Pallikondeswarar Temple, Surutapalli – The Temple
The
temple was built during the late Vijayanagara period. The temple is facing east with a 5 tier
Rajagopuram. Presiding Deity is called as Pallikondeeswarar / Valmikeswarar and
Mother is called as Maragathambigai. The temple has an outer prakaram, an inner
prakaram. In the inner prakaram lies the Garbhagraham (the Sanctum Sanctorum),
that has the shrines of Shiva and Parvathi.
This
Temple is quite unique. Usually Lord Shiva is seen only in the form of a Linga
but here He is seen in human form and that too in the reclining pose on the lap
of Goddess Parvathi like Vishnu Ananthaasana. The name
Surutapalli comes from the fact that Lord Shiva is rested at the lap of Goddess
Parvathi feeling little dizzy after consuming poison during the churning of
milky ocean – Palli means resting, Surutta means a little dizzy.
A beautifully painted Nandhi at an elevated height in
the huge open space is in the front of the Temple. After entering
the Temple through the small Rajagopuram, the shrine of Valmikeswarar and
Goddess Maragathambigai is on the left side and the shrine of Pallikondeeswarar
is on the right side. It is said that one must visit these two temples first
before visiting the main temple. The temple of Goddess
Maragathambigai must be visited first, even before the shrine
of Valmikeswarar or the main temple.
The
specialty of this temple being that all its deities are present with their
consorts. They are: Pallikondeeswarar – Sarva Mangalambikai; Valmikeswarar – Maragathambigai;
Vinayakar – Siddhi, Buddhi; Sastha – Pooranai, Pushakalai; Kuberan – Sanganidhi
and Padumanidhi; Dhakshinamoorthy – Tara; Kasi Viswanathar – Visalakshi. Unlike
the common practice of giving Vibhoothi (holy ash) as Prasadam, as in the
temples of Lord Shiva, holy water is given here.
Valmikeswarar Shrine:
Valmikeswarar
Shrine has the Dwajasthambam, Palipeedam and Nandhi Mandapam. The main deity is
Valmikeswarar in an unusual triangular shaped Swayambu lingam. This is the
Pradhosha Murthy, the one who takes the offerings on the day of the Pradhosha.
It appeared when Sage Valmiki was in penance before he started writing his
Ramayana and so is the name Valmikeswarar. In front of the Valmikeswarar
shrine, to the left, is present a stone with many foot prints of kids.
When
Kanchi Mahaperiyava camped here for 40 days in 1976, he showed a place and
asked people to dig it. When they did, they found this stone and Mahaperiyava
disclosed that the footprints are those of Rama’s twins – Lava and Kucha. Lord
Krishna and Lord Hanuman are situated to the left of Valmikeswarar.
In the
entrance to the chamber of Lord Shiva are also present Lord Rama with
Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman along with Bharata and Shatrugna. The outside Nandhi
for which Pradhosha Abhishekam is being done, is facing Valmikeswarar through
the grills in the walls of the Ramalingeswarar shrine. Ramalingeswarar and
Valmikeswarar Shrines are located next to Mother Shrine. Both the shrines are facing
each other.
Koshta Deities:
Nardana Vinayaga,
Dhakshinamoorthy, Brahma and Durgai are the Koshta Deities around the sanctum
walls.
Dhampathi samedha
Dhakshinamoorthy:
Dhakshinamoorthy
is situated on the left wall of the Valmikeswarar shrine. Lord is in a form
entirely different from the usual image. Here he is Dhampathi (Gowri) Samedha
Dakshinamurthy. Incidentally, the Lord is often erroneously referred to as
Dampadya Dakshinamurthy. Clearly seen are sages, Patanjali and Vyagrapathar.
The Lord, mounted on his bull mount is in a seated posture with one foot on
Apasmasura and the other leg folded on a Yoga Pattai and embracing his Consort
Gowri on a Rishaba Vahana. He is believed to bless people with good matrimony
and children. Apart from here he is seen with his consort as ‘Sakthi
Dhakshinamoorthy’ in Tirukallil.
Lingothbhavar:
Lingothbhavar
is situated behind Valmikeswarar facing west. Lingothbhavar sculpture is again
an intricately carved. Siva is standing inside a Lingam depicting endless
column of fire. Below is Varaha and on the left, is the swan indicating Brahma.
To the right is Thazhampoo. Both depicting the well-known legend.
Brahma:
Brahma
is situated on the right side of the sanctum wall.
Goddess
Durga:
Goddess
Durga is situated besides Brahma facing north. Unlike the usual ferocity, her
face is so smiling that one can keep looking at her. And like Goddess Meenakshi
of Madurai, she too has a parrot on her hand, something that is very
special for a Durga statue to have.
Ekapatha Trimurthy Shrine:
Ekapatha
Trimurthy is situated on the inner prakaram facing Lingothbhavar. Here Ekapatha
Trimurthy is a carving, depicting the trinity standing on one foot. In the
centre is Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu to his left and Lord Brahma to his right. One
foot of Vishnu rests on the Garuda and one foot of Brahma rests on the Swan.
The other foot of both joins with the foot that all three are depicted standing
on.
Mother Shrine:
Mother
is called as Maragadambikai. She is housed in a separate shrine facing east. Mother
is in standing Posture. The Ambal shrine is at a slightly more elevated level
than the Pallikondeswarar Sannidhi to highlight that it was she who saved the
Lord. Goddess is present with Kamadenu and Karapaha Viruksham on either side.
Mother Shrine is guarded by Sanganidhi and Padmanidhi as Dwarapalakas. Outside
are her sons, Saligrama Ganapathi and Subramanya. On the left wall of the Ambal
shrine is Raja Rajeswari in a standing posture after destroying Bhandasura.
Behind is Mahalakshmi and on the right wall is Saraswathi.
Appar,
Sundarar, Sambandar, Valmiki, Varasiddhi Vinayagar, Kasi Viswanathar with
Visalakshi, Sri Venugopalan, Adhikara Nandhi are all present in the inner
praharam. Unusually there is no separate shrine for Ganesha. Subramanyar with
his consorts Valli and Deivanai is present facing south, which is the direction
of Yama, the king of death. So, it is believed that worshipping him will remove
one’s death fears. Next to him is present the Rajamadangi shrine and it seems
there is an underground passage going to Kalahasthi but is covered completely
now without any symptom of it.
Palli Kondeswarar Shrine:
Presiding
Deity is called as Palli Kondeswarar (translates to reclining deity) / Vishapaharanar
(one who swallowed poison). Lord Shiva is seen in reclining posture (Bhoga
Sayana) in the lap of his consort Parvati as Sarva Mangalambikai, which is typical of Ranganatha form of the
god Vishnu. This icon of Shiva is unusual; most Shiva temples
contain a Lingam, his aniconic symbol, as the central icon. The granite
sculpture of the reclining Lord is huge to about 16 feet, as also the image of
the seated Parvathi.
Sun God
and Moon God are present on either side of Goddess Parvathi; Lord Maha Vishnu,
Brahma, Lakshmi, Sage Markandeya, Sage Agasthiar, Sage Valmiki, Indran, Sage
Naradhar, Sanakathi Munis, Nandikeswarar, Lord Subrahmanya with his Consorts,
Lord Ganapathy and many devars and rishis are present in the sanctum sanctorum
as sculptures. The whole Kailasam has assembled there, a scene which cannot be
seen in any other temple.
Here
Vibhoothi (holy ash) is not given as prasadam like the other Shiva temples,
instead holy water is given as prasadam and blessing is done with Chadari like
a Vaishnavite temple. Sitting at the entrance of the shrine of Lord Shiva, is
the God who gets the first respects, the destroyer of all obstacles, Lord
Ganapathi. The garbha griha is guarded by Lord Kubera (God of wealth) with
his consort Sanganidhi on left side and with another consort Padumanidhi on the
right side.
Other Shrines & Sthala Vriksham:
The
temple has countless icons, besides the central icon; Brahma, Vishnu, Chandra, Kubera, Surya, Indra, Ganesha, Kartikeya with consorts Valli, Deivayanai, Eka Pada Moorthy, Dhakshinamoorthy, Raja Madhangi,
Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Bhairava, Poorna Pushkala samedha Sastha, Surya, Chandra,
Indran, Varasiddhi Vinayaka Ganesha), Venugopala Swami (Lord Krishna), Kasi
Viswanathan with Visalakshi, Bhrigu, Markandeya, Narada, Agastya, Pulasthya, Gautama, Thumburu, Vashista, Viswamithra, Valmiki, Adhi Shankara, another form of Shiva, in a separate
niche, Sapta Mata (seven mothers) namely, Bhavani, Maheshwari, Kaumari,
Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani and Chamundi, Navagrahas, Durga, Lingothbhavar, Nardana
Ganapathy, Raja Rajeshwari, Sanganidhi
and Padumanidhi with their consorts
Vasundara and Vasumathi
Saptha
kanniyars are present in the outer prakaram. The shrine of Lord
Subrahmanya with Valli and Devasena faces south, yet another speciality. There
is also a deity of Sage Valmiki, depicted sitting and having a turban on his
head. In the outer prakaram in the southwest corner, is the Sthala Vriksham, a
peepal tree that is so huge and tall and widespread, hosting the shrine of the
Nagaraja. The place next to it is filled with the symbolic homes that people
built with the stones nearby to get the boon of a new home. This popular belief
is being followed very specially at Siruvarpuri Murugan temple but generally
followed in most of the temples in this region till Thirupathi.
