably a later Pandya of the
13th century. It is said that the original shrine of
the Goddess, was located in the adjoining Shivaganga
gardens and was later removed to main courtyard of the
temple by the one of the Nayaks.
The Shrine Of
Ganapati
The Shrine of Ganapati is in the
southwestern corner of the court and is of the time
of Sarfoji II. Seven images of Ganapati are said to
have been set up by Rajaraha Chola, 2 in the dancing
posture, 3 seated comfortably, and the remaining 2 standing.
The Shrine Of
Chandeeswara
The shrine on the north central court
is the only one put up contemporaneously with the main
temple. Chandeeswara is one of the 63 Saiva saints and
is considered to have been made the chief of Saiva devotees
by Lord Shiva. He is assigned a shrine and a honoured
place in every Shiva temple. He was looked upon as the
manager of the temple. Any worshipper visiting a Shiva
temple has to appear at the Chandeeswara shrine before
leaving the temple premises and clap his hands evidently
to satisfy the God that he is not taking away any temple
property with him.
Sri Dakshinamurti
Shrine
Sri Dakshinamurti sanctum, with image
as originally enshrined in one of the niches of the
Vimanam, abutting the south wall of the main temple
and approached by a steep flight of 21 stone steps is
distinctly a later addition.
The Great Nandi
The Nandi within an elaborately worked
Nayak Mandapam is massive and striking. The Nandi is
12 feet high, 19.5 feet long and 18.25 feet wide. The
Nandi is a monolith weighing about 25 tons and the stone
is said to have come from a bed of Gneiss at the foot
of Pachaimalai near Perambalur. Another version is that
the stone was brought over from the bed of the River
Narmada in the north.
There is a tradition that
the Nandhi is growing in size with the progress of time.
It was feared it might become too large for the Mandapam
erected over it and a nail was driven into the back
of it, and since, its size has remained stationery.
Two portraits statuesque on the front pillars of the
Nandi Mandapam are pointed out as those of Sevappanayakan
(the first Nayak ruler) and of his son Achyutappa Nayak.
Saint Karuvurar's Shrine
Behind the main temple and under
the shade of a Neem and a Mandarai is a modern looking
shrine, dedicated to a great Siddha, Karuvur Devar,
popularly known as "Karuvurar". The Karur
Stalapurana narrates how the saint helped Rajaraja Chola
in the installation of the great Brihadeeswara Shivalingam
in the sanctum sanctorum at the time of the consecration
of the temple. A place appears to have been assigned
to him for this reason, in the temple court. Thursdays
are held sacred for his worship and shrine attracts
large crowd of devotees.
Temple Timings
The temple is kept open from 5:30
in the morning to 12:00 in the noon. The temple usually
remains closed during the noon hours, and reopens in
the evening at 4:00 p.m. The temple closes in the night
after the last pujas are performed by 8:00 p.m.
Festivities
Every month, the day on which the
ruling star is Satabhishag is treated as a festival
as that was the ruling star at the time of Rajaraja's
birth. The other festival is Krittika day in the month
of Karttika (also spelt as Kartik).
The annual festival for 9 days is celebrated
in the month of 'Visaka' (May-June), during which the
drama of Raja Rajeswara is also enacted. The deity is
daily bathed with fragrant water in which the buds of
big Champaka flowers have been soaked. Ghee is used
in place of oil for keeping the temple lamps burning.
On festival days, the offering consists of eight varieties
of cooked rice (mixed with tamarind, coconut, lime,
juice, jaggery, gingelly, curd, etc.). Other items include
cake made with Dal, rice, pepper and mustard; vegetable
dishes, fried vegetables, sugar, plantain fruits, tamarind,
curd and ghee, and other items.
Regular Puja Services
Every day, regular pujas are performed
to the deities in the holy shrine. Pujas include Archana,
Abhishekam (also spelt as Abhishek) and Prasad o ffering.
The daily offering to the deity consists of cooked rice
(rice hulled from paddy stocked for not less than four
months should be used for cooking purposes), vegetable
dishes, ghee, Dal, rice boiled in milk, and Pansupari.
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