In this week Anandha vikatan issue Madhan gave a detailed answer about Periya kovil and Rajaraja chozhan for a question about the temple. But as usual, it is having both facts and fiction.
It is always thrilling to read anything about Periyakoil, no matter it is now only dawning on me that most of you are away from the Original Cholzha heartland ... I have been visiting Tanjore atleast 50 times a year for the past 10 years at least ! Means almost every Sunday from Madras I pass through Tanjore Big Temple area - just to see that ! Once a month I visit the temple and perform prayers ! On every occasion, I light lamps near Varahi - Peruvudyar & Karurar - like Diwali - New Year (Tamil - English) - Pongal - Sadhyam! This time I again visited on Aiypasi Sadhayam - Government also Celebrates this Day and thousands throng this temple!
I will scan and file Big Temple materials for your reference. Nandhipuram is already over due. I shall do this by next week.
Some say, the shadow falls on the near by tree !
As Kalaikkovan & Kudavoil observes, Big temple details are more popular for som many other reasons., I am sure you are all aware of the Dwarabalakha, who stands on a Udumbu which swallowed an elephant which is below the knee level of him - near the sanctum - with a hand cautioning "silence" (Inside is Peruvudayar - mind your words!)
Dear SB Manchester is miles away from the chola heartland...
but when I was in India....I visited periyakoil every thursday and punnai nallur mariamman koil every sunday from th std to 12th std....thursday is supposed to be the auspicious day for varahi and karuvurar...spend hours scoring the tree behind karuvurar for ballis(lizards)
Me and my friends have once done a108 suthu aroud the peruvudayar...thanking him for the victory in the district Quiz competition finals....
Thats a long time ago after coming to madras for my MBBS I used to go every month or once in two months till 1997 and then it became every year when I visit India....
sometimes when I was in Madras I go reach there in the morning bus hire a cycle or pick up a freinds bike...go to my grandparents house...visit our village deities and start my journey with the anjeneyar temple near station...then periayakoil then mariyamman koil...a movie or two..dinner and the bus back to madras....
athellam oru kalam....so i have spend considerable time in my place of birth thanjavur.....
infact Periyakoil is where i was thrown into the river...when I was born....(the astrologers said that I would not survive so my mother and grandparents made a mannequin child performed a pooja and threw it in the river and gave me to a neighbour and my parents came home empty handed after 'loosing' their baby in the river and adopted the neighbour's child (that was me who was taken from the riverside by that aunty) and brought me up.....cheating the gods and angels!!!!!
My most favorite place in periya koil however is the sarakondrai maram near the hanuman and varahi temple especially on Chitrapournami.....very romantic...unfortunately those evenings were spend with my parents and brother and sister or my two freinds who are now in the US...
must visit that settings with my wife someday.....
people who have been to periyakoil when the sarakondrai is in full bloom will appreciate what i am saying......
Thats one reason why I likes Akilans vengaiyin Mainthan because he uses a Sarkondrai Maram as the meeting place of Rohini and Ilango.
Dear Dr. Sridhar, I loved your mail. That Sarakondrai is being loved by almost everyone who loves Peruvudaiyar - rr & cholas! Varahi pooja has picked up vastly. Spl day is Ashtami. Now you can access to the Nandavanam behind the temple compound and Anukkanvoil - famous inscriptions of details of all the devadasis. They say the rows of lingams are added during Naiks period.
I was particularly thinking of you last Sunday, when I visited Rettaikkoil. This place is 1 KM east of Thirukkandiyur - yes I saw the Laguleesa idol also in Thirukkandiyur and confirmed all the four faces have the Third Eye (have you read Lawsangrampa?) -confirming not Brahma but Siva.
Rettaikkoil is on Kandiyur - Papanasam country road - 1 Km east of Kandiyur. This is a place. No mentionable temples. Some fragmets of sudhai temples found. Spoke to Oorthalaivar. He confirms that they get Sivalingam wherever they dig - confirming Ayiram thali. This place is Nandhipuram. When I told him there is a possibility of existence of Golden roofed palace over there 800 years back, he was stunned. He rushed to Saraswathy mahal to gather more details from Kudavoil! Veerasingampettai is nearby where an inscription on a damaged bridge speaks of Nemam ayiram thali.
I hope you know that in Thiruvaiyaru there are some important inscriptions : Vimaladithan was provided asylum here (love at first sight of RR's daughter); Madevadigal details found here; Vadakailasam incription we realise that land is reclaimed from Cauvery river bed - used for cultivation - was put on public auction and the highest bidders were - imagine - Azhwar Kundavai & Olagamahadevi. They handover the land for welfare of the temple. Land was so precious and scrace - they had to recalim from water! Cultivation was both trade and industry. No Government acquisition in an autocratic state! Perfect democracy in autocracy! That is why Nagaswamy, KKvn, Kdvl everyone concurrs that RR was the greatest of all times - of all the lands! Fondly, SB
You are a wealth of information with every mail adding more...I am inpressed.
As for Rettaikoil it may useful if ASI survey the area dont you think...I ll try to see if there are any charity groups in UK who are interested in such activities and may be we can join them together.
Imagine the impact of unearthing a city 1000 years old or even a palace for that matter.
Maybe we should start something called Tamil Heritage like the English heritage and add all thses places and have a directory may be even a periodical eZine....
I ll try to add all your mails and post them as one one of these days