Thepperumanallur Shiva temple where only devotees without future rebirths can go

 Thepperumanallur Shiva temple where only devotees without future rebirths can go

Compiled by
P.R.Ramachander

(I came to know about this temple (Which is the only temple in India where Lord Shiva is worshipped by Rudraksha) from a detailed write up by my face book friend Athreya Gothram Bairava Ramani. All what I have written is rewriting of what he has done .My acknowledgements to him. It seems the temple is in a bad condition and efforts are being made to do Kumbabhishekam to this temple.It is also known that the priests are very poorly paid .Humble request to all Pilgrims who go to Nava Graha temple trip. This tempe is very close the Rahu temple of Thirunageswaram .Please try to visit this temple and donate what you could. Ofcourse you would succeed only if you do not have a rebirth.)

This temple which is very near Thirunageswaram Rahu temple of Kumbakonam is also called Annadhana sivan temple,In this temple the entire Shva Linga is covered with Rudraksha beads (kavacha) on festival days and hence the God is also called Rudraksheswarar . IN this siva linga in the Avudiyar(base) a maragada is fixed inside on which sunlight falls every day. The Power of this linga is said to be the combination of all the 12 jothirlingams in India and therefore unique.
This Lord is also called as Viswanathar and his consort is Vedha Nayagi .She appears as if she is walking towads us with lips appearing as if she is speaking with us. The ARchana to Rudarkshareswarar is done by Eka mukha or 12 Mukha Rudrakshas.When you do pooja a Rudraksha and a vilwa dala is given as Prasada at this temple. It seems only the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Shiva is built with lime(chunnam) mixed with honey. There is a belief that on solar eclipse day a Cobra enters the temple with a vilwa leaf and worships the Lord .A video of this has been made once and can be seen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdX81MavF-Q

There is an extremely interesting Sthala purana to the temple:-
It seems once the time came For Saneeswara to catch Lord Shiva and she told Goddess Ambal that he was going to trouble Lord Shiva for Seven and half Nazhigai(Slightly less than three hours) next day. Ambal told lord Shiva to hide behind Peepul tree and he agreed . When Lord Sani came he understood where Lord Shiva was and he stood there before the tree and after seven and a half Nazhigai when Lord Sani started moving from there, Ambal asked him whether he is going back without doing his job. Then Lord Sani replied her that he had troubled Shiva by making him hide for seven and half Nazhigai behind a tree .,Hearing this Lord Shiva came from the back side of the tree and assumed the form Maha Manthra BHairava and tore Lord Sani in to two pieces.When Lord Sani pointed out that he has an important role to play in the world by controlling the pride of people, Lord Shiva pardoned him and made him in to a single form.

The Goddess then chanted the four Vedas and pacified Lord Shiva who has taken the form of Maha Manthra Bhairava and because of this she got the name as Vedha Nayagi,

At that time sage Narada came and pointed out to Lord Shiva that by punishing Lord Sani , Lord Shiva has accumulated some sin and this would go away only if he sees all his tweleve Jyothir lingas together , Lord Shiva made all the twelve lingas come there .Because all of them came here, it is believed that only people who have no next birth would be fated to come to this temple. Among the 12 jyothir lingas , the Kasi Viswanatha Linga chose to stay in this temple itself.

Hearing about the greatness of this temple sage Agasthya wanted to come and do darsan at this temple. Since according to his fate, he had re birth , Lord Shiva wanted to prevent his coming to this temple. So he called sage Makarandha and asked him to prevent sage Agasthya from visiting this temple . That sage turned in to Makarada flowers and blocked the way of sage Agasthya from coming to the temple. Sage Agasthya could understand that it was sage Makaranda who was blocking his way and requested him to permit him to go to the temple. When he refused sage Agasthya cursed sage makaranda that his flower like face should become lion face.Then sage Makaranda asked sage Agasthya’s pardon and told him it was Lord Shiva who wanted him to prevent sage Agasthya . Sage Agasthya then told him that the day when he worshipped the Shiva linga of that temple with a flower which no one had ever used for before , then he will regain his form. Makaranda Rishi went on worshipping with different different flowers daily for 50 years,. After that one day, the rudraksha which he had tied on his neck fell on the linga , and a great luster arose from the Linga. Seeing this sage Makaranda started worshippingwith Rudrakshas from one to 14 faces. Then Lord Shiva appeared before him and made his face normal.

The Shivalinga and its base(Avudayar) and Naga(serpent ) covering the linga are covered using twenty two thousand rudrakshas on Monthly Sivarathri and special festival days of Lord Shiva.

The Lord Nandi outside Lord Shiva’s temple does not have the right ear . It seems when deluge(pralaya) came this Lord Shiva did not get covered with water.It seems Lord Brahma vsited this temple and found this temple intact and Lord Shiva appeared before him as JYothir linga. At that time Lord Nandi was partially drowned but when it tried to climb in to this temple it slipped and felled down and its right ears folded inside. Lord Shiva then gave a boon to that Nandi that if a devotee comes and tells his request on the place where right eear was there , it would be definitely fulfilled.
ON the southern side of the temple is lord Dakshinamurthy. He appears without disciples and sitting on a bull facing south west . He is known as annadhana Dakshinamurthy and if you see him all your curses would get destroyed . Daily he is offered the rice cooked the previous day stored in water(Pazhaya Chatham) . People believe that if you pray him,you would get always food when you are hungry.
On north west of the temple is Lord Subrahmanya with his consorts and north is temple oh Maha Wishnu. It seems during Navarathri Lord Vishnu takes his sister Veda Nayagi and broth in law Lord Shiva to his temple on the last day of the festival.
Near to this temple is two Chandikeswara one very big and another small.There are also temples for four handed Vishnu Durga and eight handed Durga
There are also idols of Kalabhairva and Saneeshwara which is just outside the Amman shrine ; Vedanayagi.
Then there is a Kapala Vinayagar temple ., which fulfils the wishes of devotees
The power of the temple is such that Rahu/Kethu doshas are removed, childless couples bestowed with divine child and there are many more plus to benefit the devotee.
Temple Timings : Morning 07:00 am to 12:00 am, Evening 04:00 pm to 08:00 pm.
Nearest Town : Kumbakonam(8 km)
Temple Address : Thepperumanallur Shiva Temple,
Kumbakonam Taluk, Thanjavur District.