Kadayam Nitya Kalyani Temple (Vilva Vananatha Swamy Temple) - Thirunelveli

Address

Kadayam Nitya Kalyani Temple (Vilva Vananatha Swamy Temple) – Thirunelveli

Kadayam, Ambasamudram Taluk,

Thirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu — 627 415

Phone: +91 4634 241 484. Mobile: +91 90430 51678 / 94873 32842

Moolavar

Vananatha Swamy / Vilvaranyeswarar.

Amman

Nitya Kalyani

Introduction

Nitya Kalyani Temple is also called as Vilva Vananatha Swamy Temple) located in Kadayam in Thirunelveli District of Tamilnadu. The famous Tamil poet and patriot Subramanya Bharathiyar lived in this village and used to visit this temple; he wrote many of his popular poems from this village. Presiding Deity is called as Vilva Vananatha Swamy / Vilvaranyeswarar. Mother is called as Nitya Kalyani. Theertham of this Temple is Chakra Theertham and Sthala Vriksham is Vilva tree. Kadayam is located at about 55 Kms from Thirunelveli. Nearest Railway Station is located at Tenkasi. Nearest Airport is located at Madurai and Thiruvananthapuram.

Puranic Significance

Historically, as per the stone inscriptions, the Madurai Nayaka kings have developed the current structure of this temple. As per an inscription, Vikrama Pandyan has built the temple around 1500 years ago. One of the inscriptions state that the Parivara deities were installed.

Dasaratha prayed for getting his progeny:

The King Dasaratha, the father of Lord Rama, was passing through the Bilva forest in today’s Kadayam area. He found a Swayambu Shiva Linga and prayed for getting his progeny (as per another legend, he worshiped to get rid of his sin of killing Shravana Kumar). This Shiva Linga was hence called as Bilva Vana Nathar, meaning the Lord of Bilva forest. Later, his name got changed to Vilvaranyeswarar.

Lord Rama worshipped Shiva here: As per Kapila Purana, Lord Rama took bath in the river and worshiped Shiva in this site to get rid of his sin of killing Sambukasura.

Nitya Kalyani:

As per a popular legend, Brahma performed penance towards Lord Shiva and got a divine Bilva fruit. He broke the fruit into three pieces and installed it in three different places, Himalayas, Meru Mountain and in Dwada Shanta Van (Kadayam). Devas maintained this Bilva forest. Lord Shiva Linga appeared on his own (Swayambu Linga) and Parvati worshiped him in this forest. As she appeared as Kausi to kill the demons named Sumba and Nisumba, her complexion became darker. She started severe penance in this forest; Brahma made her complexion as golden color and named her as ‘Nitya Kalyani’.

A Brahmin from Sringeri pacified the Goddess:

It is said that there were many unfortunate incidents happened in those days which made people to believe that the Goddess Nitya Kalyani was angry; they moved away from the temple and started staying in remote places. Later, a Brahmin from Sringeri was believed to have performed some religious rituals to pacify the Goddess.

Nitya Kalyani angry at Villagers for pursuing material values:

As per another legend, the Goddess Nitya Kalyani was unhappy and angry as the villagers were pursuing material values at the cost of performing their religious rites. Seven priests died on seven successive days. The Goddess threw her “kedayam”, the war shield, to a place which was 4 miles away from the temple. The villagers migrated to the place where the weapon fell. That place was called as “Kedayam” which later became “Kadayam”

Goddess threw her Kadagam:

There is also another legend which states that the Goddess was unable to bear the noise created by the inhabitants of the village; hence, she threw her “kadagam” (bracelet) to a faraway place and asked the villagers to migrate there. Thus the place was called as “Kadagam” which later became “Kadayam”.

Special Features

Presiding Deity is called as Vilva Vananatha Swamy / Vilvaranyeswarar. Mother is called as Nitya Kalyani. Theertham of this Temple is Chakra Theertham and Sthala Vriksham is Vilva tree. The north facing temple does not have tower. It is located in a calm and secluded area in the outskirts of Kadayam village. The temple is surrounded by paddy fields. Presiding Deity is found in an east facing shrine. Adjacent to his shrine, the beautiful and attractive Nitya Kalyani Amman is found in a separate south facing shrine.

The Goddess of the temple is much more popular than the presiding deity of the temple. The flag staff, Bali peetha and Nandi are all found facing the Shiva Linga shrine. At the entrance of the shrine of Shiva Linga, a small Ganesha idol is found. Near the flag staff, the idols of Ganesha and Subramanya-Valli- Devasena are located. It is said that the Peetam is a Dharani Peetam. The temple has three prakaras. The wall around the main shrine has the niche images of Dhakshinamoorthi, Annamalaiyar, Shanti Durga with eight hands and Chandikeswara.

There is an important shrine dedicated to Bharani Peetha, a form (similar to Linga representing Shiva) which represents the Goddess. In Maha mandapa, the Utsava idols of Nataraja and Sivakami are located. In outer prakara, Navagraha, Sankara Nayinar (Shiva Linga) and few Nagas under the tree are located. This temple is also called as Sri Kailasam, Kaliyuga Rameesvaramudaiyaar and Dasaratha Rameesvaramudaiyaar. There is a pushkar on the small hillock known as Sarabanga Mamuni Sunai Theertham. There is a Mani mandapam where we see Natarajar with Sivakami Ammai, and also other deities like Sri Chandrasekharar and Sri Soundra Nayaki, Sri Dakshina Moorthy, Somaskanda Murthy.

The following idols are located in the inner prakara:

· 63 Nayanmars

· Sapta Matas

· Sura Deva

· Ganesha

· Annapoorani-Saraswathi-Gaja Lakshmi

· Bhairava

· Saneeswara