Thiruperur Temple, Coimbatore

Thiruperur, is a place in the city of Coimbatore, TamilNadu, India. About a half an hour journey from the Coimbatore Railway Junction. In this place, is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is worshipped as “Lord Patteeswarar” and His Consort is worshipped as “Pachai Nayagi / Maragadhavalli” (Pachai is a Tamil word that means Green and Maragadham is another Tamil word meaning Emerald that’s green in Colour. Nayagi/Valli are Tamil words used in addressing the Feminine). The main idol of Lord Shiva as in almost all places is in the form of Linga. But the linga’s shape is very unusual, probably the first of the kind I have seen. The Linga is a Svayambhu (natural and not sculpted) in the form of a flat-faced square. The Aavudaiyar (the middle of the linga) is a large square part.

Another special sight was the statue of the Bhairavar, the Guarding Deity at all Shiva Temples. Usually Bhairavar is seen with his Vahanam (vehicle), a dog. But here He has no Vahanam. Since Thiruperur is considered a Mukthi Sthalam, (the shrine of Salvation), Bhairavar is benign and less fierce and doesn’t have a vehicle (which adds to his ferocity). Here he is worshipped as Gnana Bhairavar.

Apart from the above, Thiruperur still holds a place for a very special pride. In the Natarajar Mandapam, stand eight tall pillars intricately carved with various divine forms. Every sculpture in this description is intricately and exquisitely carved with brilliant attention to details.

As one enters the Mandapam, the first pillar on the left has carved on it a life size sculpture of Lord Shiva as the “Kalithol Porthiya Murthy” (kali – Tamil – elephant, thol – Tamil - skin ). Lord Shiva, in his fight with an asura, who took the form of an elephant, is depicted as having torn the elephant and wearing its skin upon him as a blanket. Lord Shiva is seen standing upon the head of the elephant. The four legs of the elephant with the toes and the tail are beautifully carved. The ornaments of the Lord have also been carved magnificently. The face is so vivid with details.

The second pillar has “Agni Veerabhadrar”. Veerabhadrar was created to destroy Daksha, who intended to insult and humiliate Lord Shiva by not inviting Him to the sacred Yagna that Daksha was performing. Not heeding to the words of Shiva, His wife (and Dakshan’s daughter), Dakshayini attends the Yagna only to be humiliated further. So Dakshayini sacrifices herself by entering the Yagna’s fire. Infuriated by this, Shiva creates Veerabhadrar, who destroys the Yagna and beheads Daksha, who later begs for Shiva’s pardon and the Lord grants him back his life with his head replaced with that of a goat. In this sculpture, the trident of Veerabhadrar is seen piercing into Daksha’s forehead. He wears a Sarpakundalam on his left ear and a Makharakundalam on his right ear.(Sarpam – Sanskrit – Snake, Kundalam – Tamil – earring, Makhara – Sanskrit – Capricorn but no goat in Hindu Mythology). There is also sculpted a scorpion that is said to be very special in a statue of Veerabhadrar.

The third sculpture is “Urdhuva Thandavar”, depicting the scene of the dance that took place between Lord Shiva and Goddess Kali, a form of Shakthi at Thiruvalangadu. In this sculpture is also seen Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Karaikal Ammaiyar, a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva who was granted the boon of seeing Shiva’s dance at Thiruvalangadu. Since this dance is said to have taken place before Shiva taking away one of the heads of Brahma, Brahma is sculpted as having five heads instead of the usual four. The Lord Shiva is seen as taking his earring back to his ear all by his foot. This is how he won over Kali since a woman is not allowed to go to such a posture in dance.

The next sculpture, the fourth and the final one on the left side as one enters the mandapam, is that of Lord Ganesha as "Nardhana Vinayaka" or the Dancing Ganapathy. Excellent carving of a smiling Ganesha, His ornaments and His being balanced atop His vehicle, the Mooshika include the intricacies.

On returning from the Mandapam, the first sculpture is the one exactly opposite Nardhana Vinayaka is the six-faced "Lord Subrahmanya". He is depicted with six faces with the sixth face hidden in the pillar. All faces are benign with a blissful smile. The various weapons that he carries on His twelve hands are beautifully carved and His vehicle, the peacock is also carved with special attention to its feathers.

The next one is that of “Thiruvalangattu Kali”. This is the one exactly opposite to “Urdhuva Thandavar”. The ornaments of the Goddess are brilliantly sculpted. This is not it all. When seen from the front, from Urdhuva Thandavar’s point of view, the Goddess portrays a look of humility at being outsmarted in the dance by Shiva. But when looked at from the side, her face bears the usual fierceness of Kali.

On the next pillar, opposite “Agni Veerabhadrar” is “Agora Veerabhadrar”. (Goram – Sanskrit – Fierce, Agoram – Sanskrit – Without ferocity and hence benign ). The crown, the garland and his girdle have been depicted with such detail.

On the final pillar, opposite the first one, is the sculpture of Lord Shiva as “Bhikshadanar”. When the two wives of a sage, become egotic and proud about their righteousness as Rishi Pathnis, the Lord assumes the form of a Naked Man and goes asking for alms, in an attempt to restore their humbleness. Seeing His beauty and charm, the two wives are sculpted on either side of the pillar as having lost their minds. There is also a demon termed the “Kurat Bhoodham”. He is a minion in front of the Lord and he carries a big bowl on his head in which the Bhiksha (alms) is collected.

Thiruperur is a must see temple for all people who get to visit Coimbatore. I do not have any pics of the sculptures as photography was prohibited inside the temple. There was neither a publication of the sculptures by the temple authorities. Such temples stand testimony to the architectural brilliance of ancient India, that cannot be matched even by today’s technology. If I had spent more time at the temple I’m sure I’d have come across more subtle specialties in the architecture.