Sri Sarvaanga Sundhari Sametha Sarguneswarar Temple -Karuveli

 In the beginning and during the middle of the 20th century the people of previous generation living in villages and small cities in Tamil Nadu and other states in India had left their villages in search of jobs and a better living. This sustained exodus of people had an impact on the small villages and cities. Especially the temples that received regular visitors in the earlier years were slowly neglected with no one to care. The mass exodus of people in some of the villages on the banks of river Kaveri and the villages close to Kumbakonam and Tanjore has affected most of the temples. A good number of massive and beautiful temples in those villages became dilapidated and ruined.

We can proudly call this 21st century as a period of return of the history. The younger generation of people are different and they are more interested to trace the family roots, the place where their ancestors lived and more. They have started feeling proud of their natives, their villages and their own culture. Some of them have even joined together to reach out their old villages, to find the temples that were neglected and ruined. They take pain to reconstruct them and deposit enough money for the conduct of regular pooja at the temple and its maintenance. This is a good beginning, which in turn will save and restore our culture and our lost inheritance.

I had the pleasure of visiting one such temple in a small village known as Karuveli, where the goddess Sarvanga Sundhari is in Consort with Sarguneswarar (Siva). The village also known as Kottittai is in the Kumbakonam to Poonthottam bus route, close to the bridge over Arisilar the tributary of river Kaveri. Other known villages close to it are Thirunallam, Thiruveezhimalai and Thiruvanniyur.

The temple is believed to be more than 1300 years old. Thirunavukkarasar also fondly called as Appar a Saivite Tamil poet-saint, who believed to have lived in the 7th century and one of the 63 Nayanmars has mentioned about this temple in his poetic contributions. The temple was in a neglected and ruined condition even in the beginning of 1990. Thiru V. Krishnamurthy the former Chairman of BHEL, Maruthi and Sail and his brother Thiru V. Vaidyanathan, President, Kalki Group of Publications, who were native of the Village Karuvelli took pain to reconstruct the temple. The temple was reconstructed due to their efforts and Kumbabishekam was performed in 1997.

According to sthala Purana of the temple when Thatchyayini (Parvathi) got herself killed after being insulted by her brother Thatchan, Lord Siva took her body in his hand and performed Rudhira Thandava or a violent dance. Unable to bear the power of his anger and dance every one prayed to Maha Vishnu for solace. Mahavishnu used his Chakrayutha to cut the dead body of Parvati into several pieces and made them fall all over India. The places where the pieces of her body have fallen are known as SakthiSthal. Lord Siva who then was  though appeared to be pacified but continued in a status of having lost his mental peace. He came to the forest site known as Amba Samuthiram close to Karuvelli village. When he was under penance, he saw the face of Parvathi the daughter of Himavan. Parvathi also came to Karuvelli carrying all her beauty (Sarvanga Sundhari) with her and danced before Lord Shiva. The place where she performed the dance is now known as Kottittai.

Lord Siva married Sarvanga Sundhari (Parvati) and stayed at the Karuvelli temple. The story further states that whoever comes and offers prayers at this temple will not be subjected to next birth and get only Motcham. In other words an unseen fence (VELI) will be installed to prevent one to become a fetus (KARU) again. Thus, the village got the name Karuveli. Lord Siva with the best of his known soft behaviors resides at the temple as Sarguneswarar and the most beautiful Parvathi as Sarvanga Sundhari. 

There is also a story that Indira the King among the Devas came here and worshipped Siva and Parvathi. Similarly Yama Raja constructed a temple tank opposite to the temple and offered prayer to the swami after taking a dip in the tank to get solace and overcome a curse. The tank is still called as Yama Theertham.

Before entering the temple it is a common ritual for the people to go into the sprawling tank located opposite to the temple, wash their hands and legs and sprinkle the water over their head. As you cross the entry gate you will enter a beautifully laid path leading to the Nandhi Mandapam. After offering prayer to the Nandhi you will enter temple through the three-tier attractive Raja Gopuram. When you go further inside you will face the Sanctum sanctorum of Sarguneswarar (Siva Lingam). The lingam is said to be Swayambu (created on its own). The lingam is of modest height, adorning a very simple decoration to bless us all.

Sarvanga Sundari Amman around 5.5 feet in height and with four hands in standing position  is seen in a separate Sanctum sanctorium (sannidhi) facing east. The face of the amman reflects only peace and a disposition to free you from all the stress or emotion. It is an undeniable fact that anyone who stands before her will get immersed in her fondness and love. She invites you to come close to her only to relieve all your stress, strain and other anxieties. She stands there in a very simple red cotton saree and few red flowers decorates her. The mental status and inner feelings of any one who stand before the deity cannot be explained in a few words and it is to be felt in person to know it.

After completing the archana, when the Sivacharya shows the Ghee Deepam close to the face of Sarvanga Sundhari Amman your heart skips its beat and suddenly your mind gets filled by an unexplainable happiness and peace. The temple is not much crowded, you can enjoy her blessings all alone and undisturbed for a long time. 

In the well maintained and very clean prakaram (outer part of the Sanctum sanctorium) you will find a beautifully carved pillayar, .Subramaniya swami is seen with Valli and Deivayanai in a newly constructed sannidhi. The old but beautiful idols of Arthanareeswarar, Dakshinamurthy, Bala Murugan, Brahma, Sandikeswarar, Durgai and Bairavar are placed all along the Prakaram. The intricate works performed on the idols are hard to believe but visible before your eyes. In a separate sannidhi a marble statue of Hanumar is placed. A calm and peaceful marble Durga with her own lion vahana is seen in another sannidhi.

Unlike other south Indian temples this temple does not have a separate sannidhi for Navagrahas. Outside the praharam but within the temple complex a Valampuri Ganapathi and statues of Nagas are placed. The sthala viruksham of this temple is Bilva. Since this temple has blessed and benefitted the marriage of Sarvanga Sundhari Amman with Lord Siva, men and women longing for their marriage come and offer prayers at the temple for an early marriage. Also couples who wish to have a child and students who want to score high marks regularly come to the temple.

Every year Samvathsara Abishekam and homam are performed on the day when the Kumbabishekam was held. Maha abishekam is performed to the Amman and Siva, followed by Ganapathi, Navagraha homams and the divine marriage is performed to the deities in the evening. Every year Maha Sivarathri and Thiruvathirai the special days for lord Siva are celebrated with all gaiety.

The temple remain open from 7.00 AM to 1.00 PM & 4.00 PM to 8.00 PM

Temple address :

Arulmigu Sarguneswarar Thirukkovil
Sarguneswarapuram
Karuveli 605 501
Thiruvarur Dist, Tamil Nadu

Pilgrimage to Vaitheeswaran Koil

When, I have planned for a new blog on travel writing, I thought of writing my visit to Vaitheeswaran Koil, the abode of my family deity as my first article in the blog.

Vaitheeswaran Koil also known as Pullirukkuvelur is one among the famous Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu. The deity Vaithyanatha Swami, as the name indicates has healing powers to cure both the mental and physical sufferings of those who believe in him. The temple is one among the famous Nava Graha abodes in Tamil Nadu and the deity is Ankaraga (Mars).

The temple is a family shrine for most of the families hailing from the villages in Tanjore and Kumbakonam. It is a custom for all the families including those who have moved to various other states in India or to other parts of the world to visit the temple at least once in a year or at the first available opportunity to offer their prayers. Normally the first tonsure for their children will be performed at the temple.

    

My first visit to the temple, took place way back in 1951, when I was taken to the temple as an infant by my father.  My grand-father and grandmother who have named me after the famous Shivalinga of Thiruvidaimaruthur, Jyothir Mahalingam also were there with me along with my mother. My father on a different occasion had told me, how the journey from Thiruvidaimaruthur a sleepy village close to Kumbakonam was performed in a bullock cart. I have visited the temple for a number of times afterwards.

Recently in 2011 February, when my daughter came from Sydney, Australia, along with my grandson we visited the temple to perform tonsure for my grandson and to visit the other temples close by.

Since, the trip was planned on a short notice; we thought it better to travel by a car rather than in a train or bus and booked for a Mahindra Logan with Fast Track Call Taxi. The idea of my booking Fast Track services was not appreciated by my friends who feared about the efficiency of the driver to manage the long journey. Fortunately for us, the company had sent a good young driver and a new vehicle.

Though, quality dining facilities are available in almost all the smaller towns in Tamil Nadu, India, to avoid any food related complications for my daughter and grandson who were about to leave for Australia in the following week we prepared and carried food items such as chapathi, idly, tamarind rice and curd rice and snack items at home for the tour. Also to avoid water contamination we took bottled water from home.

Ganapathi, the driver sent by Fast Track, had called me around 4.30 in the morning to confirm my house address and we started around 05.00 AM from my home. We took the national highway (NH) instead of the scenic ECR and reached Vaitheeswaran Koil around 10.00 AM via Tindivanam, Pondicherry, Cuddalore , Chidambaram and Sirkazhi. We took the bypass road to go without touching Chengleput.

Being a week day there was not much traffic on the road and the drive was very smooth. It was greenery all the way and the paddy fields on both the sides of the road with new saplings appeared green. We lowered the side glasses and breathed fresh air all the way.

I took the assistance of one A.V.Ramachandra Gurukal at the temple for making tonsure and archana arrangements. We stayed at his typical 5 partitioned (anju kattu) village type house with all modern amenities to freshen up. He has sent one of his assistants to help us.

The aged barber at the temple heeded to our request and used the blade and savlon lotion provided by us during the tonsure process. My one and half year old grandson sat on my lap and enjoyed the shaving of hair without crying and the temple barber has completed the shaving without a single cut. We took bath at the bath room and used the hot water facility provided.

It is an age old practice at the temple to dilute small pieces of jaggery at the temple tank known as Siddhamurta Teertham and salt and pepper at the place assigned for the purpose and we did it. The water at the tank looked muddy and found papers floating. On one of the earlier occasions when I came here as a boy, my father and his brother swam across and floated over the tank water, which I remember looked very clean then.

We performed archanas at the sannidhi’s of Pillayar, Vaidyanatha Eswarar, Thaiyalnayaki Amman, Selvamuthu Kumaran (Murugan) and Angarakan. We offered our prayer for the good health and prosperity of every one. Since we had plans to visit other temples en route we distributed all the prasadams received at the temple.

Though we have visited the temple for a number of times before we always make it a point go around the beautiful and massive temple all through its tall granite walls and inner corridors. We offered our prayers to Sri Nataraja, Sivakami, Durga, Sun, Sapta Kannikas, 63 Nayanmars sannadhis in the southern corridor. We also went to the eastern outer corridor to pick leaves of the sacred Neem (Margosa) tree considered as auspicious and bought the famous marunthu urundai prasadam (found mud balls mixed with other elements) for distribution among known people at home.

The place close to dwajasthambam (flag mast of the temple), where we used to see the temple elephant Thaiyalnayaki, wore a deserted look. The elephant, which used bring joy to the children with its typical movements and occasional vocal sounds has died a few years back due to old age. We felt immensely pleased and proud when my grandson performed Namaskar for the first time ever at the place. He did it without any prompting and we considered it as the blessing of Lord Ganapathi. 

This time too we missed our usual Pongal and Vadai breakfast with coffee at the Sri Thaiyal Nayaki Vilas Hotel. I shared my earlier eating experiences and the mouthwatering dishes that were available at the hotel with my daughter when we crossed the hotel close to the main entrance of the temple.

Though I had been to Vaitheeswaran Koil for a number of occasions, I never had time to visit any of the famous nadi jothidam places, which is drawing visitors from all over India and world and I could not make it this time too. 

The driver who preferred to remain in the car had a short nap, got freshened up and was ready for the next leg of the tour to Thirukarugavur via Mayavaram, Kumbakonam and Papanasam.