The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Where the Lord is named after a devotee

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Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Where the Lord is named after a devotee

PHOTO: R.M.RAJARATHINAM.

new look: The more spacious mandapam in front of Sri Manicka Vinayagar temple.

A small shrine dedicated to Sri Manicka Vinayagar at the bottom of the Rockfort Sri Thayumanaswamy temple is all set to have a new-look on Wednesday when the ‘noothana mahakumbahishekam’ of the ‘swarna vimanam’ and the sanctum sanctorum will be performed.

Legend presents interesting details about the original structure of the shrine as also the nomenclature of Lord Ganapathy here, reflecting the gradual development of this temple in a phased manner over several decades and also the presiding deity’s blessings to devotee, Manickam.

According to temple history, the idol of Sri Manicka Vinayagar was installed at the entrance to the Rockfort during the Nayak regime. The presiding deity is ardently worshipped as ‘Yajaman’ or ‘Mudalali,’ signifying a rare devotion filled with obedience and gratitude among the devotees.

The deity is also known as ‘Kaarya Siddhi Vinayagar,’ indicating the fulfilment of vows of the devotees. Devotees invoke His blessings by writing down the name of the deity for one lakh times.

‘Adivaara Pillaiyar’ is another name for the deity, by virtue of the location of the temple at the bottom of the hillock.

The idol, installed in a tiny sanctorum, draws the attention of every devotee by virtue of its vantage position at the entrance to the Rockfort. The temple did not even have any ‘mandapam’ or outer praharam in its early stage. But thanks to the devotees’ efforts and donation of lands in the past, an outer praharam was constructed and a ‘mandapam’ in front of the sanctum sanctorum together with a ‘kannadi arai’ and a ‘gopuram’ also came into existence.

The original name of this deity, according to a legend, was said to be ‘Siddhi Vinayagar’ but the Lord came to be named as ‘Manicka Vinayagar’ in memory of a devotee, Manickam, who is said to have volunteered to take up proper upkeep of the temple and its daily rituals. In course of time, the Lord was popularly known as Sri Manicka Vinayagar and the temple came under the administrative jurisdiction of the Rockfort temple authorities.

Devotees perform ‘girivalam’ with this shrine of Sri Manicka Vinayagar as the starting-point for the worship.

Every ‘mahakumbabhishekam’ brings about new facility for the temple and, the current rituals can be no exception.

The mandapam in front of the sanctum sanctorum was so small that many devotees used to have a glimpse of the image of the Lord through the mirror, particularly when ‘maha deeparadanai’ is performed to the presiding deity.

The temple authorities made special arrangements for the expansion of the ‘mandapam’ so as to accommodate a larger number of devotees.

Another special feature of this mahakumbabhishekam is the adorning the ‘vimanam’ of the sanctum sanctorum with a gold-coated plates.

A sum of Rs. 1.5 crore had been spent for making the copper castings and gold-coated vimanam. The mandapam will have an additional 1,600 sq. feet, according to the Assistant Commissioner of the temple, G. Gopalakrishnan.

Special ‘yagasalai’ has been set up for the four-kaala pujai which concludes at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. The ‘mahakumbabhishekam’ for the gold-coated vimanam will be performed at 9.30 a.m. and, for the presiding deity and the processional deities at 10 a.m.

Sri-la-Sri Sanmuga Desika Gnanasambanda Paramacharya Swamigal and Sri Mouna Kumaraswamy Thambiran Swamigal will grace the ‘mahakumbabhishekam’.

The Board of Trustees, led by its Chairman M. Sundararajulu, has made arrangements for the rituals.

M. BALAGANESSIN

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