Thiru Chopuram

Thiru Chopuram (217/276)

Name	Thiru Chopuram
Other Name	Mangalapuri Thambiran Kanda Koil
District	Cuddalore
State	Tamilnadu
Devaram	Thiru Gnana Sambandhar
Position	Nadu Naadu
Presiding deity	Shiva
God	Chopura Naadhar Mangalapureeswarar
Goddess	Chopura Nayaki Mangalaambigai Thiyagavalli Sathyaayadakshi Vel Nedunkanni
Speciality	Isai Dakshina Moorthy Entire temple complex was reclaimed from being buried under sand dunes after centuries The Chariot runs even after its wheels are sunken in the sand Vermillion and turmeric offering to The Lord
Sthala Vriksham	Kondrai (Cassia fistula)
Theertham	Chopura Theertham Brahma Theertham (Bay of Bengal)
Worshipped by	Sage Agathiyar
Temple timings	8AM to 12PM 5PM to 8PM
Contact details	Chopura Nathar Gurukkal 9790524054

LORE:

The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Chopura Nathar and His Devi is Chopura Nayagi.

Why does the Sthalam go by the name of “Thiru Chopuram”?

The temple is said to have been built by the Queen Thiyagavalli, the wife of the third Kulothunga Chozhan (popularly called as Thribhuvana Chakravarthy) during the sixth century. The village still bears her name and the shrine is called “Thiru Chopuram” which would have been the vernacular version of “Chozhar Puram”

What is the lore of the temple?

During the wedding of Devi Parvati to Lord Shiva, all the life forms including the Devas assembled on Mount Kailash. Hence, the earth tilted such that the North went below because of the excess weight, whereas the lighter south rose up.

To even the land and set things in order, Lord Shiva asked Sage Agathiyar alone to go to south. Sage Agathiyar was the Manasa Puthirar of Varuna Dev and Lady Urvashi. Albeit short in stature, Sage Agathiyar was so mighty in terms of hermetic prowess that Lord Shiva deemed that sending him alone to the south, would be enough to even the land.

Agathiyar was saddened because though this was a great honour, he would not be able to witness the wedding of Devi Parvati and Lord Shiva. To compensate for this, Lord Shiva gave him the boon that he would show his wedded form whenever Agathiyar sought to see it.

An overjoyed Agathiyar started south and once he crossed the Vindhya mountain range, the earth levelled to its usual self. Agathiyar prayed at many Shiva Shrines in the south.

Another version of the story of how Sage Agathiyar came to the south also exists. Once the Vindhya mountain got jealous of the Himalayas and decided that he will outgrow in size and become taller than the Himalayas. The Vindhya mountain started to grow taller and taller. Fearing calamity, Narada Muni asked the Sage Agathiyar to help.

Sage Agathiyar decided that it was The Lord’s wish and went to the Vindhya mountain. The mountain bowed down in respect and offered its obeisance. Sage Agathiyar asked the mountain to shrink down to its original size so that he could cross it go and go south for his pilgrimage. The mountain also agreed. The sage crossed to the south and asked the mountain to stay the same size till he came back so that he might go back to the north once his pilgrimage was over. The Vindhya mountain gracefully obliged. The sage however decided to stay back so that the mountain would always remain the same size.

Either way, the Sage finally reached the southern provinces and was praying at many Shiva temples.

When he was at this serene locale, he suddenly developed agonising pain in his abdomen. He immediately wanted to pray to The Lord for remedy. He tried to hold together the grains of sand from the shore of the Bay of Bengal and mould it into the shape of a Lingam. But his efforts were fruitless. Try as he might, the Lingam did not take shape. He then looked around and found a lot of medicinal herbs and squeezed their essence into the sand and then attempted to make the Lingam.

The Lingam formed and the Sage was overjoyed. He prayed to The Lord and His Devi to relieve him of the pain in his abdomen. The Lord redeemed him of his suffering and appeared along with His Devi in the “Thirumana Kolam” (The wedded couple).

What happened to the temple complex with time and how was it re-discovered?

In the 11^th century, due to the ravages of sea, the entire temple complex was buried under the sand and was lost to worship by devotees.

Many centuries later, The Lord appeared in the dream of a devotee called Thambiran Ramalinga Sivayogi and beckoned him to His shrine at Thiru Chopuram.

Thambiran was belonging to the Thiru Gnana Sambandhar Adheenam of Madurai and is said to have lived in the 16tht century. Conceding to the desire of The Lord, he travelled all the way to Cuddalore District in search of the temple.

Up until a few decades, this village was an island, accessible only by boats. Thambiran braved the hurdles and came to Thiyagavalli village and was searching for the temple. To his dismay, he could not find the holy shrine.

After relentless ferreting for the temple, he found the Kalasam (crucible) of the temple tower atop a knoll called “Koil Medu”. The entire temple had been buried under the sand, windswept from the seashore. With the help of the village-folk, he undertook the daunting task of excavating the temple from the sand mound and restored it to its present glorious state.

Hence the temple is also called as “Thambiran Kanda Koil”.

What are the specialities of the shrine?

• Vermillion and Turmeric offering to the Lord – Unlike most other Shiva temples, The Lord is offered Vermillion and turmeric. This is because Devi is said to have amalgamated Herself into the Lingam. The Lingam is said to be the manifestation of both The Lord Chopura Nathar and His Devi Chopura Nayagi.
• Eight Towers – The shrine has towers in all the eight directions.
• The Wheels that roll in the sand – The Chariot of the temple is taken out for processions during the festival times and because of the nature of the sandy soil, the wheels of the chariot sink partially into it. Still, by the grace of The Lord, the chariot keeps moving forward with seamless ease.
• Isai Dakshinamoorthy – The Dakshina Moorthy statue in the outer Prahaaram is offered white cloth instead of the more common yellow ones. The idol is said to be very unique as on gently tapping the idol at various places, the seven musical notes are heard. Hence, He is called as “Isai Dakshina Moorthy”
• The scene of the divine wedding – The Lord and His Devi are said have given the darisanam of Their wedding to Sage Agathiyar at this Shrine. Hence, Chopura Nayagi stand tall, to the right of Chopura Nathar (akin to wedded couples) instead of the more common left side. (Devi usually stand to the left side of the Lord as She asked for His Vaama Baaagam – The Left Half, to be inseparable from Him).
• The three forms of The Lord – The Lord is in three forms in this temple.
  • Standing form – Chopura Nathar (The Moolavar)
  • Seated form – Thiyagavalli Aavudayaar (in the East)
  • Reclined form – Veerateswarar (In the North)
• Medicinal Lingam – As The Lingam was made by incorporating the essences of many holy herbs, all the offerings that touch The Lingam acquire a portion of Its medicinal property.

Our Experience:

After having a good darisanam at Thiru Thinai Nagar (216/276), we drove through the scenic road to Thiru Chopuram (217276). Thiyagavalli village was an island, up until a few decades ago. Now there are bridges that connect it to the mainland.

We reached temple at 11.50 and were worried that it might be closed too. But we were overjoyed to see that the priest was there doing the afternoon Poojai. Seeing us rush in, he placated our hurry and asked us to come calmly.

He explained the lore of the temple and we had a serene darisanam of The Lord and His Devi. We went around the Prahaaram and all the Goshta Moorthangal are reversed in order as The Lord faces the West. The entire temple still has lots of sand, the grains of which that bear witness to the period when the temple was buried under the mound.

After an unexpectedly tranquil darisanam, we decided to call it a day and head to Chennai. But it was just past noon and we wanted to explore the coast. We drove just a kilometre east and were surprised to see very tall sand dunes all across the village.

We reached Pettodai beach and was taken aplomb with the balmy ataraxy of the coast and its pristine blue waters. It’s a deserted beach with hardly any people around. To our misfortune we went to the side of the coast inhabited by the local village folk and it was not optimally hygienic for a dip (if you know what we mean).

The other side of the coast is a marvel to behold. It looks like a page that was ripped off from a costly travel destination in the Maldives. We made up our mind to see the other side of the coast at a later date and happily resumed our journey to Chennai.

Stay tuned to connect with us on another beautiful pilgrimage of the Nadu Naadu shrines of Cuddalore district.

Loads of love,

Karthick and Rahul.

ADDENDUM:

We eventually hit the Pettodai beach (The cleaner side) on 11.01.2020 on our way back to Chidambaram from Cuddalore.(Actually, Rahul had his Departmental exams at the district headquarters). We were stunned by the tall palm trees, the brine in the breeze, the aquamarine waters, the uninhabited coast, the sound of the waves splashing on the shore and the exquisitely picturesque views of the Beach. We ended up taking a dip in the beach (Skinny dipping 😊) and cooled off under the halcyon sun. Its such an iconic locale and if you do visit there, do not litter the place and make a mess. do not leave spoors of toxic humanity behind and take back nothing but pictures and reminiscences as souvenirs.