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Vanadhirayarservai

@vanadhi

Dazzler

Posted: 13 years ago

#101

About Chaduragiri:

Chathuragiri Hill: entrance of chathuragri (via saptur, Krishnapuram)

entrance of chathuragri

This holy place Chaturagiri is situated in Tamilnadu near Srivilliputtur'Madurai highway at a place called" Vathra iruppu. Thaniparai", which is situated 9 kms from here, is the foot of chaturagiri. It is believed that during Ramayana, while hanuman carried Sanjeevi hill for the cure of Lakshmana, a portion of that hill fell down here and this piece is what we see as chaturagiri. Around the temple in this hill, there are four mountains on each side in the form of a square. That is why the name chaturagiri (chaturam means square in Tamil).

Another punranic verson states that the name Cathuragiri came from Chathur (4) Veda (Vedas) Giri (Hill), where all the four Vedas met and formed the hill.

Chaturagiri is a holy place where siddhars are believed to live even now. It is believed that going to this place, relieves one of all sorrows and physical ailments and gives peace of mind. Bathing in this hill and having darshan of the three main deities'three forms of lord Shiva'called as Sundaralingam, Mahalingam, Chanthanalingam makes new blood flow in our body.

Way to Sundra Mahalingam

The arduous and challenging trekking is needed to reach Sundra Mahalingam.Chaturagiri is situated in Western Ghats, about 4500 ft above sea level. One has to start the trekking process from Thaniparai and only after about 10 kms of trekking they can reach these temples. At the foot of the hill there is a small river. The devotees can take a holy dip and worship "Asirvada Vinayagar" (blessing vinayak )and "Karuppaswamy"(Guarding sprit) and then advised start with the trek. The first place to take rest is the "Kudurai Kuthi" where there is a small stream. Proceeding from here one can reach "Vazhukku Parai"(slippery rock). As the name suggests it is a very slippery place in a very slanting position.( For the convenience of the devotees a chain is installed across the stream for devotees to hold and cross). There are two caves in this slopebelieved to the meditating places of "Pambatti siddhar" and "Kalangi Nathar". After trekking for a while we can reach the place called "Athi oothu". This oothu (a small stream in tamil) is believed to be coming through the cave where sage "Atri" was doing penance. There is Athi tree(country fig) with fruits. During the season of these fruits monkeys and bears come here to taste them. Since water is also present, elephants also come here. Devotees are asked to move carefully. Now the steep climbing starts from here.

Devotees can see two hairpin bends and some caves. This place is called "kona thalai vasal". Some devotees have also had the darshan of some siddhars here in these caves. Some of these caves are so chill inside as like if they are fitted with air conditioners. Siddhars namely THIRUMOOLAR, AGASTHIAR, BOGAR, KAGABUJANDAR, GORAKKAR are believed to be here even now.

The next resting place is near the "Gorakkar Guhai"(cave). This Gorakkar guhai is situated 20ft down from the trekking path where there is a cave like gap between the rocks and there is a small stream in front of this cave. This water is so pure, and is believed to give you salvation as told by "Kalangi Natha Siddhar". devotees can meditate there.

Twin lingams or Irattai lingam:

The next destination is called "Arisi Parai" where the sand looks like rice (arisi). Trekking from here one can reach "Irattai lingam"(twim lingams). Going further devotees can reach an open place called "Pasukkidai" where the shepherds put a fence around their cows and bulls after grazing and keep a watch on them. After crossing this Pasukkidai one can reach the boundary of the temple. Here for most of the devotees a dog (believed to be lord Bhairavar) comes and takes them to the temple. Same way when they come back the dog comes and leaves them here. Near this boundary when one goes 10 ft down there is a small waterfall which relieves us of all the exertion one had while climbing. Then comes up a the temple called "Pilavadi Karuppar" located beneath two jackfruit trees. The deity is Karuppaswamy(guarding spirit ) holding a sword in his hand.It is said that the rock in front of this temple is actually the lid of the well of gold produced by the siddhars. This is called "Rasayana Kinaru".(chemical well).

Chathuragiri Hill: chathuragiri.siva.tempil

SundaraLingam

From here one must move further towards their main destination of the three temples. First is the "Sundara Mahalingam temple". This lingam was originally worshipped by sage Agastiyar. But when he had to leave for Podhigai hills, sage Sundarananda took over the worship from Agasthiyar. So the lingam is called "Sundaralingam".

Mahalingam

One has to proceed further above to see the "Mahalingam". The story goes like this. One of the demons of lord Shiva called "Yaazvalla Thevar" fell in love with the aide of devi Parvathi called "Deivanangai". Realizing this lord shiva sent them to the boolokam(Earth) in the form of human beings. Yaaz valla thevar was born as "Pacchaimaal" and Deivanangai was born as "Sadainangai". Both got married and were living in a place called Kottaiyoor at the foot of this chaturagiri hills. When the time came for Pacchaimaal to return to Kailash after the curse, lord Shiva himself came to this hill in the form of a saint and drank the milk from the cow directly which was intended for the lord's Abhishekam. When Pacchaimaal noticed this, in a fit of anger he took a wooden stick and gave a blow on his head.

When Siddhar Sundaranandar came and saw this wounded saint, they saw lord shiva himself on the rishaba. Lord told them that he has come in person to take back his own Yaazvalla thevar with him to Kailash. Then everybody prayed to lord that he stay here and bless all those who come here to which lord agreed and stayed here as "Mahalingam". Because of the blow from Pacchaimaal, we can see the lingam tilted to about 30 degrees to his left. We can also see the cut on the head of the lingam.On the southern side, 1km above the Mahalingam temple is the "Thavasi Guhai".It is believed that one who is destined by the lord can only go inside this cave which belongs to great sages.

ChandanaMahalingam:(Sandal wood Lingam)

Devi Parvathi came here and made a lingam beneath a sandalwood tree and did penance to fulfill her wish that she does not want to be separated from lord shiva. This lingam is called the Chandanamahalingam". There is a sannadhi for Parvathi who resides here in the name of "Aanandavalli Amman". Adjacent to this there is a cave called "Sattanadar Guhai". It is believed that even now this siddhar is doing penance here.

Chathuragiri Hill: agaya ganga theertham

AGAYA GANGA THEERTHAM (Holy stream water named ganges)

It is believed that there are hundreds of such Mysterious powerful caves in Chaturagiri. one could see only a portion of if. It is not advisable for human beings to go beyond this place. It is believed that siddhars meet together even now with certain years gap and plan for the welfare of humanity. Siddhars are believed to take any form. So, devotees are instructed that they don't harm any living being there. Siddhars can take the form of ant, serpent or even bear and come there. So it is requested not to spoil the ecology of this hill. Without knowing the exact route, without a guide and without proper information about the sanctity of the place, trekking to Chaturagiri is not advisable. So many untold mysteries prevail about Chaturagiri, what known till now is only a drop of the ocean. So many miracles have happened in Chaturagiri.

vana durga

Old Jain temple in Chaturagiri Hill

Chathuragiri Hill: The rock is sape of linga

Rock in the shape of Linga in Chaturagiri Hills

Navrathri is celebrated here with pomp and splendour for 9 days. The native women of the forest come here to perform dance and do puja during these days.There are so many herbs in this hill, which are so useful to mankind. This hill comes under the forest department. The MAIN point to be had in mind before planning a trip to Chaturagiri is one should go only with the sole intention of having darshan of the lord because its not like any other picnic trip ,only constant determination and devotion leads one to climb up such a Holy Hill.The hill consist of several Lingams which is personally worshiped by all Siddhars above ,but only some are reachable and rest are not .

Completed ...

My next update will be after 7th july only .

Edited by vanadhi - 13 years ago

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Krishna

@kkr531

Explorer

Posted: 13 years ago

#102

Vadakkumnathan Shiva Temple Kerala

The story of the origin of the Vadakkunnathan Temple is briefly narrated in Brahmanda Purana and there are references to it in some other works also. Though there are small differences between these accounts as regards details, all agree on the central fact, namely, that the temple was founded by Parasurama.
Parasurama exterminated Kshatriyas twenty one times. In order to expiate the sin he performed a yajna at the end of which he gave away all the land to Brahmins as dakshina. He wanted to retire to some new land to do tpasya and so he requested god Varuna to throw up a new piece of land from the sea. According to another version, some sages approached him at the end of the yajna and requested him to give them some secluded land. Parasurama then made the request to Varuna for their sake. Varuna gave him a winnow (surpa) and asked him to hurl it into the sea, as he did a large territory of land was at once thrown up by the sea; this territory that rose out of the sea was Kerala. It was then known by the name "Surparaka", from the word, "Surpa" meaning winnow.
According to some other accounts Varuna asked Parasurama to hurl his axe into the sea. Parashurama now wanted to consecrate this new land. So he went to Kailasa to his guru Shiva and requested him to take abode in Kerala and thereby bless the region. Shiva accompanied by Parvati, Ganesha, Subrahmanya and his parashadas went along with Parasurama, to satisfy the desire of his beloved disciple. Shiva stopped at a spot, now Thrissur, for his seat and later he and his party disappeared and Parashurama saw a bright and radiant Shiva linga at the foot of a huge banyan tree. This place where Shiva first manifested his presence through the linga came to be called the Sri Mula Sthana.
For sometime the linga of Shiva remained at Sri Mula Sthana at the foot of a huge banyan tree. The ruler of Cochin Kingdom then decided to shift the linga to a more convenient place and enclose it in a good temple. Arrangements were soon made to reinstall the idol in the new place. But there was an initial diificulty. The linga could not be removed without cutting off a large part of the banyan tree. While cutting the branches of the tree there was the danger of a piece of it falling on the idol and damaging it. When the ruler and the others did not know what to do, the Yogatirippadu came forward with a solution. He lay over the idol so as to cover it completely and asked the men to cut the tree. The cutting began and to the wonder of all not a piece of the tree fell anywhere near the idol. The idol was removed with all due rituals and installed in the new place where it has remained till now. Then a beautiful temple was built according to the rules laid down in sastras.

Architecture

Vadakkumnathan Shiva Temple in Thrissur, a classic example of the Kerala style of architecture, is surrounded by an enormous stone wall enclosing an area of about 9 acres. There are four gopurams inside this fortification, each facing north, south, east and west directions. There is a multi-shrine complex called as Nalambalam or Chuttamabalam in the centre, with three main shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva as Vadakkunnathan, Shankaranarayana or Hari-Hara (a combined form of Shiva and Vishu) and Lord Rama.

On the northern side of Vadakkunnathan Temple is a circular structure with the deity facing west. The idol of Goddess Parvati faces east and is behind Lord Shiva in the same shrine. The shrine of Lord Rama is a two-storey rectangular structure, facing west and is located in the south. The circular and double-storey shrine, which is dedicated to Sankaranarayana, faces west and it lies between these two srikovils. In front of all the three central shrines are the mukhamandapams. The outer walls of the shrines have beautiful mural paintings. Scenes from the Mahabharata epic and the Tandava poses of Shiva, depicted in typical Kathakali style, are worth seeing.

Koothambalam - Theater Hall

To the left of the entrance is the theatre hall called "Koothambalam". This unique and beautiful structure has well-designed sloping roof of copper plates. This Koothambalam is a tall and spacious structure which contains fine vignettes of wood carving and interesting bracket figures. The 41 day special program of "Koothu" (mythological story telling) and "Koodiyattom" (ancient form of dramatic dance) are staged here annually.

Legend

Vadakkumnathan Temple history dates back to over 1,000 years. The history of the temple is connected with the birth of the great Kerala scholar, Guru Adi Shankaracharya. Shankara was born to the Shivaguru - Aryamba couple of Kalady, in answer to their prayers to God Vadakkunnathan. According to legends, Lord Shiva appeared to both husband and wife in their dream. He offered them a choice that they could have either an ordinary son who would live a long life or an extraordinary son who would die early. The couple chose the second option. They named the son Adi Shankara, in honour of Shiva. It is said that Adi Shankara attained Videha Mukti (Freedom from embodiment) in Vadakkunnathan temple.

Finally enjoy this beautiful song on vadakkumnathan by yesudas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEYZSQ_mfm0

regards

Krishna

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Vaishnavi

@Strawbella

Dazzler

+ 3

Posted: 13 years ago

#103

Vanadhi the siddha's post about yours reminds me the soap Shivamayam of Sun tv ages back. Anyway nice to be here.

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Subha

@Life_Is_Dutiful

Stunner

+ 40

Posted: 13 years ago

#104

The Indralath Brick Temple

Shiv-Parvati

Nataraj

Lord Shiva

Lord GaneshaLord Kartikeya

The Indralath Brick Temple is one of the most famous temples of the state of Orissa. Tourists from across the country of India come to visit this temple. The Indralath Brick Temple of Orissa is of special importance to the Hindu devotees who visit Orissa.

Indralath Temple is dedicated to Shiva and is situated in Kantabanji block near Ranipur-Jharial in Balangir district. It was supposed that Indra first worshipped lord Shiva here and erected a temple.

Architecture

This is an intact brick temple whose Jagamohana and other structures are destroyed. Only the Vimana which is of Rekha deula order is existing. The innermost sanctum houses a recent installed Linga, along with old images of Vishnu, Kartikeya and Uma-Maheshwara. The old Shivalinga is displaced to outside by some attack, which proves the existing Shivalinga placed outside the temple (made of sandstone).

Temple at present

The temple is maintained by Archaeological Survey of India. Being a brick temple, the time built can be traced to the early 10th century. Images of Nrisimha, Vishnu along with Ganesh, Kartikeya clearly proves that it was a centre for Harihara worship. Every year Shivaratri and other festivals related to Shiva and Vishnu are organised. Daily worship is done by some local priest. Kantabanji is easily accessed by railway from Raipur and Balangir

Edited by subha2601 - 13 years ago

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Subha

@Life_Is_Dutiful

Stunner

+ 40

Posted: 13 years ago

#105

Lingaraj Temple

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tD9823FjZw[/YOUTUBE]

Bhubaneshwar the capital of Orissa is a city of temples, several of which are important from an architectural standpoint. The Lingaraj temple - the largest of these is an outstanding specimen of the Orissa style of temple building. It is about a thousand years old. Bhubaneshwar, Konarak and Puri constitute the Golden triangle of Orissa, visited in large numbers by pilgrims and tourists.

Bhubaneshwar is also a revered pilgrimage center, referred to in the Bhrama Purana. The Bhrama Purana refers to Bhubaneshwar as the Ekamra Kshetra enshrining a crore Shiva Lingas.

The Lingaraja temple is said to have been built first by the ruler Yayati Kesari in the 7th century who shifted his capital from Jaipur to Bhubaneshwar. Bhubaneshwar remained as the Kesari capital, till Nripati Kesari founded Cuttck in the 10th century. Inscriptions from the period of the Kalinga King Anangabhima III from the 13th century are seen here.

Structurally, the Parasurameswara temple at Bhubaneshwar is the oldest, dating back to the middle of the 8th century, and the Lingaraja is temple is assigned to the 10th century. The nata mandir and the bhog mandir of the Lingaraja temple are of later origin.

Legend has it that Shiva revealed to Parvati that Bhubaneshwar - or Ekamra thirtha was a resort favoured by him over Benares. Parvati in the guise of a cowherd woman, decided to look at the city herself. Two demons Kritti and Vasa desired to marry her. She requested them to carry her upon their shoulders, and crushed them under her weight. Shiva, then created the Bindu Saras lake to quench her thirt, and took abode here as Krittivasas or Lingaraja.

The Temple: The vast Bindu Sagar lake is the center around which are located the multitude of temples of Bhubaneshwar. The Lingaraja temple is located in a spacious courtyard covering over 250000 sq feet and is bounded by fortified walls. Its tower rises up to 180 feet and is elaborately carved.

The Shivalingam in the sanctum of the Lingaraja temple rises to a height of 8 inches above the floor level, and is 8 feet in diameter. The Bhagawati temple is located in the northwest corner of the courtyard. There are several other shrines and temples in this vast courtyard.

Worship: A total of 22 worship services are offered each day. Once a year, an image of Lingaraja is taken to the Jalamandir in the center of the Bindu Sagar lake.

Other temples in Bhubaneshwar are the Ananta Vasudeva, RajaRani, Mukteswara, Kedareswara, Siddheswara, Parasurameswara.