Thiruppaigneeli Sri Gneelivaneswarar Temple, Trichy

Address

Thiruppaigneeli Sri Gneelivaneswarar Temple, Thiruppainjeeli, Mannachanallur Taluk, Trichy District, Tamil Nadu- 621005. Tele: +91- 431 – 2902654, 2560011, 2560813, 9790107474.

Diety

Sri Gneelivaneswarar, Sri Chottrudaya Easwarar, Sri Meignana Neelakandeswarar Amman: Sri Visalakshi

Introduction

Neelivaneswarar or Gneeliwaneswarar Temple, also known as Vishwanathar Temple at Thiruppaingneeli or Thirupanjali, is a Hindu temple situated 20 km north of Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India. The presiding deity is Neelnedunkanni, also known as Visalashi. The temple is frequented by unmarried men and women looking for spouses. There are inscriptions belonging to Raja Raja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I. The Soundareeswara shrine within the temple is believed to have been constructed by Mahendravarman I in 640 AD.It is one of the shrines of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams. Theertham (Holy water): 8 Theerthams (Vimalaranya river, Visalakshi, Yama, Kalyana, Agni, Deva, Appar and Maniankarunai). Sthala Vriksham (Sacred Tree): Kalvazhai – Plantain trees

Puranic Significance

This ancient temple is situated on the northern bank of the river Kollidam. This temple complex is spread over sprawling 12 acres of land. The temple’s main tower is believed to have been built by King Konerinmai Kondaan and it is only constructed up to the first tier. The stone inscriptions available in this temple date back to the periods of Chola kings Rajendran, Rajathirajan, Rajarajan and Konerinmai Kondaan. Lord Yama’s shrine is in the form of a cave (“Gunabaram”) and is said to have been constructed by King Mahendra Varma Pallava in 640 AD. As the Sthala Viruksham of this temple is the “Gneeli” plant, this place gets the name “Thiru Paingneeli”. “Gneeli” is a variety of plantain and “Pain” means lush green. Other historical names of this place are – Kathalivanam, Arambaivanam, Vimalaaranyam, Muthumalai, Swethagiri and Viyakrapuri. It is believed that Goddess Parvathy, Mahavishnu, Indiran, Kamadhenu, Adhiseshan, Vayu, Agni, Ram, Arjuna, Vashista, Sudhama Munivar, Sapta Rishis, King Musukunda Chola, King Kaliyugarama Pandiyan, Viyakirasuran, Sivamithiran, Padumakarpan, Sutharman and Ankamithiran have worshipped Lord Shiva in this temple. Lord Shiva here has many names – it is believed that the lord has 43 names – few of them are Kathalivasanthar, Sakrathiyagar, Aaranyavidankar, Neelakandar and Gneelivananathar. As per the sthala puranam, Lord Shiva reinstated Lord Yama here after he was vanquished in order to save Markendaya’s life in Thirukadaiyur. The legend is that after Lord Yama’s death, his work had stopped and there was no one to take care of the cycle of life and death. Lord Mahavishnu, Bramha, Bhoomadevi, and Devas came to this temple and urged Lord Shiva to give rebirth to Yama. Lord Shiva gave rebirth to Yama on the day of Thai Poosam and gave him the powers to restart his work. Hence the lord here is praised as “Sri Adhikaravallavar (“athikaram” means power in Tamil). Inside Lord Adhikaravallavar’s shrine, Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi can be seen along with Murugan in between them as Somaskantha. Lord Yama can be seen in the form of a child under Lord Shiva’s feet. Near the ceiling, on either side of Lord Shiva’s idol, Suryan and Chandran can be seen fanning the lord with a “Samaram”. This shrine is known as “Yama Dharmaraja” temple. According to legend, sages Viyakirapathar and Pathanjali went to Mount Kailash to see Lord Shiva’s dance but the lord directed them to go Chidambaram instead. In Chidambaram, it is believed that the lord gave his Nataraja dharisanam on the day of “Thai Poosam”. The place where he performed his dance is known as Rathina Sabha. When sage Vashistar came to know of this incident, he reached Mount Kailash and requested Lord Shiva to give him the opportunity to watch his dance. Lord Shiva advised him to go to “Gneelivanamakiya Thiruppaigneeli”. When he reached this place, Sage Vashistar was blessed with Lord Shiva’s dance performance in this temple. There is a Rathina Sabha in this temple also. This temple is also known as “Melai Chidambaram”. It is believed that Lord Ram visited this temple on the advice of Sage Vashistar to worship Lord Shiva before going to Lanka. It is believed that Goddess Parvathi visited this place and worshiped the lord. The Seven virgins (Saptha Kannikas) – Brahmi, Maheshwari, Gaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani and Chamundi came to this place before their wedding to seek the darshan of Goddess Parvathy. The goddess appeared before them and blessed them that they would be married soon to suitable grooms. The goddess also granted them the boon of staying here in the form of plantain trees to continually receive her darshan. Accordingly, they left their worldly form here in the form of plantain trees which then became the “sthala viruksham” of this temple. King Kaliyugarama Pandiyan It is believed that King Kaliyugarama Pandiyan of Madurai came to this place and worshiped the lord to seek relief from his ailments. He prayed to the lord for eight days after taking a dip in each of the temple’s eight different holy waters. It is believed that he was cured of his illness.

Beliefs

Devotees perform poojas in Lord Yama’s shrine on their 60th and 80th birthdays for a long and prosperous life. As per Sthala Puranam, Devakanniyarkal (virgins) represent the sacred trees of this temple. It is believed that those facing obstacles in their marriage proposals can perform poojas here by tying a “mangal sutra” on the trees. It is also believed that those seeking “santhana prapthi” (child boon) can offer poojas to the sthala viruksham here. Since Lord Yama’s position was reinstated here, devotees believe that worshiping Lord Shiva here would give them back their lost fortunes.

Special Features

This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 61st Shiva Sthalam on the northern bank of the river Cauvery in Chozha Nadu (Vadakarai). Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested). This is one of the 44 Paadal Petra Sthalams where the “Moovar” (the three saints – Saint Thirugnanasambanthar, Saint Thirunavukarasar (Appar) and Saint Sundaramurthy (Sundarar) had rendered their Pathigams. Thiruppainjeeli is referred to as “South Kailash”. The uniqueness of this temple is that there is a shrine for Lord Yama (Lord of death). This is one of the “Saptha Sthana” temples of Thiruvanaikkaval. This is one of the famous “parikara sthalams” for conducting poojas to remove obstacles from marriage proposals and to seek child boon. This east facing temple’s main tower (Rajagopuram) is incomplete and its second tower has 3 tiers. This temple has four corridors. The last consecration ceremony (Mahakumbabishekam) took place on 02.02.2017 and prior to that on 06.02.2003 This ancient temple is situated on the northern bank of the river Kollidam. This temple complex is spread over sprawling 12 acres of land. The temple’s main tower is believed to have been built by King Konerinmai Kondaan and it is only constructed up to the first tier. The stone inscriptions available in this temple date back to the periods of Chola kings Rajendran, Rajathirajan, Rajarajan and Konerinmai Kondaan. Lord Yama’s shrine is in the form of a cave (“Gunabaram”) and is said to have been constructed by King Mahendra Varma Pallava in 640 AD. As the Sthala Viruksham of this temple is the “Gneeli” plant, this place gets the name “Thiru Paingneeli”. “Gneeli” is a variety of plantain and “Pain” means lush green. Other historical names of this place are – Kathalivanam, Arambaivanam, Vimalaaranyam, Muthumalai, Swethagiri and Viyakrapuri. Other than the shrines of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy, there are shrines and idols of lords Vasantha Vinayakar, Adhikaravallavar, Chotrudaya Easwarar, Vinayakar, Murugan, Natarajar, Somaskandar, Dakshinamurthy, Arthanareeswarar, Brahma, Durgai, Kasi Viswanathar, Mahavishnu, Mahalakshmi, Sabtha Mathakkal and Sudama Munivar in the corridors. There are idols of guardian deities of Chinnandavar and Periyandavar in the corridors. There is no Navagraham in this temple.

Festivals

Some of the important festivals celebrated in this temple are – Special pujas to Lord Yama on the day of Poosam star in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan-Feb); Shivrathri in the Tamil month of Masi (Feb-Mar); 10-day Chithirai Brahmotsavam in the Tamil month of Chithirai (April-May); Thirunavukkarasar (Appar) Guru Puja; Vinayakar Chaturthi in the Tamil month of Aavani (Aug-Sept); and Navarathri in the Tamil month of Purattasi (Sept-Oct). Pradosham is also observed regularly.