In True Grandeur!

Tamil Nadu

By day this is a simple temple with two roofs and gorgeous to an unsuspecting onlooker who visits this site for the first time. Nandi bulls guard the entrance of this two shrine temple as it speaks of erosion and lost past glory. It is very obviously an ancient Shiva temple that flaunts the iconography of Lord Shiva all through. But is that all there is to it?

Look closer, for this temple holds more secrets than what the normal eye can see. To the trained eye, it speaks of a plinth (platform on which temple stands) that is more Chalukyan than Pallava in nature. It sandwiches a reclining Vishnu in Anantasayanam in the center, and also holds two Shiva Lingas opposite to each other one facing west and one facing east. None of these conform to the ancient canons of architecture?

This temple displays a congregation of many cults and display cult supremacy at many points in history. The reclining Vishnu in Anantasayana has been carved into the bed rock, with two towering shrines on either side, housing Lord Shiva within them, as a Shiva linga and also as Somaskanda Shiva. Not too far away from the smaller shrine is the shrine of Mahishasuramardhini, within the heart of a Yali. These depictions clearly show the amity of popular religious cults in the Indian peninsula.

But stranger cults exist among the shadows of this temple. The naga cult dominates the walls of this temple with five hooded serpent deities around its four walls transforming the whole look of the temple. This really takes ones imagination to wonder what could be called regular sacrifice at this temple.

As the sun sets in the evening, the temple priest lights up the oil lamps within their triangular niches into the temple walls. The darkness now wiped out by shimmering lights that dot the temple, allow much larger ritual fires at the main temple platform. Fire, the path to heaven, the path to immortality, rises into the air as incense is lit right around the area of ritual. Drum beats pierce the air as the smoke and fire rise up to call on the deities to come down into the forum of men. Rhythmic beats of the ancient drums with a slow constant rumble of the waves along the beaches completes the ambience of this small temple.

Vedic chants rise into the air and the ritual takes on full form. The heat generated calls on the very Gods to come and take a seat. The prayers roll out in rhythmic breath to the Mother and the ever present Lord Shiva as they are brought to life, into divine visibility. The Lord descends with the crescent moon dancing among His locks. Mystical diagrams paint the floor of the temple as oil lamps light up the temple bringing alive celestial beings that fly down showering flowers over the potent couple.

Gandharvas play music as they fly around as tiny lights. The chanting creates rhythmic motion making the worshipers sway with the beat. The fire rages on and brings around the very beauty of the creator, as He comes alive with the Goddess to reunite and once again bring to earth the miracle of creation. Rhythm in verses, praises in sacred syllables and purity in the air wakes this ancient temple into another realm.

As the fire dies down, the chanting continues to ring away within the mind. The sun rises again shimmering among clear waters of the sea as it dances in its lap. The temple awakens again to another set of unassuming tourists passing by...

How then can one assume this temple to be a mere collection of stones that speak nothing but a tradition long gone? It can only be felt in the heart of those who wish to see through the stones into that divine realm.