Karisulndamangalam Kurundhudaiyar Sastha Temple – Thirunelveli

Address

Karisulndamangalam Kurundhudaiyar Sastha Temple – Thirunelveli

Karisulndamangalam, Thirunelveli district,

Tamil Nadu

Moolavar

Gurundhudaiyar Sastha

Introduction

• The Gurundhudaiyar Sastha Temple is located in Karisulndamangalam Village, near Cheranmahadevi in Thirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu.
• In many villages, the local Lord Sastha becomes the Kuladeivam (family deity) for the people who have lived in the village for several generations. The temple is integral to the identity of the village, often denoting the ancestral home and the native deity of the villagers.
• Over time, due to a lack of knowledge being passed down regarding family traditions and customs, many families have lost track of their Kuladeiva worship practices.

Puranic Significance

• In Karisulndamangalam, Lord Sastha resides in a temple consecrated at the entrance of the village, atop a large rocky area surrounded by farmland. This location signifies his protective and benevolent presence over the village.
• The Kurundhudaiyar Sastha Temple is older than the nearby Lord Venkatachalapathy Temple, as evidenced by the image of Lord Sastha carved on a pillar in the northern façade of the Venkatachalapathy Temple. This image, resembling Kurundhudaiyar Sastha, suggests that the Sastha temple existed before the Venkatachalapathy Temple. In ancient times, it was common to carve the images of deities from one village temple onto the pillars of another village temple.
• The villagers initially faced difficulties in performing daily pooja and worship due to the temple’s location on the outskirts of the village. To address this, they consecrated a Goddess Poorna Pushkalamba along with Lord Sastha on the southern side of the Kanagasabhapathy Shiva Temple, making the worship more accessible to the community.
• On Panguni Uthiram (a significant Tamil festival), the villagers gather to worship Lord Sastha at his consecrated site atop the rocky hill in the post-harvest season, giving thanks for the bountiful harvest received that year.
• The Gurundhudaiyar Sastha Temple is believed to be over 1,000 years old.
• The most recent Kumbabishekam (temple consecration) for the Sastha Temple was performed in 1998.

Location

• Karisulndamangalam is situated approximately 3 kilometers from Pattamadai and 5 kilometers from Cheranmahadevi.

References

https://tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com/2017/05/kurundhudaiyar-sastha-temple.html

Century/Period

500-1000 Years Old

Nearest Bus Station

Karisulndamangalam

Nearest Railway Station

Cheranmahadevi and Veeravanallur

Nearest Airport

Madurai, Thoothukudi and Thiruvananthapuram

Location on Map

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