Visited on: August 15, 2016
Location
The nearest town to Thirukkallil is Periyapalayam. To reach Periyapalayam there are two routes –
(1) Periyapalayam is around 40 kms from Koyambedu on the Chennai - Puzhal – Redhills - Periyapalayam route.
(2) Another route is from Uthukottai, Uthukottai to Periyapalayam is 16 kms.
From Periyapalayam first reach Kannigaiper (Kanniputhur) which is at a distance of 5 kms and then travel for another 3 kms to reach Thirukkallil (Thirukkandalam).
General information
- Moolavar
- Sri Shivanandheswarar, Sri Thirukalleeswarar
Sri Shakti Dakshinamurthy - Ambal
- Sri Anandavalli Ammai
- Theertham (Holy water)
- Nandhi Theertham/Sivananda Theertham
- Sthala Vriksham (Sacred Tree)
- Kalli
- Pathigam (Hymn) rendered by
- Saint Thirugnanasambanthar
- This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 18th Shiva Sthalam in Thondai Nadu.
- Moolavar is Swayambhumurthy (self-manifested lingam).
- This temple has a single corridor and its main tower (Rajagopuram) has 5-tiers.
- Moolavar’s shrine (vimanam) is of Gaja Brishtam type.
- This temple is east facing and has a beautiful tank in front of it.
History of the temple
The temple is situated on the banks of Kushasthali river and is said to have been built in the Chola period.
According to the legend, Lord Rama’s sons - Lava and Kusha lived at Siruvapuri, a village near Thirukkallil. It is believed that they would often come to Thirukkallil, take a dip in the river and worship Lord Shiva. Since Kusha took a dip in this river, it is called Kushasthali. Another interesting story is that once Lava and Kusha had fought in a war against Lord Rama himself without knowing that he was their father.
In ancient times this place was dense with kalli trees (Vajravanam in Sanskrit) and the sacred tree of this temple is also kalli, hence this place is called “Kallil”. Another name for this place is “Thirukkandalam”.
Legend
The legend is that Saint Thirugnanasambhanthar came to Thirukkallil after visiting Thiruvenpakkam, another Paadal Petra Sthalam.
When he was taking a dip in the Kushasthali river, his belongings – a pooja box and vibhoothi (sacred ash) bag went missing. Searching for his belongings, he found a Shiva lingam in the midst of Kalli trees with his missing items near it. In his pathigam, he sang of the lord of this temple “Lord Sivanandeswarar” as a thief (kalvan).
Another legend is that Sage Bhrigu worshipped Lord Shiva here and made offerings of thousands of Kalli flowers (huge Indian hedge cactus). Hence the lord here is also called “Sri Thirukalleeswarar” and this place is called Thirukallil. Pleased by his devotion Lord Shiva appeared before him in the form of “Shakthi Dhakshinamurthy” – Lord Dhakshinamurthy with Goddess Shakthi on his lap.
Sage Bhrigu had a peculiar habit of circumambulating only Lord Shiva without worshipping Goddess Parvathy. Goddess Parvathy took offence to this. In order to placate her, Lord Shiva decided to give dharisanam to Sage Bhrigu in the form of Shakthi Dakshinamurthy and show him that he was one with the Goddess. The sage sought the pardon of Goddess Parvathy for his folly. Pleased with his worship, Goddess Parvathy blessed him by saying that he would always be in a state of bliss – “Anandam”. Hence, Goddess Parvathy is called Anandavalli here.
The unique feature of this temple is that the idol of Dakshinamurthy here is in the form of Shakti Dakshinamurthy. An idol of Sage Bhrigu worshiping Lord Shiva can also be seen next to Dakshinamurthy’s idol.
Another legend associated with this temple is that, when Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy were getting married, the celestial world came into a state of imbalance and dipping towards the north side due to the combined weight of the celestial gods (Devars) and sages who had gathered to witness the wedding. To restore the balance, Lord Shiva asked Sage Agasthiar to go to the south. Agasthiar reached a place called Pancheshti near Thirukkallil and performed five yagnas - Deva Yagam, Brahma Yagam, Bhootha Yagam, Pithur Yagam and Manusha Yagam.
Lord Shiva appeared before him in the form of “Somaskandar” and asked him to go to Thirukkallil. Somaskandar is derived from the term – “So-Uma-Skanda” where So means Lord Shiva, Uma means Goddess Parvathy and Skanda means Lord Murugan. It signifies that Lord Murugan is in the lap of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy.
When Agasthiar reached Thirukkallil, he was surprised to see that the temple itself was in the form of Somaskandar – with Lord Murugan’s shrine situated in between the shrines of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi.
He stayed in Thirukkallil for one mandalam (41 days) and worshipped Lord Shiva. It is believed that Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy gave “Shiv-anandha dharisanam” to Agasthiar because he was unable to attend their wedding. Hence Lord Shiva here is also called Sri Shivanandeswarar.
Sage Agasthiar prayed to lord that this dharisanam should be available to all devotees. Granting this boon to the sage, Lord Shiva stayed here as a Swayambu Lingam.
Deities in the temple
Apart from separate shrines for Lord Shiva and Goddess Anandavalli, idols of Lord Sundara Vinayakar, Lord Murugan, Lord Kalatheswarar, Nalvars with Sekizhar, Suryan, Kala Bairavar, Anjaneyar, Chantikeswarar and Navagraham can be seen in the corridors.
Lord Shiva is seen in this temple as “Shakti Dakshinamurthy” and is in a separate shrine. He is holding a nectar pot and palm leaves in his left hand and is embracing Goddess Parvathy.
Here Lord Murugan is seen as Balasubramanyar and he is without his consorts. His shrine is in between those of Lord Shiva and Ambal.
Salient features
The vimana (roof tower) of the sanctum sanctorum is designed in the “Gaja Brishtam” style - a form of architecture that is exclusive to the Pallava Dynasty. In this style, the roof top looks like the rear of a sleeping elephant (Gaja meaning elephant and brishtam meaning rear). This is also called as “Thoonganai Maadam” in Tamil where thoong(um) means sleeping, aanai means elephant and maadam refers to the top of a temple.
It is believed that Sage Bhrigu, Sage Agasthiar and Lord Rama’s sons – Lava and Kusha have worshiped Lord Shiva at this temple.
Greatness of this temple
It is believed that the differences between married couples can be resolved if they worship Lord Shiva here. Also, it is believed by the devotees that worshiping the lord here will remove hindrances in marriage proposals. It is said that devotees who worship Lord Shiva here with Kalli flowers, especially on Thursdays, will be blessed with wealth and wisdom.
It is noteworthy to mention here that the priest (Gurukkal) in this temple is aged 106 years but still performs his duties. He has been doing a wonderful job for the past 85 years by offering his dedicated services to the lord. Now he is also helped by his son.
Left to Right: A.V.Ganesan (my brother), the priest and myself
Important festivals
Navratri in the Tamil month of Purattasi (September-October), Skanda Sashti in the Tamil month of Ayppasi (October-November), Thirukarthikai in the Tamil month of Karthikai (November-December), Thiruvadhirai in the Tamil month of Margazhi (December-January) and Mahashivrathri in the Tamil month of Maasi (February-March) are the major festivals celebrated in this temple. Pradosham is also celebrated every month in a grand manner.
Temple timings
From 08.00 AM to 12.00 Noon and from 05.00 PM to 8.00 PM.
Temple address
Sri Shiva Nandeeswarar Temple,
Thirukandalam, (Thirukallil)
Vengal-Via
Oothukottai-Taluk, Thiruvallur-District - 601 103
Telephone: +91-44 - 2762 9144, 099412 22814.
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