Brahmadesham Temple

Site Name: Brahmadesham Temple

Site Type: Hindu temple

Location: Brahmadesam village, near Ambasamudram, near Tirunelveli city, Tamil Nadu state, India

Highlights: A 1000 years old massive temple with many sculptural and architectural marvels 

Nearest Railway Station: Ambasamudram

Nearest Airport: Tirunelveli

How to reach: Well connected by road from Ambasamudram; public transportation is unreliable.

Hotel: Few options in Ambasamduram and no option in this village; more options in the nearby city Tirunelveli

Restaurants: Only a few options in the nearby Ambasamudram town

Ambasamudram is a picturesque town located on the banks of the beautiful Tamraparni river and on the foothills of the Western Ghats. The town is known for scenic spots and temples. Brahmadesham is a small village located around 4 km from Ambasamudram. The village has a majestic temple with numerous sculptures and a stunning tower. Let us explore this temple in detail.

Unfortunately, the magnificent temple is in a neglected state today. Irrespective of whether you are a spiritual or a heritage enthusiast, you will never forget this beautiful temple for your entire life if you visit this just once. This is definitely one of the best temples and architectural marvels in South India, which remains unknown.

Highlights

• It is considered one of the Devara Vaippu Sthalam temples.
• The temple was built by Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas and Nayakkar kings.
• A unique Kankalanathar icon along with a lot of deities and seers which cannot be found anywhere else
• Big entrance wooden gates with intricate carvings
• The hanging bell, along with the chain - made up of a single stone.
• A big icon of Nandi with intricate carvings - made up of single stone.
• The temple has three towers and seven vimanas.
• Somavara mandapa with so many beautiful sculptures of epic characters
• It is the first site among Adi Nava Kailayam temples; it is a Surya sthalam
• Tiruvadirai mandapa with many beautiful sculptures and pillar carvings
• Nataraja made up of Punugu
• The birthplace of Sri Sarvangna Atmendra Saraswati Swamigal, the second Acharya of Kanchi Sankara Mutt
• There are five shrines of Lord Shiva - Kailasanathar, Ilandai Adinathar aka Badari Vaneeswarar, Chokkanathar, Annamalai and Vishwanathar
• Dakshinamurti with a different posture
• God - Kailasanathar 
• Goddess - Periyanayaki aka Brahannayaki
• Sthala Vruksham (holy tree) - Ilandai
• Teerth (holy water) - Tamraparni and Ghatna rivers

Legend/History

Brahma and his grandson Romasa Rishi worshiped Lord Shiva on this site. Due to this, the village is called Brahmadesham.

During the period of Raja Raja Chola, the village was gifted to Brahmins for chanting four Vedas. Hence, the place is called Chadurvedi Mangalam or Brahmadeyam.

As per Ghatana Nadi Mahatmiam, the Swayambu Shiva Lingas of Shivasailam, Tiruvaleeswaram and Brahmadesham emerged at the same time.

The original structure of the temple was built probably during the reign of Raja Raja Chola (10th century CE). The current structure is a combination of styles from various royal dynasties. The main shrine was constructed by the Chola kings; the beautiful mandapas were built by the Pandya kings; the attractive wooden decors on the roof were the works of the Chera kings; the gigantic temple towers at the front side and backside were constructed by the Nayaka king Vishwanatha Nayaka. The colossal compound walls were also built by him. Even the Hoysala kings made some additions to the temple.

Temple Layout

No travel site or travel guide talks about this temple. It is definitely one of the best places in South India. It is not the temple's fault but the fault of those sites and guides that do not cover such a magnificent masterpiece. It is not fair that such a majestic temple is getting neglected.

This village was gifted by the Chola king to Brahmins for chanting all the four Vedas; it is also called Chaturvedi Mangalam. 

Entrance

The east-facing temple has a gigantic seven-tiered tower (Rajagopuram). The sight of the tower is stunningly beautiful. The majestic wooden doors at the entrance are carved with beautiful images of various deities. A big lotus pond is found outside the temple tower. Undoubtedly, the combination of the above three things increases the site's ambiance at the beginning itself.

Front side Mandapa

The area between the tower and the entrance to the main temple is completely covered on top. Although it looks like a typical Kerala-type roof, it is actually made of stone. The stone bell along with the chain can be seen on this roof. It is also made up of a single stone, a sculptural marvel.

The bali peeth is unusually big in size. The vast Nandi idol is made up of a single stone and very impressive carvings are found on its body. The Nandi mandapa (the platform where Nandi is placed) has some beautiful sculptures of divas. The flagstaff (dhwajastambha) is stout and tall, and it is unusually placed on top of a carved platform.

The entire area is full of wide pillars with sculptures. A unique feature of these pillars is that there are six pillars placed together to form a single pillar; there are two such combinations of six pillars found in this mandapa.

On either side of the main temple entrance has two big shrines dedicated to Ganesha and Subramanya, respectively. Both these shrines are located atop elevated platforms.

Main Shrine

The principal section of the temple has four sections, sanctum, ardha mandapa, maha mandapa and mukha mandapa.

The east-facing sanctum sanctorum enshrines a large Shiva Linga named Kailasanathar. He is the presiding deity.

The entrance of Ardha mandapa has a Ganesha sculpture. The sculptures of Dwarapalas are giant and attractive. 

The sub-shrine of utsava (metal) Nataraja and Sivakami is located in Maha mandapa. A small Nandi icon facing Lord Kailasanathar is also located here. The hall is full of pillars that rest on lion bases.

An outer mandapa has an attractive wooden entrance with intricate sculptures. This structure appears to be hardly 200-300 years old.

Brahannayaki

The presiding Goddess is Periya Nayaki or Brahannayaki. Her sculpture is larger in size and extremely beautiful. She is standing and carries a lotus flower on her right arm. Her shrine looks like a separate temple with its vimana, prakara, bali peeth, flagstaff and Nandi. 

The front side mandapa of the shrine has pillars with impressive carvings. 

The entrance of the shrine has the icon of Ganesha. The shrine's prakara has the sub-shrines of Saraswati, Arumugam with Valli and Devasena, Chandikeshwari, Siddhi Vinayaka, Shaneeswara holding lotus in his right arm (unique style) and Nalayiraththamman (a powerful village deity).

The Original Deity

The shrine of Ilandai Adinathar is found adjacent to the shrine of the Goddess. Although the current presiding deity of the temple is Kailasanathar, it is believed that the original God is Ilandai Adinathar. As per the legend, Lord Brahma and his grandson Romasa Rishi worshiped the deity. The sthala vruksha (holy tree) of the site, Ilandai tree, is found on the backside of the shrine. The deity is probably named after the sacred tree. The small Linga is believed to be a Swayambu (self-manifested) murti. A small Nandi is found facing the shrine. The shrine has a separate vimana. The dwarapala images at the entrance of the site are beautiful.

Somavara Mandapa

The wide hall in front of Ilandai Adinathar and the Goddess shrines is called Somavara Mandapa. It has full of pillars with many beautiful sculptures and carvings. Some important sculptures include Bheema, Purushamrigam, Arjuna, Karna, Vali, Sugreeva, Rati and Manmadan.  Some pillars have the sculptures of Yazhi, the mythological animal.

Tiruvadirai Mandapa

Tiruvadarai Mandapa is an important place within this temple compound. It has a shrine dedicated to the stone images of Nataraja and Sivakami. The hall has many beautiful sculptures and intricate carvings on the pillars that depict various Gods, Goddesses, seers, epic characters, mythological animals such as yazhis, elephants, dance, music, battle and even erotic. 

Kankalanathar Shrine

Near Ilandai Adinathar shrine, an important shrine facing the southern direction is located. It is dedicated to Kankalanathar. Kankalanathar, like Bhikshatana, is a form of Lord Shiva who seeks alms; however, it is iconographically different from Bhikshatana. Although the Kankalanathar image is found in many temples, it is very rare to find him accompanied by so many deities and seers. It is incredible to see so many sculptures and bas-relief stucco images in just one shrine.

Kankalanathar and the six Bhuta ganas alone are stone sculptures in this shrine. Kankalanathar has jata makuta (hair dresses like a crown) and big earrings. He has four arms. His lower left arm carries a drum (called Dhakka), and his lower right arm beats that drum using a stick (called Bana). His upper right arm is stretched downwards in Kataka posture. (Generally, an antelope or deer leaps near his arm, which is missing here.) His upper left arm has kankala danda, a staff that carries the bone of the arms and legs of the slain person. The staff is resting on his left shoulder. (As per few legends, it is the corpse of Vishvaksena, the chief guardian of Vishnu, which is carried by Kankalanathar.)

The six bhuta ganas are very small in size when compared to Kankalanathar. They surround him on either side. Each one holds different materials such as Chalarai (a kind of musical instrument), mridangam, conch, chamaram and flute.

The wall behind has so many bas relief stucco images. The images that are found:

• 
  Surya and Chandra on top
• Kubera on the horse, Brahma on Annam (Hamsa), Vishnu on Garuda and Indira on elephant below them
• Kinnara, Kimpurusha and Agastya rishi holding veenas and other musical instruments; two divas (wives of rishis) 
• Ganesha on Mooshika, Kartikeya on peacock, Vayu on deer, Varuna on makara, Ishanan on Rishaba (bull), Agni on Mesha (goat), etc.

There are stucco images of beautiful ladies (apsaras) in various postures such as sitting, standing, viewing the mirror, reclining, etc.

Other Important Shrines

Behind the holy tree, there is a big shrine dedicated to Chokkanathar. Chokkanathar is found in the form of Shiva Linga. His consort Meenakshi is also found in a separate sub-shrine. This shrine looks like a separate temple with a separate vimana on top and Nandi in front. The front side mandapa has many pillars with intricate carvings.

In the outer prakara, there is a separate shrine dedicated to Subramanya and his consorts Valli and Devasena. 

The outer prakara also houses the shrine of Vishwanatha and Vishalakshi. It is also a big shrine with a separate vimana.

Another critical shrine found in the outer prakara belongs to Annamalaiyar and his consort Unnamulai. This is again a big shrine, almost the size of a small temple. However, this main shrine strangely does not have a separate vimana.

There is a separate shrine for Punugu Sabhapati. He is found in Chin Mudra. Here the idols of Natarja and Sivakami, along with the rishis, are made up of Punugu, a kind of perfume.

The Dakshinamurti icon found in the inner prakara is in a unique posture of chin mudra; it is said that he is self preaching.

The icons of twin Ganeshas called "Irattai Vinayaka" along with Vishnu and Brahma are unique; they are located in the outer prakara.

From a particular point at the backside of the prakara, we could get the sight of all the seven vimanas and three towers together.

Other Deities

The icon of Bhairava is found near the Kankalanatha shrine. 

The inner prakara around the main shrine has the icons or sub-shrines of Nalvar, 63 nayanmars, Jura Deva, Shasta, Sapta Matas, Ganesha, Vishnu Durga, Mahisasuramardhini, Surya, Chandra, Subramanya, Chandikeshwara and Gaja Lakshmi.

There are no koshta deities in the prakara. However, there are some interesting stone carvings depicting elephants, yazhis and other animals on the outside wall of the main shrine.

There are a few mural paintings that are almost destroyed on the walls of the outer prakara.

This place is definitely a heaven for those who love temple art and architecture. Do not miss this temple; please ensure that it is included in your travel itinerary when you travel down to south Tamil Nadu. 

Happy travelling.

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