Sri Pallikondeswara Swamy, Surutapalli

Surutapalli is a village in the Chittoor District in Andhra Pradesh, India. In this village is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, a very special temple indeed for many are the unique features in this temple. Surutapalli is a place that’s 56 kms from Chennai, TamilNadu. The route is Chennai -> Redhills -> Periyapalayam -> Uthookottai -> Surutapalli. From Tirupathi, its 75 kms. The route is Tirupathi -> Puoor -> Nahalapuram -> Surutapalli. It was really an amazing trip to this temple, as unexpected as astounding.

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.

Siruvapuri Subrahmanyar Temple

The lush greenery of Siruvapuri

Siruvapuri, is a place near Chennai in TamilNadu. A near village, with all its lush green fields and plantains, narrow roads and lily ponds. Also known as Chinnambedu, Siruvapuri has a temple dedicated to Lord Subrahmanya, the younger son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. In the outer prakaram sits the principal deity, Lord Ganapathy, the destroyer of all obstacles and the bestower of good fortunes.

A pond of pink lilies

In the inner prakaram, is Lord Shiva as Annamalaiar, Goddess Parvathi as Unnamulai Amman and Subrahmanya with Valli in the Kalyana Kolam (marriage pose). In the Garbagraha or the Sanctum Sanctorum, is the main presiding deity of the temple, Lord Subrahmanya. He stands alone with a smiling and radiant face. Only the Arathi or the Deepam is shown to this deity. The chantings and offerings are done to another Lord Subrahmanya’s deity in the outer prakaram referred to as the "Adhi Moolavar Sannadhi". There are also the deities of Muneeswarar, Venkatrayar, the one who had helped build the temple, Bhairavar and the Navagraha in the outer prakaram.

The Rajagopuram

Siruvapuri is also famous for its being mentioned in the Thiruppugazh, a collection of hymns on Lord Subrahmanya. The name comes in four hymns.
1) Andarpadhi kudiyera....
2) Seedhala vaarija paadha namonama....
3) Vel irandenu...
4) Piraviyaana....

A Rose garden on the way back

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.