Kalakkad Sathya Vageeswarar Temple- Thirunelveli

Address

Kalakkad Sathya Vageeswarar Temple- Kalakkad village, Thirunelveli District- 627501.

Diety

Sathya Vageeswarar Amman: Gomathi

Introduction

Sathya Vageeswarar Temple is dedicated to God Shiva located in Kalakkad village in Thirunelveli in the South Indian state of Tamilnadu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple has three precincts. Shiva is worshipped as Sathya Vageeswarar and his consort Parvathi as Gomathi. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines. The temple has a 135 ft. (41 m) gateway tower containing 1,500 stucco images. The temple was originally built by Pandyas during the 13th century and Nayak kings commissioned pillared halls and major shrines of the temple during the 15-16th century. The temple has artistic sculptures representative of Nayak art. The temple has close to 200 paintings in the temple depicting Indian epic tales. The temple also has a granary made of masonry, which is believed to be commissioned during the 13th century. There is a hall of musical pillars, commissioned by the king of Travancore, Boothala Veera Udaya Marthanda Varman during the 16th century. Sunlight falls on the main deity on 20, 21 and 22 of March and September every year. Tamil Saivite Saint Appar has recited songs in praise of the deity. Hence it is called as Thevara Vaipu Sthalam.

Puranic Significance

Etymology: As per popular folklore, the name Kalakkad was due to one of the following: • The place was a forest full of ‘kalaa’ (Tamil word) tree; • It was a battlefield or ‘Kalam’ (Tamil word); • It was the capital of ‘kalapirars’ who ruled Tamil Nadu from this place. Raavanan abducted Sita Devi from this place: This is the place where Seetha Devi was abducted by Raavanan and the place is called Sorakadavi in the epics. Sathya Vageeswarar: When Seetha was abducted, Rama and Lakshman worshipped Shiva under the Punnai tree and Shiva gave them the assurance. After Seetha’s return, they all came again and named the Lord as Sathyavageesar. Art of making stone into soft material: The art (trick) of making stone into a very soft material was known here and Manickavasagar had sung about it. Devas worshipped Shiva here: As per another legend, Devas were defeated by Asuras; they sought Shiva’s help; he advised them worship him in this site. Accordingly, they came to this site and prayed to the Lord. He along with Ganas accompanied Devas and won Asuras. Hence, the Devas named the Lord as Sathya Vageeswarar and the Theertham as ‘Sathya Theertham’ Inscriptions from the temple from the 15th century indicate that the place was called Cholanadu Vallipuram and Vanavan Naadu. The inscriptions also indicate that the temple worship services and gifts to the temple were endowed by Marthanda Varman, while he was residing at Virapandiyan Palace. The temple was originally built by Pandyas during the 13th century. The Vijayanagar Empire and Nayak kings commissioned pillared halls and major shrines of the temple during the 15-16th century. The temple has artistic sculptures representative of Nayak art. There are lots of pairings in the temple depicting Indian epic tales. There is also an image of the king of Travancore, Boothala Veera Udaya Marthanda Varman from the 16th century. He is believed to have commissioned the musical pillared halls in the front portion of the temple. In modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamilnadu. A plaque in front the temple installed on 12 December 1911 indicates the coronation of King GeorgeV, when India was ruled by the British. An inscription in the temple of Parakrama Pandyan, issued in his sixth regnal year i.e., in 1548, spoke about ‘Vanavan Naattu… Kalakkad alias Chola Kula Vallipuram.’ Other inscriptions in the temple also called the village ‘Kalakkad alias Chola Kula Vallipuram.’ The great saint Appar refers Lord as Puramerichchuvaramudaiviyya Nayanar in his songs. This site is considered as one of Devara Vaippu Sthalams. After the last know Kumbabishekam in 1935, the next one was done in 2000 and then in 2011 after the renovation. The renovation has been done by the ‘Kalakkad Bhaktar Peravai’ formed in 2008 by many enthusiasts and took 3 longs years to complete.

Special Features

In the stone inscriptions found around the temple, the lord is referred to as Puramerichchuvarudaiviyya Nayanar. The Rajagopuram renovation and temple Kumbha Abishekam (ritual consecration) was performed on 14 July 2011 by Bhakthar Peravai (Devotees Forum). The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious & Endowment Board of the Government of Tamilnadu. As per Tamirabarani Mahatmiyam, five important Shiva temples in Tirunelveli region were considered as Pancha Aasana Sthalams. This Temple is considered to be part of Pancha Aasana Sthalams of Thirunelveli District. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines and bodies of water. The temple has a nine-tiered 135 ft. (41 m) gateway tower containing 1,500 stucco images in the outside, while there are 200 murals from the inside. The nine tiers can be climbed through a flight of steps inside the tower. The image of Sathya Vageeswarar in the form of Lingam is housed in the sanctum. The shrine of his consort is housed in a west facing shrine. The sanctum is approached from the gateway through a flag staff hall, a Mahamandapam and an Artha mandapam.There are shrines of Vinayaka and Subramanya on the Mahamandapam. The first precinct around the sanctum has images of Dakshinamurthy, Vishnu, Durga, Chandikeswara and Navagrahas. The flagstaff hall has a flagstaff, an altar and an image of Nandi, all axial to the sanctum and the gateway tower. There are also halls in the temple having yali pillared halls, atypical of Nayak art. The temple also has a granary made of masonry, which is believed to be commissioned during the 13th century. It is unique that usually temple granaries are made of wood. The outer prakara is an open area with full of trees and plants. The temple also has a lot of ancient inscriptions. Temple Tower: The east facing magnificent temple has a gigantic135 feet nine tiered tower. The tower has around 1500 stucco images of various deities and saints. In addition to that there are about 200 ancient mural paintings adorn the inner walls of each of the nine tiers. The nine storeys of the gopuram, built of bricks, are accessible by a flight of steps. The inner wall was covered with lime plaster on which drawings were first made and then the murals were done with vegetable colours and minerals. Another temple where the paintings have been done on the inner wall of the gopuram is at Tirupudaimarudur, also in Thirunelveli district. The paintings resemble Vijayanagara and Nayaka schools of art and they belong to the 16th or 17th century CE. They depict scenes from Ramayana, Mahabharata, Tiruvilayadal Purana and life events of Saivite saints. Apart from this beautiful tower, there is one more tower. The entrance of the tower has the idol of ‘Gopura Vinayaka’. The areas between these two towers have many pillars and the ceiling is covered. The Bali peetha, Nandi mandapa and flag staff is located in the mandapa that is found after the inner tower. Musical Pillar Hall: The front side mandapa reveals the exquisite workmanship of those days. The mandapa has many Yazhi pillars; the base of the mega sized Yazhis have different small sculptures such as elephant, soldier, girl, monkey, etc. are found. The stone sculpture of Bheema fighting with Purusha Mrugam is a highlight of this hall. There is a big sculpture of Cheraman Perumal with his friend Sundarar. The king Veera Marthanda Varma who built this temple is also found in the form of a beautiful sculpture in this hall. The main highlight of the hall is musical pillars which produce different musical sound (sapta swaras) on tapping them. This mandapam leads on to another altar with the idol of Goddess Gomathi Ammai (also known as Avudai Nayaki, the consort of Sathya Vageeswarar). To the left of this mandapam is a pillared hallway; every pillar has a unique pattern sculpted onto it, no two pillars have the same pattern. After exiting the hallway, on the right is a small enclosure with have small statues of the 63 Nayanmars (Shaivite devotional poets of Tamil Nadu between 5 & 10 AD). The mandapam floor has various games and inscriptions in old Tamil carved onto it. One particular inscription was in Kannada, which reads ‘Ramanpura’. And also the stairs that lead to the raised Mandapams have beautiful sea dragons (makaras) carved on either side. Main Shrine: The Nandi mandapam leads to another mandapam which in turns leads to the Sanctum sanctorum or the Garbhagriha. On either sides of the door that leads to the altar, are sculptures of a Kings and Saints. On the left is the sculpture of king of Travancore or Venadu, ‘Boothala Veera Udaya Marthanda Varman’ who is supposed to have commissioned the making of all the sculptures in this temple (in circa 16th century). On the right are the sculptures of two steadfast friends, Cheraman Peruman Nayanar and Sundarar, the Tamil Saivite saints. There is a small sculpture of a horse at the base of Cheraman Peruman’s sculpture and a small sculpture of an elephant on the base of Sundarar’s sculpture. According to legend Cheraman Peruman and Sundarar reached Kailash, the abode of Siva, on a horse and an elephant respectively (There is a Chola mural masterpiece in the Brihadeeswara temple, Thanjavur, depicting their journey to Kailash). In the Sanctum sanctorum or the Garbhagriha is the main deity, a Shiva Lingam (Swayambu Lingam known as Sathya Vageeswarar). Goddess Shrine: The Goddess of the temple is Gomati. She is found in a separate east facing shrine located on the left side of the main shrine. She is tall and found with two arms. This shrine has its own pillared front side mandapa, flag staff, Nandi and Bali peetha. At the entrance, the small idols of Ganesha and Kartikeya are located. Sculptures: Similar to the mega sized sculptures in the front side mandapa of the main shrine, there are few beautiful sculptures located near Nandi mandapa. The sculptures of Arjuna, Karna, Bheema and Purusha Mrugam are all very lively. The pillars that are found across the temple have very interesting carvings and sculptures. Near the second temple tower, there is a mandapa named Chekkizhar mandapa which is full of pillars with beautiful sculptures. The temple tank is located near this mandapa. Nandi mandapa itself is intricately sculpted and looks extremely attractive

Festivals

The temple follows Saivite tradition. The temple priests perform the pooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. As at other Shiva temples of Tamilnadu, the priests belong to the Shaivite community, a Brahmin sub-caste. The temple rituals are performed four times a day: Kalasanthi at 8:30 a.m., Uchikalam at 11:30 p.m., Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m., and Sayarakshai between 8:00 – 8:00 p.m. Each ritual has three steps: Alankaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and Deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Sathya Vageeswarar and Gomathi. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple. The temple is open from 6am – 12 pm and 4-8:30 pm on all days except during new moon days when it is open the full day. The Vaikasi Visakam festival during the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May – June) being the most prominent. During the festival, the temple chariot is drawn around the streets of Kalakkad, with the festival images of Sathya Vageeswarar and Gomathi housed in it. Other festivals like Sivarathiri, Thirukalyanam (sacred marriage) and Kanthasasthi are also celebrated.