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ULUNDANDAR (MASHAPUREESHWARAR) TEMPLE - ULUNDURPET

 ULUNDANDAR(MASHAPUREESHWARAR) TEMPLE - ULUNDURPET - TAMILNADU



LEGEND A merchant was passing through this place He was carrying Pepper (Milagu in Tamil) to be sold in the markets near the Mariamman temple in Keeranur. He found a Shivalingam in a temple in this place and as it was getting dark, decided to stay the night there and worshipped the lord. Lord Shiva wanted to test the merchants Bhakti, presented himself as an old man and ask the merchant to give him some milage to cure his headache. The merchant lied to the lord saying he was carrying Ulundu( Black gram). So be it said the lord.


On reaching Keeranur market the next day near the Mariamman temple , when the merchant opened the bags, to his shock he found his Milagu had become Ulundu.( Hence the name Ulundu Mariamman). Lord Shiva asked him to come back to the temple and worship him.As instructed by the lord and in order to attain for his sin, he went back to the temple and worshipped the lord and "Lo" the Black gram again turned to pepper. Hence Lord Shiva is known as "ULUNDANDAR" and the place is known as ULUNDURPET.


The other story is that of failing crops, because of arid lands. A Siddha yogi seeing the plight of the farmers gave them a hand full of " Ulundu" Black gram and asked them to cultivate Ulundu crop. Hence the area came to be known as ULUNDURPET and Bhagavan is known as ULUNDANDAR ( Black gram lord). HISTORY The temple record shows that it was built during the period of Maladaar Koman, who must have been a local chieftain. However the temple architecture points to the hands of the Chola's, which should date it around 1000 years. There is enough evidence of the influence of the Vijayanagara empire, with their insignia of the sitting lion found in many places and pillars amid the temple. The Nayakas also seem to have put their mark, with their horse riding pillars in the front of the Mukhamandapam. The Shiva lingam in itself predates the temple by many centuries and is very difficult to asses a time frame for it.

TEMPLE The temple is facing west the major santcum of Shiva (Ulandadar) and Parvati (Logambika) face each other in an 8 formation though not in a straight line. The pushkarni(Pond) is on the right side of the Lord. The entrance is through a Mukhadwaram with a small gopuram which seems to be a very late construction and leads to a rectangular compound. The 1st compound has pillars Mandapam on the left, through which is the entrance to the Pushkarni. It also has the Dhwajasthambam 1st of the three Nandis and Bali Peedham.This compound leads to a three tiered Gopuram, which leads to the Mukhamandapam. A two steps leads to the pedestal which is connected to three Ardhamandapams leading to the Garbhgriha of Lord ULUNDANDAR.



In the praharam one can find the sannadhi for Bairavar, Vishnu with his consort, Gajalakshmi, Valli Devasena Subramaniyar, Maha Ganapathy, Saba mandapam and Naalvar. On circumambulation, one reaches the east facing entrance to a seperate Temple structure of the Goddess Parvati as Lokambika. The Devakoshtha of the Parvati shrine is currently devoid of blank shrines and seem to have been vandalised.



UNIQUE FEATURES 1. Lord Shiva facing west, with the Avudayar or Pindika towards his right. 2. Goddess Parvati is generally found adjascent to the lord on either sides or perpendicularly placed facing south. Here Parvathi is facing her consort and that too facing east which is a rare feature. 3. The Devakoshtha of the Lord generally has a sequence of shrines starting from Ganesha, Dakshinamurthy, Mahavishnu, Lingothbhavar, Brahma and Vishnu Durga in an order of Pradakshina. However, in this temple the order is reverse starting from Vishnu Durga and ending with Ganesha. Surya & Sage Agastya have prayed to Shiva in this Temple. The temple requires patronage.



https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10218211897064851&id=1112401419 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10218211852583739&id=1112401419 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10218211843663516&id=1112401419 For more photos see link below https://photos.app.goo.gl/kep1ZDkE9cGAcJBh7 Check out this review of HSC Ulundhandarkoil E.Kottai on Google Maps https://goo.gl/maps/iwz3BJVV8LtU7goY6
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