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