13th October 2019.
கொங்கிற் குறும்பிற் குரக்குத் தளியாய் குழகா குற்றாலா
மங்குல் திரிவாய் வானோர் தலைவா வாய்மூர் மணவாளா
சங்கக் குழையார் செவியா அழகா அவியா அனல்ஏந்திக்
கங்குல் புறங்காட்(டு)ஆடிஅடியார் கவலை களையாயே
----சுந்தரர் தேவாரம்
This second visit to this Sarkar Periyapalayam Sri Sukreeswarar Temple was a part of Kongu Heritage walk scheduled on 12th and 13th October 2019. Sundarar has mentioned this temple’s Iraivan in his Tiruvarur hymn and hence this is one of the Thevara vaipu Sthalam of Kongu Nadu. This temple is also called as Kurakkuthali Aludaya Nayanar Temple.
Iraivan : Sri Sukreeswarar
Iraivi : Sri Aavudai Nayaki.
Some of the important features of this temple are...
The temple is facing east with an entrance on the south side. Nandhi balipedam are in the east side. Dwajasthambam and Garuda thoon / Deepa sthambam / Vilakkuthoon are missing, which are found in most of the Kongu Nadu Temples.
There are two Nandhis kept in a mandapam and one of the Nandhi’s ears in broken condition. In the outer prakaram Sannadhi for Vinayagar, Ambal, Subramaniyar, Sandikeswarar, Vayu Lingam, Kubera Lingam, Bhairavar, Eesanya Lingam, Bathrakaliamman and Suryan.
In the inner mandapam, No shrines and no Dwarapalakas. At the entrance of the artha mandapam, Ganesha on the left and Anjaneyar on the right. There is a Navakanda statue in the artha mandapam and the history is not known.
Ambal is in a separate temple facing east ( instead of South ) with Nandhi under a mandapam in front. In the mandapam, old statues of Sapthamatrikas, Subramaniyar, Vishnu, Vishnu Durgai ( Poojas are not conducted to these statues).
ARCHITECTURE
The temple consists of sanctum sanctorum, antarala and arthamandapam. The sanctum sanctorum is on upana, and prathibandha adhisthana with virutha kumuda. The bass relief of Sukreevan and a Cow worshiping Lord Shiva is in the upana. A kabotham with karnakood is shown on the adhisthanam and prastharam. A yazhivari is shown above the prastharam. Koshtam / niches are on the walls of sanctum sanctorum. The koshtas are empty now. Koshtas are also shown in the salai of the vimanam.
HISTORY AND INSCRIPTION
The moolavar Lingam was clamed as 5th century. Since this temple was mentioned in Sundarar’s thevara hymn, the original temple might have existed before 7 to 8th Century. The oldest inscription found belongs to 1220AD. There are about 11 inscriptions in the temple, of which one belongs to Kongu Chozha, 9 belongs to Kongu Pandyas and one belongs to Mysore Umathur King Veerananjarayar.
As per the inscriptions this place was called as Mugunthanur which belongs to Veerachozhavalanadu and Lord Shiva was called as Kurakkuthali Aludaiya Nayanar.
Veerarajendran’s period (1220 AD ) inscription mentions about donation of 30 kazhanju gold by a Shivabrahmanan to participate in the festival, pooja and Abhishekam, without expecting a credit.
During Sundarapandyan’s period ( 1289 AD ) inscription mentions that an order has been issued to cultivate a donated / devathana land at Sithakuruchi village and dig wells, pond / eri and channels for the requirement of water and 50% of the yield has to be given to this Temple.
The 15th Century Mysore Wodayar king Nanjaraya Wodayar ( 1499 AD ) created a 200 coconut farm in a purchased land for 4 gold. The income for the coconut trees was utilized for pooja of this temple.
A Sundarapandyan’s ( 1289 AD ) period inscription mentions that an order has been issued to regulate the water from the Noyyal river, the down stream side Eri and Noyyal Dam for cultivation at Sooralur village, donated to this temple authorizing Perur Nattu Vetralur Sembadavan Pillaiyan.
Above all, to meet the expenses for the Vaikasi ( a Tamil Month ) festival of this Sukreeswarar Temple, an agreement was signed by the 64 merchant guilds ( and some signed in vattezhuthu, one of the oldest Tamil script) to pay taxes for the materials, like minerals, Cotton clothes, wood ( Sandal ), Elephant, Goat, Horse, etc., carried by them for sale through this Village. This Kongu Chozha Sundara Pandiyan’s ( 1289 AD ) inscription is the biggest and important one with 24 lines and each line consists of 130 to 140 letters. The merchant guilds are from various parts of ancient Tamil Nadu and Kerala ( Ernakulam ). From this we may conclude that the place Sarkar Periyapalayam was on one of the 20 trade Trade Routes passed through Kongu Nadu.
The temple is being maintained by Archaeological Survey Of India.
LEGEND
As per the legend, when the Nandhi grazed in a farm, the farm owner cut both ears. Next day the devotees observed blood was coming from the ears. From then on wards his decedents family will born as dump. It continued for generations. To get rid of this sin, the farmers family installed a new Nandhi keeping the old on the back. As per Lord Shiva’s wish the old Nandhi came to front and New Nandhi moved back. After seeing this miracle the devotees installed both in the mandapam.
It was believed that, Sukreevan worshiped Lord Shiva of this temple, hence Iranvan is called as Sukreeswarar. The bas-relief is on the south side of the main sanctum sanctorum adhisthanam.
TEMPLE TIMINGS:
The temple will be kept open between 07.00 Hrs to 11.00 Hrs and 17.00 Hrs to 20.00 Hrs.
CONTACT DETAILS:
Gurukkal Nagaraja Iyyar 9442373455 and Moorthi Iyyar 9489551237 who are doing pooja on rotational basis may be contacted for further details.
HOW TO REACH:
The place Sarkar Periya Palayam is on the way to Erode to Tiruppur through Uthukuli, which is famous for butter. About 6 KM before Tiruppur.
Nearest Railway station is Tiruppur
LOCATION: CLICK HERE
The bas-relief of Sukreevan and a Cow worshiping Lord Shiva is in the upana
Merchants agreement inscription
---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---
Let the great God Lord Sugreeswara Swamy give All the strength to visit all the Temples of BHARATHA.
ReplyDelete