Murappanadu Sri Kailasanathar(Guru) Temple (Nava Kailasam), Thirunelveli

Address

Murappanadu Sri Kailasanathar Temple, Murappanadu, Thirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu 628252

Diety

Kailasa Nathar

Introduction

Kailasanathar Temple is dedicated to Hindu God Shiva located at Murappanadu Village in Thirunelveli District of Tamilnadu. This is the Fifth Kailasam and the first among the temples of the Middle Kailasam. The temple is called as Nadukailasam and Dhakshina Gangai. This temple is associated with Guru (Jupiter or Brihaspathi) among the Navagrahas and special temple for Dhanusu and Meenam Rasis.At Murappanadu, Thamiraparani River flows from north to south.

Puranic Significance

During the 15th century, when the Vijayanagar Empire was at the peak of its glory, Achyuta Devaraya and Rama Rayar, a provincial king, succeeded the great emperor Krishna Devaraya. Vittala Rayan, the brother of Rama Rayar, was the representative of the kingdom in Tamilnadu. During that time, Vittala Rayan, made this temple as his encampment. After worshipping Guru Bhagavan at this temple, he waged war on the King of Travancore, who refused to pay his taxes. He defeated the haughty king and collected the duties for the kingdom. He attacked the Portuguese, who planned to ransack and planned to loot Bhagavathy Amman Temple in Kanyakumari and he made them retreat. Sage Romesa like to establish the Shivalingas on the banks of the Tambiraparani. So, he approached his guru Agasthya, who advised to throw flowers used for Shiva puja on the river and do the installations where the flowers reached the shores. Based on his advice, sage Romesa threw lotus flower, nine of this flower reached the bank. One of the Lotus flower reached in the village near Murappanadu. This temple is dedicated to one of nine planets Jupiter (Guru). Horse faced Nandhi: Long ago, a Chozha King performed a penance praying for a child. As a result of his prayers, a girl with the face of a horse was born. The king was deeply saddened and engaged in a harsh penance. Lord Shiva was pleased with the king’s prayer and appeared before him. The king wept and explained the plight of his young daughter. He pleaded to the Lord, “Please grant a beautiful face for my daughter”. The Lord replied, “Take a dip in the river Thamirabarani, also known as the Dakshina Gangai and worship the Lord there. You will attain what your heart desires”. As per the Lord’s command, the Chozha King came to Murappanadu along with his daughter. As soon as they took a dip in the Kasi Theertham and worshipped the Lord, his daughter’s face miraculously turned into a human face. The horse face was accepted by Lord Nandi and one can see the horse faced Nandi idol here. Religious scholars claim that the king then built this temple to show his gratitude to the Lord.

Beliefs

Special Poojas are performed on Thiruvathirai, Shiva Rathri, Pradosham days, on the first of every Tamil month, Guru Peyarchi and Sani Peyarchi. Also daily poojas are performed twice a day. This temple is attributed to Guru and highly beneficial for people belonging to the sun signs Sagittarius and Pisces. If women of these sun signs worship the Lord, then they can attain whatever they wish. It is believed that worshipping the Lord at this temple is equivalent to worshipping Lord Shiva at Alangudi. One must worship the Lord here to remove obstacles in marriage and to be blessed with a peaceful family life and good health. According to Hinduism, a person’s luck is determined by his virtues and sins. Everyone born in this world acquires sins during his lifetime. Hence to seek atonement for the sins, one has acquired and to prevent oneself from doing further sins, one needs the blessings of the Lord. Kailasanathar at Murappanadu rescues his devotees from their sins. In today’s world, education is necessary for one’s survival. A person who teaches is known as ‘Guru’. It is believed that ‘Guru Bhagavan’, the teacher of the heavenly Devas, will also help us mere mortals by his guidance and by being our divine guru, when we offer our prayers here. It is said that Guru Bhagavan, is all powerful at this temple. Hence, devotees at this temple, follow a unique ritual here. It is believed that if one worships the idol of Dhakshinamoorthy and Sani Bhagavan, by performing nine circumambulations, one can get the blessings of all the Navagraha

Special Features

Presiding Deity is called as Kailasanathar and Mother is called as Sivagami Ammai. The specialty of this temple is that the Nandhi in this temple is having horse head instead of bull head. And there are 2 Bhairavars in the Bhairavar Sannidhi. One is with his dog and the other without. The Bhairavar with dog is called as Kala Bhairava and the other is called Veera Bhairavar. There are 2 Ganesha Idol in the entrance of the Sri Ganesha Shrine instead of Dwarapalakas. This is rarest in any Vinayagar temple. The main deity of this temple faces east to view directly and bless the devotees who take a holy dip in the waters of River Thamirabarani. Goddess Sivagami Ammai faces south and is present in a separate sanctum. She is the pinnacle of patience and the savior of all those who come to her with trust. This temple is on the western banks of Thamirabarani. There are four stages and the first stage, Pandhal Mandapam has ten pillars. Then when we enter the temple, we can see the flag mast and the statue of Lord Nandi, with a horse face. If we walk around the outer courtyard by turning left, we can see the idols of Sura Devar and Ashta Lakshmi followed by the idols of the sixty-three Nayanmars and Kanni Moola Ganapathy in the top corner. Outside the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Shiva, is the idol of Dhakshinamoorthy, the Lord of education, facing south. As we circumambulate the Lord’s sanctum, we can see the idol of Panjalingam. At the northern corner is the idol of Lord Muruga with his consorts Valli and Deivanai, followed by Lord Chandikeswarar and Sani Bhagavan in the opposite side. At the front of the temple are the idols of Bairavar, Suryan and Adhikara Nandi.The sculpture of Lord Hanuman, Kannappar (one among the sixty-three Nayanmars), an elephant, a peacock and Komatha (the sacred cow) performing Shiva pooja is mesmerizing and makes the onlooker spell-bound. Once upon a time, this temple was in a dilapidated condition and the compound walls were badly broken. The pavement in front of the temple that led to the Kasi Theertha Kattam of River Thamirabarani had been obstructed by fields. It was difficult and scary to get into this famous temple of bygone years. During that period, the Kailasanathar Narpani Mandram of the village performed huge tasks to restore this temple. The Panchayat Council built a road leading to the river. Due to the joint efforts of the Sri Kailasanathar Thirupani Kulu and the Thoothukudi Sri Rama Bhaktha Seva, this temple was slowly restored. As a result of their endeavors, a road for cars and other vehicles, from the front of this temple to the river has been constructed. Also on 27.01.2008, the Maha Kumbabishekam was done here.