About
Thirukazhukundram |
Thirukazhukundram or Thirukkalukundram is an ancient town in
Kanchipuram district of the Tamil Nadu, South India.
Thirukazhukundram is near Kalpakkam. Thirukazhukundram is
located 70 km away from Chennai and 15 km away from the famous
tourist town Mahabalipuram.
Thirukazhukundram is famous for its Hindu temple,
Vedagiriswarar temple, popularly known as Kazhugu koil (Eagle
temple). There are two temples, one in the basement of the
hill and other atop the hill. The main attraction here is the
large temple located atop the mountain which houses the deity
of Vedagiriswarar, Lord Shiva. The temple at the foothills is
devoted to Thirupurasundari amman, Parvathi, the consort. It
is enclosed by four gopurams which resemble the temple
architecture of Thiruvannamalai Annamalaiyaar temple.
Vedagiriswarar temple temple is located on the highway between
Chennai and Kalpakkam. Inside the temple, there is big statue
of Agrora Veerapathirar. It is also linked with Chengalpattu
and Mahabalipuram. It is 25 kms. from Mamamallapuram and 10
kms from Chengalpattu. It is a saivaite shrine. Main god and
goddess of the shrine are Thiripurasundari udanurai
Vedagireeswarar. There is a separate temple called as Nalvar
temple situated a kilometre away from the main temple.Another
temple of Theerthapureeswarar at Sangu Theertham was
established by Shri “Margandeyar”
The major attractions for the visitors are the two holy eagles
appearing over the temple to worship the Lord every day. They
come down to a rock where sweet rice is offered as food. To
watch these eagles taking the food is a rare experience.
According to tradition, the four Vedas, Sama, Rig, Yajur, and
Atharvana, are seen here in the shape of four boulders, placed
one above the other, with Lord Siva as Vedagiriswarar,
emerging from the head of the fourth Veda, Atharvana. Hence
the place gets the name Vedagiri, where the presiding deity on
the hilltop is Vedagiriswarar.
The the ertham is Changu theertham and the sthala vriksham is
kadali (plantain) tree. The Moolavar is Vedagiriswarar and
Ambal is Tirupurasundari. Several Saivaite saints and poets
such as Sundarar, Appar, Manickavaasagar, Pattinathaar,
Arunagirinathar, Andagakavi Veeraraga Mudaliar, Tiruporur
Chidambaram Swaamigal, Ramalinga Adigalar, Ramanathapuram
Somasundaram Pillai, Kanchipuram Mahavidwan Sabapathi Mudaliar
have sung the praise of this sthalam. |
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History of Thirukazhukundram |
The
word Thirukazhukundram comes from the Tamil words Thiru
(Respectful), Kazhugu (Eagle), Kundram (mount). It was known as
"Thirukazhugukundram" in ancient times, which, over time became
Thirukazhukundram. The town is also known as Pakshi Theertham
(Bird's Holy Lake) because of a pair of birds -Most likely
Egyptian Vultures- that are considered to have visited the site
for centuries. These birds are usually fed by the temple priests
and arrive before noon to feed on offerings made from wheat,
rice, sugar and ghee.Although punctual, the failure of the birds
to turn up was attributed to the presence of "sinners" among the
onlookers. Legend has it the vultures (or "eagles") signify
eight sages who were punished by Shiva with two of them leaving
in each of a series of epochs. It has also been known as
Brahmapuri,Uruthrakodi, Narayanapuri,Dinakarapuri,Nandipuri,
Indrapuri, Muniganapuri in the past. |
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The Holy Hill |
It is
believed that the hill has numerous medicinal herbs and plants
and therefore the cool breeze is said to cure sickness. As the
Vedas exists as Hill - it is believed that undertaking
circumambulation of the Hill gives effect equivalent to
worshipping the Vedas. |
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Theerthams Around The Hill |
There are 12 Theerthams (holy water tanks) around the
hillock. They are :-
1. Varuna theertham,
2. Pakshi Theertham.
3. Nandi Theertham,
4. Kaushika Theertham,
5. MeygyAna Theertham,
6. Agasthiya Theertham,
7. Markandeya Theertham,
8. Vashishta Theertham,
9. Rudra Theertham,
10. Indra Theertham,
11. Agalikai Theertham,
12. Sambu Theertham
The temple has four gopurams (towers), the tallest with
nine tiers (on the southern side) and the other three with
seven tiers.The tank, Nandi Thirtham, is located in the prakaram of
the temple,. It has a vast Nandi (mount of Siva), facing
Vedagiriswarar on the hilltop. The absence of a Nandi
before the presiding deity on the hilltop is a distinctive
feature.Goddess Tirupurasundari has a special temple. Around the
sanctum carved on marble slabs fixed on the walls, are
verses from the "Abhirami Andhathi.
According to the legend the two birds fly every day from
Varanasi on the Ganges(Northern India) to this temple
flying about two thousand miles, arriving at noon. They
have lunch here and then fly southern most point of India,
to Rameswaram. They then fly north up the coast to
Chidambaram, go to sleep, and in the morning they fly
north to Varanasi for a bath in the Ganges and then off
back to Thirukazhukundram again. They are not considered
as normal birds but as fabulous "eight sages" or
Asthavasus. In Indian Mythology, Asthvasus were safeguard
to the eight points of the area. But they did sacrament on
which Hindu Lord Shiva was angry and cursed them to turn
into vultures. When they asked for forgiveness, Lord Siva
directed them to the temple of Vedagiri Ishwara where they
would be fed and worshiped. They remained there in the
temple. In the last three yugams(epoch), three pairs died
leaving the last couple surviving in this epoch. Legend
also says that the birds will not come if there are
sinners in the crowd which assembles at the temple.
The mystical bird pair used to appear every day at noon at
Thirukazhukundram till 1998 . But one day they stopped
coming and they simply vanished. For the local people its
a bad sign and attributed to the presence of "sinners"
among the onlookers. For a decade now, no fabulous birds
has visited the temple but the ceremony is of practised by
the temple priest in the hope that they eventually will
turn up some day. |
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Poets |
The
four Nayanmars, Appar, Manickavasagar, Thirugnanasamandhar and
Sundarar visited the temple complex and composed songs in honor
of Vedagiriswarar. A temple, Nalvar Koil, is devoted to them.
Arunagirinathar composed many of his hymns of Thirupugazh in
Thirukazhukundram. |
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Mythology |
Sage
Bharadwaja prayed to Shiva for a long life so he could learn all
the Vedas.Shiva appeared before him and awarded him the wish to
learn the Vedas and created three mountains each signifying a
Veda (Rig, Yajur and Sama). Shiva took a handful of mud and said
"Dear Bharadwaja! The Vedas that you could learn are only this
handful compared to the mountains present here, even if you live
much longer and hence, learning is never ending and could
possibly cannot be the route for Salvation". Shiva also said
that in Kaliyuga, the simplest and the surest way to salvation
is Bhakti or unfettered devotion, service and love of God and
his creations. It is considered that the hill on which the
Vedagiriswarar temple is built is the fabulous mountains
signifying Vedas created by Shiva himself. The name
Vedagiriswarar means "the Lord of the Vedic Mountains" in
Sanskrit. |
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Location of Thirukazhukundram |
Thirukazhukundram is located on State Highway 58, It is about 70
km away from Chennai and 15 km away from the well-known tourist
town Mahabalipuram. It is also 15 km away from Chengalpattu. |
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