The Rajagopuram
The temple has an outer prakaram, an inner prakaram. In the inner prakaram lies the Garbagraham (the Sanctum Sanctorum), that has the shrines of Shiva and Parvathi. Sitting at the entrance of the shrine of Lord Shiva, is the God who gets the first respects, the destroyer of all obstacles, Lord Ganapathi. Surutapalli is the place where Sage Valmiki, the composer of the Ramayana, a great epic in Hindu Mythology, performed severe penance towards Lord Shiva. Moved by his devotion, the Lord appeared in front of him. Sage Valmiki is a ‘Svayambhu’ linga, a self-formed one, worshipped as Lord Valmikeswarar. This is the Pradhosha Murthy, the one who takes the offerings on the day of the Pradhosham. Opposite Valmikeswarar, is Lord Shiva as another Linga. The Goddess is worshipped as Maragadhambika.
In the outer wall of the ‘Svayambhu’ linga, facing south, is a very unique feature besides the Nardhana Ganapathy. Lord Dhakshinamurthy is usually in a state of deep meditation and is always seen alone without His consort, Parvathi. But in Surutapalli, is one of the rarest sights. Lord Dhakshinamurthy is seen with His consort as “Dhampathi sametha Dhakshinamurthy” (Lord Dhakshinamurthy as a couple; dhampathi - couple). He is believed to bless people with good matrimony and children. And the specialities have just begun. Facing west, is the Lingodhbhavar, the Lord in the form of an endless column of fire and Lord Vishnu decides to find out the root while Lord Brahma sets out to find the peak. The carving of Lord Vishnu as Varaha, the boar is very intricate and excellent. I felt like I’ve never seen a carving of Varaha on the Lingodhbhavar, so intricate and well featured. Facing north besides Brahma, is Goddess Durga. Unlike the usual ferocity, her face is so smiling that one can keep looking at her. And like Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai, she too has a parrot on her hand, something that is very special for a Durga statue to have.
Then as one comes around Valmikeswarar, to the left of Him, are also present Lord Krishna and Lord Hanuman. There is a stone slab, that has the impressions of small pairs of feet, proclaimed to be the feet of Lava and Kusha, the two sons o f Lord Rama. It is believed that Lava and Kusha played here. In the entrance to the chamber of Lord Shiva are also present Lord Rama with Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman along with Bharata and Shatrugna.
Along the western wall of the inner prakaram, facing the Lingodhbhavar is another speciality. Called “Ekapaadha Trimurthy”, is a carving, depicting the trinity standing on one foot. In the centre is Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu to His left and Lord Brahma to His right. One foot of Vishnu rests on the Garuda and one foot of Brahma rests on the Swan. The other foot of both joins with the foot that all three are depicted standing on. The shrine of Lord Subrahmanya with Valli and Devasena faces south, yet another speciality. There is also a deity of Sage Valmiki, depicted sitting and having a turban on his head.
The Nandi in the temple front
In the outer prakaram, is the Sthala Vriksham, a peepal tree that is so huge and tall and widespread, hosting the shrine of the Nagaraja. In the southern corridor of the outer prakaram, lies the ultimate uniqueness of Surutapalli.
In one of the rarest and the most unique sights across any Indian Temple, is Lord Shiva depicted as resting on the lap of Goddess Parvathi. He is worshipped as Pallikondeswarar. (Palli - Tamil – Sleep, Konda – Tamil – to have or to be, Eswarar – Tamil - Shiva). Lord Shiva is always worshipped in the form of a Linga. But here at Surutapalli, the Lord is in bodily form. For the goodness and safety of all the worlds, Lord Shiva drank the Aalahala poison, emanated during the Churning of the Milk Ocean. And the Goddess, fearing the danger, stopped the poison at Lord Shiva’s throat and stopped it from entering the body, giving Shiva the much celebrated name, Neelakhanta, the one with the blue throat. Feeling giddy from the consumption of Aalahala, the Lord is seen resting on the lap of His wife Parvathi. All the sages, devas and angels are singing around Him requesting Him to get up and restore balance in the world. Heeding to their prayers, the Lord wakes up and performs the “Anandha Natanam”, the dance of immense happiness or bliss. It was the Sandhya Kaalam or the evening, of Thrayodhasi (the thirteenth day after a new moon or a full moon), when this happened. This is the reason why the evenings of Thrayodhasis are celebrated as Pradhoshams. Hence Surutapalli is held as the “Aadhara Kshetram” for pradhoshams.
