DIVINEINFORMATION PART 36 There are 835 words in this posting counted by the computer. Approximately 83 sentences counting 10 words/line
While going through one of my external memorydevice, I came across some good information stored from websites. I thought ofsharing interesting ones from them as a series. In part 36, I am starting with 127TH item in this posting. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan 17-6-21 127 Navagraha Temples A cluster of nine temples inthe temple belt of the erstwhile Chola empire of Tamilnadu is referred to asthe Navagraha temples -that bear the common thread of their association withthe nine celestial bodies referred to in Indian astrological beliefs. Introduction to theNavagrahas and the Navagraha temples of the Chola region of Tamilnadu. The Suryanaar temple dedicated to the Sun God Surya wasconstructed during the period of the later Cholas. Tingaloor Kailasanathar temple representsChandrastalam (associated with the moon) in the scheme of the Navagraha temples Pullirukku Velur or Vaideeswaran Koyil near Mayiladuturai is an ancient Shiva templebearing a shrine to Angaarakan and is referred to as the Angaarakastalam Tiruvenkaadu near Mayiladuturai is referred to as AadiChidambaram and it bears shrines to Nataraja, Aghoramurthy and is referred toas the Budhastalam in the scheme of the Navagraha temples. The Aabatsahayeswarar temple atAalangudi bears a shrine to Dakshinamurthy and is referred to as theGurustalam. My note- There are twoAlangudi, one near Pudukkottaai, another near Mayladuthurai About ten years back one of my friends from Orissa came on a visit withfamily. His daughter in law was not conceived for years. My wife suggested prayer atAlangudi temple at Pudukkottai. With in a year they were blessed with agrandson. The Agneeswarar temple at Kanjanoor near Kumbhakonam is referred to as theSukrastalam in the scheme of the Navagraha temples. The ancient pilgrimage center of Tirunallaar bears shrines to Tyagaraja and Saneeswara. The Naganathar temple at Tirunageswaram near Kumbhakonam has a shrine dedicated toRaahu. The Naganathar temple at Keezhperumpallam nearMayiladutrai has a shrine dedicated to Ketu. 128 Navagraha Temples Groups of temples constitute pilgrimage clusters all over India. Thuswe have the PanchaBhoota shrines dedicated to Shiva, the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines all over India, the Alwar Nava Tirupati shrines of Tirunelvelidistrict in Tamilnadu, Arupadai Veedu shrines of Skanda and so on. A pilgrimage town cluster that hasbeen gaining popularity in recent times is the set of Navagraha temples. The Navagraha temples denote aset of nine temples tied together by their association with the nine celestialbodies or the Navagrahams. The term Navagrahadenotes the nine celestial bodies which are central to astrological calculations (and beliefs) (and not the nine planetsas it is frequently erroneously translated). The sun, the moon, mars, mercury, jupiter, venus, saturnand the two shadow planets Rahu and Ketu constitute the Navagrahas.Ashrine housing the Navagrahas isseen in almost all of the Saivite temples in Tamilnadu. However, the Navagraha temple cluster refers to a set ofnine temples in the Chola kingdom region of Tamilnadu, that are associatedthrough legends and beliefs with the navagrahas. It is to be noted that the firstof these, the Suryanaartemple is the only one that is dedicated to the graham or the celestial bodyitself.All of the other eight are ancient temples dedicated to Shiva. Interestingly,the Suryanaar temple is probably the newest of the nine (11th-12thcentury CE). Six of these eight temples have been revered by the Tevaram hymnsand thus clearly go back to the 2nd half of the 1stmillennium CE. The Suryanaar temple was built by the later Cholas to provide a space for sun worshipfor visiting dignitaries from elsewhere in India. Tingaloor, the temple associated with the moon representsthe site of a miracle caused by the Saivite Saint Appar. Vaideeswaran Koyil and Tiruvenkaadu near Mayiladuturai bear shrines representing Angarakan (Mars) and Budan (Mercury) respectively. Both of theseare hoary Saivite shrines revered by the Tevaram hymns. Tiruvirumpoolai or Aalankudi is again an ancient Shivastalam. The Dakshinamurthy shrine at Aalankudi is saidto represent Brihaspati or Guru (Jupiter),while the ancient Shivastalam at Kanjanoor is associated with Sukran(Venus). Tirunallaar near Karaikkal is again an ancient Shivastalambearing a shrine to Tyagaraja. Many interesting legends (related to Nala) regarding Saneeswaran (Saturn) surround this templewhich bears a shrine to Saneeswaran. Tirunageswaram | | | | | | | | | | | Tirunageswaram Nageswarar -. Temple - Shivastalam Tirunageswaram Nageswarar -. Temple Homepage; One of the 275 Shivastalams described in detail in Templenet. | | | near Kumbhakonam bears an ancient Shivastalamenshrining Naganathar, and it has within its precincts a shrine to Rahu , while the Shiva temple at Keezperumpallam near Mayiladuturai has ashrine dedicated to Ketu.Thecollective ascent to prominence of these very ancient temples is only a recentoccurrence . The Tamilnadu tourism department conducts guided weekend tours tothese shrines. 129 Navagraha temples in Tirunelveli It is to be noted that there is another set of nine temples in Tirunelveli district which are said toconstitue the Navagraha cluster of temples in that part of the state. I will continue in next posting -- 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]. 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