Keezhkadambur and Melkadambur- A mini Ponniyin Selvan Trail

 Keezh Kadambur

Keezh Kadambur is about 15 min drive from Kaatumannar koil. I was excited to see the Kadambur Maaligai of Ponniyin Selvam fame where so many incidents have happened. I was hopeful, of seeing the ruins at least if not for the palace. The locals had no clue about palace or ruins or Ponniyin Selvan! One man stopped his bicycle to reply to our query…"Temple..? Left side is keezhkadambur, ASI site and if you go further down is Mel Kadambur which is a bigger temple". Since he mentioned ASI, we decided to visit that temple first. It was on a deserted little road with a locked gate. Two ladies with 3 little girls were there in the vicinity. They gave us the number of the caretaker Rajendran but his number was not reachable. One local seeing our disappointed faces offered to go and bring the caretaker and within 5 minutes the caretaker Rajendran arrived on a two wheeler with the keys.

It was a Shiva temple, called Rudrapathy temple. Rajendran seemed like a seasoned tour guide. He said indeed this was the place where the Kadambur Maaligai stood, but sadly there is not even a brick to show its existence. I just stood there imagining Vandhiya Devan in the earlier part of  of PS entering the palace and his friend Kanda Maaran taking him to see his father Sambuvarayar.

I asked Rajendran about the secret passage which is there in the Garba Griham of the main deity, (I had read about it)  doubting whether he will show us…but I was surprised as he said come on in…we both stepped in, did a pradakshinam of the huge shiva lingam and on the other side was the passage which supposedly leads to Gangai Konda Cholapuram 15 kms away. 

 The Secret Passage

                  

                                                                 

                                                                 

The Rudrapathy temple is a Ilangkoil meaning temporary place of worship till the main temple gets renovated. This temple has many Nayanmars in sculpture form carved beautifully. There were lots of statues placed on the ground. Rajendran said they were stolen earlier but retrieved back but yet to be installed in their rightful place.  The sculptures were made of soft stone and when tapped on, emitted musical notes. Rajendran demonstrated this. Sounded amazing.

He also described how Director Mani Rathnam (who is in the process of taking Ponniyin Selvan, the movie) and his team came to this place asking for the Kadambur Maligai. I believe the team was crestfallen that nothing remained today. They videographed the place including the aerial view using a drone camera.

You can connect with Rajendran, Rudrapathy Temple, Keezhkadambur: 9943433058

Melkadambur:

We next drove 1.5 kms to the Amirtakadeswarar temple at Melkadambur. This seemed like a living temple with devotees and poojas happening. This temple shaped like a chariot (Kaarakoil) was built by Kulothunga Chola 1 in 1113 AD

Lots of legends surrounding this place. One such fascinating legend happened during the churning of the ocean. The nectar or the Amritam which came as a result of the churning was consumed by the devas without giving due respect to Lord Ganesha, the angered elephant headed God took the pot away from the devas. When he was passing by this place, a drop of Nectar fell here which became the Swayambu (came on its own) Lingam. The Devas headed by Indira followed Lord Ganesha asking for forgiveness. They were pardoned by him only after getting assurance to offer prayers to Amrithakadeswara the Shiv Lingam in this place. The pot of nectar was also duly returned to the devas. The Shiva Lingam is said to be made of Navabashana or nine herbs.

Lord Indira and Melkadambur

Lord Indira’s Mother Aditi used to come to this place to offer prayers everyday. Lord Indira did not want her to travel so he converted the temple into a chariot and tried pulling it to Devaloka. Lord Ganesha pressed the chariot with his leg and Indira was unable to move it. (Even today you can see one chariot wheel sunken to the ground) Ganesha instructed Indira to create one shivalingam in one naazhigai (24 min) Indira started creating but each and every lingam he created developed cracks. Finally, Indira realized that it was an impossible feat and begged forgiveness. Lord Ganesha instructed Indira to create one Shivalinga chanting the Lords name 1000 times and do pooja to this lingam everyday. It is believed that Lord Indira even today, visits this temple to perform the shiva lingam pooja

The Sunken Chariot Wheel 

                 

The sculptures were simply breathtaking and we did know where to look…wherever we turned there was something there for us to stop and stare.

The Aaravaraa Vinayagar has his trunk aloft and looks like he is trumpeting with his head leaning towards the left. This Ganesha idol has been brought from Vatapi, present day Badami in Karnataka, as spoils of war. There were several such Ganeshas brought from Vatapi although some historians refute this. (Readers might remember the famous Ganesha in Kalki’s novel Sivagamiyin Sabatham which Paranjothi brought and installed in his home town, Thiruchenkaatankudi)

Devendren

A Roman statue

Thavvai Devi or Jyeshta Devi : The Pallavas used to worship 

The  Goddess VidhyujothiNayagi /Jothi Minnamai gives darshan to the devotee as Saraswathi in the morning, Mahalakshmi during midday and Shakthi in the evening.

Mel Kadambur has a Dasa Buja Rishaba Thandavamurthy (Nataraja) statue a Pala Sculpture brought by Rajendra Chola after war. It’s a beautiful idol brought for darshan only during Pradoshams.

A very peaceful place with plenty of vibrations. Do request the head priest to narrate this temple’s specialties.

Veera Narayan Perumal at Kattumannarkoil- A mini Ponniyin Selvan trail

 

Having had a fulfilling darshan at the Polla Pillayar temple we headed further down the same road to reach Kattu Mannar Koil a little town but with great historical and spiritual importance. This is the town where sage Nadhamuni who compiled the 4000 Divya Prabandham was born. Also the birth place of Alavandar his grandson, another important acharya of the vaishnavite tradition known for his gift of reading once and remembering forever. (Eka Santha Grahi)

When was this temple built?

The brick structure of this temple was completed during the reign of Paranthaka Chozhan I in the early 10th century.  However, there is enough archaeological evidence to prove that it was in existence even earlier.  The present deity was installed by Sadaya Varman Sundara Pandian in the 13th century, after performing extensive renovations

A little lane led us to the Gopuram. As expected the temple was almost empty, barring a few priests and a Nadaswaram Thavil troupe who were assembled there and were discussing animatedly about some local incident.

The Ponniyin Selvan Connection:

Veera Narayana Perumal temple is an important part of the novel and introduced to the reader within a few pages of reading. The temple was referred to as Vinnagaram. Azhwar Kadiyaan and Vandhiya Devan go to this temple and Azwarkadiyaan sings Nammazhwar’s pasuram, so beautifully that people listening get teary eyed and emotional. Kalki goes on to describe a little boy who is standing there listening, and narrates that this boy will grow up to be Saint Nadhamuni in later years.

Nadhamuni and the 4000 Divya Prabandham:

Legend says that Nadhamuni actually listened to a song of Nammazhwar Aaravamudhe on the Lord of Kumbakonam, sung by devotees from Melkote presently in Karnataka.  The song ends with this line Ayirathil Idhu Pathu (10 out of 1000) Nadhamuni wanted to know the rest of the 990 but the devotees had no idea. This incident moved Nadhamuni and made him yearn to find out the rest of the verses of Nammazhwar. He travelled to Kumbakonam and through divine intervention he was directed to Thirukurugur, the birthplace of Nammazhwar. There he learnt Madhura Kavi azhwar’s 11 pasurams, “Kanninun Siruthambu” but none knew about the 1000 pasurams of Nammazhwar.

Nadhamuni sat under the tamarind tree (where Nammazhwar stayed speechless from birth till he was about 10) and sang the 11 pasurams 12,000 times as advised by Parankusa Dasa. Nammazhwar appeared before him and not only gave the 1000 pasurams which he created but the rest of the azhwars’ creations as well and that’s how the 4000 Divya Prabandham came into being. 

Naadhanukku naalayiram uraithan vaazhiyae.

The Moolavar Veera Narayan Murthy is in a standing posture with Utsavar of Rajagopala Swami with Rukmini and Sathyabhama. An absolute treat for the eyes. There are separate sannidhis for Nadhamuni as well as Alavandar saints. 

How Kaatu Mannar Koil got its name:

Goddess Mahalakshmi came to Earth to be born as the daughter of Jirumbana Raja Maharishi. A swayamvaram was organised to find a match for the Goddess and Lord Vishnu came to earth in his Garuda vahan disguised as a King or Mannan. The Goddess was captivated by Lord Vishnu but the other kings assembled were greatly angered and started a battle. It’s no surprise that Lord Vishnu gained victorious by a great display of his Valour or Veeram. Thus the Lord in this place was called Veera Narayan. And since the lord also guided Sage Nadhamuni to retrieve the 4000 pasurams (In tamil Kaatu means Show) the place was named as Kattu Mannar Aanaar. Which later turned into Kattumannar.

The Araiyar Sevai:

Sage Nadhamuni not only retrieved the 4000 pasurams but also composed musical tunes for the hymns along with dance steps so that devotees can understand their full meaning. The tradition of song and dance of the Divya Prabandham is called the Araiyar Sevai which is followed by many temples even today.

We sat in the deserted praharam taking in the divine ambience. How this temple would have been in 10^th century when devotees came in and sang Nammazhvar’s pasurams…probably Nadhamuni as a little boy must have listened to these devotional hymns and would have been deeply affected. Sudden strains of the Nadhaswaram and Thavil broke my reverie and I came back to the present day. The troupe had begun performing. The Keerthanai was Vatapi Ganapathim…stood there for a while and appreciated the music wondering whether their next performance would be a Tyagaraja keerthana on Lord Rama, but had to leave as the next stop was Kadambur. A good Samaritan in the temple directed us to Kadambur and our journey began to our next destination passing by little hamlets, green fields and village folk sitting under trees waiting for the next bus. Life seemed so un hurried and placid. A life where there were no deadlines to meet, no upcoming zoom meetings and no presentations to create and present…

Kaatumannar Koil is easy to find and the distance is about 25 kms from Chidambaram.

Contact: Annan Srinivasan Bhattar @ 99522 76110 /
Srinivasa Swami (Hereditary Theerthakar) @ 04144 262257 /96299 79779