Thiru ThalaiChanga Naan Madhiyam(25/108)
|
Name |
Thiru Thalaichanga Naan Madhiyam |
|
Vernacular Name |
Thalaichangaadu |
|
District |
Nagapattinam |
|
State |
Tamilnadu |
|
Mangalasasanam |
Thirumangai Azhwar |
|
Presiding deity |
Lord Vishnu |
|
God |
Naan Madhiya Perumal Chandra Saaba Harar Vyoma Jothi Piraan Venn Sudar Perumal |
|
Goddess |
Thalaichanga Natchiyaar Sengamala Valli |
|
Speciality |
Redemption of Chandra Dev’s Curse |
|
Theertham |
Chandra Pushkarani |
|
Worshipped by |
Chandra Dev |
|
Temple timings |
8AM to 11PM 5PM to 7PM |
|
Contact details |
Vardarajan – 9965273712 |
LORE:
What is the Lore of the temple?
The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Naan Madhiya Perumal and His Devi is Thalaichanga Natchiyaar.
Why does the Sthalam go by the name of Thalaichanga Naan Madhiyam?
The Lord here relieved Chandra Dev of his curse, incurred due to the wrath of Deva Guru Brihaspathi and Prajapati Dakshan. He wears Chandra Dev as an ornament in his head, like Lord Shiva. Thus, He got the name Naan Madhiya Perumal (Madhi = Moon) and the shrine got the latter half of its name as Naan Madhiyam.
As for the first half of the name, there are many different explanations.
The village is called as Thalaichangaadu (Thalai + Sangu + Kaadu). There was an abundance of Sangu flowers (Bluebell vine) in this area and hence it got the name as Thalaichangaadu – the forest of the Bluebell vine.
Another reasoning was that, in the olden days of the Tamizh Sangam, this was one of the prominent villages where travellers stayed and hence it got the name as Thalai-Sangam.
The most cited reason however is that this village used to be the commercial nexus of conches from the adjacent port town of Poompuhaar (Conch = Sangu) and thus got the name as Thalaichangaadu.
What is the speciality of this Shrine?
The shrine is said to be the final place where Chandra Dev ultimately was absolved of his curse. The redemption for the curse was done by Chandra Dev in three shrines. The first temple he prayed for atonement was Thiruvarangam (01/108), followed by Thiru Indalur (26/108) and finally he came here to Thalaichanga Naan Madhiyam (25/108) and was finally freed from the curse.
What was Chandra Dev’s curse and how did he get absolved of it?
Chandra Dev incurred the wrath of both his guru and his father-in-law. The two-fold curse was almost irredeemable. Yet, he prayed to Lord Vishnu for mercy and he was asked to go and pray at three shrines in sequence as atonement.
Chandra Dev’s guru was Brihaspathi, the Deva guru. Brihaspati’s wife was a fair woman called as Tara. Chandra Dev was smitten by Tara and inspite of knowing her marital status, he did the unthinkable. He seduced Tara with is mesmerising beauty and eloped with her. He had a clandestine affair with her which ended up in Tara becoming pregnant. Tara birthed the illegitimate child. It was a son and he was named as Budhan. Ashamed of the circumstances of his birth, Budhan prayed to Lord Shiva and attained Graha Padhavi (Planetary Status) as Gnana Kaaragan (The Deity of Knowledge) and became one of the Navagrahas.
Brihaspathi was furious on knowing Chandra Dev’s debauchery and he cursed Chandra Dev that he will become a Kuroopi (Hideous one) and lose all his charismatic charm with which he had seduced Tara.
Chandra Dev is also said to have incurred a second curse. Daksha Prajapati had 62 daughters including Devi Sati (Dakshayani), the mortal incarnation of Aadhi Shakthi, who married Lord Shiva. Daksha Prajapati married 27 of his daughters to Chandra Dev and had asked him to take care of his daughters well and to treat all of them equally well.
Chandra Dev was enamoured with Rohini (one of his 27 wives) and started to spend time exclusively with her and ignored the other 26 wives. They got upset about their husband’s indifference with them and complained to Daksha Prajapati.
The infuriated father-in-law then cursed Chandra Dev to be afflicted with Leprosy and that he would lose his Chandrakala (Moon Beam) and the ability to shine, as a punishment for his misconduct. The wives were grief stricken. They pleaded with Daksha Prajapati to take back the curse. Chandra Dev was remorseful as well. He too begged for forgiveness.
Daksha Prajapati told that the curse cannot be undone and that the only way for him to seek atonement is to pray to Lord Mahavishnu. Chandra Dev prayed to Lord Mahavishnu and sought his mercy.
Lord Mahavishnu then instructed Chandra Dev to pray at three shrines viz Thiruvarangam (01/108), Thiru Indalur (26/108) and finally at Thiru Thalaichanga Naan Madhiyam (25/108). Chandra Dev got his curse lessened in each of the shrines as he prayed and bathed in the temple tank Chandra Pushkarani.
Lord Naan Madhiya Perumal finally appeared in front of Chandra Dev and blessed him with a boon. He restored Chandra Dev’s beauty, curing him of Leprosy and also accepted him as an ornament on His head. Though the curse of Daksha Prajapati cannot be completely undone and Chandra Dev waxes during the Krishna Paksham, by the grace of Lord Naan Madhiya Perumal, he wanes into completeness, gaining back one Chandrakala every day, during the Shukla Paksham and becomes a full moon once again. This pattern of waxing and waning is repeated every month and is called as the lunar cycle.
What are the alternate renderings of the tale?
In Shaivism, the tale is exactly the same. But the curse is lifted by Lord Shiva at Somnath temple, Gujarat. Somnath is on of the 12 Jyotirlinga Sthalangal. And according to Shaivite traditions, it is here that Chandra Dev gets relieved of the dual curse of Daksha Prajapati and Deva guru Brihaspathi.
According to the Brahma Vivartha Purana, Chandra Dev gets cursed by Lord Ganesha for making fun of Him. Once upon a time, Lord Ganesha was carrying sweets offered to Him by his devotee. He accidentally tripped on a stone and fell, scattering the sweets inadvertently. Chandra Dev laughed at Him for being so clumsy. Lord Ganesh cursed Chandra Dev that he will lose his Moon beams and will never be whole again.
Chandra Dev repented his folly and realised his vanity. He asked forgiveness from Lord Ganesha. The Lord blessed him that he will wane in the second half of the month and thus established the lunar cycle.
These events happened on a Chaturthi thidhi, and thus whenever someone looks at the moon on Ganesha Chaturthi, they will be falsely accused and will have to recite/listen to the lore of the Syamantaka Jewel to be acquitted.
Our Experience:
We wound up our darisanam at Thiru Chaaikaadu (09/276) and drove to Thiru Thalaichanga Naan Madhiyam (25/108). The temple tank was amazing, just like how Thirumangai Azhwar has described it in his paasruams.
We reached around 4.30 PM and were just in time for the last darisanam. The priest had kept the temple open the whole day for a festival and was doing the last pooja when we reached.
He was very polite and explained the story of the shrine and showed us an awesome aarthi of The Lord wearing Chandra Dev as His ornament. We heartily prayed to The Naan Madhiya Perumal and Thalaichanga Natchiyaar (who resides in a separate shrine).
Highlighting the relationship of the Lord to the name of this shrine, there is a unique conch-shaped statue of Lord Vishnu, just outside the sanctum sanctorum.
There are no shops in the village and the priest comes from 25km to do daily pooja. So, if you want to visit the shrine, it would be conducive to enquire the availability of the priest and plan accordingly.
We then went onward with our journey to the next temple. A Devara Paadal petra Sthalam in the same village – Thiru Thalaichangaadu Sangaaranyeshwarar temple (108/276).
Loads of love,
Karthick and Rahul.