Shiva Temples

Re: Tanjore temple

Hi Manju
Thank you for sharing the pics.Two weeks back my brother, who is studying in chennai forwarded those photos to me but we were unable to identify the place.Thanks for giving the details.

 

Re: Brihadeeswar temple in Thanjavur, Tamilnadu

DEAR MYTHRAEYI,
YOUR POST IS VERY NICE . I HAVE SEEN PERSONALLY THIS TEMPLE . I HAVE SEEN THE VAST AREA , SCRULPTUE OF THE TEMPLE VERY
CLOSELY. REALLY IT S A HISTORICAL MONUMENT OF INDIA AND WORTH
SEEN TEMPLE.THANK U VERY MUCH FOR PRESENTING THIS WITH PHOTOS
ALSO.
Sd/NISCHEL

 

Thiagarajaswamy - Vadivudai Amman Temple, Tiruvotriyur

Of the 275 Paadal Petra Stalams, the Thiagarajaswamy temple at Tiruvotriyur is unique. This temple at Tiruvotriyur, several centuries old, eulogized by poets, scholars and devotees alike, affirms the splendor of India’s religious tradition and spiritual ethos.

Tradition holds that this Shiva stala was the first temple ever on the face of the earth and was called ‘Adipuri’ (‘the primordial town’). In the same vein, the moolavar here is called Adipureeswarar.

Shiva is thus present in Tiruvotriyur in three dimensions:

• In the formless form of Agni (fire) or Light with neither beginning nor end, alpha or omega.
• In the physical form of a swayambu lingam of earth in turn the form of a snake pit facing the east, covered with a kavacham removed only on the occasion of the Karthikai Full Moon.
• In a form indescribable as Padampakka Nathar who was ordained as not to be touched by any hand, mortal or immortal.

The Thiagarajaswamy temple is a masterpiece of South Indian temple Architecture.

Shakti manifests herself as Thirupurasundari at this temple. Appar in his chaste
Tamil renders Her as Vadivudai Nayaki. She resides in the Sannithi facing south
and till today, only Kerala Namboodris perform her Puja.

Thousands of devotees throng the temple on Full Moon days to receive a darshan of this Amman. It is considered very special to visit three Amman temples around Chennai on Full Moon days, one of which is the Vadivudai Amman Temple. Devotees visit the Thiruvudai Amman temple at Melur in the morning, the Vadivudai Amman temple at Tiruvotriyur at noon and the Kodiyidai Amman temple at Tirumullaivayil in the evening.

Photos :

 

Some Special Temples

Adbhutanath Shiva and the miracle of living!

Click on photo to enlarge
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Sammidheshwar temple, Chittor Fort, Mewar, Rajasthan:

Lost in the ancient sands of the Thar, dotted with the ruins of a great fort that once held the mirror of Rani Padmini, now offers the Sammidheshwar temple. Born into the rich temple fortress of the Mewar dynasty at the seat of Chittor, surrounded by the victory tower on one side and Mahasati (royal cremation ground) on the other, Shiva is presented in mind blowing splendor.

Rajasthan speaks poetry, and Mewar speaks valor, self respect and death with honor. Mewar, the name, makes one breathe in deep, to just listen to the galloping horse hoofs of Rana Kumbha who dashed down the fort to meet the Mughals at the bottom of the plateau. In the air, one can still listen to the bhajans of Mira Bai as she sang her heart out to Krishna. Mewar also echoes the shrikes of women who burnt themselves in Jauhar(mass sacrifice by self immolation). Within these very fort walls, in the exquisitely carved temple of Sammidheshwar lies this form of Adbhutanata Shiva.

One way of perceiving it is as follows:

We last heard of Shiva Trimurti at Elephanta where the Vakataka empire had sculpted Him out exquisitely early in the 5th cen AD. Later He has been profusely sculpted symbolically as Trimurti embedded within the Nataraja by the Cholas in the 8th cen AD, with the creator, preserver and the destroyer appearing as the Damaru (creation), and the fire bowl (destruction) on either side of the Lord. Trimurthi is the name given to any form of Lord Shiva that displays Vamadeva(feminine) and Aghora(fierce) simultaneously but these representations are also numbered. Alternatively he is represented with Brahma and Vishnu. He appears in the Sammidheshwar temple in the 6th cen A.D as Adbhutanata alias Trimurthi possibly.

Another way to perceive Him is to feel the interiors of the temple within which He lies.

The outside of the Sammidheshwar temple is laced in marble with exquisite shikharas rising up to the Kalash(pot). As the walls rise high, in marble finery carved with sculpture of Gods and Kanyas, the inside of the temple is a passage opening into a cool, hollow dimly lit room open to the roof rising high up. This is a well lit interior, the walls of which appear strong and solid unlike their delicate appearance on the outside.

Click on photo to enlarge

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As one steps in, cutting out the light, and walks towards the sanctum, there is little knowledge of what is going to meet the eye. Just two pairs of bright eyes might quite be an astonishment. This form of Shiva brings alive to us a silent world of perfection. Shiva is the Lord of perfection, the master of Siddhis. Siddhis are of 8 kinds and one of them is associated with Laghima. Laghima is the perfection reached when a person controls his senses and has reached a spiritual plane where he can levitate.

Laghima means lightness, that is the perfection that makes the body levitate at will. Adbhutanata Shiva presents us with the Rasa of adbhuta, or wonder and astonishment that translates to this perfection. Rasa associates itself in the ancient texts with aesthetics of perfection, adbhuta(meaning wonder and astonishment) is a Rasa experienced when one attainst the siddhi of Laghima.

Wonder towards what? In this rather abstract theory, which I hope to construct, astonishment and wonder is connected with the miracle of life and the appreciation of it as much as its experience. This is where the simplicity of living is realized as a miracle, where the aspirant humbly accepts the miracle of "living" with every breath.

It is strange that the Chittor fort sang the praises of its dead on every rock and hosts a Shiva temple that praises the miracle of life!

BY KAVITHA...

 

Lakulisa-founder Of Pasupata Shaivism

Lakulisa - Founder of Pasupata Shaivism

On the road to Champaner, Guijarat: Lakulisa Temple


At the foothills of the great Kalikadevi temple at Pavagadh Gujarat, there is a sprawling peaceful lake dotted with temples displaying the splendor of rural Gujarat. On the way to Champaner this picturesque landscape produces one of the finest architectures both Islamic and Hindu.

Driving down during the monsoon time can indeed change the mood of the land such that it almost feels like divinity descended on earth in a chariot of mist. And here among rocky hillsides strewn with huge boulders lie one of India's most ancient temples now in ruins - Lakulisa temple. This temple dates back to the 10th century though the cult of Lakulisa existed well into the 1 cen.A.D and has been mentioned the Mahabharata. This delapidated temple holds the iconography of Lord Shiva thought it houses Lakulisa within its walls. Among its very rare and fine sculptures one can see Dakshinamurthy Shiva, Ganesha and Gajantaka Shiva. Most of the upper half of the temple has fallen off and merged with the surrounding boulders leaving standing walls with intricate sculptures to show the original spendor of this great cult icon.

Lakulisa was the founder of Pashupata Shaivism which was one of the oldest and prominent Shaivite schools that existed in the early 1 cen A.D, though dating it is still uncertain. Lakulisa's school of Pashupata Shaivism originated at Kayavarohan in Gujarat and extended to Payar in Kashmir and Orissa in the east. It later spread far and wide and penetrated into Tamil Nadu in the 7th to 14th cen A.D.

Lakulisa's images are found all over India indicating that his cult was very well established. The Pashupatas were ascetics and were followers of the Bhakti movement. Lakulisa was almost considered an incarnate of Lord Shiva during his time. He is represented as a saint, teacher, yogi, and a man of divinity, very similar to the Buddha when it came to depiction in scupture. His teachings are codified in the Lakulisa Siddhanta, while in his images he is represented in Dharmachakrapravartana mudra with a Lakuta (stick) in one arm. His main desciples were Kausika, Gargya, Mitraka and Rusta.

Among may such temples and images, Lakulisa can be found in person in the ruined Bhairava temple on the banks of the Gangua river near Bhubaneswar where he is depicted as a four armed Lakulisa with the Jatamukuta and snake, very similar in appearance to Shiva Dakshinamurthy. Alternatively he is also found in the Orissa State Museum at Bhubaneswar.
What was this cult all about? Kaundinya in one of his commentaries on the Pashupata Sutras says that Lord Shiva taking the form of a Brahman as an incarnate at Kayavatarana, went on foot to ujjain and taught his doctrine to Bhagavat Kushika. The Pashupata doctrine was revealed by Lakulisa, the last of the 28 incarnations of Shiva. The worship of Shiva included strange practices which involved bathing in sand and holy ash thrice a day and living in isolation. I would suspect its quite close to our current day Nagas. What ever their practices and whether it conformed to the society at large, this once popular cult lost its dynamic presence and ceased to exist till today in its original known form.

What remains is a ruined temple dedicated to the last incarnate of Lord Shiva - Lakulisa, along the road to Champaner.

 

Re: Lakulisa-founder Of Pasupata Shaivism

If the ruins can look so rich, I wonder how the original structure must have been like. The place must be architecturally beautiful.

 

Re: Lakulisa-founder Of Pasupata Shaivism

of course no doubt about it, the thalakad and all those sculptures tell u about another day's glory..sunkan

 

Temple of Eklingji Shiva, near Udaipur

Temple of Eklingji Shiva, near Udaipur

Eklingji Temple near Udaipur, Rajasthan: There was chill in the air as Srinivasan walked on the cold stone floor of this remote temple, near Udaipur. The north has a charm; the rural west is so quaint, undeniably simple and slow and laden with tranquility. It’s like a village, with not too many people, no shops selling the familiar chips and coke, just clean untouched natural beauty lying spotless all around him.

He had cut out the noise of the city, of a busy life to come here, and what lay around him was pure historical magnificence. He walked slowly, pillar to pillar of this small Nagara styled temple breathing in the chill as he progressed towards the dark interiors of the shrine chamber. Within the deep silent darkness lay the stone idol of the Lord, as vibrant as it was centuries ago when this temple was first built. A small lamp glowed, lighting up the bare interior as Srinivasan just transported himself to another world, breathing in this fresh air around him. He sat on the floor, the chill eating into his veins as he looked on to the Lord ahead.

The temple bell rang, a single ring resounding in the air, reverberating through the temple interiors almost bringing alive the dancers on the walls. This was Eklingji, the one and only Shiva who is unattainable and only surrender is the way towards Him. Srinivasan, closed his eyes, as his heart sank, and he shut his mind down to hear the sounds around him. Birds chirped, peacocks shrieked, and the sound of water slowly began to cover the air. He opened his eyes and saw rays of sunlight beaming into the temple, lighting up the stage along the temple walls as stone idols played their music and danced to a different tune, one that was so pure, so clear and almost lost that it was left within the imagination of the self to really live this moment of silence.

Srinivasan yearned to just leave his work, and come to settle here, live a simpler life with fewer desires and worship the Lord. He breathed a sigh, one that echoed the bondages in his life, those that he could not leave due to karmic entanglement though he just wished to break free. But wasn’t this all in the mind! Srinivasan got up to walk around the temple. As he walked out of the pillared hall the beauty of the land just sprawled itself out in front of him. He looked around to see a large lake behind the temple, circled by low hills, dotted with many more such small temples. It felt like heaven had opened its gates to make us feel the presence of all divinity, such brilliance meticulously carved out by men. A heavenly paradise of a different kind, of which he was a part. The wind blew among the hills, causing small ripples in the waters of the lake that made the sounds like that of a woman’s anklet as they splashed gently along the stony temple floor. A lake, covered with green, untouched in the lap of rocky hills. This was nature in its purest form, all its elements being felt so close without any distraction. His mind was so much at peace.

Srinivasan thought, the beauty of this land is so subtle, it needs to be felt. Peace is hard to find, but here it was very much in abundance. Spiritualism can be found only in the silence of the mind, and there seemed to be so much tranquility here, he felt he was so far away from the familiar world he knew so much. He watched a lady pass by, rural in appearance singing an ancient folklore as she walked by with a pot of water. Srinivasan walked down to the lake, touching the chilling water surface with his feet, feeling the sudden chill through his bones as he sat looking around. He was but a small speck in this large panoramic world of the Lord, surrounded by hills and silent villages, with no apparent rules, just pure freedom with the self.

As the clouds covered the sun, draping the world into sudden shade, Srinivasan turned to see the silhouette of this small temple housing the very symbolism of his existence and the meaning to his life. As he stared on the temple bell rang again, a resounding echo which rippled out of the temple scattering itself into the space around bathing life on its way. Eklingji temple, another world, another reality, but running right through his being in this little paradise.

Click here for location map

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