Siva Temple Series- 2 Chidambaram

Chidambaram

Chidambaram Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in the heart of the temple town of Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu).The temple, 78 km south of Pondicherry and 235 Km from Chennai. The Sangam classics refer to Viduvelvidugu Perumtaccan, a respected clan of traditional Vishwakarma, as being the chief architect of the temple renovation. There have been several renovations in its history, particularly during the days of Pallava/Chola emperors in ancient and pre-medieval periods.

Chidambaram is one of the five holiest Shiva temples, each representing one of the five natural elements; Chidambaram represents akasha (aether). The other four temples in this category are: Thiruvanaikaval Jambukeswara, Trichy (water), Kanchi Ekambareswara (earth)Kanchipuram, Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleswara (fire), Thiruvanna malai and Kalahasti Nathar (wind), Kalahasti.

Temple

The temple complex spread over 50 acres in the heart of the city. It is an ancient and historic temple dedicated to Lord Shiva Nataraja and Lord Govindaraja Perumal, one of the few temples where both the Shaivite and Vaishnavite deities are enshrined in one place. To the followers of Shaivism (Saivism) or the saivaite, the very word koil refers to Chidambaram. In the same way, to the followers of Vaishnavism, it refers to Srirangam or Thiruvarangam.

(Meaning of Chidambaram)

The word Chidambaram may be derived from chit, meaning "consciousness", and ambaram, meaning "sky" (from aakasam or aakayam); it refers to the chidaakasam, the sky of consciousness, which is the ultimate aim one should attain according to all the Vedas and scriptures. Another theory is that it is derived from chit + ambalam. Ambalam means a "stage" for performing arts. The chidakasam is the state of supreme bliss or ananda and Lord Natarajar is the symbolic representation of the supreme bliss or ananda natanam. Saivaites believe that a visit to Chidambaram leads to liberation.Yet another theory is that it is derived from the word chitrambalam, from chithu meaning "play or dances of God" and ambalam meaning "stage"

Special features

A unique feature of this temple is the bejeweled image of Nataraja. It depicts the Lord Shiva as the Lord of the dance Bharatanatyam and is one of the few temples where Shiva is represented by an anthropomorphic murthi rather than the classic, anionic Lingam. The Cosmic Dance of Lord Nataraja symbolises the motion of the universe as sustained by Lord Shiva. The temple has five courts.Aragalur Udaya Iraratevan Ponparappinan (alias Vanakovaraiyan) rebuilt the Siva temple at Chidambaram around 1213 AD. The same Bana Chief also built Tiruvannamalai temple.The temple has been traditionally administered by an endogamous group of Shaivite brahmins called Dikshitar, who also officiate as its priest.

Temple Story

The story of Chidambaram begins with the legend of Lord Shiva strolling into the Thillai Vanam (Vanam meaning forest and thillai trees - botanical name Exocoeria agallocha, a species of mangrove trees - which currently grows in the Pichavaram wetlands near Chidambaram. The temple sculptures depicting the Thillai trees date back to the 2nd century CE).

In the Thillai forests resided a group of saints or 'rishis' who believed in the supremacy of magic and that God can be controlled by rituals and 'mantras' or magical words. The Lord strolls in the forest with resplendent beauty and brilliance, assuming the form of 'Pitchatanadar', a simple mendicant seeking alms. He is followed by his Grace and consort who is Lord Vishnu as Mohini. The rishis and their wives are enchanted by the brilliance and the beauty of the handsome mendicant and his consort. On seeing their womenfolk enchanted, the rishis get enraged and invoke scores of 'serpents' (Sanskrit: Nāga) by performing magical rituals. The Lord as the mendicant lifts the serpents and dons them as ornaments on his matted locks, neck, and waist. Further enraged, the rishis invoke a fierce tiger, which the Lord skins and dons as a shawl around his waist. Thoroughly frustrated, the rishis gather all their spiritual strength and invoke a powerful demon Muyalakan - a symbol of complete arrogance and ignorance. The Lord wearing a gentle smile, steps on the demon's back, immobilizes him and performs the Ánanda Thaandava (the dance of eternal bliss) and discloses his true form. The rishis surrender, realizing that this Lord is the truth and he is beyond magic and rituals.

The Ananda Thaandava

Adhisesha, the serpent who serves as a bed for the Lord in his manifestation as Vishnu, hears about the Änanda thaandava and yearns to see and enjoy it. The Lord blesses him, beckons him to assume the saintly form of 'Patanjali' and sends him to the Thillai forest, informing him that he will display the dance in due course. Patanjali who meditated in the Himalayas during krita age joins another saint, Vyagrapathar / Pulikaalmuni (Vyagra / Puli meaning "Tiger" and patha / kaal meaning "feet" – referring to the story of how he sought and got the feet and eyesight of a tiger to help climb trees well before dawn to pick flowers for the Lord before the bees visit them). The story of sage Patanjali as well as his great student sage Upamanyu is narrated in both Vishnu Puranam as well as Siva Puranam. They move into the Thillai forest and worship Lord Shiva in the form of Shivalinga, a deity worshipped today as Thirumoolataneswarar (Thiru - sri, Moolatanam - primordial or in the nature of a foundation, Eswarar- the Lord). Legends say that Lord Shiva displayed his dance of bliss (the Aananda Thaandavam) - as Nataraja to these two saints on the day of the poosam star in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan – Feb).

The Ananda Tandava Posture

The Ananda Tandava posture of Lord Shiva is one of the famous postures recognized around the world by many. This celestial dancing posture tells us how a Bharathanatium Dancer should dance.

The demon under Nataraja's feet signifies that ignorance is under his feet

The Fire in this hand (power of destruction) means destroyer of evil

The raised hand signifies that he is the savior of all life.

The Ring at the back signifies the cosmos.

The drum in his hand signifies the origin of Life.

These are the main things that the Natarajar murti and the celestial dance posture depict. A rare type of thandava posture is seemed in Melakadambur temple near by 32 km from here.In this Karakoil, Nataraja dancing on a bull and deva's rounds the structure it's an pala art being kept in this shrine

Significance

Chidambaram is also referred to in various works such as Thillai (after the Thillai forest of yore in which the temple is now located), Perumpatrapuliyur or Vyagrapuram் (in honour of Saint Vyagrapathar). The temple is supposed to be located at the Lotus heart of the Universe": Virat hridaya padma sthalam. On the spot where the Lord displayed his dance of bliss, the Änanda Thaandavam - a spot exactly south of the "Thirumoolataaneswar temple", today is the Ponnambalam/ Porsabai (Pon meaning gold, Ambalam/Sabai meaning stage) housing Lord Shiva in his dancing form. The Lord is also hence referred to as the Sabhanayakar, meaning the Lord of the Stage.

This gold-roofed stage is the sanctum sanctorum of the Chidambaram temple and houses the Lord in three forms:

the "form" - the anthromorphological form as an appearance of Lord Nataraja, called the Sakala thirumeni.

the "semi-form" – the semi-anthropomorphological form as the Crystal linga of Chandramouleswarar, the Sakala nishkala thirumeni.

the "formless" – as the Space in Chidambara Rahasyam, an empty space within the sanctum sanctorum, the Nishkala thirumeni.

Pancha Bootha Sthalas

Chidambaram is one of the Panchabootha Sthalas, where the Lord is worshipped in his manifestation as sky or Aagayam ("pancha" – meaning five, bootha – meaning the elements: earth, water, fire, wind and space and "sthala" meaning location).

The others are:

the Ekambareswarar temple at Kanchipuram, where the Lord is worshipped in his manifestation as Earth

the Jambukeswarar temple at Thiruvanaikaval, in Tiruchirapalli, where the Lord is worshipped in his manifestation as Water

the Annamalaiyar Temple at Tiruvannamalai, where the Lord is worshipped in his manifestation as Fire

the Kalahasti temple at Srikalahasthi, where the Lord is worshipped in his manifestation as air/wind.

Chidambaram also is one of the five places where Lord Shiva is said to have displayed his dance and all these places have stages/ sabhais . Apart from Chidambaram which has the Por sabhai, the others are the Rathina sabhai at Thiruvaalangadu (rathinam – ruby / red) , the Chitra sabhai at Courtallam (chitra – painting), the Rajatha sabhai or the Velli ambalam at Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple (rajatha / velli – silver) and the Thaamira sabhai at Nellaiappar Temple, Tirunelveli (thaamiram – copper).

Siva Temple Series- 1. Arunachala

Arunachala

Shiva is known by devotees as Annamalayar or Arunachaleswarar. And this is believed to be the largest temple in the world dedicated to Shiva. The history of this Annamalayar temple dates back to thousand years. Mention has been made in the Thevaram and Thiruvasagam, both great works in Tamil.

Brahma took the form of a swan and flew to see the crown of Siva. Unable to see the crown, Brahma saw a thazhambu flower which had decked Siva's crown falling down. He asked the flower as to the distance of Siva's crown whereby the flower replied that he had been falling for forty thousand years. Brahma, realizing that he would not be able to reach the crown asked the flower to act as a false witness.

The thazhambu flower acting as a false witness declared that Brahma had seen the crown. Siva became angry at the deception and cursed that Brahma should have no temple on earth and that the thazhambu flower should not be used while praying to Lord Siva. The place where Lord Siva stood as a column of fire to eliminate the ego is Thiruvannamalai.

The Saiva cult is a world phenomenon. Thiruvannamalai is the capital of Saivism. The South Indian deity Siva is the God of all countries. Annamalaiannal is the most sacred of the names of the manifestation of Lord Siva.

Girivalam

The Significance of Girivalam (Circumambulation)

 In most of the holy places the Deity is found atop the hill. But here the Holy hill itself is the Deity (Lord Annamalaiyar) and is worshipped. "Arunam" means sun and denotes the red colour of fire. "Achalam" means "Giri" or "malai" (mountain). Thus "Arunachalam" means the Holy hill which is red in colour. The Holy hill is 2668 fi. high.

The Annamalai Hill was Agni (fire) during Kirthayugam, was Manikkam (Emerald) during Threthayugam, was Pon (Gold) during Dwaparayugam and rock during Kaliyugam. There are eight lingams located at the eight directions and provides an octagonal structure to Thiruvannamalai Town. The eight lingams are: Indra Lingam, Agni Lingam, Yama Lingam, Niruthi Lingam, Varuna Lingam, Vayu Lingam, Kubera Lingam and Esanya Lingam. The Adi Annamalai Temple glorified in Dhevaram is located on this path.

The circumambulation path is 14 kilometres. History has it that even today a number of siddhars are living on the hill. It is auspicious to perform "Girilvalam" during every Full moon day which would do immense good. It is because during Full Moon Day siddhars movement would be there and the whole atmosphere would be filled with perfumes of herbal plants. This will provide peace of mind and good health to body. It is a proven fact that on every Full moon day lakhs of devotees circumambulate the Hill and get all benefits by praying to Lord Annamalaiyar.

 The circumambulation path has been provided with sodium lamps at the expense of 12 lakhs donated by cine artist Thiru Rajinikanth. This benefits pilgrims who perform circumambulation during night times. On behalf of Town administration bore well pumps are erected to supply drinking water to pilgrims. Moreover for the benefit of the devotees during special occasions annadhanam is performed by Sri Agasthiar Ashram,and so many donors. Milk is distributed by certain well wishers.

Kuruvapuram - Lord Dattatreya Temple

Kuruvapuram,a small village on the banks on river krishna in the state of telangana. Geographically it is very small village on the border of telangana and karnataka states. River krishna divides both the states. On this side of the river, there is kuruvapuram and on the other side of the river, there is raichur.
To cross the river, till date also small boats are used by people.

But to the spiritual aspirants the place is a very prominent one. The first datta incarnation Sri pada sri vallabha who took his birth at pitapuram, andhra pradesh had stayed back at this place for his penance. People believe that sripada sri vallabha used to conduct darbar for common people at kuravapuram and used to conduct darbar for celestial beings on the raichur side. And daily he used to walk on the river to come from that side of the river to this side of the river. After travelling from himalayas to gokarana during his lifetime, sripada srivallabha has stayed back at this place before he took his next incarnation as sri narasimha saraswathi.

As sri narasimha saraswathi, he spent his majority of years at gaanagapuram, a place nearby to the present day gulbarga in karnataka district. At gaanagapuram, there is a sangam of two rivers namely bhima and amaraja. It is also a very prominent datta kshetra, which one has to visit.

At kuruvapuram, vittal babaji took over all the places where sri pada srivallabha used to conduct durbar and constructed the durbar hall, datta temple, trishul mandir and other temples. He is considered as an incarnation of datta himself by his followers. The place is vibrant with strong postive vibrations. One has to have some merit to visit this place. It is the grace of datta by which one can visit this place.

Sripada selected this place amongst many other places in india for his penance, which shows the significance of this place. During his lifetime, there are various instances how he protected his devotees, and how he blessed people who came from far away to seek his blessings.

Recently sri vittal babaji took samadhi and his samadhi is nearby to the ashram at kuruvapuram. The ashram has an annapurna mandiram where daily annadanam is conducted  for all the people visiting the ashram and the temples. The datta temple is the very beautiful and one has to see it to experience themselves.

may sripada srivallabha bless the one who is reading this article and bestow him/her with a visit to kuruvapuram and seek his blessings.


Digambara digambara sri pada vallabha digambara

Film Nagar Daiva Sannidanam - Jubilee Hills Hyderabad

Film Nagar Daiva Sannidanam at Jubilee Hills Hyderabad is a group of temples under one roof. Amidst the busy roads and the concrete jungle of Hyderabad, these temples are built within one area for the comfort of  the devotees. The atmosphere is peaceful and all the deities are very attractive, appear to have life in them. 

We have temple for most of the deities, as such you need not go to other temple to visit that particular deity. In front we have Mallikarjuna Swamy sannidanam, then to the right we have sri venkateswara swamy sannidi. To the back of these two temples, we have Ganapati, Hari Hara Murthy and Ammavaru temples in a row. Besides Ganapati temple, on the left side, we have a small sannidi for Dhanalakshmi mata.

Behind of Ganapathi Temple, we have Rama Sametha Satyanarayana Swamy Sannidi. From there if we go ahead, we can find Lord Krishna and Ayyappa Swamy Sannidi. To the left of Ayyappa Swmay Sannidi, we find Bala Subramaya temple. From there if we get down a  few steps, we will find the Anjaneya Swamy Sannidi.  Then to the down of Anjaneya Swamy Sannidi, we find Nagaraja. To the left of anjaneya swamy sannidi, we have Seeta,Lakshmana Sameta Kodanda Rama Swamy Sannidi. To the Left of this we have Samarda Sadguru Shirdi Sainath Sannidi.  If we come down the steps, we will find the Vishnu- Viswarupa. 

Layout of temples at Jubilee Hills Daiva Sannidanam

Temple View- Daiva Sannidanam

Vishnu- Viswarupa

A very good temple to visit. Though initially it was constructed for the Filmnagar people, keeping in view all the film related personalities, it has become very popular and people from various parts visit this temple. It is near to Apollo  Hospital, Jubilee Hills. It is verily approachable and centrally located in the Jubilee Hills area. Let everyone visit this temple and seek the blessings of their favorite deity.

Shirdi Sai Cultural & Community Center, Iselin

About Presiding Deity of Shirdi Sai Center

The presiding deity is Sri Shirdi Sai Baba, a saint of the present century of Indian origin practiced multi religious philosophies of Hinduism, Christianity and Muslim religion advocating oneness of God – Baba pledged to the suffering humanity, material success happiness and prosperity through His eleven solemn promises. The efficacy of Baba’s pledge for alleviation of the distress of mankind and fulfillment of their wants is well established.

His magnificent marble statue, which is 6- ft high and sculptured over base rock of 4ft wide, weighing approximately three tons, with all the silver ornaments i.e. throne, crown, umbrella, makaratoranam, swastiks and lions has been installed.

The installation of this life size statue, (Idol) an exact replica of the one at Shirdi, which is carved by same family, world-renowned Pembarthi artisans from India was and inaugurated in Iselin, NJ on 01st March 2008.

Other Deities at Sai Center
Apart from our presiding deity Sri Sai Baba other deities established are Ganesha Sannidhi, Balaji Sannidhi, Shiva Sannidhi, Ram Pariwar, Durga Matha, Lakshmi Matha, Hanuman Sannidhi, Murugan Sannidhi, Lord Krishna Sannidhi, Ayyappan Sannidhi, Navagraha Sannidhi etc.,

Special events, including Pujas, festivals, including date/time
New Year (of people of all languages) Celebrations, Shiva Rathri, Sri Rama Navami, Dushera, Annakut, Baba Punyathithi, Deepavali(Diwali), Datta Jayanthi, Mother Theresa Birth Day, Samoohika Satyanarayana Vratam once a month, Samoohika Sai Satya Vratam once a quarter Year, Christmas etc.

Sai Center Timings

Mon - Tue - Wed - Friday 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM & 4:30 PM - 9:00 PM Thus - Sat - Sunday 8:30 AM - 9:00 PM

Aarti Timings
Kakad Aarti             08:30 AM
Madhyana Aarti      12:00 Noon
Dhoop Aarti             06:00 PM
Shej Aarti                 08:30 PM

Location
465, Lincoln Highway (Route 27),
Iselin, NJ 08830
Phone: (732) 283-1800
Fax: (732) 283-1835

E-mail: info@shirdisainj.org

 Directions

Shri Ganesh Temple- Chudi Bazar, Hyderabad, India

Om Shri Maha Ganapatheye Namaha

Shri Gurubhyo Namaha

This temple is considered to be 400+ year old temple. Locals say that this is a Swayambu Lord Ganesh ji's Temple. The temple is very popular among the people of hyderabad. It is believed that whoever is praying ganesh ji at this temple is blessed immensely. There is  a huge rush to have the darshan of the lord. People offer jaggery, sweets, laddoos and other savories to the lord here.

There is a mooshika idol infront of ganesh ji. Whoever is having a wish and wants to be fulfilled say it in the ear of the mooshika, and the belief is that the wish is fulfilled because, mooshika directly represents our wish to ganesh ji.

There are 2 shiv lingas also inside the premises of the temple, and at the backside, there is a hanuman murthy inside the temple premises. There is a big lakshmi maa idol onto the left side of the ganesh ji ,where devotees offer their prayers.

One can feel the divine vibrations inside the temple.

People who wants their wishes to be fulfilled by the grace of  Ganesh Maharaj tie a coconut in the temple. And visit the ganesh maharaj for 11 wednesdays. It is believed that Ganesh Maharaj took this form and became existent on a wednesday. For this reason, there will be huge rush on wednesday evening. Around 50000 people visit this temple on the wednesdays evenings and the last aarti will be given midnight 12:00 am.

Similar kind of ganesh temples which are swamyambhu - in kaanipakam,andhra pradesh, siddi vinayak temple, mumbai etc.

Let everyone visit this temple and get the blessings of Ganesh ji.

Address:

Ganesh Ji Temple

Jummeraat Bazaar Road

Chudi Bazar,Hyderabad-India

Loka Samastha Sukhinobavanthu, Sarve Jana Sukhinobavanthu

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti