Tiruchendurai Chandrasekhara Swamy Temple, Trichy

Address

Tiruchendurai Chandrasekhara Swamy Temple, Thiruchandurai, Anthanallur, Trichy District, Tamil Nadu 639101

Diety

Chandrasekhara Swamy Amman: Maanendiya Valli / Mrigadharambika

Introduction

Chandrasekhara Swamy Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva located at Tiruchendurai in Trichy District of Tamilnadu. Presiding Deity is called as Chandrasekhara Swamy and Mother is called as Maanendiya Valli / Mrigadharambika. This Temple is considered as one of the Thevara Vaippu Sthalams. Tiruchendurai is known as Jeeyapuram nowadays.

Puranic Significance

Parantaka Chola wanted to destroy the bandits who were residing in this region, which was a forest full of jack trees in those days. He camped along with his army here. However, he could not find any bandit here. But, he found a lot deer in the forest. The King desired to hunt the deer. When he was chasing a deer, it went inside a deep pit. The king released arrow towards the pit and blood oozed out of the pit. He also heard an Asareeri voice which informed him that there was a Shiva Linga idol inside the pit. The King wanted to lift Linga out of that land and construct a temple. However, he could not do this in his lifetime. He had mentioned about this incident in a copper inscription. In the future, his daughter in law, Kunthavai, excavated the Shiva Linga and constructed this temple. The temple is a Chola period temple. There are about 50 stone inscriptions found in this temple. The inscriptions belong to the period of various Kings which include Parantaka Chola, Rajendra Chola, Kulothunga Chola I, Rajadhiraja Chola,Vikrama Chola, Rajaraja Chola II, Koneri Devaraya and Sri Ranga Deva Maharaya of Vijayanagara. The temple must have been built using mortar or brick by Aditya Chola I in the 9 th century CE. It was later rebuilt as the stone temple by Kunthavai in the beginning of the 10th century CE. Parantaka Chola I was aided in his battles against the Pandyas by the Velir Chiefs of Kodumbalur. His son Arikulakesari (Arinjaya Chola) married to Pudi Adicha Pidariyar, the daughter of Tennavan Ilangovelar of Kodumbalur Velir lineage. Tennavan was also called as Bhuti Vikramakesari or Maravan Pudi. Pudi Adicha Pidari was also called as Kundavai. She constructed this temple in Tiruchendurai. Later, the temple was renovated by Kings of various dynasties, which include Vijaya Nagaras and Nayakas

Special Features

The east facing temple has five-tiered Rajagopuram. The tower has a lot of stucco figures. Some of them are unique and interesting. They are Devi with four heads; her right head is of elephant and her left head is of lion. She has ten arms and an Asura or Rakshasa is found below her feet. Female attendants are seen on her either sides. This deity is called as Shakti Chatuska, the combined form of Lakshmi, Kirti, Jaya and Maya), Narasimha with four heads and ten arms, Urdhva Thandava – Shiva with ten arms with his leg raised towards the sky, Kali in dancing posture and Trivikrama with twenty arms. There is a vast area between the tower and the superstructure of the temple. It is dotted with a lot of trees. Nandi Mandapam and bali peetha are located here and they face towards the sanctum. There is no flag staff in this temple. Presiding Deity is called as Chandrasekhara Swamy. The east facing sanctum with a beautiful vimana enshrines a big Shiva Linga, presiding deity. It is a self-manifested Linga. The shape of the Linga is not polished and is very rough like a jackfruit. There are two small Trishula signs in Ishana direction and Agni direction on this Linga. The Vimana has two tiers and it is fully made of stone. In the entrance of Ardha Mandapam, two big and beautiful Chola period Dwarapalas are found. In Maha Mandapam, Nandi is found facing towards the sanctum. The west facing outer wall of the sanctum has the beautiful niche idol of Vrushabhantika Murti. He is found leaning over Nandi, with his right arm held between the horns of Nandi. His head is also slightly tilted. The other two niches do not have the original Murtis. The not-so-beautiful stucco idols of Ardhanareeswarar and Durga are found in those two niches. Durga also holds deer and Mazhu in her arms. Mother is called as Maanendiya Valli. The Goddess of the temple has a very beautiful Tamil name, Maanendiya Valli. In Sanskrit, she is called as Mrigadharambika. (The word Maan in Tamil means deer). Her shrine is facing the southern direction. It is said that she is the only Goddess in the entire world, who holds deer in her arms. It is said that she is in the form of Ardhanari. She holds Mazhu in her right arm and has Surya Prabhai behind the right side of her head. Her right leg is thick like a male. She also wears Upanayana. She holds deer in her left arm and has Chandra Prabhai behind the left side of her head. Compared to her right leg, her left leg is thin and feminine. There are five female deities as the niche idols around the shrine of Maanendiya Valli. All of them are found seated and interestingly they all hold Mazhu and Deer in their arms. Nandi is found facing towards her shrine. The bronze idol of Nataraja in this temple is in unique style called as Urdhva Thandava It is one of the rare forms of Nataraja with his knee raised upwards. The original Chola period Chandikeswara is found in the Temple. The sub-shrines of Ganesha, Vishwanathar and Subramanya-Valli-Devasena are located in the prakara. It is said that Gaja Lakshmi shrine was also there, which is not found nowadays. Navagraha is found, where Surya alone is found along with his consorts. The idols of Surya and Bhairava are found facing towards the sanctum. They appear to be of original period. Dhakshinamoorthi’s sub-shrine is located near Vrushabhantika Murti. It appears to be a new unnecessary addition. Sthala Vriksham is Jack fruit Tree. Theertham associated with this Temple is River Cauvery.

Festivals

Special festival called “Mahasivarathri” will be held every year in the month of “Masi” (feb-15 to mar15). During this festival poojas will be scheduled in 4 terms from evening 4:00 pm to early morning 4:00 am. Lord Shiva and Nandi will be specially decorated and anointed with 16 fragrances. Finally, Deeparadhana (torch) will be shown. It is believed that if we worship Shiva on Mahasivarathri, we will be rewarded of worshipping Shiva for the whole year. Devotees believe that if we involve in 4 term pooja during this festival, we will be blessed with peace and good health.