Thiru Nani Palli (106/276)
|
Name |
Thiru Nani Palli |
|
Other Name |
Ponsei |
|
Vernacular Name |
Punjai |
|
District |
Nagapattinam |
|
State |
Tamilnadu |
|
Devaram |
Thiru Gnana Sambandhar Appar Sundarar |
|
Position |
South of Kaveri – 105/276 |
|
Presiding deity |
Shiva |
|
God |
Nattrunai Eshwarar Nattrunai Appar Swarnapureeswarar |
|
Goddess |
Malayaan Madandhai Parvatha Raja Puthri (2 Deviyar) |
|
Speciality |
Vinayagar got absolved of his dosham here. The temple in its entirety is an architectural marvel |
|
Sthala Vriksham |
Pinnai (Mast wood) Shenbagam (Yellow Jade Orchid) |
|
Theertham |
Swarna Theertham |
|
Worshipped by |
Vinayagar, Agathiyar |
|
Temple timings |
7AM to 11PM 5PM to 7PM |
|
Contact details |
Vaidyanatha Gurukkal – 9443906587 |
LORE:
What is the Lore of the temple?
The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Nattrunai Appar and His Deviyar are Malayaan Madandhai and Parvatha Raja Puthri.
Why does the Sthalam go by the name of “Thiru Nani Palli”?
Historians opine that the temple was built by a King called Nanni. Hence, the temple goes by the name “Thiru Nani Palli” (Nani = The Chozha King, Palli = Temple)
How did it get the name “Pon sei”?
The temple is the shrine where Lord Vinayagar got relieved of His dosham. It is quite an interesting tale.
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.
Lord Shiva had given Sage Agathiyar a part of the river Ganga flowing from his matted locks and told him that a river will flow form these waters wherever it was used. The sage dutifully received the waters in his kamandalam.
The source of the kamandala waters has two more versions. The second version of the story is that the sacred waters were that of Sage Agasthiyar’s wife, Princess Lopamudra – a ravishing beauty, who bore the sage a son called Dridhasyu. Lopamudra performed her duties as a wife and once the wheels of time had caught up to her and she was no longer the youthful beauty that she was. To reward her piety, Sage Agasthyar transformed her into water and confined her to his kamandalam.
The third version of the source of the holy water is that Ponni, one of the seven great rivers of India, became so inflated with her own ego that she insulted Agathiyar, thus provoking his anger. As a result, Sage Agathiyar used his prowess and imprisoned Ponni in his kamandalam.
The south had gone barren due to the dearth of rains because of the atrocities of the demon Tarakasuran. Hence, Lord Ganesh decided to let the water ensconced in the kamandalam of Sage Agathiyar free, so that it might flow as a river, nurturing the then desolate lands of the south.
Lord Ganesh assumed the form of a crow and while Agathiyar was unaware, He knocked off the kamandalam. Seeing this as a sign of liberation to flow, the waters sprung forth into a river. Since the river flowed due to the crow, she got the name “Kaveri” (Kaa- crow, Viri – expanded). Kaveri flows till date to nourish the lands of the south, making everything she touches to be fertile and bountiful.
The Sage was shocked on realising that the waters had been let out from his kamandalam without his knowledge. He searched for the culprit. He saw Lord Vinayagar who had come as a crow, now assume the form of a boy, who was running away from him. He chased the boy and caught Him. He raised his arm to hit the boy, but at that very moment Lord Vinayagar revealed His true form. He also explained that what He did was for the welfare of the south, as the lands were suffering without a steady source of water. The sage realised his mistake and hit his own temples with the knuckles of his raised fist. This later became a form of worshipping Lord Vinayagar.
The sin of causing such grief to the Sage Agathiyar caught Lord Vinayagar. He resumed the crow-form that he had taken to set Kaveri free and flew in search of repentance. He then came to Thiru Nani Palli and prayed to Nattrunai Appar and asked for forgiveness. The Lord forgave His son as what He had done was for the greater good.
The Lord asked the crow to bathe in the Swarna theertham and the black crow became golden when it arose from the temple tank after having a dip. Hence the shrine is also called as “Pon Sei” – The shrine that turned things to gold (Pon – Gold, Sei – Make).
Sage Agathiyar also prayed at this shrine and saw the wedding of Devi Parvati to Lord Shiva (Kalyana Sundareshwarar) who have a separate sannadhi here.
What is the connection of Thiru Gnana Sambandhar and this shrine?
This village is the birthplace of Bagavathi Ammai, who was the mother of Thiru Gnana Sambandhar.
Thiru Gnana Sambandhar was a young child and couldn’t walk to all the shrines and hence he sat on top of his father, Sivapaadha Hridhayar and had sung hymns, praising the deity of this shrine.
This place was arid and barren, inspite of being proximal to the perennially flowing Kaveri. And indulging the request of the village folk, Thiru Gnana Sambandhar had sung about this land as the serene Neidhal (coastal greenery) rather than the arid Paalai (Lacklustre desert).
Miraculously, the land truly became burgeoning and flourished so well that it was a golden period for the village. This was also one the reasons why it is called as the prosperous “Pon Sei”
What are the other specialities of the shrine?
The Devi Durga Statue is unique. She is flanked by a lion and a deer and is shown to be standing in the stance of warring with Shumban and Nishumban. Also, She holds the Chakram in the ready-to-swing posture called as “Prayoga Chakram”.
Chandigeshwarar in the outer Prahaaram is seen with His wife.
The shrine is an architectural wonder with so many beautiful sculptures, large and small. There are many carvings in the pillars and the walls, done with so much elan and finesse. On the outer Prahaaram, there is a pillar which has the engraved forms of a mythical chimeric creature called “Yaazhi” and the detailing is so fine that the nostrils are patent enough to allow a thread through them and the twine comes through the other end.
The sanctum sanctorum is huge enough to allow an elephant to come inside and pay homages to The Lord Nattrunai Appar. The dome of the sanctum sanctorum is one of the biggest in the entire state of Tamilnadu.
The main hall of the temple is called as “Nani Palli Kodi Vattam” and it is designed in such a way that sunlight entering through the main entrance, falls on The Lord from the 7th to 13th of the month of Chithirai. The inner right pillar of the hall is slightly slanting, and this is said to be the reason as to how the rays of the sun come all the way inside, defying elementary physics.
Our Experience:
We drove from Thalaichangaadu (108/276), made a pitstop in between to get flowers and reached Thiru Nani Palli (106/276).
As usual, the temple was locked. We were starting to see the pattern here and asked around about the temple opening time. The villagers directed us to the priest’s home. We went there and asked about the temple. The priest told that he will be there shortly.
In retrospect, we realised that the priest might not have come at all, if we weren’t at his doorstep. And ironically, we would have been the only visitors for that evening.
The priest couldn’t come as he had gone to attend a condolence in a nearby village and his son, a young chap had come and opened the temple doors. He gave a lengthy explanation about the temple, did a nice aarthi of The Lord. We offered the flowers and fruits we had brought earlier.
It became dark by the time we went around the outer Prahaaram. We had a really good darisanam of all the deities of the temple.
We thanked the priest for opening the temple and showing us around and following his suggestion we decided to go to the penultimate temple of the trip, ‘Thiru Kadaimudi’ (18/276). He was optimistic and assured us that his relative was the priest of that temple and that he would keep it open till we go.
Renewed with the blessings of Lord Nattrunai Appar and The two Deviyar, Malayaan Madandhai and Parvatha Raja Puthri, we were on our way to the next temple. See you all there.
Loads of love,
Karthick and Rahul.