Papanasam Papanasanathar Temple, Thirunelveli

Address

Papanasam Papanasanathar Temple, Papanasam, Thirunelveli District- 627425

Diety

Papanasa Swamy or Papavinaseswarar Amman: Ulagammai

Introduction

Papanasanathar Temple is located in Papanasam Town in Thirunelveli district in the South Indian state of Tamilnadu, is dedicated to god Shiva. It is located 52 Kms from Thirunelveli. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple has three precincts. Shiva is worshipped as Papanasanathar and his consort Parvathi as Ulagammai. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines. The temple has a seven-tiered gateway tower. The temple was originally built by Chandrakula Pandya, with further additions by the Vijayanagar and Nayak kings during the 16th century. The temple has artistic sculptures representative of Nayak art.. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamilnadu. The presiding deity here is Papanasa Swamy or Papavinaseswarar, the redeemer of sins. Parvati Devi is worshiped as Goddess Ulagammai. Papanasar is mainly known for his healing powers where he seems to be the medicine for any diseases in the world. He has the power to cure any diseases for his disciples who really have the love and affection on him. This Papanasar temple is first among the Nava Kailayams and it is dedicated to Surya (The Sun). The Temple is Parihara Sthalam for Simha Rasi. The body of Lord Papanasar is wholly and naturally made of Rudraksha who is also known as Rudrakshanathar. The old name of Papanasar is Vairaja Lingam. The Temple is also revered in Arunagirinathar’s Thiruppugazh. The Temple is located right on the banks of the river Tamirabarani which is flowing in full swing due to its proximity from its origin. It is one of Thevara Vaippu Sthalam temples (referred by Appar). Manickavasagar has also praised the deity through his verses in Tiruvasagam.

Puranic Significance

The exact history of the temple could not be ascertained, but it is originally believed to have been built by the Pandya king, Chandra Kula Pandya, who ruled over the regions of Madurai. He built the central shrine and vimana of the temple. Veerappa Nayaka (1609 – 23 AD), a ruler of Madurai Nayak dynasty built the Yagasala, Dwajasthambam (flag staff) and Nataraja hall. Lord Shiva appeared Kalyana Kola to Agasthya: As per legend, during the divine wedding of Shiva and Parvathi, there was heavy crowd at Kailash. Earth lost its balance. Lord Shiva called Sage Agasthya to go to Pothigai Hills in the South and to balance the Earth level as his single weight was enough for the purpose equaling the weight of the millions of Rishis at Mount Kailash then. Sage Agasthya could not get a vision of the event and was praying to Shiva at this place and pleased by his devotion, Shiva appeared to him and his wife Lopamundra in Kalyana posture. The falls nearby the temple is thus called Agasthiyar Falls. Nava Kailasam: Sage Romasa sought the advice of his Guru Agasthya to choose places on the banks of Tambiraparani for installing Shivalingas. The teacher told the disciple to throw flowers used for Shiva Puja on the river, and do the installations where the flowers reached the shores. Romasa threw lotus flowers as advised on the river, nine of which reached the bank at various places and Papanasam was the first. Planets are nine; therefore, they were named Nava (nine) Kailash each attributed to one planet. Sun being the first in the planets, Papanasam is attached to Sun known as Surya Kailash. The lingam, the iconic form of Shiva in the temple is believed to an aspect of Surya, one of the planetary deities. The temple forms a series of Navagraha temples in the banks of Tamirabarani River where each of the nine planetary deities are considered to reside. The temples are classified as Nava Kailasam and the presiding deity of all the nine temples is Kailasanathar. The temple is associated with the planet Surya (Sun) and considered first in the series of the nine temples. Legend of Namasivaya Kavirayar: A poet named Namasivaya Kavirayar was living in this town. He was a great devotee of Ulagammai. He used to visit temple every day and sing devotional songs till midnight. One night, he left the temple but continued his songs on his way back to home. The Goddess did not want to miss his songs and hence she followed him. The poet had the habit of chewing pan. While spitting his pan, it fell on the Goddess by mistake. The Goddess did not mind it. She appeared with the spit in the temple. When the priest noticed this the other day, he complained it to the King. The King wanted to enquire about this incident and punish the culprit. In his dream, the Goddess Ulagammai appeared and narrated the incident. The other day, he tied the arms of Goddess idol with the golden strings and placed a flower on her arm; he invited the poet and asked him to sing devotional songs. As and when he completed singing every song, the string got untied one by one. This incident further proved the greatness of the poet. Mukkila Lingam: It is said that three Vedas – Rig, Yajur and Sama – were the Kila trees offering shadow to the Lord and Atharvana Veda was the space. They worshipped the Lord in these forms. Hence, the Lord is named Mukkila Lingam.

Beliefs

The turmeric water used for the abishek of Mother Ulagammai is consumed by women in small quantity for a happy wedding and child boon. Women also believe that this would increase the longevity of their Mangal Sutra. Devotees perform abishek to Lord Shiva and Mother Ulagammai and offer vastras.

Special Features

A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines, pierced by a seven-tiered gateway tower. The image of Papanasanathar in the form of Lingam is housed in the sanctum. The shrine of Ulagammai is housed in a west facing shrine. The shrine also houses the images of Vinayaka, Subramanya, Dakshinamurthy, Durga, and Navagrahas on the walls. Of the nine Kailash Kshetras – Nava Kailash – Papanasam is the first attributed to Sun God. Hence, the place is known as Surya Kshetra and Surya Kailash. Sthala Vriksham is Kala tree. Outer Prakaram: The beautiful temple of Papanasar is huge. It is located in a very scenic spot surrounded by trees, Tamirabarani River on the opposite direction and with the Western Ghats hills behind. It has gigantic seven-tier tower (Raja Gopuram). A vast pillared front side mandapa before entering into the tower with a beautiful entrance arch having stucco images and another mandapa facing towards the tower enhance the elegance of the site. Nandi Mandapa is artistically beautiful. Bali peetha and the flag staff are huge. All of them are located in a hall full of huge pillars. Ganesha and Subramanya idols are located at the entrance. Navagraha shrine is located adjacent to the flag staff. Papanasar Shrine: The main deity of the temple is Papanasar, a small sized Shiva Linga, located in the east facing sanctum sanctorum. The body of Lord Papanasar is wholly and naturally made of Rudraksha who is also known as Rudraksha Nathar. The old name of Papanasar is Vairaja Lingam. The Shivalinga here is known as Mukkila Lingam and Lord Shiva graces his devotees as Rudraksha in the sanctum sanctorum and also under the Mukkila tree in the corridor-prakara. The entrance of ardha mandapa has the bas relief images of Ganesha and Subramanya-Valli-Devasena. In the maha mandapa, a sub shrine of the metal idols of Nataraja and Sivakami is found. There is a separate pillared mandapa outside the maha mandapa. The entire shrine is built as per the maada kovil architectural style. Nandi is found facing towards Lord Shiva in this mandapa. Punugu Sabapathy: The west facing shrine adjacent to the flagstaff has a hall with yali pillars, where Nataraja is housed. Nataraja is routed in Ananda Thandava posture and also called as Punugu Sabapathy. It is located adjacent to Rajagopuram. Kalyana Sundarar Shrine: There is a rare and important shrine located in the prakara – Kalyana Sundarar shrine. Here, Shiva along with his consort Parvati is sitting on top of Rishabha. The sage Agastya along with his wife Lopamudra and also Gundodhara with his consort are found. All are stone images; usually Kalyana Sundarar is found in the form of metal idol. Ulagammai Shrine: The Goddess of the temple Ulagammai is found in the standing posture; her shrine is more or less equal to that of Papanasar shrine in size. It has its own ardha mandapa, maha mandapa and the pillared exterior mandapa. A separate Nandi is located facing the Goddess. Her shrine is located adjacent to Papanasar shrine and it also faces the eastern direction. Pounding Stone: There is a pounding stone (Ural in Tamil) in front of the shrine of Mother Ulagammai.Women use to pound turmeric and make the turmeric water for abishek to the Mother. They consume a little of this abishek water hoping they will be married soon and blessed with a child. Married women believe that this abishek water consumption would also increase the longevity of their Mangal Sutras. Sculptures: Similar to the other ancient temples in Thirunelveli region, this temple also has big sculptures in the pillars such as Yazhis, the mythological animal in different postures, Arjuna, Karna, a soldier, a king with folded hands, etc. There are beautiful and intrinsic sculptures of many Rishis, Kali, Urthuva Thandava,Bitchadanar, Nirtha Ganapathy, Thiripura Samharam, Perumal, Ekapathamoorthy, Brahmma, Subramanyar and Devi in between Sangamalai. Theerthams: The temple tank in the temple is called Papanasa Theertham, while two other tanks namely Agasthya Theertham, Tamirabarani River, Veda Theertham, Bhairava Theertham and Kalyani Theertham are also associated with the temple

Festivals

The temple follows Saivite tradition. The temple priests perform the pooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. The temple rituals are performed six times a day: Thirupananthal, Sirualasanthi , Kalasanthi , Uchikalam , Sayarakshai , and Arthajamam . Each ritual has three steps: Alankaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and Deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Papanasanathar and Ulagammai. During Uchikala pooja, the food offered to the deities is offered to the fish in Tamirabarani River. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple. The temple is open from 6 am – 1 pm and 4 – 8:30 pm on all days except during new moon days when it is open the full day. The 10 day Brahmmotsavam in Chithirai and the Agasthya wedding festival on the first day of the same month (April-May) and Thaipoosam in January-February are the most prominent festivals of the temple. Maha Shivaratri in February – March and Aadi Ammavasai Festival celebrated in the month of July attract thousands of devotees from Tamilnadu and Kerala.