13/02/2011
Sri Vilvanatheswarar temple Thiruvalam
Significance:
One of the 275 sacred temples glorified by the Thevara hymns
Considered holier than Kasi and is referred as a Mukthistalam
Nandhi here is huge and is facing away from the shrine towards Kanjangiri nearby and is said to be guarding the temple from a demon Kanjan of Kanjan giri.
Ambal shrine is said to be of great significance here.
Vinayakar is said to have obtained the celestial mango from Shiva here after the circum ambulation of Shiva and Parvathi devi. That’s why the place is called Thiruvalam.
Here, Lord Siva destroyed the yagna by Dakshan.
Tamil poet Avvaiyar is said to be associated with this shrine.
Location: While traveling from Chennai on the Bangalore highway, immediately after the tollgate at Walajapet, take the right road NH4 under a road over-bridge towards Chithur (old Banglore road). Travel in the NH4 itself and you will pass through a rail 0ver-bridge and immediately after, you can see a juction of two bridges. Take the old bridge on the left and the temple is just at the end of the bridge.
Thiruvalam is around 25 km from Vellore and while traveling from Vellore, go to Katpadi, and take the road (towards east) to Thiruvalam at Katpadi bus stand. Proceed till you meet the Chennai-Chithor NH4 highway and Thiruvalam is right at this junction.
Temple: This temple is on the Western Bank of the Poinni river, the water of which was once known for its healing powers. The river is also called neeva, shiva said “nee vaa” and the river sprang forth. This is a very huge and beautiful temple, built by the Pallavas and Cholas. There are quite a few references of Rajendra Chola in the stone inscriptions. Although the presiding deity faces the East, the temple entrance faces the South. Inscriptions reveal that this was a grand pilgrimage center in the past with facilities for pilgrims travelling between Southern Tamilnadu and Benares (Kasi). A fine image of Perumal also adorns the temple. There are idols for the 27 birth stars on the vimaanam of the sanctum sanctorum. Almost all the pillars are very nicely decorated with some sculptures. The legend of Nandhi protecting the village from demon Kanjan is depicted in a sculpture. There is a ‘100 pillars Natarajar Mandapam’ here which is extremely quiet. In the left side outer praharam, there is a underground passage and no one knows where it leads to! The temple has highlighted all the inscriptions with white and yellow paint and made it easy to read.
