| Odhanavaneswarar Temple | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Odhanavaneswarar Temple vimana | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| District | Thanjavur |
| Deity | Odhanavaneswarar (Shiva)Annapoorani (Parvati) |
| Location | |
| Location | Tiruchotruturai |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| Country | India |
  Location in Tamil Nadu | |
| Coordinates | 10°52′32″N79°8′16″E / 10.87556°N 79.13778°E /10.87556; 79.13778 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Dravidian architecture |
Odhanavaneswarar Temple, Tiruchotruturai (also calledOppillaselvar Temple) is aHindu temple dedicated toShiva located in the village of Tiruchotruthurai,Tamil Nadu,India.[1] The Five Rivers are Vadavaru, Vennaaru, Vettaaru, Kudamuruttiyaaru and Kaaviriyaaru. Shiva is worshiped as Odhanavaneswarar, and is represented by thelingam and his consortParvati is depicted as Annapoorani. The presiding deity is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, theTevaram, written by Tamil poet saints known as thenayanars and classified asPaadal Petra Sthalam.
This temple is known asDakshina Kailasham (Kailash of the South). This is the place whereNandi (the divine bull of lord Shiva) was born and became the mount for Shiva. The divine wedding of Nandi and Suyasayambikai was held atThirumazhapadi Vaidyanathaswamy temple inAriyalur district ofTamil Nadu. This is celebrated as Saptha Stanam festival which includes seven Shiva temples of the region.
There are many inscriptions associated with the temple indicating contributions fromCholas,Pandyas,Thanjavur Nayaks andThanjavur Maratha kingdom. The oldest parts of the present masonry structure were built during theChola dynasty in the 9th century, while later expansions, are attributed to later periods, up to the Thanjavur Nayaks during the 16th century.
The temple complex is one of the largest in the state and it houses four gateway towers known asgopurams. The temple has numerous shrines, with those of Odhavaneswarar and Annapoorani being the most prominent. The temple complex houses many halls and three precincts. The temple has four daily rituals at various times from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and five yearly festivals on its calendar. The temple is now maintained and administered byHindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of theGovernment of Tamil Nadu.
As per Hindu legend, Shiva was pleased by the devotion by one of his devotees named Arulalan and bestowed him with a vessel with never ending food giving capabilities. As per another legend, during one time, there was a never ending famine. SageGautama performed penance in the place, pleased by which Shiva gave a boon that the place would have never ending food supplied capabilities. The place where paddy grew is referred asarisi vilaintha vayal and the canal is referred ascottrudayan vaaykal. The place was thus referred asThiruchotruthurai, meaning the banks of the canal where rice grew. Another variant of the legend indicates that Parvathi appeared as Annapoorani and fed his devotees in the place. The place where Ambal fed the devotees was calledAnnam Paintha Vayal (the field where food was produced). Following the legend, the devotees who participate in the Sapthastanam festival are fed in the temple.[2]
The temple is located in Tiruchotruturai, a village inThanjavur district in theIndianstate ofTamil Nadu. It is situated on the banks of the river Kaveri, 10 km fromThanjavur, and 3 km from Thiruvaiyaru on the Thirukandiyur - Thanjavur road. The temple has threeprakarams (closed precincts of a temple) and manymandapams (halls). The temple faces east and is entered via a three-tiered pyramidalrajagopuram (gateway tower). The presiding deity in the form oflingam is housed in the sanctum in square shape. The attached hall, theardhamandapa measures the same width as the sanctum, while its length is twice the sanctum. Theardhamandapa projects towards the east. TheMukhamandapa has a square structure. There are fivedevakoshtas that cover the exterior walls of the sanctum. The images ofDakshinamurthy andBrahma are the only ones remaining out of the five. There are two largeDvarapala, guardian deities on either side of the entrance of theardhamandapa. There are images of Lingas replicating Sapthavidangam andSaptamatrika.[2]
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|---|---|
| The seven important temples in and aroundThiruvaiyaru | |
| Temple | Location |
| Aiyarappar temple | Thiruvaiyaru |
| Apathsahayar Temple | Thirupazhanam |
| Odhanavaneswarar Temple | Tiruchotruturai |
| Vedapuriswarar Temple | Thiruvedhikudi |
| Kandeeswarar Temple | Thirukkandiyur |
| Puvananathar Temple | Thirupanturuthi |
| Neyyadiappar Temple | Tillaistanam |
The divine bullNandi was born in this temple and became the mount of lord Shiva.The divine wedding of Nandi and Suyasayambikai was held atThirumazhapadi Vaidyanathaswamy temple inAriyalur district ofTamil Nadu. This is celebrated as Saptha Stanam festival which includes seven Shiva temples of the region. Thesapthasthanam festival is conducted atTiruvaiyaru during April every year. As per Hindu legend, it is the wedding festival ofNandikeswara, the sacred bull of Shiva on the Punarpoosa star during theTamil month ofPanguni.[3] The festival deity of Aiyarappar temple of Thiruvaiyaru is carried in a decorated glass palanquin along with the images of Nandikeswara and Suyasayambikai to the temples in Thirupazhanam, Thiruchottruthurai, Thiruvedhikudi, Thirukandiyur and Thirupoonthurthi. Each of the festival deities of the respective temples mounted in glass palanquins accompany Aiyarppar on the way to the final destiny, Thillaistanam. There is a grand display of fireworks in Cauvery riverbed outside Thillaistanam temple. The seven palanquins are carried to Aiyarappar temple in Thiruvaiyyaru. Hundreds of people witness the convergence of seven glass palanquins carrying principal deities of respective temples from seven places at Tiruvaiyaru. The devotees performPoochorithal (flower festival) in which a doll offers flowers to the principal deities in the palanquins. After thePoochorithal, the palanquins leave for their respective temples.[4][5]
The temple priests perform thepuja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. Like other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to theShaiva community, a Brahmin sub-caste. The temple rituals are performed four times a day; Ushathkalam at 6:30 a.m., Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 a.m., Sayarakshai at 5:00 p.m., and Ardha Jamam at 8:00 p.m. Each ritual comprises four steps:abhisheka (sacred bath),alangaram (decoration),naivethanam (food offering) anddeepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Odhavaneswarar and Annapoorani. The worship is held amidst music withnagaswaram (pipe instrument) andtavil (percussion instrument), religious instructions in theVedas (sacred texts) read by priests and prostration by worshipers in front of the temple mast. There are weekly rituals likesomavaram (Monday) andsukravaram (Friday), fortnightly rituals likepradosham and monthly festivals likeamavasai (new moon day),kiruthigai,pournami (full moon day) andsathurthi. Mahashivaratri during February - March is the major festivals celebrated in the temple.[6]
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Tirugnana Sambandar, a 7th-century TamilSaivite poet, venerated Odhavaneswarar in the 28thpadigam inTevaram, compiled in theFirst Tirumurai.Appar, a contemporary of Sambandar, also venerated Odhanvaneswarar in fourpadigams inTevaram, compiled in the fourth, fifth and Sixth Tirumurai.Sundarar, the 8th centuryNayanmar revered Odhavaneswarar in a padigam, which is compiled in Seventh Tirumuari.[7] As the temple is revered inTevaram, it is classified asPaadal Petra Sthalam, one of the 275 temples that find mention in the Saiva canon. The temple is counted as the 13th in the list of temples in the Southern banks of Cauvery.[8] As per accounts inPeriya Puranam bySekkizhar, Sundarar visited multiple Shiva temples in the region and visited this temple. He sungAzhal neer ozhugi anaya in praise of Odhanavaneswarar.[9]Arunagirinathar, the 15th century Saivite saints, has sung praise about theMuruga in the temple.[10] The temple is counted as one of the temples built on the banks ofRiver Kaveri.[11]
