Koliyanur: On the outskirts of Villupuram. Villupuram Pondy road and Chennai - Panruti through Villupuram by pass intersect here. After the Jn , go towrds chennai and within 100ft, a small road is on your right. At the end of the road, the temple and the tank are visible. 3 Kms from Villupuram Railway Jn..
The temple said to have been built by pallavas according to information board. Gurukkal says that it is identified so by the images of Durha/Brahma /Vishnu and Saptamatrikas in Goshta. It was rebuilt on the 16th year of RRC. Those inscriptions are scattered all along the temple. Gurukkal showed me the piece where
a. the RRC mei keerthi parts available b. Piece where the renovationduring his 16th year is mentioned.
The Gurukkal is knowledgeble and intrested but helpless.
There are more unread insriptions.
The gurukkal regretted that a. No body takes effort to read. b. People from Mysore institute came, took copies and when he checked the ph no provided to him, he found those numbers to be wrong. c. In spite of his protests, the epigraphs were white washed. He requested us to help in reading them.
Two inscriptions recorded by ASI of the temple belong to Sambuvarayar -Rajanarayana and Vijayanagar period.
God refered as Koliyapura nallur Nayanar - Thiru Valeesamudayar.
The dakshinamoorti sannidhi has spta matrikas sitting on his both sides. There is a puranam that lord did mantropadesam to them. The Dakshinamoorti seems to be of later period.
Hence one more temple connected with Ramayana Legend with epigraphical proof. ( But the RRC info is secondary source and we need to read with experts help before freezing this temple as per RRC)
There are two distinct images of Vali worshipping Siva - One near ambal sannidhi and another in the Boodha vari.
Lord Sani is now becoming very popular in this temple but temple is in bad shape w.o kalasams.
One dwarapalaka is having the singa magudam like Thiruppasur.
Dear Sankar, Is a 'singa magudam' an arm bracelet w lion face? Must look for the one at Thiruppasur. See my Picassa album on Keezhaiyur for more; also dvarapalakas there have similar, unusually tall crowns with ribbons. Done by the the same shilpi guild do you think? Best quality, early Chozha, if you ask me. The outer murthis seem primitive and too poor to be Pallava. kathie
whoa, I'm not very confident doing any dating. Dvarapalakas, late 9th cent., ca 884 as Balasubrahmanian says for Keezhaiyur, one D. there has a small lion [details worn] on crown. No idea about murthis in niches. They're in very shallow relief and not of great workmanship. kathie
the arm bands ( fastened at the back) should be called Keyura. anything worn round i think is the kankana or kankan, valyalays or valayals. singa mugam basically is the belt buckle or clasp.
http://www.poetryinstone.in “*Here the language of stone surpasses the language of man*” – Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore
At that time of posting i could not get much details on the RRC inscriptions of Koliyanur.. I have ordered a few old books ( of shri TV Mahalingams detailed listing on town wise epigraphs)- and once i get it - i may give more details. In the mean time I have got these details from the words of Kanchi Mahaswami.
In the words of kanchi mahaswami -
In these days, if Vizzhuppuram remains as a town and Tiruvatikai as a village, in those days however, Tiruvatikai was a large kShetra paTTaNam and Vizhuppuram remained as a village. This Vizhppuram samAchAram (news) is known only since the time of reign of a Pallava called Nrupatunga Varma. At that time, he had named Vizhuppuram as 'VijayaNrupatunga SeyantAngi Chaturvedi Mangalam'.
"If you ask who is he, he was the one who remained as the Pallava Raja during the latter half of the ninth century, seven-eight generations after Mahendra Varma. He had conquered in yuddham (battle) some king who was the mukhya rAja (formidable king) for the southern part of Tamilnadu--a Pandya or a Chola king, yArO oruttan (someone). Ask about the place where he conquered, and it is in the battle of KumbakoNam-Arisil river bank! Only as the way to celebrate that victory, Nrupatunga Varma had made a dAnam (charity) of Vizhuppuram in a shAsanam made out to BrahmaNas who were pundits skilled in the four Vedas. Only to such villages is the name 'Chaturvedi Mangalam' attributed to. Since this mAnyam was given as a symbol of a victory mahotsavam (grand festivity), adding the terms 'Vijaya' (victorious) and 'SeyantAngi' (bearing victory) he had made that Ur (place) as a brahmadEyam ( brahmadesam , a place given to the brahmaNas)."
The kalveTTu relating to this news is found in the Vizhuppuram VaikunTa PerumaL temple. With the next generation of Nrupatunga Varma, the Pallava vamsam (generation) came to an end. The yuddham (battle) that sang mangaLam (last-song) to their rule also took place in the KumbakoNam locality! And then the kings called ' piRkAlach chOzhargaL ' raised their heads."
When rAja vamsam s (royal generations) change, it happens that the dAna shAsanam s of the earlier generations get cancelled. In that way, it seems that the state of Vizhuppuram also, which was sarvamAnyam to the BrahmaNas, was cancelled. Because, there is a shAsanam in another temple, that is, VaIishvarar Alayam, which mentions that Rajarajan--the Rajarajan who built Brihadisvaram--who came three-four generations after Parantakan, again gave Vizhuppuram in dAnam as Chaturvedi Mangalam. Or it might be that for the Brahmadeyam that was in the name of the Pallava Raja until then, Rajarajan might have given his name, gave it in visheSha sambhAvanA [ (special honour) to those BrahmaNas, celebrated the occasion as a new utsavam and made it as a shAsanam .
"If Rajaraja Chozhan gave his name for the place, it is not referred to as 'Rajaraja Chaturvedi Mangalam'. There were many names of title to him. That which remained as the shikharam (peak) of them was the title 'Shiva PAda Sekharan' (one who holds on his hair the holy feet of Shiva Peruman). That was a title that showed his heart of devotion. There is also a title to him that showed his priyam (love) and popularity with his people and his democratic aptitude--as 'JananAthan'. Don't we refer to democracy as ' jananAyakam ' (ruled by the people)? For the Vizhuppuram of his times he had given the name 'JananAtha Chaturvedi Mangalam'!
In addition to the VaikuntaavAsar, Valisvarar temples, there is another temple called Kailasanathar Alayam, that also remains as pradhAnam (chief). The mokSha lokam of Saivas is Kaliasam. For VaishNavas it is VaikuNTam. In Kanchipuram, with viShesha silpa prasiddhi (known for its distinguished sculptures), temples are there for both Kailasanathar and VaikuNTa Perumal. As in Kanchipuram, in Vizhuppuram also, two temples are there, in the names of Kailasam and VaikuNTam! . It is known from shilA shAsana s (sculptural inscriptions) that the Kailasanatha Temple existed from the time of Rajarajan.