Story behind the City name “TIRUNELVELI”:
There is a story behind the name of the town “TIRUNELVELI”. Once there was a Brahmin in this town named Veda Sharma who was a great Shiva Bhakta. Every day he used to go out and collect the rice or paddy from the people and then offering to the Lord Shiva. One day, when the brahmin was drying the paddy which he had collected for offering to Lord Shiva, it rained suddenly and Veda Sharma feared that all the paddy might be washed away due to heavy rain. He became much distressed and prayed for help to the Lord Shiva who took pity on him and protected the paddy from the rain by covering it and standing around it like a fence.
So this place came to be known as Tiru Nel Veli (In Tamil ‘Tiru’ - means Beautiful, ‘Nel’ - means paddy and ‘Veli’ - means fence). The Lord is also came to be known as “NELLAIYAPPAR”.
According to another legend associated with this temple, Lord Shiva once took the form of a Lingam, came to Tirunelveli and took his abode here. All the four Vedas stood around Him as bamboo trees and provided Him shade. So this Sthalam is came to be known as Venu Vanam (‘Venu’ means bamboo tree and ‘Vanam’ means forest) and the Lord is came to be known as Venuvananathar.
The city is considered as one of the oldest city in Indian subcontinent around 3,000 years old located on the west bank of the perennial Thamirabarani River in the state of Tamil Nadu in Southern India. It is famous for Halwa.
About Nellaiyappar Temple:
The temple dates back to 700 AD and has been sung by the Saiva saint Tirugnana Sambandhar. The famous Saiva saint Tirugnana Sambandhar is said to have sung about this temple, thus it is one of the important “Padal Petra Sthalams” (meaning ‘the temples where the saints have sung praises for the Lord’) of Saiva tradition.
Kanthimathi Nellaiyappar Temple is the well known twin temple dedicated to Goddess Parvathi (Kanthimathi Ammai) and Lord Shiva ( Nellaiyappar - the Protector of Paddy). Covering an area of 14 acres, it is the biggest temple in Tamil Nadu situated in the heart of the city on the banks of river Taamiraparni at a distance of 2kms from the railway station. The temple, believed to be built by the Pandyas in the 13C was entirely remodeled and extended in 17C - 18C.
There are inscriptions dating all the way back to 950 AD in the temple. Vast in area, this temple never ceases to surprise visitors for the wealth of detail it has to offer. The musical pillars in the Mani Mandapam which produce sound in various pitches when struck (7th century AD by Nindrasir Nedumaran or Koon Pandyan), the Somavara Mandapam, the 1000 pillared hall, and the Tamra sabha with intricate wood work, and the Vasantha Mandapam are some of the noteworthy points in this temple. Lifelike sculptures adorn several of the Mandapams in the temple, noteworthy ones being in the Sangili Mandapam which links the temples of Nellaiappar and Kandhimathi in this vast temple complex.
The Nandi mandapam has a fairly big statue of Nandi (the bull God), similar to those at Tanjore and Rameswaram . The unique feature of the temple is the 'Mani manadapam' located near the nandi mandapam with two giant pillars carved out of a single stone and each one is having 48 sub pillars which produce musical notes when struck.
The temple of female deity Kandhimathi Ammai can be reached from the south prakaram and passing through the connecting corridor. The 1000 pillar mandapam inside the female deity's temple is very famous and it is here the celestial wedding of Kanthimathi Ammai with Nellaiappar takes place every year during the festival in the Tamil month of Aippasi corresponding to October 15th to November 15th.
With in the temple premises near the sanctum sanctorium, there is a shrine dedicated to Lord Vishnu (Nellai Govindan) where his idol can be seem in a lying posture. It was built on a belief that Lord Vishnu had visited Tirunelveli to solemnize the divine marriage of Shiva and Parvathi. The temple is one of the five sacred places in Saiva religion, worth seeing for its beautiful sculptures, musical pillars, valuable jewels, a golden lily tank and a thousand pillared mandapa.
Car festival is the most auspicious festival of this temple that is celebrated during Aani (June- July). Temple has 5 cars for Vinayakar, Murugan, Nellaiappar, Kanthimathi, Sandikaeswarar. Weighing 400 ton and having steel wheels, Nellaiyappar car is the 3rd largest car in Tamil Nadu and is the first car to be driven fully automatically.
Thaamira Sabhai:
A copper dance hall, known as Thaamira Sabhai which is made of wonderful woodwork is located within the temple. Lord Nataraja and Sivakami are worshipped here during the Arudra Darshan festival, celebrated in the Tamil month of Margazhi (Dec 15 - Jan 15).
Nellaiappar temple is one of the five places where Lord Shiva has danced in the form of Nataraja. All these places have ambalams.[Stages]. While Tirunelveli has the Thaamira Ambalam (In Tamil ‘Thaamiram’ means ‘Copper’), the others are the Rathina Ambalam at Tiruvaalangadu (In Tamil ‘Rathinam’ means Ruby), the Chitra Ambalam at Courtallam (In Tamil ‘Chitra’ means ‘Painting’), the Velli Ambalam at Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple (In Tamil ‘Velli’ means Silver) and the Pon Ambalam at Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram. (In Tamil ‘Pon’ means ‘Gold’)
The Nellaiappar Temple is bigger than the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple, though the latter is more famous owing to its historical importance.
Devotees who worship the Lord in this temple will get mental peace and live well.
Aum Nhama Shivaya ! ! !
Recently the 150th "Uzhavara Pani" (Temple Cleaning Duty by Devotees) has been completed. Please click the below link to watch the latest video clipping about Swami Nellaiyappar Temple. http://youtu.be/vn69xCE-GUQ
PS: Viewers can contact us for any specific information about Tirunelveli or about this Temple and it will be answered at the earliest...
PS: Viewers can contact us for any specific information about Tirunelveli or about this Temple and it will be answered at the earliest...
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