ADIKUMBESWARAR TEMPLE, KUMBAKONAM , THANJAVURDISTRICT TAMIL NADU-Compiled
Dear friends, Today my posting is about the Adi Kumbeswarar Temple,Kumbakonam, dedicated to Lord Shiva,located in the town of Kumbakonam in Thanjavur District of Tamil Nadu. I have visited the temple during temple visits afterretirement in 2004. I have also visited the temple while working in Pudukkottaiduring 1979’s as SG Junior Engineer. The temple is famous forthe MAHAMAHAM ONCE IN 12 YEARS. My wife has participated in the last Mahamaham and tookbath in mahamaham tank during Februvary 2016 along withtemple visit groups from Chennai. It is the biggest temple in Kumbakonam. Hope a divine reading Gopalakrishnan 24-5-2025 Introduction Shiva is worshiped as Adi Kumbeswarar, and is represented bythe lingam. His consort Parvati is depicted as Mangalambigai Amman. Thepresiding deity is revered in the 7th-century-CE Tamil Saiva canonical, greatest work, the Tevaram,written by Tamil saint poets known as the Nayanmars and classified as PaadalPetra Sthalam. The temple complex covers an area of 30,181 sq ft (2,803.9m2) and houses four gateway towers known as gopurams. The tallest is the easterntower, with 11 stories and a height of 128 feet (39 m) The temple has numerous shrines,with those of Kumbeswarar and Mangalambigai Amman being the most prominent. Thetemple complex houses many halls; the most notable is the sixteen-pillared hall built duringthe Vijayanagara period that has all the 27 stars and 12 zodiacs sculpted in asingle stone. The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and twelveyearly festivals on its calendar, with the Masi Magam festivalcelebrated during the Tamil month of Masi (February - March) being the mostprominent. The present masonry structure was built during the Chola dynasty in the 9th century,while later expansions are attributed to Vijayanagara rulers of the Thanjavur Nayaks of the 16thcentury. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religiousand Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. Legend The name of the town Kumbakonam is derived from the legendassociated with Kumbeswarar Temple. Lord Brahma, during the great Pralaya or flood, selected thiscity to keep a pot of “Amrita”, the elixir and divine nectar, from where theessence of Creation could start afresh. The hill of Meru was originallyselected by Lord Shiva. Shiva came in the form of the hunter, and pierced thepot with an arrow, thus making the nectar flow from the pot to all sides of thenostrils. The contents of the pot fell on different locations and appeared asShiva Lingas later. This is the shrine, where God performed the miracle knownas “Thiruvilayadal”, descending to earth and helping humans. Thus, this templeis the origin of the human race and one of the revered shrines of the Shaivasect. The pot (kumbha) ultimately came torest at the spot where the town of Kumbakonam now stands. The nectar is believed tohave fallen in two places - the Mahamaham tank and the Potramarai tank. This event is nowcommemorated in the Mahamaham festival held every 12 years. Kumbakonam was also formerly knownby the Tamil name of Kudamukku. Kumbakonam is also identified with the Sangamage settlement of Kudavayil. History The temple is in existence from Chola times of the 9thcentury, and has been maintained by Nayaks during the 15-17th century. Architecture Kumbeswarar temple complex covers an area of 30,181 sq ft(2,803.9 m2) and houses four gateway towers known as gopuram. The tallest isthe eastern tower, with 11 stories and a height of 128 feet (39 m) The temple is approached by acorridor 330 ft (100 m) long and 15 ft (4.6 m) wide. There are five silver-plated chariots inthe temple used to carry the temple deities during festive occasions. The temple is the largest Shiva temple of Kumbakonam isspread over 4 acres in the centre of the town. The temple has 3 concentriccompounds, elongated along an east–west axis has triple set of gopurams. Beyondthe flagstaff, a hallway whose columns feature painted brackets representingyali (a mythological creature) leads to the gopuram. The Navaratri Mandapam(Hall of Navratri celebration) has 27 stars and 12 rasis (constellations)carved in a single block. The temple has a Chamber of repose, decoration hall,Sacrificial hall, grand kitchen, marriage hall, elephant shed, Vasantamandapam, cattle shed, gardenand four-pillared hall are other notable parts in the temple. The flag mast islocated in the second precinct, directly on the axis of the presiding deity Deities Adi Kumbeswarar is the presiding deity of the temple and theshrine is located in the centre. Kumbeswarar is in the form alingam believed to have been made by Shiva himself when he mixed nectar ofimmortality and sand. As said earlier the presiding deity is Lord Shiva, who isworshipped as Adi Kumbeswara. Adi represents 'first and foremost', and Kumbammeans 'pot'. Thus, this was the pot which was created first, andthe basis of the existence of the human race. It is very important to note theshape of the Linga, which is like a cone. The central shrine ofthe temple houses the image of Adi Kumbheswarar in the form of lingam Theshrine of Mangala Nayaki is located parallel to the left of Kumbeswarar andSomaskanda is located to the right. Sub deities Virabhadra, Saptakannikas, Visalakshi, Visvanatha, ValamChuzhi Vinayaka, Bhikshatana, Karthikeya, Annapurani, Gajalakshmi, Mahalakshmi,Saraswathi, Jasta Devi, Durga, Chandikesa, Kuratirtha, Arukala Vinayakar,Nandi, bali pitham, Sabha Vinayaka, Kasi Visvanatha, Nataraja are located inthe first precinct around the sanctum. The idol of Subramanya having six handsinstead of 12. The temple also has images of Navaneetha Vinayaka,Kiratamurti, Bhairava, Jvarahareswara, Chandra, Surya, Adikara Nandhi (thesacred bull of Shiva), Vallabha Ganapathi, Shanmukha, Navagraha (nine planetarydeities), Nandhi, Lakshmi Narayana Perumal, Mutra Veli Vinayaka, BalaDandayutapani, Nandhi, Vanni Vinayakar, Kumbha Munisiddhar, Kumarappar,Adilinga and Sattananthar. Other idols in thetemple The images of Nalvars (Appar, Sambanthar, Sundarar andManickavasagar), images of the sixty three Nayanmars,., Chaota Sri GovindaDikshits-Nagammal etc. Worship practices The temple priests perform the puja (rituals) during festivalsand on a daily basis. Like other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the priestsbelong to the Shaiva community, a Brahmin sub-caste. The temple rituals areperformed six times a day; Ushathkalam at 5:30 a.m., Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m.,Uchikalam at 10:00 a.m., Sayarakshai at 5:00 p.m., Irandamkalam at 7:00 p.m.and Ardha Jamam at 8:00 p.m. There are weekly rituals like somavaram (Monday) andsukravaram (Friday), fortnightly rituals like pradosham and monthly festivalslike amavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai, pournami (full moon day) and cathurthi. Water bodies The Mahamaham tank, Potramarai Tirtha, Varuna Tirtha, KasyapaTirtha, Chakkara Tirtha, Matanga Tirtha and Bhagavad Tirtha (bathing ghatsalong the river Cauvery) are the seven outlying water bodies associated withthe temple. Mangala Kupam Asva, Naga tirtha, Kura tirtha are the threewells, while Chandra tirtha, Surya tirtha, Gautama tirtha and Varaha tirtha arethe four tanks located inside the temple. The Potramarai tank separates the Kumbeswarar temple from Sarangapanitemple. There is a temple tank, where all the water required for therituals are drawn. Festivals The major festivalscelebrated here are Shiva Ratri, Chithirai Brahmotsavam, and the Butter Pot festival, whichhappens during February - March. Adipooram, Masi Magham,and Thai Poosam Starfloat festivals are also celebrated grandly here. Other important festivalsinclude Deepavali, Pongal, Arudra Darshan, and Navaratri. The Mahamaham festival takes place once every twelve yearsduring the Tamil Monthof Masi (February–March), when lakhs of pilgrims from various parts of Indiavisit Kumbakonam to take a holy bath in the sacred Mahamaham tank which islocated in the heart of the town. The festival has archaeological and epigraphical evidence. Tulapurushadaram, the practise of weighing oneself againstgold and donating to the temple was effected by Govinda Dikshitar and the fundswere utilised for funding the construction of the 16 mandapas around the tank Krishnadeva Raya(1509–1529 CE) is believed to have witnessed the Mahamaham festival during thistime. He made donations to the temple on this occasion is found in anotherinscription. Specialty 12 Shiva temples are connected with Mahamaham festival whichhappens once in 12 years in Kumbakonam.AdiKumbeswarar temple is 2ndamong them. Stonenadasvarams (pipe instrument) and Kiratamurti are main attractions of thetemple. Literary Mention andreligious importance Appar, the 7th-century Tamil Shivite saint and poet nayanarhas revered Kumbeswarar and the temple in his verses in Tevaram, compiled asthe Fifth Tirumurai. As thetemple is revered in Tevaram, it is classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam,one of the 276 temples that find mention in the Saiva canon. The temple is counted as the seventhin the list of temples in the southern banks of Cauvery. Appar has glorified the temple in nine poems referring theplace as Kudamuku and the deity as "Kumbesar.The mention is found in the59th poem in the Third Tirumurai by Sambandar and 22nd poem in the FifthTirumurai by Appar. The temple is one of the Shakti pithas where Parvathi, the consort ofShiva is consecrated as a major deity. Mangalambigai is known as Mantira Piteswari The temple iscounted as one of the temples built on the banks of River Kaveri. The templewas visited by PurandaraDasa, who is known as pithamaha (doyen) of Carnatic music, andcomposed a song glorifying the main deity Sri Kumbeshwara. Benefits ofWorshipping at Adi Kumbeshwarar Temple: Since this temple is associated with the genesis of life, itis believed to contain immense cosmic power, and the power to rejuvenate humanity.Lord Shiva bestows on his devotees, the spiritual power to tide the challengesof life. People facing problems in health and suffer from allkinds of fear would be blessed with the grace of the Almighty to overcome theirproblems. What is the specialityof Kumbeswarar Temple? The temple is the largest Shiva temple of Kumbakonam and hasa 9-storeyed rajagopuram (gateway tower) 125 ft tall It is spread over 4 acresin the centre of the town. The temple has 3 concentric compounds, elongatedalong an east–west axis has triple set of gopurams. Temple timings 6:00 am - 12:30 pm, 4:30 pm - 8:30 pm Administration In modern times, thetemple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and CharitableEndowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. How to reach AdiKumbeshwarar Temple By Air-TiruchirapalliInternational Airport is the nearest airport. The temple is more than 100 kilometers from theairport. It is better to use road transport to reach the temple. By Rail-Kumbakonam railwayjunction is the nearestrailway station, and it is connected by plenty of local transport. By Road-Buses ply toKumbakonam, from all parts of Tamilnadu. It is one of the major cities and has good connectivity. The bus stop is located very close tothe temple premises. Other modes of transport are also available for the ease oftravellers. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/365337202.621142.1748064377977%40mail.yahoo.com.
