Parakalakottai Podhu Avudayar temple

Parakalakottai Podhu Avudayar   temple –Shiva temples which opens  only  on Monday midnight

Compiled by

P.Ramachander

(I came to know about this peculiar temple   from a face book post of my friend. May Lord Shiva  bless him. This is Karthigai month and next Monday there is a festival in this temple))

Parakalakottai is  a temple which is11 km   from Pattukottai  , 50 km from THanjavur  and 67  km fromKumbakonam.There is a very peculiar temple in this  village  ,The t five hundred   year old  temple  is called   the temple of Madhyapureeswarar /  Pothu Avydatar  (Podhu  means public or unbiased  and Avudayar  is the platform on which   the Shiva lingsa rests . Actuually   there are no  vigraha  or idol inside the temple  , There is huge banyan tree   beneath which is the  prathishta  of the feet of Shiva. The tree itself  is considered as the Vimana   over the lord  ,

    There is a very interest story about this temple. It seems there  were two saints called  Vankobar( saint with great anger)   and Mahakobar(Saint    with great  anger). It seems they once started arguinfg as  to weather leading  the lif of householder  u is superior or whether  the life of a sanyasi is superior. They went to Chidambaram temple    and  requested   the God   to take the correct decision. It seems God told them to to Parakalakottai.  After   the last pooja in Chidambaram, on a Monday   at midnight  Lord Shiva came there , sat below a banyan tree   and after  hearing their arguments   gave an unbiased  judgement that both are  of equal merit  if properly followed.  Because of that  he was called  as Podhu Abvudayar(Impartial  God’s  judgement seat)   and people started him   worshipping   below that   tree.,Because God came there on a Monday that too after  midnight  , the devotees   started worshipping him  on Mondays after midnight .The temple opens at 10PM   and then  the entire tree  is hidden with white   cloth and  a  linga like shape is  made using  Chandana Kappu(sandal wood), nose mouth, forehead etc   on that  .While doing this the   entire  temple is hidden by a screen ,At 11,30  Nandi  , Ganesa , Maha kopa  , Vankopa  and Pedda Perumal(Guardian deity)  are   first worshipped and exactly at midnight   the temple opens. The eldest devotee who is assembled there is allowed to enter   the temple first   and he is honoured. The temple  is kept open   till sun rise  when Anna Dhana   would take place   .Then the temple is closed   till next Monday. The Banyan tree  is also  considered to represent planet Jupiter   and its leaves   are given as Prasada. People  preserve those leaves   in their homes   g having faith that it would bring prosperity.

  There is a strange practice of women  offering new coconut leaf brooms in  the belief that  they will luxuriously long  hair.

     Only on the day of pongal festival (thai Pongal)    the temple is kept open from 7 am     till evening  It seems othe sun light   on that day falls on the constructed  Linga, Except for this , no other  festival is celebrated in the temple. When the temple is closed worship is offered to the door  of the temple  People do pooja and salute the Banyan tree   within the temple  on these days. It seems people who want to get married   tie a Mangalya(thali) on the tree and those who want child birth   tie a cradle on the temple.

 On the four Mondays of  Karthigai month (November-December) special worship is  offered to the God.Special pooja is also offered  on the last Monday of the Tamil year.Millions of people participate on this day’s festival. ON festival days    , devotees offer  paddy yields from their lands, pulses with husk , gold coins etc according to their status to the lord  Some of them even offer    household articles ,A huge pandal is erected on these days to collect   these offerings.