Behold the Trident, the Crescent, the garland...
T. A. SRINIVASAN.
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The four Saivite saints have sung the glory of Poovana Nathar, deity of Tiruppuvanam temple, near Madurai.
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MASSIVE: The pillars of the mahamantapam bear exquisite carvings. — PHOTO: K. Ganesan
Those who have seen ``Parthipan Kanavu," Tamil film based on Kalki's historical of the same title, are likely to remember ``Vadiveru Thirisoolam thondrum, thondrum," saint Appar's song movingly rendered by M. L. Vasanthakumari. The song was dedicated to Lord Siva enshrined in the temple at Thiruppuvanam, 20 km east of Madurai on the road to Manamadurai, on the southern bank of the Vaigai. The saint hails the deity as ``Poovanathem Punithanaar" or the sacred Lord of Poovanam.
The saint goes on to say that the beholder will first see the Trident, the Crescent on the matted locks of the Lord, the garland of Konrai flowers with their divine smell around His neck, His waist wrapped in elephant skin and finally the whole image of the Lord smeared with the holy ash.
The place is considered as holy as Varanasi as the Vaigai takes a turn towards the north here and then flows towards east. Sung by the four saints, Appar, Sundarar, Thirugnanasambandar and Manickavasagar and also by Karuvur Thevar in his ``Thiruvisaippaa," the place once had thousands of Sivalingam and hence all the planets and stars would circumambulate them while going over this place, according to Paranjothi Munivar, author of ``Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam."
Sambandar sings (Thevaram) that the three Tamil kings — Chera, Chozha and Pandya — worshipped the Lord here. Manickavasagar, in his ``Potri Thiruvagaval" refers to the Lord here as ``Poruppamar Poovanathaan." Karuvur Thevar describes this place full of high-rise buildings and houses whose tops were grazed by the moon.
All these are, however, images from the past as the present Thiruppuvanam is a sleepy town, with small lanes and bylanes, except the main road through which buses and other vehicles to and from Madurai and Rameswaram ply.
Ardent devotee
The place is connected with an episode narrated in the ``Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam." Ponnanaiyall, an ardent devotee of Lord Siva, who lived here, used to take bath in the river early in the morning, offer garlands and dance before the Lord daily. She also spent all her earnings and wealth in feeding the devotees of the Lord. To test her, the Lord created in her mind the desire to carve out His idol in gold.
Appearing before her as an ascetic (Siddhar) he claimed that He could turn any metal given to Him into gold. Promptly the girl handed over all the vessels in the house.
The siddhar smeared holy ash on them and went away telling her that she would find them golden the next morning. So it happened and the girl turned over the collection to a goldsmith to make an idol. And what she saw was so enchanting that she pinched the deity's cheek leaving a permanent mark there.
Her statue is found at the entrance of the temple along with those of the Siddhar, Chokkappa Nayak, the king who built many portions of the temple, his queen and his minister. The idol of Somaskandar, which bears the pinch mark on His cheek even now, is known as Ponnanaiyan and Azhagiyapiran.
When Gnanasambandar visited this place he was held up on the northern bank of the river. The Lord asked Nandi to stand a little aside to give him darshan. One therefore finds Nandi seated a little aside and not right in front of the sanctum sanctorum. Sundarar calls the Lord as Ponnanaiyan, though He is known as Poovana Nathar in Tamil and Pushpavaneswarar in Sanskrit.
Five-tier tower
The temple is rather big with a five-tier tower at the main entrance with a small tower at the entrance of the Amman shrine, which is always kept closed. The Amman shrine is on the southern side and the Goddess is known as Minnanaiyall in Tamil and Soundara Nayaki in Sanskrit. On the walls of the Prakaram are inscribed poems from Thirumandiram, Thiruppugazh and Thirukkural.
The Sthala Vriksham is the jackfruit tree. The temple, under the control of the Sivagangai Devasthanam, is very well maintained. The main festival is celebrated in the month of Panguni for ten days, with the deities of the Lord and His Consort being taken in procession in separate cars on the Panguni Uthiram day.
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