Agastheeswar Temple

Agastheeswarar Temple
Image of the Agathiyampalli temple gopuram
Agastheeswarar Temple Location in Tamil Nadu
Geography
Coordinates	10°21′28″N 79°50′48″E / 10.35778°N 79.84667°ECoordinates: 10°21′28″N 79°50′48″E / 10.35778°N 79.84667°E
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	Nagapattinam
Location	Agathiyampalli
Culture
Primary deity	Agastheeswarar(Shiva)
Architecture
Architectural styles	Dravidian architecture

Agastheeswarar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, located in the town of Agathiyampalli, Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu, India. Agastheeswarar is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the nayanars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam, the 276 temples reverred in the canon.

It has several inscriptions dating back to the Chola period. The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and three yearly festivals on its calendar. The annual Brahmotsavam (prime festival) is attended by thousands of devotees from far and near. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Etymology and legend

The town Agasthiyanpalli is named after Agastheeswarar, the presiding deity of the Agastheeswarar Temple, a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. The 7th century Saiva canonical work Tevaram by Appar and Tirugnanasambandar mentions the place as "Tirumaraikadu".^[1][2][3] According to legend, all the Devas were assembled in Kailash to witness the sacred marriage of Shiva and Parvathi and on account of it, the earth was tilted towards North. To balance it, Shiva requested sage Agasthiyar to move over to the South. It is believed that Shiva appeared in his marriage form to Agasthiyar at this location.^[3]

History

A shrine inside the temple

The recorded history of Agasthiyanpalli and the regions around it is found from the inscriptions in Agastheeswarar Temple and the Vedaranyeswarar Temple. The inscriptions date from the reign of Rajaraja Chola I (985–1014 CE), Rajendra Chola I (1012–1044 CE) and Kulothunga Chola I (1070–1120 CE) indicating various grants to the temple.^[1][4]

Agasthiyanpalli continued to be a part of the Chola Empire and the Chola region emerged as a centre of Saivism during the reign of Kulothunga Chola I (1070–1120 CE).^[5] After the fall of Cholas during the reign of Rajendra Chola II in the 13th century CE, the erstwhile Chola region was caught under a power struggle between Pandyas and Hoysalas.^[6] The royal patronage continued to the temple during the rule of the Nayaks.^[7] The Negapatam region (modern day Nagapattinam district) was briefly captured by French troops led by Lally (1702–66 CE) in 1759 CE. The Tanjore district was annexed by British after the French failed to subdue the king of Tanjore.^[8][9] In modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

The temple

A shrine inside the temple

Agastheeswarar temple complex has three prakarams (outer courtyard) and a three-tiered rajagopuram (gateway tower). The central shrine faces east and holds the image of Agastheeswarar (Shiva) in the form of lingam made of granite. The shrine of Parvathi faced west. The granite images of the deities Ganesha (son of Shiva and god of wisdom), Murugan (son of Shiva and god of war), Nandi (the bull and vehicle of Shiva) and Navagraha (nine planetary deities) are located in the hall leading to the sanctum. As in other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the first precinct or the walls around the sanctum of Agastheeswarar has images of Dakshinamurthy (Shiva as the Teacher), Durga (warrior-goddess) and Chandikeswarar (a saint and devotee of Shiva). The second precinct is surrounded by granite walls. There is an image of Agasthiyar within the first precinct. The temple tank inside the temple is called Agni Theertham.^[3]

Worship and religious practises

The temple priests perform the puja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. Like other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Shaiva community, a Brahmin sub-caste. The temple rituals are performed six times a day; Ushathkalam at 5:30 a.m., Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 10:00 a.m., Sayarakshai at 5:00 p.m., Irandamkalam at 7:00 p.m. and Ardha Jamam at 8:00 p.m. Each ritual comprises four steps: abhisheka (sacred bath), alangaram (decoration), naivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Agastheeswarar and Amman. The worship is held amidst music with nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument), religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred texts) read by priests and prostration by worshippers in front of the temple mast. There are weekly rituals like somavaram (Monday) and sukravaram (Friday), fortnightly rituals like pradosham and monthly festivals like amavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai, pournami (full moon day) and sathurthi.^[3] The twin festivals celebrated during the full moon days of Tamil month Adi (July – August) and Thai (January – February) attract large number of pilgrims from whole of Tamil Nadu. Pilgrims take a holy dip in the seashore round the year and the holy dip is considered similar to the worship practises at Rameswaram.^[10]

Notes

1. Ayyar 1991, pp. 392–402
2. Ghose 1998, p. 62
3. "Sri Agastheeswarar temple". Dinamalar. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
4. Ghose 1998, p. 301
5. Ayyar 1991, p. 215
6. Ghose 1998, pp. 59-60
7. "Journal of Indian History". 82. Department of History, University of Kerala. 2004: 33.
8. Dodwell, Henry (1920). Dupleix and Clive. Asian Educational Services. p. 166. ISBN 978-81-206-0394-3.
9. National encyclopaedia (1885). The national encyclopædia. Libr. ed. Oxford University. p. 287.
10. South Indian Railway guide illustrated (1926). South Indian Railway guide illustrated. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. p. 171. ISBN 81-206-1889-0.

References

• Ayyar, P. V. Jagadisa (1991). South Indian shrines: illustrated. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 81-206-0151-3.
• Ghose, Rajeshwari (1998). The Tyāgarāja cult in Tamilnāḍu: a study in conflict and accommodation. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. ISBN 81-208-1391-X.
• Singh, Upinder (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the. Delhi: Dorling Kindersly (India) Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-317-1120-0.
• Tourist Guide to Tamil Nadu. Sura Books. p. 74. ISBN 978-81-7478-177-2.

External links