Tirupanjali Neelivaneshwar temple is 5 Kms from Tiruvellarai Pundareekaksha Perumal temple and about 20 Kms from Trichy. It is situated in a beautiful village surrounded by greenery. This Siva temple is also one of the padal petra sthalams . The Lingam of Neelivaneshwar is very small and is a Swayambhu Lingam . Neeli means banana trees and there are lot of banana trees in this temple and is considered as the sthala vriksham .
The Main tower
A View from Outside
Ravana Vayil, the second tower
Inside the Main tower
The Sthala Vricksham
The Gopuram here also looks incomplete or worn out like the Tiruvellarai temple. The second tower known as Ravana Vayil is intact. There is a Siva Lingam just outside this tower in a small shrine known as Chotrudaieeshwaran . It is believed that the Lord himself served rice to the the saint Tirunavukkarasar who was hungry and tired when he was on his way to this temple and later Siva appeared here in the form of a Lingam . There's a festival here in the month of Chithirai related to this event.
Before entering the Ravana vayil tower pilgrims have to offer their prayers at the shrine of Yama the God of Death. I think this is the only temple where we have a shrine dedicated to God of death This shrine is in a cave under the ground. To save Markendeya from the clutches of Yama, Siva kills him and it is here that the God resurrected him. Yama here is in the form of a child. People offer special poojas for longer life and to ward off ill effects.
This temple does not have any Navgraha images. There are 9 steps leading from the Ravana Vayil tower inside the temple and this is built with the belief that the Navagrahas themselves were like slaves to Ravana. There are nine small pits near the Nandi in front of the main Lingam and are worshipped as Navagrahas.
The main deity Neelishwarar is also known as Adhikara Vallabhar as the deity here restored Yama all his powers to perform his duty.There are two shrines for Amman here ,one for Visalakshi and other for Neela Nedunkann Amman. This shrine has a separate dwajasthambha.
Parvati had performed penance here and she wished to have some shade during her penance and the sapta kanyas became the plaintain trees to provide shade to Her. Hence the Neelivanam ,with 7 plaintain trees occupies a special place in the temple. Devotees perform special rituals on Sundays to these plantain trees here in belief that this will lead them to matrimony. The plantain trees have yellow threads tied to it as part of the ritual. See the photo.
How to reach: Trichy is well connected by rail, road and air. It is better to hire cabs to reach this temple as the frequency of buses are very low.
Chotrudaieeshwar shrine on the left side
45 comments:
Liked the third shot from the top the best.
Interesting..Temple for God of Death!1 :-)
The pictures are neat.
Thank you Mridula. It was geting dark and we were in a hurry to click pictures before day light faded.
Insignia dear,
Thanks a lot. There's a strange custom too, after visiting Yama's shrine we have to wash our hands and legs before entering the temple.
Nice temple, was nice reading abt it,
Sushma
Thank you for the comment.
This Temple does indeed look a little the worse for wear, a touch worn as you say.
Is that plaintain in the bottom photograph?
Interesting..
Nice temple,
feel great
satguru-satykikhoj.blogspot.com
PW
They are the plantains trees which are considered to be sacred in this temple.
Rajiv Kumar Kulshresht
Thanks for the visit, comment and encouraging words.
I will make changes in the comment section.
nice one chitra! didnt know about Yama being in the form of a child, though have heard of his shrine here....
Chitra, very nice write up abt the temple dear we went to samayapuram n srirangam often dear my dad n my bro was studied in Ramakrishna thapovanam in Jeeyapuram. Very nice info n pics of this temple dear.
It is always such a pleasure to come across temples that have not be 'prettified or splashed around with paint!!! Thank you!
Anu
Is there a temple dedicated to Yama in Mumbai also?. I came across this for the first time and it was so dark inside the cave it was very difficult to make other images which were there along with Yama. I think image of Somaskandar and Sivakami are also there.
Sathya
This temple is also very close to Trichy you can visit on your next trip.
?
I also liked this temple though the tower was in a dilapidated condition .It also added a certain charm to this temple
omg years ago i visited my uncle's house in worraiyur trichy.. me and my cousins used to hire bicycles and visit various temples everyday esp those far away....wonderful ya...and hey friend..thanks 4 yr kind encouragement yar..cheers n best wishes 2 yr family:)
Ramesh
One has to take the Trichy- Worraiyur road to visit this temple. Happy to know you have visited many temples in that area and yes...your comment gave a pleasant feeling for me. Have a nice day dear friend.
Chitra,
Thanks for this post. The earliest layers of this temple - seen from the first three images of yours - seem to be datable to about 9th century Ce ie, beginning of Chola rule.
Tiruvellarai is certainly later than this.
These shrines were earlier brick structures which were erected much earlier. The Cholas took them up and converted into stone shrines to give them longer life.
Archana,
From the appearance itself this temple looks pretty old. There are ruins of some shrines inside the temple but I am not sure if the tower was left incomplete or got ruined by the vagaries of nature.
Wow! I liked the detailed history you have provided here. I am very excited here. The history of this temple seems to has its roots spread across various events than based on a single one. It is also nice that the Lord of Death is being worshiped. One must do that very often not to wish for long life but to wish for peace after death. Loved the pictures. :-)
Vittal
I absolutely agree with you on the last statement- 'We must pray for peace after death' and this will also remind us that death is inevitable and that thought itself must help people to do good deeds while alive.
yes i think Yama temples are rare in India.
Nice narration. Beautiful pictures. Have been to Trichy many times. But did not hear about this temple until now.
sm
Thanks for the comment. I also came across yama's temple for the first time.
SG
Hope you had a nice trip.
Thanks for the comment. This temple is in a remote village. Even I could not find much information about this temple on the net.
Beautiful temple..
Looks very ancient..nice pics!
Thanks Arti. I read your posts thru' BPOTW
See you again!
hi friend..just to say Hi:) cheers
I always learn so much from you. I did not know there was a God of Death. It's an interesting story and the temples are as always, beautiful.
Thanks for being such a lovely person and friend. I enjoy our "visits".
:-)
Ramesh
Thank you dear...
Traci
Nice to see you here. I know you are busy putting things in order after your memorable trip. I also feel so happy to be in touch with you.
Great pics, beautiful temple!
Looks so ancient!
Short Poems
Welcome to my blog. Thanks for the comment.
The day you posted this, I tried to post my comment atleast 4 times. No luck :-( I don't know why this happens often with me and your blog. But anyway I shall persist & always come back to leave my comment !! Haha..
I never knew about this temple in Trichy. Interesting to read about Yama being worshipped :)
lostworld
Thanks for your perseverance. I am surprised to know that you are finding it difficult to post comments. I thought you were on a vacation.
Lovely pics on this blog.. its like a virtual tour.. Thanks!! Your blog is awesome!
Does anybody have the address of this temple. Actually we wanted to send my sister's wedding invitation. but we dint had the address. When i searched through net, i dint get that. If anybody can post, it will be helpful for others.
So, we just send it to the address which we collected orally from relatives. I will post it soon here. Thought it may not be exact, it may be least useful to somebody.
Address of the Temple:
Tirupainjali Neelivaneshwar temple,
Via: Trichy Tollgate to Manachanalloor,
Trichy Dt.
Bommanan
I am happy to see your comment and hope this address would be helpful for many.
Thanks.
Patricia
welcome to my blog. Please do visit when you find time. thanks for the encouraging words.
very nice write up abt the temple. If it is possible please provide the contact details of phone etc.,
CRA,
I tried my best to get some info. No phone no. is available with me. I also didn't have any info. about this temple while visiting,thanks to a good friend of ours who took us there.
Mr, Bommannan has given an address which is in the above comment .
pasting here for you.Address of the Temple:
Tirupainjali Neelivaneshwar temple,
Via: Trichy Tollgate to Manachanalloor,
Trichy Dt.
This is about 20 kms north-west of Trichy; 8kms from Mannachanallor on the northern bank of Kollidam.( this also I saw in some other write up. )
Relly amacing moments on my life.
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