Being my 100th blog I wanted the topic related to Religious aspects and hence chose to write one on Sri Thayumanavar Swamy temple, Trichy. World is going through lot of turmoil – Corona has been devastating so far, Locust attacks on agricultural land, Floyd’s death in USA, Pregnant elephant death in Kerala, Cyclone in west Bengal etc., There could be ‘n’ number of discussions going around for the root cause of these events but the underlying truth is Humans have become more and more greedy. I got one forward recently saying what did Athi varadhar do for Corona, I think the message was not right. Whole world is blaming China for the sort of devastating effects Corona has created across the globe but my point is there is something beyond to that fact and Mother nature is punishing Human beings in a very hard way. Humans want to destroy flora and Fauna and wanted to enjoy nature as much as possible but the point is Nature belongs to all of us and all of us have to coexist in this world.
Since I cannot voice for whole of India let me brief about Corona situation in Tamil nadu – Tamil nadu has been doing some very good testing, recovery rate is decent and fatality rate is low. But media highlights only the growing number of cases but concern is in the last few days lockdown measures have been relaxed and people started to move around freely. Though there are lots of room for improvement on Testing and treating patients I would like to appreciate the government for the work they have done so far. I cannot imagine the situation in Tamil nadu in case if Corona would have taken over the state since we lack in Infrastructure, Healthcare system is poor, Health and hygiene is treated no big deal etc., On top of Indian drugs and Immunity factor there is a big advantage Tamil Nadu holds – it is Punniya Boomi for many different reasons. Look at how many glorious temples state possess, number of Yaga salai, Kumbaabhishekams, Abhishekam, Alangaram, Chariot festivals, Paal kudam, Kavadi, Padha yatra, Thiruvizha, Sami purapaadu, Homams, Kootu prarthanais, Archanais, Poojas etc., that is happening across the state. State roughly has around 16000 villages and Temple activities is part and parcel of our living. Though I have no clue what is in store in the coming months with Corona, I am positive that divine intervention will happen and not just save Tamil Nadu or India but whole world to come out of this crisis. Only way world can be a better place to live is to show love, empathy towards fellow human beings and towards Flora and Fauna. One such tool to do so is turning into Religious activities – if you host a party there is a good chance some people may envy your growth but when you host a Bhajan/Pooja there is positive vibration and almost leaves no room for negative thoughts amongst the public.
There are so many beautiful temples in Trichy and one such temple is Sri Thayumanavar temple. I would like to go over the sthala varalaru about this temple. Rockfort is not just Trichy’s identity but also pride of the city. Lord Manicka Vinayagar graces from the foot hill temple and Uchi Pillayar at top of the temple. Arulmigu Thayumanavar temple is situated on the Rock fort enroute to the Uchi Pillayar temple on the hill top (roughly climbing around 200 steps from foot hill of the Malaikottai). At set timings we can see Othuvar group come and sing before the lord and trust me just to listen to those tamil verses is a fantastic experience. Now let me go over the story about this temple. According to the legend there was a woman who was living on other side of the Cauvery river who is a pious devotee of Lord shiva of this temple. She is a regular visitor of the temple and that continued even during her pregnancy. One day after her darshan she found the river was flooded and she cannot pass through the river. As she waited for river’s flow to subside, she developed severe labor pain. Since she was in Labor people around her stopped her trying to cross the river. But the woman was desperate to go back home since she felt her mother would be the ideal person to help her out during labor. Lord Shiva came to her, disguised as her mother, and helped her deliver the baby safely and then disappeared. Later when her actual mother came asking for her, woman realized it was lord shiva who came to her rescue in disguise. As Lord Shiva himself served her devotee as a mother here the main deity is called ‘Thayumanavar’ (God who is also the Mother). This incident is celebrated as a special event called “Chettipenn Maruthuvam” on the fifth day of the Chithirai festival. Name of the Ambal is ‘Mattuvarkuzhali’.
Those who had lost their Mothers pray here for his grace hoping that he would guide them throughout their life. Pregnant woman and their husband pray to lord Thayumanavar for a safe delivery of the child. Delivery is blissful experience but what goes into the making is something Lord must bless the whole process. Practice that is followed is after successful delivery of the baby, people offer Plantains to the God. One can see people carrying ‘Vazhaithaar’ all the way upto the temple and after offering to Thayumanavar people distribute it among other devotees in the temple and take some back home.
Visit below URL for the slogam that has to be recited for safe delivery:
http://singaporechettinadrecipes.blogspot.com/2016/10/slokam-for-normal-delivery-for-pregnant.html
Now coming to my role in this Venduthal. Many of you may want to do thanksgiving but for some reason you may not be able to do so for various practical reasons. Ideal thing would be for you to come in person and offer thanksgiving but in the event you are not able to do so I can offer you help in doing this thanksgiving task. Apart from the fact that I wanted to help people there is also another reason and that is I intend to visit this temple more and that is not happening now and your request may be a commitment for me. So there could be your wife, daughter, sister, In laws, Friend, Neighbor or anyone for that matter and you can offer your prayers for a safe delivery of the child. Once baby has been delivered successfully if you would like me to offer thanksgiving on your behalf reach out to me personally (sundarbuddy@gmail.com; PH: Seven-five-four-zero zero Five nine zero nine four). Since this is for religious matters you can pay me once I am done with Thanksgiving task. Roughly we are talking about 600 – 800 INR (300 to 500 for Vazhaithaar based on its size, 50-100 for the guy carrying it to top of the temple, believe 50 Rs ticket to temple for the service, 5 Rs archanai ticket, other misc minor expense etc.,) I can send my NEFT information and you can deposit electronically once I am done with the offering. Also when you message me I will get the archanai details.
For people who want to come to this beautiful temple here are some tips. N.S.B road in Trichy is equivalent to Renganathar street in Chennai so be mindful of the traffic. You need to park your car at Singarathope and then walk down to the temple else ask your driver to drop you at the temple and then park the car. Manicka Vinayagar is at the foot hills and you have have a quick darshan. Before that you may need to order Vazhaithaar at the bottom and pay the guy the money for the vazhaithaar and to lift it to the temple. Kindly get his phone number since he may wait for more folks to join since he can lift everything at one go. You may also want to buy ticket for the service as well as archanai ticket. Also note temple close bit early in the night around 8 pm so kindly check the timings before your trip. Once you reach the temple priest will do the Archanai, offering to lord with curtains closed and then give back the vazhaithaar to you. You need to bring knife, some newspapers and tissue with you to distribute the bananas. In matter of few minutes you might have distributed all the bananas and then you can take some with you. You can also plan to go top of the temple and visit Uchi Pillayar.
யான் பெற்ற இன்பம் பெறுக இவ்வையகம்
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