Cuddalore Sri Padaleeswarar Temple car procession held

CUDDALORE: 

         A large number of people from various parts of Cuddalore district congregated at Sri Padaleeswarar Temple at Thirupadiripuliyur here to witness the car procession taken out as part of the Vaikasi Visakam festivities on Tuesday. Collector V.Amuthavalli inaugurated the procession by drawing the rope of the car. Elaborate security arrangements were made in and around the temple. Fire and Rescue Services personnel were also deployed.

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Poetry compilation released

CUDDALORE: 

           A compilation of poetry titled “Thirupadiripuliyur Thevaram,” authored by K. Kathappan, was released in a function held in connection with the Mahakumbabishekam of Sri Padaleeswarar temple here recently.

          Held under the aegis of the Aintham Ulaga Tamil Sangam, the function saw the release of the book by president of the Cuddalore Chamber of Commerce V.P.S. Ganesan.V.Veerapandian, organiser of the Saiva Siddhantha training classes of the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam, received the first copy. 

            Mr Kathappan said that the renowned Saivite Saints Appar and Manickavasagar eulogised the presiding deity and the temple in their verses. His work consisted of 250 stanzas of the devotional outpourings on Sri Padaleeswarar who was known as Thondra Thunai Nathar (invisible companion). Rama.Muthukumaranar, founder of the Aintham Ulaga Tamil Sangam, said that the poetic rendition would be cherished by the devotees and Tamil enthusiasts.

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Cuddalore Padaleeswarar Temple Mahakumbabhishekam held

People witnessing Mahakumbabhishekam at Padaleeswarar temple in Thirupadiripuliyur on Wednesday

CUDDALORE: 

          A large number of devotees drawn from various places descended on Cuddalore to witness the Mahakumbabhishekam performed at renowned Sri Padaleeswarar Temple at Thirupadiripuliyur here on Wednesday.

         The rituals that started at 5 a.m. by savants led by T.K. Balamani Sivachariar of Thirukannangudi culminated in Mahakumbabhishekam at about 9.30 a.m. A music band from Isha Yoga Centre gave an enthralling performance just before the main event that whipped up spiritual fervour among the devotees.The accompanying commentaryover the public address system also riveted the attention of the gathering. A helicopter, hired by a private company, hovered over the temple and showered flower petals on the gopurams to the delight of the gathering.

        As the turnout was so huge, the organisers had requisitioned the services of the fire service personnel to spray the holy water on them through the multi-chute fire tenders at low speed. Many philanthropists and service organizations had put up make-shift stalls to dispense water and buttermilk to the visitors. The entire Cuddalore town wore a festive look on account of the Mahakumbabhishekam and the Republic Day celebrations. The Padaleeswarar Temple Worshippers' Association had also incorporated a new chute to drain the milk poured over the Nandi during Pradhosham time. The Association had also put up many brass stands for placing the lighted earthen lamps so as to prevent any oil spill or stains on the temple walls.

             The Mahakumbabhishekam was performed after a gap of about 14 years at a cost of Rs 1.25 crore and a lion's share of it had come from the members of the Association. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department had spent less than Rs 9 lakh on the renovation of the Raja gopuram. In the evening Thiru Kalyanam was performed and the deities were taken in a procession on silver Rishaba vahanam. The temple is categorised as first grade one with an annual collection from the hundis amounting to Rs 40 lakh, according to HR & CE Department sources.

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Ancient Padaleeswarar temple all set for Maha Kumbabhishekam

Padaleeswarar temple getting ready for Kumbabhishekam on Wednesday

CUDDALORE: 

           The ancient Padaleeswarar temple, situated in the heart of the Cuddalore town, is all set for Maha Kumbabhishekam on January 26. It is one among the renowned 274 Siva temples whose history reportedly dates back to 2,000 years.

          The entire premises of the temple has been given a facelift at an estimated cost of Rs 1.25 crore, of which the share of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department, that is running the affairs of the temple, is hardly Rs 10 lakh. The HR & CE Department has undertaken to renovate and repaint only the Raja gopuram while the Sri Padaleeswarar Temple Worshippers' Association has taken care of all other works through donors.

        Association secretary V.Balu who has been closely supervising the works, told The Hindu that the kumbabhishekam was last performed nearly 14 years ago on March 26, 1997 It is being done under the guidance of Kannangudi Balamani Sivachariar, an authority on Agama Sastras. Mr Balu could not say whether any other worshippers' association had undertaken works of such magnitude elsewhere. The Association came into being with Dr K.Krishnamurthy as president, Mr Balu as Secretary and K.Karthikeyan as treasurer with the specific purpose of preparing a temple car as the original one was gutted in a fire accident over a century ago.

          The Association mobilized an amount of Rs 50 lakh out of which it carved out a new temple car by spending Rs 32 lakh. The remaining Rs 18 lakh had been set aside as a corpus to meet the expenditure of conducting the annual car festival that might run into Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh. Mr Balu said that emboldened by the temple car experiment, the Association had embarked upon the relatively un-charted territory of renovating the temple and organizing the kumbabhishekam and the works were going on smoothly.

          The 29 vimanams (top portions of the gopurams) in the temple were renovated and the 24-pillar mandapam had been beautified. The flooring of Sri Periyanayagi Amman temple and that of the Singapore mandapam (so named because it was built from the funds contributed by Singapore citizens) were elevated with granite slabs. All the sculptures and pillars were given a chemical wash to remove the oil smudges and metallic barricades had been put up in front of the sanctum sanctorum. The flag posts had been given a copper coating.

       Scores of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in glass domes light up the inside of the temple, perfectly matching the traditional lamps. While 40 of the existing Vahanams (mounts) were repaired and repainted, two new ones—Anna Vahanam and Rishaba vahanam—were made anew, thus taking the total number to 42. A separate ‘go shala' had been built in which at least a dozen cows were being fed. The compound wall of the temple pond ‘Siva kara theertham' had also been raised to protect its sanctity. The Maha Kumbabhishekam would be performed between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on January 26.

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Padaleeswarar temple is being renovated at a cost of Rs. 70 lakh

Renovation of Padaleeswarar temple in Cuddalore is in full swing.  

CUDDALORE: 

                 Sri Padaleeswarar Temple, an ancient Saivite temple located at Thirupadiripuliyur in Cuddalore town, is being renovated at a total cost of about Rs. 70 lakh.

              The significant aspect of this endeavour is that a major share of the expenditure will be borne by the devotees, according to K.Sivakumar, Executive Officer of the temple. Only a sum of Rs. 8.20 lakh, drawn from the temple funds, would be spent on the renovation of the rajagopuram while the remaining funds would be mobilised by the Padaleeswarar Temple Worshippers' Association.

               The temple under the purview of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department is said to have been built in the 7th Century and sanctified by the visit of two renowned Nayanmars namely Thirunavukkarasar and Thiru Gnanasambandar.

                    The ancient lore has it that the place has derived its name from the combination of two factors: “Pathiri” from the sthala vriksha “Padiri tree” and “Puliyur” from the penance done by tiger-legged saint in its hallowed precincts. “Thiru” is an honorific term. The Executive Officer told TheHindu that after the rajagopuram and the remaining temple precincts were cleaned through “air wash and water wash” painting work had been undertaken. The flooring of the 24-pillared mandapam in front of the temple is now being paved with black granite to preserve the hoary tradition. Similarly, the superimposition of the tiles made two decades ago over the existing granite flooring at the Pidaari Amman temple is being removed to expose its original structure.

               The vahana mantapam, housing a total of 42 vahanams (mounts) and palanquins, is also being renovated and a new mandapam is being built on 270 sq.ft of land in front of the temple.

A new Rishabha vahanam is also getting ready.

               Mr. Sivakumar said that the kumbabishekam to the temple was last performed in 1997. Mr. Sivakumar said that the onset of the north-east monsoon had slowed down the pace of work. It would take two more months for completion of the renovation work and thereafter the date for the next kumbabishekam would be fixed.

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