Kalayil Kadambar..!
Kadamba vana nathar
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| Kadamba vananathar koil Gopuram |
On the Southern bank of Kauveri, in the small city of
Kulithali, Karur district, we can worship Kadamba vana nathar, the Shivan so
called, as he is seated in the forest of Kadamba trees. The sthala Vriksham is
Kadamba tree. (Botanical Name: Neolamarckia cadamba). This is an
evergreen, tropical tree native to
South and Southeast Asia. It has scented orange flowers in dense globe-shaped
clusters.
Lord Shiva is the main deity of this temple with his wife
Parvathi, named as Mutrilla mulaiammai.
Lord Shiva is seated facing North as Swayambu lingam. The
Saptha Kinnikaigal (The seven Virgins) are worshipping him from his behind. As
usual, we can find the other Gods in the Praharam, or surrounding of Lord Shiva.
Vinayagar, Subramanya Swami, Dakshinamurthi, Chandekeshwarar, Durgai Amman, and
the Navagrahas.
It is said that Lord Shiva granted Darshan to the Sapta
Kannigas in this place, on the banks of the River Kauvery.
The temple trip:
We (me along with my 4 cousins) went to the temple early in the
morning around 7:30 AM. We went by taking my uncle’s car and the drive was good
along the banks of the river Cauvery. My 2 cousins drove alternatively. We started from
Gunaseelam, a village in Trichy district on the highway of Trichy- Salem. We
went via Musiri and took the long bridge crossing the river Cauvery to reach
Kulithalai. This temple is in Kulithalai and we easily reached the temple as it
is close to the kulithalai bus stand. The compound wall of the temple can be
seen from the main road.
We parked our car and went in with the Bananas which our
uncle gave for the Lord Shiva. As it was Muhurtha day, auspicious day for the
marriage, and there were marriages happening in the temple, the temple was
crowded with a couple of wedding couples and their friends and relatives
attending the marriage. We had to pierce through them and we did the Namskaram
at the Dwajasthambam. We could see the Goddess in the right side before
entering the sanctum of Lord Shiva. However, we went in to the sanctum of Lord
Shiva first, gave him the Fruit and had the darshan. Me and my cousins sang few
Bhajans and songs in praise of the Lord and got the Viboothi Prasadam. There
were paintings seen on the walls of the sanctum. The Lord was in small Linga
Form facing North. There was this inner praharam around Lord Shiva, were there
were 63 Nayanmars, Kala Biravar, SapthaKannis behind Lord shiva,
Murugan along with valli deivanai, Durgai, Dakshinamurthy and Chandikeshwarar,Naalvar as well.
There was a separate sannidhi for Vinayagar as well.
After the darshan of the Lord shiva, we had to again
penetrate through the crowd to visit the Goddess. People were well dressed in
traditional Pattu sarees and Pattu Dhothis.:). We had the darshan of the
Goddess Mutrilla Mulaiammai and we went through the outer praharam.
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| The Shrine of the Goddess Mutrila Mulaiammai |
All we can
see were trees and plants along the compound wall with the words “Shiva Shiva”
written on them. Lots of trees including Kadamba trees were seen. The flowers
in few tree were beautiful. We enjoyed the walk in the shadow of those trees
and we again found Lord Vinayaka seated in the shade of a big Tree.Its his specialty
to sit under trees. You can see that in every corner of tamil nadu and in every Arasa or Ala tree shade, the
Vinayaga is seated. There was also Vilva tree and people were doing
pradakshinas. One thing I love about visiting the temples is that I feel so
happy and blessed. Not sure if it is the smell or some positive Vibration in
the temple or the ambiance that gives me the feeling. We left the temple
thanking the God and happily started for the next exciting Climb to Ayyar/Ayver
malai, the plan in my to do list for long long time.
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| Beautiful flowers and buds seen in temple |
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| Marathadi Pillayar |
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| The 5 tier Gopuram as seen from the entrance of the temple |
There is a belief to visit three Shivas in single day.
“Kadambar in the Morning,
Ayer Malai in Noon
& Thirueengoinathar in the evening”
So our Step one was complete by around 8:30 AM in the morning.
Will write about the Ayer Malai in my next post.
For further reference:
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