Vimeeshwarar Temple – Salamangalam
Near Padappai.
Shri. Mahalingam, the Gurukkal of Vimeeshwarar temple, took a stone and struck the horizontally lying pillar outside the Ardhamandapa and produced music.(sapta Swarangal).
Enthusiastically he was praising the lord. He has done 40 years of Shiva Pani in the Temple. Refuses money and requests for material’s for pooja.
The temple is in a place called Salamangalam, about 2 KM’s away from Padappai. The temple is about half a KM inside from the highway amongst thick foliage and cannot be seen from the main road. As per the gurukkal,there is supposed to be nine Theertham around the temple, which has been lost to time.
As per him this is the 18th temple in the series of GajaPrishtha Temples built by Kulothunga Chola around 1073 AD.
Vimeeshwarar is so named after the belief that (Adipathi of Vin Meengal) the Lord of Stars in the Universe, Or Lord of the Shooting Star’s.
The Adipathi or Lord of our Universe consisting the nine planets is Surya the Sun God. Legend says Surya the sun god prayed to Vimeeshwarar at this place. Across the street is a very small shrine of Surya.
The temple consists of a Gajaprishtha Garbhagriha, which would have had a Vimana. There is an Ardha Mandapa and a Mukha Mandapa. The Mukha Mandapa has pillars and is an uncovered square structure. One has to climb a few steps on the side walls of the Mukha Mandap to see the Lord.Outside the Mandapa, facing the Lord is the Adhikara Nandi. Surprisingly, one more Nandi has been added by an enthusiast in the last decade, without following the Agama Shastra. Across the road is the small shrine of Surya. There is no seperate shrine for the goddess. However, a Goddess statue has been installed in the Garbha Griha facing South. The temple has a small prahara around the Garbha Griha.
This temple is in a very dilapidated condition, with stones falling out of the structure and even the remaining structure is of stones which have moved, creating crevasse’s in the Garbha Griha. It looks as if the structure collapsed because of an earthquake. (However I am not sure of it). One thing which Shri.Mahalingam is sure of is, the temple has been vandalized by Idol thieves. In fact, so brutal have these vandalizing have been that they have used tools to gauge out even decorative pieces.(Sivan Soththu, Kula Nasam).(See Photographs)
The temple is run by a trust and they are doing whatever is possible of them. However, it would take a colossal effort by many others to restore this beauty of a Shiva Temple back to its days of glory. This temple requires great efforts from Shiva Thondar’s.
I beg all people, Government service holders, Engineers who are well versed in Agama Shastra, Influential people, the Govt of Tamilnadu, to take steps to restore this temple.
The condition of the temple brought tears to my eyes. I request one and all to visit this temple, it will surely revive the Shivam in you.
Shri. Mahalingam’s Number is 9841336838
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