PASUPATEESWARARTEMPLE, KARUR , KARUR DISTRICT- TAMILNADU-COMPILED Dear friends,
Pasupateeswarar temple located in the Karur city is oneof the seven Sivastalams. The temple isin the newly formed Karur District of Tamil Nadu. This city was called karuvoorduring the time of Tirujnana Sambandar's visit to this temple. From theinscriptions so far deciphered, it is clear that the temple existed in the 10thcentury during the reign of the kingRajendra Chola (1012-54 CE) since he gifted land to this temple. For the KonguCholas and Kongu Pandyas, the temple was a favourite and, drew the attention ofthe Vijayanagar rulers also. Today my posting is about this temple. Hope a divine reading Gopalakrishnan 01-09-2025. Introduction Sri Kalyana Pasupathinathar Temple is located in the heart ofKarur town bus stand. Of the seven specially mentioned temples of Kongu Nad,the one in Karur ranks first. Dedicated to Kalyana Pasupatheeswarar. Legends One legend says that Kamadhenu, the mythological cow,meditated upon Siva to receive his blessings and as desired the cow also got the name Aanilai. Brahma is saidto have worshipped the presiding deity here. On account of this the Sthala Theertham is called the Brahma Theertham. Since Kamadhenu,the divine cow worshipped the presidingdeity, Shiva came to be known as Pasupatheeswarar. Shiva played his Thiruvilayadal (prank) with Brahma to bringdown his ego about his ability of creation. As per Hindu mythologies Kamadenu (the holy cow) wanted toattain liberation through Lord Shiva. The holy Sage “Naradha” went and toldKamadhenu to worship lord Shiva from a Vanji forest (Vanji is a type of flowerplant grows in the Indian sub-continent). So Kamadenu came down to earth andreached Karur Area where Vanji forest was there. It started worshipping Shivawho was covered by the Anthill. Shiva was happy with Kamadhenu’s dedication andhe awarded the power of creation to Kamadenu. Lord Brahma ( creator) realizedhis mistake and apologized to Shiva. Later Shiva sent the Kamadenu back to theDeva world and gave the job of creation back to Lord Brahma. In detail-As per the Legend, lord Shiva sensedthe conceit of Brahma, the creator of this world, and sent Kamadhenu to thisworld and took up the job of creation. Also, Lord Shiva instructed her toworship him hiding inside an anthill in the Vanji forest in Karur. Kamadhenuworshiped Lord Shiva by milking on the anthill. During the process of worship,accidentally Kamadhenu’s hoof hits Lord Shiva. She pleaded with Shiva to pardon her. Hence Lord Shiva wascalled Pasupatheeswarar. Please the worship of Kamadhenu, asked her to continueher creation. In the meantime, Brahma realized his mistake and did a penance ofLord Shiva to get back his power of creation. He came to this place created aTheertham and worshiped Lord Shiva. Finally,Lord Shiva pleased by the devotion of Brahma, pardoned him and gave back the power of creation. History >From the inscriptions so far deciphered, it is clear that thetemple existed >during the reign of the king Rajendra Chola (1012-54 CE) sincehe gifted away >land to this temple. For the Kongu Cholas and Kongu Pandyas, thetemple was a >favourite and, the temple drew undivided attention of theVijayanagar rulers >too. This temple was built during the period of Cheras and had thecontributions of Chozhas, Pandyas, and Vijayanagaras. During the Chozha period,Lord Shiva was called Tiruvanilai Mahadevar. Architecture The temple at Karuvoor is built on an area of 2.65 acres site. The temple has two gopurams(tower). The 7-tier front Rajagopuram is 120 feet high and is adorned withstucco images of mythological characters. The other gopuram is a 5 tier one.Inside the temple there are 2 corridors. The 100 pillar mandapam is a prominentportion of the temple. Flag Hoist is made up of rock stone here. There are fiveLingas at this temple. The temple has a compound wall, measures 465 feet, east–west and 205 feet,north-south. A Deepasthamba is immediately after the Rajagopuram. Balipeetam,Dwajasthambam and Rishabam are in the mandapam after the Rajagopuram. There isa second level 3 tier Rajagopuram after the mandapam. Deities The presiding deity in the main shrine (Moolvar) is aswayambu lingam. He is called Pasupateeswarar or Aanilaiappar. There are two images of Ambal here,Sundaravalli and Alankaravalli. The shrine of female deitySundaravalli is facing south. The temple for Alagaravalli is facing east. The 5 feet high Sivalingam idol is in a slanting position isa swayambu moorthy (self-created image) and it is kept in the main shrine(Moolvar). This idol is bathed by cow’s milk only. There is a cow's leg/hoofmark on Sivalingam. Sub deities In Koshtam, deities -Vinayagar, Dakshinamurthy, Lingothbavar,Brahma and Durgai are installed. In the inner Prakaram deities Vinayagar, Sri Valli Devasena Muruga,Mahalakshmi and Pancha Lingas are installed. Navagrahas, Kala Bhairavar arealso in the prakaram. Idols There is a sculpture of Cow which is licking the Shiva Lingain the prakaram. The idols of Nayanmars are also installed in the prakaram. Karuvurar was born in Karurand he used to sing in front of Lord Shiva during his younger days. As per thelegend Lord Shiva leaned to one side to hear Karuvur Thevar's songs. Eventhough Karuvur Thevar belongs to this place and has sung 103 hymns of varioustemples in Thiruvisaippa, one of the 12 Thiru Murai. His idol is also in theprakaram. Also, this is the birthplace of Eripatha Nayanar and PugazhChozha Nayanar and their idols are also installed in the prakaram. Religious importance It is one of the shrines of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams.Sundarar and Sambandar composed Thevaram Pathigam in this temple. The temple iscounted as one of the temples located in the southern bank of river Amaravati, a tributary of Cauvery. It is said that 3 days in a year during the Tamil month ofPanguni (March 15 to April 15) the sun's rays falls directly on this lingam. Itis believed that those whosurrender at the feet of Lord Pasupathinathar is blessed with a complete peaceof mind. Poojas Daily 6 traditional kaala poojas are performed here. Archana,Sahasra Nama Archana, Ashtothra Archana , Abishekam are some among them. Festivals The sun's rays falls on the lingam 3 days in a year duringthe Tamil month of Panguni (mid-March to mid-April). The annual Brahmotsavam iscelebrated in the same month for 12 days . Other festivals include the Eripaththa Nayanar utsavam,Navaratri in September, and Arudra Darisanam in January . Aruthra Darshan and Navaratri(Dussera) festivals are celebrated for 10days. Other important festivals are Soorasamharam in Aippasi, Srikrishna Jayanthi,Karthigai Deepam with 108 conch abhishekam Festival in Aadi, Theertha Vizha inThai and Panguni Uthiram. During thesefestivals special poojas are conducted. Temple tree and Pond The temple complex has the holy tree called Vanji and the main holy spring called Thadaagai Theertham.Other water bodies are Brahma Theertham, Amaravathi Theertham, ArasaTheertham, Thenu Theeertham and MurugaTheertham. Location This Shivasthalam is situated 79 miles (127 km) by road fromCoimbatore. There is also a railway station at Karur on the Erode–Tiruchysection of the Southern Railway, and it is about 70 km from Erode and 75 kmfrom Tiruchy Temple timings The temple is open from 6.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. and from 4.00p.m. to 8.00 p.m. Etymology In Tamil “Karu” means the inner most particle in the livingbeings which is responsible to generate the life. As brahma got his job back atthis place, this is called as Karur. Poets who sang itspraise : Thirugnana Sampanthar, Karuvurar, Arunagiri Nathar. Temple Address : Sri Pasupatheeswarar Temple, Karur – 639 001. The temple mobile number is +91 4324 262010 How to reach thetemple Autos are available from the Karur Bus stand. The templeis 500 Meters from Karur Bus stand, 2.2KM from Karur Railway Station. Buses are available from major Cities of Tamil Nadu. Thenearest Railway station is Karur and the nearest Junction is Trichy. Nearest airport is Trichy -- 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/1037774250.753811.1756734279141%40mail.yahoo.com.
