Thiruvasi Sri Maatruraivaradheeswarar Temple, Trichy

Address

Thiruvasi Sri Maatruraivaradheeswarar Temple, ThiruvasiTrichy District PIN – 621216 Temple Contact: Mohan Gurukas, Phone: 0431-2908109, 98656 64870,9443692138

Diety

Sri Maatrurai Varadeeswarar, Sri Matrari Varathar, Sri Sameevaneswarar, Amman: Balambigai

Introduction

The temple is located in Tiruvasi in Tiruchirappalli district. The temple is one of the places where the song is the song and the 62nd Siva temple located in the Cauvery Vadakara. The origin of the temple is Umadevi, Brahmdevan, Lakshmi, Agathya sage, Kamalan, Vaishian and Kollammanavan. The sanctum sanctorum is located opposite Shivalaya and the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. There is a shrine in Madurai, near the temple. The temple town of Thiruvasiam is known as Tirupachilacharramam in ancient times. Theertham (Holy water): Annamam Poikai, Kollidam river, Silambu (Panguni) river Sthala Vriksham (Sacred Tree): Vanni Tree

Puranic Significance

Kolli Malan’s daughter who lived in this area was suffering from chronic illness (epilepsy). The king did not perform a lot of treatment and could not cure the daughter. So, according to the advice of the elders, the grandmother wrapped her in the temple and left her in a great way to heal the cock. At this time, Tirunganasambandar darshan many places and aroused the temple of Tirupachilachcharam, a rainy country. The King of the King greeted the Sampanthan and requested to remove his daughter’s disease. Lord Shiva is blessed with Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva changed her disease to a snake and stood on it. On the basis of this there is a lack of motivation behind the Nataraja calf. She is dancing on a serpent in the back under Thiruvadi. Neurological, rheumatism, epilepsy, serotonin, menstrual problems, etc. can be used to worship the Lord. There are sculptures that illustrate the history of Sambhavar’s disease in the Aadiyapillai Mandapam in the temple. Another legend associated with this temple is that Saint Sundaramurthy Nayanar got a bag of gold from Lord Shiva in this place. Saint Sundarar used to get gold from Lord Shiva to feed his followers. After worshipping the lord in Thiruvanaikaval, he came to this temple and sang in praise of the lord seeking gold. Lord Shiva kept mum. Angred, Sundarar continued his Pathigam in a loud voice questioning whether there was someone called Lord Shiva here or not. Pleased with Sundarar’s hymn, Lord Shiva gave him a purse containing gold. Yet he was doubtful about its purity and examined it closely. Two men came to him and asked him why he was doing so. Sundarar sought their help in determining the purity of the gold. Both of them confirmed the purity of the metal after scratching it. Both disappeared instantly. Sundarar sang again saying that he did not mean to insult or doubt the Lord. Lord Shiva appeared before him and said that he himself had come as the assessor and his companion was Lord Mahavishnu. Hence the Lord here is named “Matru Urai Nathar” – God who confirmed the purity of gold – (“Matru” means quality, Urai” means “Urasi Parthal” – scratching and assessing while “Nathar” is a respectful suffix in Tamil). It is believed that Lord Brahma, Goddess Parvathi, Goddess Lakshmi and Sage Agasthiar have worshipped Lord Shiva of this temple.

Beliefs

It is believed that this temple is 1500 years old and was built and renovated by Kings of the Hoysala, Chola and Pandiya dynasties. This temple is situated on the northern bank of the river Kollidam (Coleroon). The historical name of this place is “Pachil Kutrathu Achiramam” which has been changed to Pachilachiramam. As per the stone inscriptions, during the Chola and Pandiya period, the places on the northern bank of the river Kollidam was called “Parchil Kutram”. The village around it was called Thiruvachiramam. This was later changed to Thiruvasi. Also, in ancient times this place was densely populated with Vanni trees. For this reason, this place is also known as Sameevanam and the lord here is praised as Sri Sameevaneswarar. As Lord Brahma is believed to have worshiped the lord here, the lord is also known as “Sri Brahmapureswarar”. According to legend, this region was once called Mazhanadu and it was ruled by king Kolli Mazhavan. His daughter was suffering from a severe disease called Muyalagan (epilepsy), which could not be cured by any the king’s doctors. The king decided to leave his daughter in this temple with the hope that the lord would cure her. Saint Thirugnanasambanthar came to this place during his pilgrimage and found the girl in the temple. The king explained to the saint the sad story of his daughter and begged him for help. Saint Sambanthar sang a pathigam in praise of Lord Natarajar. Pleased with his pathigam, Lord Nataraja transformed the muyalagan disease into a serpent and danced on it. The lord then blessed the princess and cured her disease. Based on this event, Lord Nataraja appears here with his hair tied in a knot. Instead of his usual depiction of standing on top of Muyalagan, in this temple he is seen standing on a serpent. He is praised here as “Sarpa Nataraja” (“Sarpa” meaning serpent in Tamil). This is a rare posture of Lord Nataraja. Another legend is that once a business man called Kamalan from Pachur, who was a staunch Shiva devotee, was childless. One day when he was going home from this temple he heard a child’s cry and found an abandoned baby. He took her home, named her Amalai and raised her as his own. When the child was ready for marriage, he wanted her to be married to his brother-in-law. Amalai was also an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and she desired to marry Lord Shiva. Pleased with her prayers, Lord Shiva came to their house as Kamalan’s brother-in-law and married Amalai. After the wedding, the newly wedded couple left the house informing Kamalan that they are going to the temple. After they left, to the surprise of Kamalan his actual brother-in-law came home. It was only then that they realised what had happened. They went to the temple in search of Amalai. Lord Shiva appeared before them seated on his bull mount (Rishaba Vahanam) and gave dharisanam with Amalai as Goddess Parvathi. Goddess Parvathy threw her anklet and from the place where it hit the ground, water started flowing as a river. This river came to be known as Silambu river but its name was later changed to Panguni river.

Special Features

This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 62nd Shiva Sthalam on the northern bank of the river Cauvery in Chozha Nadu (Vadakarai). Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested). Saint Sambanthar sang a hymn and cured a girl from Muyalagan disease. Lord Shiva gave a purse containing gold to Saint Sundarar here. This east facing temple has a 5-tiered main tower (Rajagopuram) and it has two corridors. The last consecration ceremony (Kumbabishekam) took place on 14.06.2017. Other than the shrines of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy, shrines and idols of lords Vinayakar, Murugan, Natarajar, Nalvar, Dakshinamurthy, Arthanareeswarar, Brahma, Durgai, Chandikeswarar, 63 Nayanmars, Sapthamathakkal, Navagraham, Suryan, Chandran, Sahasra lingam and Bairavar can be seen in the corridor. In the Navagraham, Suryan is seen with his two consorts – Usha and Prathyusha. The other planets can be seen looking at him. Goddess Balambikai has a separate temple on the left side of the entrance. The shrine of Lord Selva Vinayakar and Annamam Poigai (sacred well) are opposite to the shrine of Goddess Balambikai.

Festivals

There are four daily prayers for the Lord here. After 48 days of irrigation in the temple, you can get rid of diseases such as chronic illness, stomach pain, pituitary and arthritis. The devotees believe that if the temple is in the temple, they will rise in the light of the lamp and ghee in the temple. Every year, every month from the month of Pournami, 11 days every day is taking place at Lord Street in Muttanakkal.