Erumbur Kadambavaneswarar Temple, Cuddalore

Address

Erumbur,

Cuddalore district,

Tamil Nadu 608704

Moolavar

Kadambavaneswarar

Amman

Kalyana Sundari

Introduction

Kadambavaneswarar Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva located in Erumbur Village in Chidambaram Taluk in Cuddalore District of Tamil Nadu. Presiding Deity is called as Kadambavaneswarar and Mother is called as Kalyana Sundari. The Temple was called as Urumur Siru Tirukkoyil Perumanadigal in ancient times. This Temple was called as Siru Koil as Chidambaram Temple was always referred as Periya Koyil.Kadambavaneswarar Temple is considered to be the third out of the seven Guru Sthalams in Tamilnadu. It is also believed that those visiting Kadambavaneswarar Erumbur, Virudhachalam and Chidambaram temples on the same day will be blessed with wealth. The Temple was built during end of Pallavas reign and emergence of Cholas as regional power. Hence, the temple follows both Pallava and Chola Architecture and sculptural values.

Puranic Significance

Erumbur, known in the early Chola period as Urumur, is now an insignificant village. The Temple was called as Urumur Siru Tirukkoyil Perumanadigal in ancient times. The presiding deity of the temple is called Perumanadigal of Urumur Siru Tirukkoyil and in later times as Kadambavaneswarar. There is an inscription on the southern wall of the main shrine, on the proper left of the Dakshinamurti image. The Temple is believed to be 1500 years old. There are 20 inscriptions in the temple belonging to Parantaka Chola I, Sundara Chola, Rajaraja Chola I, Rajendra Chola I, Rajendra Chola II, Rajaraja Chola II, Kulothunga Chola II, Vikrama Chola and Thirubhuvana Rajaraja Devan. All these inscriptions talk about grants to burn perpetual lamps, gift of golden articles, local villagers meetings and renovations done to this Temple. People who lived in nearby villages Marungil, Kachipedu, Aanaivaari, Poigai and Ozhukarai also provided gifts to this temple.

Erumbur:

A lady whose reputation was ill spoken asked her son to take her bones to Shiva temples after she dies and wherever they turn flowers, immerse them to prove her chastity. The son after visiting many temples including Chidambaram reached here and while he was bathing, a crow accidently knocked the urn and the bones fell out as flowers. Thus, this place was named Elumbur (Elumbu – Bone in Tamil) which gradually became Erumbur.

Lord Shiva appeared in the dreams of King Aparajita:

The lord is believed to have appeared in the dreams of King Aparajita while he was resting here in the middle of a hard campaign and asked him to build a temple

Kadambavanam:

Erumbur was called as Kadambavanam in ancient days as the village was located on the banks of Kadambaaru River.

Beliefs

Devotees pray to Dakshinamoorthy here on Thursdays to achieve excellence in Knowledge and also get rid of all obstacles. Thousands of devotees throng this temple during Guru Peyarchi (Jupiter Transition Days).

Special Features

Kadambavaneswarar Temple is a small east facing temple under the control of the Archaeological Survey of India. The Temple is similar in architectural style to Kanchipuram Chokeesar Temple. As in the case of most Early Chola temples, the central shrine of the original temple belonged to Parantaka Chola I period was made up of only two parts, the sanctum and the Ardhamandapam in front.

Presiding Deity is called as Kadambavaneswarar and is facing east. He is housed in the sanctum in the form of Shiva Lingam. The walls of the garbhagriha have niches on the three sides of the exterior, and there are stone images of exquisite beauty in them: Dakshinamurti in the south, Yoga Arunachaleswarar in the west and Brahma in the north. These are good specimens of Early Chola sculptures of the days of Parantaka I.

The sculptures of Dakshinamurthy in the form of Arthanareeswarar seated on a Trisula without the usual tree above. He is sitting in a different posture called as Veera Asana, with many jewels carved on him. The Dakshinamurthy is a unique form here with dogs, deer and snakes carved in the base. Yoga Arunachaleswarar on Lotus Peedam can be found in the place of Lingothbhava. He is also carved with many jewels on him.

Usually, Brahma will be found in a standing posture in all temples but in this Temple, he is sitting in Lotus Peedam with Akkamalai and Kundhigai. Brahma and Arunachaleswarar in yogic posture are exquisite. It had eight subsidiary shrines round the main shrine in earlier days but there are now no traces of the eight subsidiary shrines.

As per early Chola Temple architecture, eight subsidiary shrines are dedicated to Surya, Saptamatrikas, Ganesha, Subrahmanya, Jyeshta Devi, Chandra, Bhairavar and Chandikeswarar. This practice of having eight subsidiary shrines around the main shrine was abandoned due to the adverse preaching of the Tamil saints, the Alvars and the Nayanmars, led to the neglect of the worship of the Saptamatrikas and of Jyeshta Devi.

This feature of subsidiary shrines can be found in the Vijayalaya Cholisvaram at Narthamalai and in many other Early Chola temples, but only here is the inscriptional evidence to prove conclusively that the building of eight shrines round the main Siva shrine to house the subsidiary deities was an important feature of the Early Chola temples. The practice of building eight sub-shrines for the Ashta Parivara Devatas continued even into the days of Rajaraja I.

The icons of Nandi and Bhairavar can be found in the mukha mandapa. This is a later structure, 29 ft. by 24½ ft. (8.84 m. by 7.47 m.), with an arch roof in brick and mortar. In the northern projection of this there is a shrine of the Goddess (Amman); the only inscription which refers to this Goddess is that of a Pandyan ruler Maravarman Yira Pandya by whose time the Chola power had eclipsed and their country had passed under Pandyan hegemony.

It is very probable that the Amman shrine and the mukha mandapa of brick. Pandyas named the Mother as Kadambavanaeswara Nayaki but Mother is called as Kalyana Sundari and is facing south. She is in standing posture. There are traces of a brick wall of enclosure with a gate-way in the east, enclosing the main shrine and the subsidiary shrines; and in the foundation, large-sized bricks can be found belonging to Parantaka Chola I days.

Lord Muruga is seen seated on his peacock mount in his shrine in the prakaram. Navagraha Shrine can be found in the western corner of the prakaram. All Navagrahas are gracing the devotees with their consorts and Vahanas (Mounts). There is idol of Veera Narayana Perumal in the Temple premises. Sthala Vriksham is Kadamba Tree. Theertham associated with this Temple is Easwaran Kulam. It is situated to the south east of the temple.