TEMPLE CAR TIED DOWN TO BASE

( Courtesy: V.Ganapathi, THE HINDU, Friday, December 17, 1993 )

The kumbabhishekam of the Lalgudi Saptharisheeswarar temple was performed recently, but the temple car,
one of the biggest and most beautiful, will never move out of the base, since all the roads and paths the car has
to travel through, have been narrowed down by encroachments.

Thiruthavathurai, now called Lalgudi, is situated on the banks of the river Colerroon (known also as North
Cauvery), about 20 kms from Tiruchi. The temple here has won a unique place among the temples of Tamil
Nadu, in that it was here that the seven rishis, Atri, Brihu, Pulasthiar, Vasishtar, Gauthamar, Angeerasar and
Marichi prayed to the presiding deity, Saptharisheeswarar, to ward off the bad period they were passing
through. The temple was taken up for being extended by the Parantaka Kings, in the 8th century, and was further
extended by Vijayanagar kings. The great Saivaite saints, Tirugnanasambandar, Thirunavukkarasar and
Arunagirinathar, have praised the presiding deity of the temple in their hymns while Saint Tyagaraja composed
the famous five Lalgudi Pancharathna Krithis in the ragas Bhairavi, Todi, Kalyani, Kambhoji and
Madhyamavathi in praise of Goddess Srimathi (Perunthirupiratti), the consort of Saptharisheeswarar. Vidwan
Meenakshisundaram Pillai, has composed one hundred Pillai Thamizh songs in praise of the Goddess
Perunthirupiratti. Sri Pazhuvur Kumaraswamy Mudaliar has also written a very exhaustive sthala puranam of
the temple.

The main sanctum sanctorum of the temple, built by Parantaka Ardhanareeswara, Veena Dakshnimurthy and
the scores of yalis in a row at the bottom outer wall of the sanctum sanctorum, are typical examples of the very
high standard of Chola sculpture, according to Mr.K.Raman, sthapathi of the Tamil Nadu Archaelogy
Department. Similarly the miniature panels depicting scenes from the Siva Puranam and the Ramayana which
adorn the wall of the outer sanctum sanctorum, bear testimony to the height of craftsmanship attained by the
stapathis of the time.

Sri Ganesa Gurukkal, whose ancestors were the priests of the temple for the past four generations, said that the
annual sapthasthana festival was very important. Then the deity visits the nearby villages of Idayathimangalam,
Manthurai, Anbilalanthurai, Angarai, Manakkal, Mayilrangam and Sathamangalam, in the Tamil month of
Panguni (March-April).

The Thiruvathirai festival in the month of Margazhi, attracts thousands of devotees from all over the State, and
is second in importance only to the Chidambaram Thiruvathirai festival. On all days of the festival, the
magnificent Lord Nataraja idol of the temple is taken in a procession from the Kili mandapam to the Natya
mandapam, when a special form of dance known as Ananda natanam is performed by the devotees carrying the
Uthsavamurthi in the palanquin. From the very special style of dance, played to the accompaniment of Uzhal, a
unique percussion instrument, it is clear that Bharatanatyam was given a very important place in the day-to-day
pooja activities of the temple, said Sri Ganesa Gurukkal. He added that during the festival, a special pooja was
performed to the fine art of dance.

In the Thiruthavathurai temple, there are also shrines for Srinivasa Perumal, Garuda Alwar and Goddess
Lakshmi. The sthala Vriksham of the temple is said to be the mango arasu. At the present moment, there is no
mango-arasu in the temple, but in its place a 15 feet tall granite pillar has been erected.

There are over 100 inscriptions in the temple and the earliest relates to the Pallava king Nandivarman III.
According to Mr.K.Sridharan, Registration Officer of the Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department, these
inscriptions refer to the gifts made by the kings and devotees to the temple staff and others who were entrusted
with the daily maintenance of the temple, arrangement for poojas, supply of grains, oil, ghee etc. for the daily
poojas etc.
After a lapse of 42 years the renovation and Maha Kumbabhishekam of the temple was performed, recently at a
cost of about Rs.10 lakhs. Mr.Mahalingam, Executive Officer of the temple said that it was gratifying that the
Thiruthavathurai P.Sundaresanar naadukaan kuzhu (the devotees association of the temple) was very active, and
it was taking a very active interest in the proper arrangement for the performance of the poojas etc. The
association has taken the initiative in installing marble slabs in the Amman shrine, the Pillai Tamil songs of
Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and also the pancharathna krithis of saint Tyagaraja. At the time of the
Kumbabhishekam, the association also installed the idols of all the 63 nayanmars in the temple. There is a
separate trust which is in charge of making arrangements for the annual Thiruvathirai festival.

While the devotees and public are very happy that after a gap of four decades, the Kumbabhishakam of the
temple was performed, they are frustrated over the fact that the magnificent 40 foot tall temple car, weighing
about 40 tonnes, which has hundreds of exquisitely carved panels, relating to Siva Puranam, Thiruvilaiyadal
puranam, Ramayana etc. will never roll down the Raja Veethis (streets) on the four sides of the temple.

But the devotees feel that the temple car should be open for the public during the time of the annual car festival.
At present the temple car has been neatly covered with aluminum sheets, to protect it from rain and shine. The
last time the giant car rolled majestically down the car streets of Lalgudi was in 1939. The brilliant panels of the
temple car, are today filled with dust, dirt, cobwebs and the droppings of the hundreds of bats which stay
permanently on the wooden panels of the car. The devotees feel that the temple car could be opened during the
annual car festival period in the month of April, cleaned up and worship offered. There are hundreds of
magnificent panels in the car. For example one of the panels depicts an aerial view of the Saptharisheeswara
temple, showing a model of the temple and the saptha rishis worshipping the presiding deity.