Skip to main content

AGNISHWARAR TEMPLE - SUKRAN - KANJANUR

 Agniswarar Temple, Kanjanur – Sukran ( Venus)




The Agniswarar Temple is a Shiva temple in the village of Kanjanur, 18 kilometres north-east of Kumbakonam. The presiding deity is Sukra (Venus). The main idol in the temple is that of "Agniswarar" or shiva lingam. In concordance with the Saivite belief that Shiva is all-pervading, Sukra is believed to be located within the stomach of the idol of Shiva. The lingam is also a Bramha lingam as Lord bramha himself has prayed to Lord shiva here. There is no separate shrine for Sukran. The name Agniswarar is derived from the lore that Lord agni prayed to lord shiva here.
The temple was built by the Medieval Cholas and renovated by the kings of the Vijayanagara empire Kings. The temple has a 5-tier Rajagopuram surrounded by two Praharams (closed precincts of a temple). Legend is that Siva blessed Parasara muni(sage) here with cosmic dance. It is believed that Shiva appeared in the form of Sukra to propitiate himself off the dosha of Sukran.
During vamana Avathar, lord vishnu took the form of a small brahmin boy and asked Bali for three paces of land. Bali’s Guru Sukracharya had a premonition that the boy was Vishnu and asked him to deny the boon. The virtuous king Bali against his Guru’s advice, wanted to grant the wish of the Lord. Sukracharya took the form of a bee and hid in the mouth of the Kamandalu for preventing the water to flow for Bali to donate the three paces of land. When water did not flow from the kamandalam, Vishnu pricked Sukracharya with a Darbha grass, who lost his eye, and had to come out in pain. His wish fulfilled, Vamana took his huge form(Vishwaroopam) and measured out the Earth and the Sky, and as the 3rd step, placed his foot on Bali’s Head ,blessing him.
Sukracharya however was angry with Vishnu, and cursed him. It is belived that Vishnu prayed to Shiva at Kanjanur, where he was relieved of the curse. Shiva not only blessed Vishnu here, he promised to remain and bless those who came with prayers to Sukran.
Kanjanur is one of the nine Navagraha sthalas located in the Cauvery Delta region dedicated to planet Venus, called Sukra. Unlike other Navagraha temples, the main deity, Agniswarar in the form of lingam depicts Lord Sukra.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

VAIKUNTHA PERUMAL TEMPLE OR THIRU PARAMESHWARA VINNAGARAM KANCHIPURAM

  THIRU PARAMESHWARA VINNAGARAM OR VAIKUNTHA PERUMAL TEMPLE KANCHIPURAM Thiru Parameswara (The greatest Lord) Vinnagaram (temple) or Vaikunta Perumal Temple is a temple dedicated to Vishnu & his concert Vaikundavalli located in Kanchipuram. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple finds mention in the Divya Prabhanda the early medieval tamil literature of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one among the 108 temples dedicated to Vishnu. The temple is considered the second oldest extant temples in Kanchipuram after the Kailasanathar temple & is in a straight line facing each other, though seperated by 3.5 KMs. The temple is believed to have been built by the Pallava king Nandivarman (720-796 CE), with later contributions from Chola's and Vijayanagara Kings. The temple is surrounded by a granite wall enclosing all the shrines and a pond of the temple. The outer walls of the inner praharam is full of Kalakrithis related to the lord....
Post a Comment
Read more

KAILASANATHAR TEMPLE PART 1 - TARAMANGALAM

SRI KAILASANATHAR TEMPLE- TARAMANGALAM - SALEM DISTRICT - TAMILNADU.- PART 1 Seven tiered Rajagopuram Shaped like a chariot. Mahavishnu gave his sister Parvathi in marriage to Shiva. This process of handing over the bride, is known as "Thaaram vaththu koduppadhu" in Tamil, hence the name of the town THARAI MANGALAM now known as Tharamangalam. MAHAVISHNU giving his sister MEENAKSHI in marriage to SHIVA. In the centre of this Town is an exotic Temple of Lord Shiva as Shri Kailasanathar with his consort Sivakami Devi. One of the rarest of temples with a treasure of exotic Sculpture and the many stories attached with them. ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL U NKNOWN TEMPLES IN TAMILNADU. The first precinct on entering from the Rajagopuram. The temple had an existence before the 10th Century CE. However the same was rebuilt by the Getti Muthaliar Clan who ruled the Kongu Part of Tamilnadu from the 13th to the 17th century. The temple seems to have b...
Post a Comment
Read more

AMRITHAGHATESHWAR TEMPLE - MELAKADAMBUR - CUDDALORE - TAMILNADU

  AmrithaGhateshwar Temple – Melakadambur – Cuddalore - Tamilnadu     ABSTRACT   The town of Kadambur or Thirukadambur was an important metropolis of the later Chola’s (848 -1279 CE) and reminds us of the historical Tamil Novel “PONNIYIN SELVAN” “Son of Ponni or River Kaveri” which talks about the early life of Arulmozhivarman or Raja Raja Chola l (947-1014CE),   by Shri kalki Krishnamurthy. The town is about 31 Km’s from Chidambaram, 6Km’s from kattumannarkoil and 7 kms from Veeranarayana lake or Veeranam lake built by Rajaditya Chola (907-955CE).The fort of Kadmabur is the place, where the Chieftains of the Cholas hatched a conspiracy to overthrow the rule of Sundara Chola and took an oath to make prince Maduranataka Chola the next King. It is here that Karikal Chola was assassinated. In this historical town is the twin temple of Amrithaghateshwarar   “God of the pot of Amritha or Nectar” in Mela kadambur known as the Indra Vimanam or Aeroplane...
Post a Comment
Read more