Saptha Vidanga Kshetram
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The story of how a devoted hereditary Gurukal understood the psyche of the current generation of devotees and created a monthly utsavam to bring crowds back at this Thevaram Sthalam
On Thei Pirai Ashtami every month, a Homam is performed for Bairavar, an event watched with devotion by over 2000 people
42 year old Pichumani Gurukal has been at the Appar and Thiru Gnana Sambandar praised Thiruvamunathar temple in Thiruvaimur, a location so remote that there are no bus facilities to this temple, for the last three decades. So attached was he to this temple that even as a young boy, he would run fast from the school to come and assist his father, who served for over 50 years at a salary of Rs 60 at the temple. Not too far in the distant past, the entire village ( and the lands) belonged to the temple. Close to 25 people worked at the temple. Utsavams were vibrant. His mind was not too focused on academics. He learnt the Agamas from father, now 76 years old Panchakshara Shivachariar, a Sanskrit Samrat and one of the most respected in the region. His father is the sthaneegam at the Murugan temple in Ettukudi, where he continues to perform service at this grand old age. Pichu mani Guru kal's grandfather tooo hand server athu the temple for several decades.
Even as Pichumani Gurukal grew up, he saw a steep deterioration in the finances at the temple. Income from the lands dried up. Salary of the priests and the service personnel did not go up even as the cost of living rose drastically in the passing decades. Brahmotsavam came to a halt over three decades ago as did many of the other annual utsavams at the temple. While the priests have been here for several generations and continued to serve Lord, the service personnel began leaving the temple one by one and there are just three of them a scenario that would have broken the heart of many priests but the ones from this family.
With his devotional commitment coming to the forefront, Pichumani Gurukal brought together the residents of this ancient temple town. While many issues remain including the issue of low salary to the priest, he has with the support from the villagers revived the Vaikasi Brahmotsavam. Abhisekam for the Lord is done six times in the year.
Thei Pirai Ashtami Utsavam
As part of his revival initiatives, Pichumani highlighted the special features of the Ashta Bairavar, a differentiated Sannidhi at this temple. And this got the devotees interested as many found their problems being sorted out through the special pooja and homam he performed on Thei Perai Ashtami. And as the word spread, devotees are now thronging the temple in 1000s on the ashtami day every month. Over 2000 people are fed on this day after the Homam and Pooja.
As with many other ancient temples (Patteeswaram Durgai (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/07/patteeswaram-thiru-gnana-sambanthar.html) and Thirunallur Saneeswarar being cases in point), the original history has been lost to the devotees of the current generation and they have taken to the parikara and prarthana route to this temple. As he went through challenging times in the first two decades of his service at the temple, Pichumani Gurukal realized the psyche of the devotees. And as he created this new belief of Ashta Bairavar solving all their problems, the temple atleast on the devotees front has seen a sudden transformation.
The Legendary Tale - Saptha Vidanga Sthalam
Indra sought Vishnu’s help to protect the Devas from an Asura. Vishnu handed him the idol of Thyagaraja and asked him to perform pooja. He also directed him to Chozha King Musukuntha, a great Saivite Devotees, as the asura had obtained the boon of being killed only by humans.
After the asura was killed, a delighted Indra took Musukunta to his abode. An invisible voice directed him to take Thyagaraja’s idol to Thiruvarur. When Indra offered a boon to the king for helping him win, the king asked for the idol leaving Indra stunned. That night, Indra asked sculptor Vishwakarma to make 6 similar idols. When Indra offered the king any of the 7 idols hoping that the king would not be able to distinguish the real one and would take one of the 6 that were created the previous night, Musukuntha Chozha with his true devotion identified the original one. Delighted with the sincerity of the king’s devotion to Lord Shiva, Indra handed him all the 7 idols. Musukuntha made his way to Thiruvarur in a Chariot procession and celebrated with a grand festival.
After installing the original one at Tiruvarur, he took the other 6 idols and installed it at Thiru Kolili, Thiru Kaaraayil, Thiru Maraikkadu, Thiru Vaimur, Thiru Nallaru and Thiru Nagai. These 7 are referred to as Saptha Vidanga Kshetram.
The story of Musukuntha, the Chozha King
Once while Shiva and Parvati were resting in the groves of Kailasam, a male monkey kept throwing Vilva leaves on them. Shiva intervened in time to prevent an irritated Parvati from uttering a curse on the monkey reminding her that it was Shivarathri and the monkey had indeed performed a divine deed by placing Vilva leaves on them. Thus, a likely curse turned into a blessing. The male monkey requested that he be born with a monkey face in memory of his previous birth and as a great devotee of Lord Shiva. This was Musukuntha Chozha who ruled the Chozha kingdom with Karuvurai as his capital.
Appar and Thiru Gnana Sambandar's Praise
Appar in his Thiru Kurun Thogai and Thiru Gnana Sambandar in his Thiru Murai have praised the Lord of Thiruvaimur.
Appar's Praise
The Temple is open from 630am -12noon and from 5pm-830pm. Contact Pichumani Gurukal @94880 77126
There are a number of inscriptions on the outer walls of the Prakara that date back a 1000 years.
How to reach
Thiruvaimur is 2kms from Ettukudi Murugan temple. Buses every hour from Katchanam on the Thiruvarur -Thiruthuraipoondi Highway. Auto from Katchanam will cost Rs. 200.
From Thiruthuraipoondi, take the Nagapattinam bound bus and get down at Keezhaiyur. An auto from Keezhaiyur to the temple will cost Rs. 50,
