Sri Chandrasekaraswami Temple History - Part VIII

SRI CHANDRASEKARASWAMI AND MRIGADHARAMBIGAI -- Tiruchendurai
(photo courtesy – V.V. Sriram)

You enter the ardha mandapam, housing some of the vahanams , and superb bronze idols of ‘Nataraja’ and ‘Somaskanda’ – stand in the inner hall, before the sanctum sanctorum to have a darshan of Sri Chandrasekara…after that you proceed to the Ambal Sannadhi for a darshan – then enter the inner prakara where in the corner is located the ‘madappalli’ and by its side the temple well. Going through the Prakara, on the southwest corner was a dilapidated mandapa and an idol, which we were given to understand was once the ‘Kasi Viswanatha’ temple. Exactly behind the sanctum sanctorum, on the inner prakara was the ‘Subrahmanyaswami’ sannidhi – and in the northwest corner the stood the sthalavriksha, The Pala Tree, and on the northern wall the ‘Chandikeswara’ temple.


Mahesh, at my request, prepared a sketch of the temple as it stands today duly marking the various locations And I find that there has not been any major change excepting some minor shifting of the idols. For instance, the Gajalakshmi idol has been relocated, and in its place Dandapani has arrived. Nirruthi Vinayaka has an abode in southwestern corner, behind the renovated Kasi Viswanatha temple. Was the Nirruthi Vinayaka there earlier or is it a new construction? A vilvam tree keeps company with the sthala vriksha, which now has a small structure and a nandi before it. The entrance to the main temple has not seen much change, excepting it has a small portal on top of it. In the outer prakara, where there is a mandap – he calls it Nataraja Mandapa, but in my days we used to call it Jambunathaswami Mandapa.. Please see the following sketch of Mahesh.

(Click on the image to enlarge)



According to K.V. Soundararajan (former Joint Director General of Archaeology) The Chandrasekaraswami Temple at Tiruchendurai is related, in style, to the Moovarkoil at Kodumbalur, and the Sundareswararkoil at Tirukkattalai.. The Moovarkoil was built by Bhuti Vikramakesari alias Maravan Pudi, father of Pudi Aditta Pidariar (who built the Tiruchendurai temple) – Michael Meister, editing contributions of KVS, in the Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture says:

A building that still has some of the Moovarkoil look is the Candrasekhara temple at Tiruccendurai. Founded by Maravan Pudi’s daughter, Pudi Aditta Pidari, sometime before the 23rd year of Rajakesarivarma (Aditya I) A.D.894, it represents one more royal foundation of the Irrukuvel House. In size it is slightly smaller than the Moovarkoil buildings, being 21 ft. in diameter.

The temple has, as at the Moovarkoil, a Padmapushkala type of adhishtanam, the portion from the padma downward is presently buried in silt. The wall is relieved by Brahmakanta pilasters with the usual decorative carving. There are three devakoshta niches, one on each bhadra. The back niche, which may once have harboured Vishnu or perhaps Ardhanari, is now empty. Images of Vrsabhantika Siva (south) and Brahma (north) are still in position. The toranas of the Devakoshtas are enriched with figures and pearl festoons, the latter reminiscent of the Kilaiyur temples of the Paluvettaraiyar chiefs. The bhutamala shows a medley of figures – gajas, vyalas, hamsas, cakravakas, nagas, kapis and the like) together with the usual bhutas.

In the superstructure, the tall sadvarga khandaharmyas in the bhadras of the parapet of the first thala somewhat recall the central Tirubhutisvara shrine in the Moovarkoil complex. The kutas and netrakoshtas (ksudranasikas) in the hara portions bear seated figures of amaras, etc. and the images on the grhapindi walls are standing figures in varied postures. The pairs of apsaras figures which appear in the griva may have been put there later. The grivadevatas include Umasahita (east) Dakshinamurti (south), Vishnu (west) and Brahma (north).

The ardhamandapa has no devakoshtas; its entrance is flanked by split pilasters and dvarapalas with an elaborate and ornamented hairdo. Four free-standing pillars of the Misraka class occupy the nave. ***

I am amazed that so many scholars had visited our Temple in the past and made these valuable observations. There may be some more contributions, which I am not aware of, but endeavouring to find. Every visitor to the temple should now look for the images and inscriptions, and make efforts to protect and preserve them. That is the least we could do now.

- to be continued

- Sethuraman

Sri Chandrasekaraswami Temple History - Part VII

The Rajagopuram of Sri Chandrasekaraswami Temple, Tiruchchendurai stands majestically after the recent Kumbabishekam. There was, I learn, an earlier renovation in the year 1955, when the residents of the village went after the public for donations so this could be done. An appeal brought out at that time by the residents reads as under :

Renovation of the Ancient Temple of Lord Sri Chandrasekaraswami in Tiruchendurai Village.

The above temple is situated on the southern bank of the river Kaveri. It is an ancient temple referred to in the sayings of the renowned Tamil saints and Thevaram songs. It is dedicated to Lord Sri Chandrasekarar and Shakthi Sri Mrigadharambikai. The deity is also known as Mrithyunjayeswaramurthy after a local tradition of the manifestation of His Grace to a devotee called Sivamoorthy. Once a year Lord Sri Ranganathaswami of the famous Srirangam Temple comes to this village for the purpose, according to tradition, of performing pooja in this Temple. During the Chola rule the temple had been endowed with gifts from the members of the royal house as is evidenced by the inscriptions to be seen on the stone walls even now.

The old temple is now in a state of bad disrepair.. It is estimated that Rs.25000 will be the minimum required just to touch up the dilapidated portions of the walls, gopuram, etc. of the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord and Shakthi and the subsidiary temples of Shri Kasi Viswanatha, Ganesha, Subramania round about in the compound.

The President of the Renovation Committee was K.S.Chandrasekara Iyer, Vice-Presidents: T.S.Radhakrishnan, K. Rama-
Chandra Iyer, R. Venkatarama Iyer / Secretary: T.M.Krishnamoorthy Iyer (then Trustee of the temple) – Asst.Secretaries : T.V.Muthukrishnan, M.S.Venkataraman, N. Sanjeeviraman and G. Ramarathnam /Treasurer: T.M.Venkatarama Iyer

My recollection of the premises – first the Rajagopuram, then the Nandikeswarar Sannidhi – on the right side of Nandikeswarar, the Jambunathaswami Mandapam and thatched shed of the local Elementary School – this is the outer prakara with coconut trees, vilvam, poovarasu etc. – on the southern side we had a badminton court and in the west prakara we used to play football -- then comes the temple entrance, but no gopuram at all. -- and as you got in, the sanctum and the aavudaiyar will be clearly visible on a straight line from the entrance.. In the left side the Temple Nadhaswara Artistes played the instruments, and on the right centre is the Sannadhi of Mrigadharambigai, with a small prakara to it, on the right corner the ‘Navagrahas’ (presumably a later addition)… A little further up is the entrance to the Sanctum – on the left side is an image of Vallabha Ganapathi and on the right Gajalakshmi (adjacent to the opening, allowing entry from the northern inner prakara)



Photo taken on Arudradarsanam Day a few years ago – Sarvasris V. Srinivasan, T. V. Muthukrishnan, N. Sivaramakrishnan, V. Seshagiri, Muthukandaswamy and Srimathi Muthukandaswamy)

This is how the entrance to Sri Chandrasekaraswami Temple looks now. As you enter, on the right side is the galaxy of Navagrahas, statues of Bhairava and Surya, on the left is the area where the Nadhaswaram, Thavil vidwans of the temple create the divine music for the deities. The sanctum sanctorum and the Avudaiyar are clearly visible from the entrance itself; there is a central mandapa and on the right side is the sannidhi of Sri Mrigadharambigai.

A little further up is the entrance to the ardhamandapa, with the Vallabha Ganapathy, and Dandapani images flanking on the left and right sides.



(Abishekam being performed to Lord Nataraja, on Arudradarsanam day in 2003)

The word ‘arudra’ means ‘getting drenched’ and it is the day everyone gets drenched by the grace of Lord Siva. It is also on this day, it is said, that Lord Nataraja performed his cosmic dance for two of his ardent disciples Pathanjali and Vyaghrapaadha (Vaithikasri December 2008) –

The Arudra Darsanam falls on the 10th January 2009. In the old days the Swamy used to be carried around the streets of the village, but I learn that this is not being done now for want of donors/sponsors.

I could easily visualize the deities being brought outside and a drama enacted at the Tiruchendurai Temple, when the lord acts as a messenger to Paravaiar, on behalf of Sundarar.. The Odhuvar will be singing the hymns all through, and all of us will be adorned by ‘karuppu chandu’ a specialty on this day.

And everyone will also remember the ‘Kali’ that is made this day as special prasadam for the Lord Nataraja at homes. Rice pounded, and jaggery are the ingredients for making Kali, and the vegetable side dish must be of seven vegetables.

The deity’s procession around the streets of the village was reintroduced some years ago, but when I looked at a picture taken at that time, only the Swamy, the carriers, and four or five people were in the procession. The whole street was deserted otherwise. It looked miserable and obviously the residents in the village were somewhat indifferent – the procession was abandoned in the later years.

I fervently hope that the residents of the village, particularly the younger generation, make a sincere effort to revive the procession and be blessed by Chandrasekara.
(to be continued)

- Sethuraman