QUES ANSW DIVINE 2022-16 Dear friends,
Wish all my friends happy pongal- who celebrate Pongaltoday These are informationposted by members compiled as QA by me in 1998’s-2004’s and stored in mycomputer. At this date I have no information of the members posted. BEING COMPILATION THERE MAY BE ERRORS. Sincerely, R. Gopalakrishnan, 78, Former ITS ( AGM TelecomTrivandrum) dated 15-01-2022 Q1 What are the specialities of Tiruchendur temple? A1 The temple issituated so close to the sea that waves from the Gulf of Mannar lap at the eastern perimeterwall of the temple. This is the onlyone among the six famous temples called 'Aarupadai veedu' not situated on thetop of a hill. Q2 What is the legend behind the silver pot in Tiruchendurtemple? A2 In 1803 AD aBritish collector seeing the statue being fanned in devotion ridiculed thisaction and asked whether the Lord also sweat. In response the priest coveredthe statue with a white cloth which immediately became wet. The collectorrealising his fault gave a silver pot as an atonement and an offering. Q3 Do Tirunallar is a Siva temple? What is Nala storyrelated to Tirunallar? A3 Thirunallar is atemple dedicated to Lord Shiva but it also has a sanctum inside the outer wall of the temple dedicated tothe planet 'Sani' (Saturn). There was a king called Nalan. Hewas young and handsome. Dhamayanthi, princess of an adjacent kingdom, wasfamous for her beauty. King Nalan wanted to marryDhamayanthi andhe sent a swan as a go-between to let Dhamayanthi know of his love for her. Dhamayanthi havingheard of Nalan as a king of justice and valour agreed to marry him. Unaware ofthis love between these two Dhamayanthi's father arranged a 'syamwaram' inorder to find a suitable partner for his daughter as was customary in thosedays among kings. Everybody who hadheard of her legendary beauty had come to take part in this contest. There werepresent Kings celestial as well as earthly. Dhamayanthi rejected all thosepresent except King Nalan and agreed to take him as her future husband. The celestial kingssuch as Indran, Agni, Yama and Varuna were utterly dejected by their failure towin the hand of Dhamayanthi. Saturn was disappointed thatDhamayanthy chose an earthly mortal in spite of the presence of celestialbeings at the function. He vowed that hewould not let them live happily together. Saturn was waiting for an opportunityto catch Nalan unawares. Saturn could not find an excuse to cast his spell onKing Nala, as he was meticulous in his devotion to God and to his duties as aking. One day as he wasin a hurry he did not purify himself properly before he sat down to perform hispooja. Taking thisopportunity Saturn cast his malefic influence on the king. From that day hestarted to suffer from various misfortunes that led him to lose his kingdom andhis family. Eventually on the advice of a sage he arrived atThirunallar and entered the temple. As Saturn has no power in the presence of the deity atThirunallar he became immune to the influence of Saturn. He then stayedin this temple for a few more months and extended the temple building and builtthe pond that is called 'Nala theertham'. The Lord of the temple granted him the wish that those whobathed in this water would be relieved of all malefic influence of Saturn. My note- This Nalakkulam is renovated and now devotees can take dip holding thestainless steel bar because of the current in the pond. I have taken dip in thepond. Q4 Do muslimsworship in Tirunelveli temple? A4 Answer is yes. The legendconnected with this temple is that there was a Nawab (Muslim ruler) inThirunelveli whose wife was suffering from an incurable disease. She tried variousmethods to get rid of this illness but without success. She was then advised byone of her courtiers toarrange a special pooja propitiating the deity at this temple. Shedid so and found that she was not only cured of her illness but was alsoexpecting a baby. In a few months a baby boy was born and the parents wereoverjoyed. They namedthe boy Anavarata Khan. As an act of gratitude she arranged to build ashrine inside the temple complex which was built in the south-eastern corner of the'praharam' (corridor). An opening was provided on the outer wall opposite thisshrine so that this Muslim royal familycould worship from outside the temple as non-Hindus were prohibited fromentering the temple. A Sivalingam was installed in this shrine and named asAnavarata khan in memory of the Muslim prince. Q5 What is the opening time of Tirupathi temple? A5 The temple opensfor 'Subrapatham' in the earlymorning at 2.30 am and closes after 10.30 pm after the last 'seva'of the day, the 'Ekantha seva'. Q6 What is the story of Amirtavalli and Sundaravallidaughters of Mahavishnu connected to Lord Muruga? A6 Amritavalli and Sundaravalli, daughters of Mahavishnu,fell in love with Lord Subramanyan and startedan austere penance in order to become his wives. Lord Subramanyan pleased withtheir penance appeared before them. The two sisters asked for a boon that bothof them should become his wives. He promised that he would fulfil their wishesin due course. Amritavalli was then transformed into a baby and appearedin the palace of Indra the king of Devas.When Lord Indra found her he directed his white elephant Airavatham to raiseher. Hence the name'Theva-yanai'. Sundaravalli was born to sage Sivamuni who abondoned her.She was found and raised by the chief of hunters, Nambirajan, who named her'Valli'. When LordSubramanyan vanquished Soorapadman and released those Devas imprisoned by him,Indra was so pleased with his heroism that he wanted to give his adopted daughter Thevayanai inmarriage to him. He conveyed his desire to Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnuwho waited for the most opportune time to broach the subject to LordSubramanya. After the war withSoorapadman, Lord Subramanyanarrived at Thirupparankundram with his entourage and the army, andseeing the lushness and beauty of this place decided to rest here for a fewdays. Brahma and Vishnurealising that this was the best time to approach Lord Subramanyan conveyed tohim the wishes of Indra. LordSubramanya with his knowledge that Thevayanai was none other than Amritavalliwas pleased to accede to their request and married Thevayanai. Thus this placebecame important to the devotees of Lord Subramanya as the place where He married Thevayanai. My note- With the help of his brother Lord Ganesh hemarried valli at Tiruttani. Q7 Why do Thazampoo is not taken in siva temple forworship? A7 Once there was a dispute between Lord Brahma and LordVishnu as to who was superior. Thiscreated untold suffering among all living things as their respective duties ofcreation and protection were being left unattended. Lord Shiva in order to put an end to this disputeappeared before them as fire in the shape of a glowing mountain..The two who were quarrelling did not realise who or what this 'mountain offire' was. So they decided to search for the 'Aathi' (beginning) and the'Antham' (end) of this 'Jothi' and whoever succeeded first would be declaredthe superior god. Lord Brahma took the form of a swan and flew upwards in search of thebeginning and Lord Vishnu took the form of a 'Varaha' (wild boar) and wentburrowing in the earth in order to find the end. Each after flying high and borrowing lowfailed in his attempt to find the beginning or the end. Brahma did not want to concededefeat. While coming down he saw a petal of 'Thalampoo' floating in the air. Heasked the flower to be his witness that he had seen the beginning. The floweragreed to his request. They arrived together and found Lord Vishnuand told Him that Brahma had seen the top and this flower 'Thalampoo' was thewitness. At thisjuncture the 'Jothi' transformed itself as Lord Shiva and admonished Brahma fortelling lies and the 'Thalampoo' for bearing false witness. He also decreed that no temples wouldbe dedicated for Lord Brahma and that 'Thalampoo' should never be offered inworship. Brahma and Vishnurealising their mistake prayed to Lord Shiva to remain there as a 'Jothilingam'. Thus every year during the Tamil month of 'Karthigai'(November/December) on the 'Karthigai' day a blazing fire is lighted on the topof the hill to celebrate the appearance of Lord Shiva as 'Jothi'. This occasion is an important day inthe calendar of Thiruvannamalai. Q8 What is the story related to Arunagirinathar andTiruvannmalai? A8 Arunagirinathar,the saint poet and an ardent devotee of Lord Subramanya, lived inThiruvannamalai. He had squandered his wealth by his youthful waywardness andhad contracted an incurable disease as a result. Finally he got fed up with hislot and climbed a temple tower andjumped from there in an attempt to kill himself. Lord Subramanya stopped him falling in mid-air andblessed him with wisdom and set him in a path of piety and devotion. From that day he brought forth his devotion and piety inthe form of devotional verses called 'Thiruppugal' Q9 It is told the period of Kalpathy templeis given in the Malabar gazette .What are the details? A9 Kalpathysiva This temple is the most important one in the town, as described byWilliam Logan in the Malabar Gazetteer (Page 445) This is one of the ancienttemples built by the Kings of Palakkad around 1865. This temple issituated by the side of Nila River, in the village of Kalpathy, Palakkad. In holiness the temple is equated to the KashiVishwanathaswamy & Vishalakshi Amman in Benares and is considered to haveequal powers Q10 What is the importance of kshipra ganapathy temple in Kalpathi? A10 KshipraGanapathy is one who is instantaneously pleased with devotees (fulfiller of wishes quickly) Q11 What is the myth behind Tiruchengode? A11 A battle of strength between Adi Seshan andVayu, saw the former clinging tightly to Mount Meru and Vayu using his might toblow it away. Thelatter succeeded in blowing it away to Tiruchengode and the blood spilled byAdiseshan colored it red. This hill with 2stories of its origin,with rocks colored both red and yellow represents themasculine and feminine aspects of the Ardhanareeswara manifestation of Shiva. My note- I have visited the temple recently through the hill road in the car. In addition to the Ardhanareeswara, a Perumaltemple is also there in the top of the hill. Q12 Every body know about Namakkal Anjaneyar and he is in apraying posure. Whom he is worshipping? A12 A colossal idol of Sri Anjaneya,18 feet inheight has been installed here facing east with folded hands worshipping SriLakshmi Narasimha. HereLord Narasimha is called "Lakshmi Narasimha" because oftheboon given by the Lord to Sri Mahalakshmi. Q13 Do the Namakkal hill temples are declared as monuments? A13 Yes. The LordNarasimhaswamy Temple and Lord Ranganathar Temple in the Namakkal have been declared as monuments under thepreservation of Monuments and sites Act 1958 and they are protected by theArcheological Department. My note- I had been at Namakkal from 1985-1988. I have visited all the temples many times Q14 Where is Pazhamuthir cholai? A14 12 miles northof Madurai. Hill temple. Thereis a temple at the base is dedicated toLord Vishnu and the deity installed is worshipped as Kallazhahar.This temple is called Azhahar koil. Yama, the deity who presides over deathonce visited this place and enchanted by its beauty stayed here for meditation.Lord Vishnu appeared before him in response to his meditation. He requestedthat the Lord remained in this place so that people could worship him. Ingranting his wishes Vishnustayed there with his two consorts, Sri Devy and Boo Devy. The temple on the hill is known as Pazhamuthir Cholai andis dedicated to Lord Subramanya Q15 What is the total area of Chidambaramtemple? A15 The Chidambaram temple occupies an area ofabout 51 acres. Q16 Who has installed the idol at Kanyakumari temple? A16 It is believed that Parasurama installed theIdol made of blue stone kanyakumari Q 17 Do the Madurai temple isopened fullday? A17 The Madurai meenakshi temple is open forworship throughout the day. Q18 What is the legend behind taking bath in 22 theerthamsin Rameswaram? A18 There are 22 'theerthams' (source of sacred water) within the precinct of the Rameswaram temple. Devotees bathe in these waters beforeproceeding to the inner sanctum to receive 'dharshan'. Devotees come tothis temple to bathe in the various 'theertham' in order to obtain merit forthe souls of the dear departed ones and to wash away their own sins Most of thedevotees take a dip in the sea called ‘Agni theertham’ in front of the temple. My note- Brahmins who come to Rameswaram for theertha srardham have to take bath in all ponds and sea beforesrardha is performed. Q19 What is the story behind Samayapuram temple? Was thedevi was initially in Trichy? A19 Yes. It is believed that that this deity was once installed at the Sri Rangan temple near Thiruchi. As the chief priest felt thathe was suffering from some malevolent effect from the Goddess, he asked theworkers at the temple to remove the idol from the temple. It was placedaway which place is Samayapuram Q 20 Where do we have the River Swarnamukhi? A20 The riverSwarnamuki running near this Kalahasthitemple gives this place an added sacredness. Q21 What is the speciality of Srirangam temple?What is thestory associated with Rangavimanam? A21 Sri Rangam, thelargest Vaishnavite temple in Tamilnadu, is dedicated to Sri RanganathaPerumal. This temple is asholy and venerable to Vaishnavites as Chidambaram temple is to Saivites. There are so manylegends associated with this temple. One of them relates how the 'RangaVimanam' believed to be the chariot of Lord Vishnu came to be installed here. Ikshavahu thedescendent of Surya, the Sun god and forebear of Rama, performed a penance inorder to obtain the Ranga Vimanam to install it in a temple in Ayodya. Garuda, the mount of Lord Vishnu,delivered the Ranga Vimanam to Ikshavahu. The people of Ayodya thus venerated andworshipped this Ranga Vimanam for centuries until Lord Vishnu himself was bornas Rama in Ayodya as heir to the Surya dynasty. Refer Ramayanastory… At the end of his14 years of banishment Rama returned to Ayodya to reclaim his rightful crown.Many kings and others were invited to the coronation and Vibishana was an important guest. At the end of the ceremony as custom dictatedgifts were exchanged. Vibishanato whom Rama owed a debt of gratitude presented him with the Ranga Vimanam tobe taken to his kingdom, Lanka. On his way Vibishana arrived near Kaveri Riverin the South and wanted to perform his daily pooja. He gave the Ranga Vimanamto a boy standing nearby with instructions not to put it on the ground. He gotinto the river for his ablution and when he came out he found. that the boy had put the RangaVimanam on the ground He tried to lift itbut failed to move it. He became distraught and prayed to Lord Vishnu whoappeared and told him that He wished that the Ranga Vimanam stayed at that spot. The King and others on learning this requestedVibishana to install the RangaVimanam on that spot and perform the 'AdhiBrahmotsava' thereby consecrating that place. The King who was a great devoteeof Lord Vishnu was delighted with this and built a large temple to house theRanga Vimanam and calledthe deity Lord Sri Ranganathar. Q22 How many main temples are at Kumbhakonam? A22 Three of thesetemples are dedicated to Lord Shiva and one to Lord Vishnu. There is also a temple dedicatedto Brahma, which is very rare. The temple of LordSarangapani at Kumbhakonam is the third most important temple for Vaishnavitesin Southern India; the first is Lord Ranganathar in Sri Rangam and the secondis Lord Venkadachalapathy of Thirupathi Q23 Do Suchindram is a siva vaishnava temple? A23 yes. Suchindram temple is unique in the whole of India in that itis dedicated to three different deities represented by one image in the sanctumand is called Sthanumalayan (Sthanu-Shiva; Maal-Vishnu and Ayan-Brahma) kovil.This temple attracts both Vaishnavites and Saivites in large numbers Thus theThrimoorthy came to be represented by the Lingam at Suchindram; the bottomrepresents Brahma, the middle represents Vishnu and the top Shiva. Q24 What is the Indra story connected with Suchindram? A24 Lord Indra in order to get rid of this curse went to Gnanaranya and prayed to the Three Moorthys to ridhim of this curse. Whenhe was rid of his curse and transformed into his original form he built atemple and installed the Lingam to represent the three Moorthy -Thanu-Maal-Ayan, and the name of the place came to be known as Suchi-Indran(the place where Indran was purified). Anasuya ahalya Gautama atri stories Q25 What is the division in Kancheepuram? How many majortemples are there? A25 The town of Kanchican be divided into two sections, the Shiva Kanchi and the Vishnu Kanchi Ehambareswarartemple(dedicated to Lord Shiva) Kailasanathar temple (dedicated to Lord Shiva)Kamakshi Amman temple (dedicated to Goddess Parvathy) Perumal temple(dedicated to Lord Vishnu) Ulahalanda Perumal temple (dedicated to LordVishnu). Q26 What is the speciality of mango tree in the VaradarajaPerumal temple at Kanchipuram ? A26 There is a veryold mango tree in the compound of the temple. This tree bears four different types of mango fruits onfour different branches. These four different branches are believedto represent the four Vedic scriptures that form the basis of Hindu philosophy. The tree isvenerated and worshipped by devotees visiting the temple. People who arelonging for children or young women who want to find suitable husbands makeoffering to this tree in the belief that their wishes would be fulfilled. Q27 What form of Sakthi is at Kancheepuram? A27 The GoddessSakthi is presented here as Kamakshi,one of the three famous forms. Others are Meenakshi in Madurai and Visalakshi in Kasi inNorth India. Q 27 What is the speciality of idol at Ulagalanda perumalkovil ? A27 The deity inthis temple is depicted by a huge image of about 35 feet high. This represents the'Vamana Roopam' which incarnation was taken to save the 'Devas' from the Demonking Mahabali.Ulagalanda perumal kovil Q28 What is the legend behind rockfort at trichy? A28 Once there wasa dispute between Adishesha,the serpent that serves both as a canopy and the couch of Sri Mahavishnu, and Vayu, the god of wind.They agreed to a contest to decide who was the stronger of the two. Adishesha wouldcoil round Mount Meru and Vayu would try to dislodge the mount from the grip ofAdishesha. The challenge was taken up and Vayu threw himself with all his mightand tried to dislodge the mountain while it was held firmly in the coils ofAdishesha. The contest became very intense and the whole worldsuffered from a deluge of rain and battering storm. During this combat a chip of the mountain haddislodged and fell on the earth. However, Vayu could not loosenAdishesha's grip and conceded defeat. The chip of Mount Meru that fell on the earth is believedto be the rock now called Rock Fort in Thiruchchi. Q29 What is the legend behind Tanjore big temple? A29 The KingRajaraja Chola I was suffering from black leprosy. He was advised that if he built a temple for LordShiva then his illness would be cured. He was advised to bring a Sivalingam from Narmadha Riverin North India to install in the temple. It is said that when the Sivalingam was takenout of the water it grew in size. This Sivalingam that is installed in this temple is huge as is the'nandhi' (the bull) installed in front of the temple. The 'nandhi'is 12 feet tall, 19 feet long and 9 feet wide weighing about 25 tons. It iscarved out of a single rock. Q30 What is the speciality of Garbhagriha atThiruvanaikkavil Trichy temple? A30 The Lingam inthis temple is said to be an 'Appu Lingam' (Water Lingam) and when the riverKaveri or Coleroon is in spate water can be seen oozing from the Lingam My note-I have visited the temple and lingam in theunderground and observed the water coming and given asprasada. One has to get down by steps toreach the sanctum. Here also a mango tree is there havingmanogoes in different branches having different taste. -- 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 on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/902063383.328021.1642237890987%40mail.yahoo.com.
