The Moolavar here is Naavai Mukundan or Narayanan seen standing facing east. the Thayar is Malar Mangai Nachiyar. the only shrine in Kerala to have a separate shrine for the thayar. she is also known as Siru devi the theertham is Sengamala saras, the Vimanam is Veda Vimanam. the lord appeared to Gajendra and nine yogis here. this temple has a glorious past even today in its dilapidated condition there is a aura of mysticism and greatness here. the temle is situated on the right bank of the Bharatpuzha river. the river is to kerala what ganga is to the whole country.The great poet of Kerala paid glowing tributes to this river he said the river ganges fascinated poet Kalidasa, the godavari cast a spell on poet Bhavabhooti, the river padma to poet Rabindranath tagore, and the heart of mahakavi Kunhiraman Nair is lost to the rustic and bewitching beauty of Bharatpuzha river seen at its broadest here. This river is equalled to Kasi and Rameswaram and as in all temples of Kerala here too there are lots of stories connected to the temple.
The Lord appeared to 9 yogis in this kshetram They were Satwanathar, Saalokanathar, Adinathar, Arulithannathar, Mathanganathar, Machendranathar, Kadayanthiranathar, Gorakanathar, Kukutanathar. All of them lived here and worshipped their own Vigraha murthy, but in course of time eight of them disappeared and their vigrahamurthi theywere praying too also disappeared the ninth yogi was greatly disturbed and gave up worship, the lord appeared and wanted to know why he had stopped worshipping him. he promised to worship again if he got to see his eight friends again and god is said to have made it possible for him alone to see them.
another interesting story is of the Maha makam festival that was celebrated here every twelve years just as it is done even today at Kumbakonam. the festivities were conducted in a grand scale but they also had competitions of various sorts. all this is stopped now
but teltale signs of them still continue as if it were to haunt the place.
then there is a legendary story quoting how Markandeya rushi approached the lord here to escape from Yama and how god advised him to go through the door behind his vigraha and how he should make a linga and worship lord siva. The door was locked by the lord and is not opened to this day. also a bottomless pit at the rear of the vigraha are stories that exist with evidence but hard to believe. there are stories of Adi shankara having taught the haughty people a lesson. also how the eight vigrahamurthy vanished and to this day the vigraha of the lord is seen only knees upwards as on consecration of the idol the garbagriha was opened on the third day itself for the people were afraid that this ninth vi graham also would vanish. The story of the goddesses eyes closed etc are all connected to this place. there is even today a shrine next to the sri koil dedicated to lord Vigneswara and there is a concrete slab next to it covering a hollow this slab is not cemented but still seems to be there for centuries with out any dislocation in spite of the no of years this is believed to cover another pit.
The people who lived here were very pious and by the grace of the lord were rich too. this definitely is a blessed place.
Nammalwar has sung in praise of this lord and it is said how Ramanuja charya once when on his visit here is seemed to have asked the local residents how far was Navai divya desam and they replied Kurukum kurukum meaning not far and how ramanujacharya was imagining as to how Nammalwar described this lord and the place so well and also used the local lingo in his verse. he has written 11 pasurams and thirumangai alwar composed two pasurams on the lord here.
The Lord appeared to 9 yogis in this kshetram They were Satwanathar, Saalokanathar, Adinathar, Arulithannathar, Mathanganathar, Machendranathar, Kadayanthiranathar, Gorakanathar, Kukutanathar. All of them lived here and worshipped their own Vigraha murthy, but in course of time eight of them disappeared and their vigrahamurthi theywere praying too also disappeared the ninth yogi was greatly disturbed and gave up worship, the lord appeared and wanted to know why he had stopped worshipping him. he promised to worship again if he got to see his eight friends again and god is said to have made it possible for him alone to see them.
another interesting story is of the Maha makam festival that was celebrated here every twelve years just as it is done even today at Kumbakonam. the festivities were conducted in a grand scale but they also had competitions of various sorts. all this is stopped now
but teltale signs of them still continue as if it were to haunt the place.
then there is a legendary story quoting how Markandeya rushi approached the lord here to escape from Yama and how god advised him to go through the door behind his vigraha and how he should make a linga and worship lord siva. The door was locked by the lord and is not opened to this day. also a bottomless pit at the rear of the vigraha are stories that exist with evidence but hard to believe. there are stories of Adi shankara having taught the haughty people a lesson. also how the eight vigrahamurthy vanished and to this day the vigraha of the lord is seen only knees upwards as on consecration of the idol the garbagriha was opened on the third day itself for the people were afraid that this ninth vi graham also would vanish. The story of the goddesses eyes closed etc are all connected to this place. there is even today a shrine next to the sri koil dedicated to lord Vigneswara and there is a concrete slab next to it covering a hollow this slab is not cemented but still seems to be there for centuries with out any dislocation in spite of the no of years this is believed to cover another pit.
The people who lived here were very pious and by the grace of the lord were rich too. this definitely is a blessed place.
Nammalwar has sung in praise of this lord and it is said how Ramanuja charya once when on his visit here is seemed to have asked the local residents how far was Navai divya desam and they replied Kurukum kurukum meaning not far and how ramanujacharya was imagining as to how Nammalwar described this lord and the place so well and also used the local lingo in his verse. he has written 11 pasurams and thirumangai alwar composed two pasurams on the lord here.
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