The Grand Siva Sailam Temple

By -
Site Name:  Sivasailam Temple
Site Type: Hindu temple
Location:  Sivasailam, near Ambasamudram town, near Tirunelveli city, Tamil Nadu state, India
Highlights:  Shiva Linga is found with his tresses
Nearest Railway Station: Ambasamudram
Nearest Airport: Tirunelveli
How to reach: Well connected by road from Ambasamudram and Tirunelveli; public transportation is not dependable
Hotel: Few options in Ambasamduram and no option in this village; more options in the nearby city Tirunelveli
Restaurants: Only 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 nearest city of Ambasamudram is Tirunelveli. It is located in Tamil Nadu state in South India.The town has a lot of scenic spots and temples. Sivasailam is a small village located near Ambasamudram. The village has a majestic and beautiful temple, Sivasailanathar temple. Let us explore about this temple in this article.

Highlights:
·                     A Devara Vaippu Sthalam temple
·                     Shiva Linga found with his tress
·                     A majestic temple covering a large area with so many big idols
·                     God – Sivasaila Nathar aka Sailanatha Swamy aka Atreeswarar
·                     Goddess – Parama Kalyani
·                     Sthala Vruksham (holy tree) – Kadamba tree
·                     Holy Water – Kadana river

Legend:

The sages Atri and Bhringi worshiped Shiva in this temple. Atri’s ashram is found on top of the hill.


Temple Layout:

The temple is very big in size. It has a stunning tower and the front side of the temple is covered with trees.

The Nandi idol that is located near the flag staff and bali peeth facing the main shrine is artistically beautiful.

The temple is full of long mandapas, huge idols, different designs of huge pillars and large sculpted pillars. Everything in this temple appears to be grand.

Main Shrine

The sanctum sanctorum unusually faces the west direction. A large sized Shiva Linga idol named as Sivasailappar is found there. The highlight is that he has tresses. The devotees can view his tresses through holes on the back side of the sanctorum. It is said that it is only west facing Swayambu Linga. It is also said that there are 27 Aavudais (the base of Linga) placed one above the other and the idol is placed on top of 27th Aavudai.

The entrance of Ardha Mandapa has a small Ganesha idol.

The Maha Mandapa has Nandi facing the sanctorum; it also house few sub-shrines with so many utsava (metal) idols that include Nataraja-Sivakami, Chandrasekhar-Uma, etc.

Inner Prakara

The inner prakara surrounding the sanctum santorum has many sub-shrines which enshrines the following deities. All of them are unusally large in size.

  • Jwara Deva
  • Maha Lakshmi
  • Anna Poorani
  • Shaneeswara
  • Vishnu Durga
  • Bhairava
  • Surya
  • Chandra
  • Dakshinamurti
  • Sapta Matas
  • Ganesha
  • Vishwanatha-Vishalakshi-Navaneetha Krishna


Goddess Shrine

The Goddess Parama Kalyani is found in a separate west facing shrine. She is found in the standing posture and has four arms.The shrine has its own front side mandapa, Nandi, flag staff and bali peetha. It is said that the idol was found in a well.

The inner prakara has Agastya, Ganesha, 63 Nayanmars and Dakshinamurti.

Other Shrines

Some of the other sub-shrines in the temple:

  • Saila Vinayaka
  • Nellaiyappar-Salvaateeswarar-Kantimati
  • Meenakshi-Sundareshwarar
  • Subramanya-Valli-Devasena


Ganesha and Adhikara Nandi idols are found near the entrance.

This temple is not to be missed.

Happy travelling.
Location: Sivasailam, Tamil Nadu 627412, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tallest Murugan of Chennai

By -
Image
Consecrated in March 2021, the 40 feet high Bala Murugan icon at Saveetha Medical College campus is the tallest image of Murugan in Chennai. Malaysia has 140 feet tall Murugan. In April 2022, the 146 feet tall image of Murugan was consecrated near Salem in Tamil Nadu. However, they are all stucco images. But, the one that we find on the college campus is a monolithic granite icon. Thus, it is the tallest stone icon of Murugan in the entire world. A stone weighing 320 tonnes was brought from Siruvambur near Wallajah, and it was carved to 140 tonnes to get this beautiful and gigantic sculpture. The entire temple complex is designed in the shape of the Devanagiri letter "Om", which can be appreciated in the aerial view.  The west-facing gigantic sculpture is located atop the star-shaped pedestal. It dominates the entire landscape. A large meditation hall is situated below the pedestal. On the open corridor in front of the presiding deity, smaller shrines are found. They enshrine
Read more

Little known Nimishamba Temple of Chennai

By -
Image
Site Name:  Nimishamba Temple Site Type:  Hindu Temple Location:   Kasi Chetty Street, Sowcarpet, Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India Highlights:   A rare temple of Nimishamba in Chennai city Nearest Railway Station:   Chennai - well connected from the cities/towns all over India Nearest Airport:   Chennai has both national and international airports How to reach:   Easily reachable by road as this is centrally located in the city Hotel:  Many star hotels, luxury hotels/resorts, and budget hotels are available in Chennai Restaurants:  All options - vegetarian, non-vegetarian, Chinese, South Indian, Gujarati, North Indian, Punjabi,....- you can find everything in Chennai city Chennai is considered as the gateway to South India. The capital city of Tamil Nadu state of India has hundreds of tourist sites which include museum, British period monuments, temples, beach, etc. Let us explore a little known temple called Nimishamba temple located in Chennai. Nimishamba is anothe
Read more

A 17th century Dargah with healing power - Mount Road Dargah, Chennai, India

By -
Image
Mount Road or Anna Salai is one of the most happening places in  Chennai . There are two famous Islamic shrines on Mount Road – one is  Thousands Light mosque . The other one is Dargah-e-Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi (Rahmatullah Alaihi), also known as Mount Road Dargah. It is the most popular Dargah across the city. It draws devotees of all faiths and all walks of life. Especially every Thursday, a large number of devotees gather to the Dargah. A lot of city-based celebrities regularly visit the site. This Dargah is the shrine of a Muslim Saint named Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi. He was also known as Rahmatullah Alaihi. Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi arrived from Baghdad in the middle of the 17th Century CE. He made Chennai his home and lived here. It is believed that he had healing powers. During his time, he had so many devotees regularly visiting him. After his demise, his family buried him next to his house, which is the current Dargah. You can easily lo
Read more