The twelve year long renovation work of Arulmigu Anandavalli Samedha Thirunandeeswarar Temple resulted in a grand culmination with a Maha Kumbabhishegham performed this morning.  Thousands of devotees from Manavur and neighbouring  villages had gathered to witness this magnificent event with fervent devotion.  The entire village took on a festive appearance to express the joy of the local populace.  In the evening, Thiru Kalyana Utsavam was celebrated.  Detailed narration with photos will be updated later.

த்வஜஸ்தம்பம் பிரதிஷ்டை

மணவூர் திருநந்தீஸ்வரர் கோவில் கொடிமரம் பிரதிஷ்டை 18.03.2012 அன்று வெகு விமரிசையாக நடை பெற்றது. மங்கல  வாத்யங்கள் முழங்க சிவாச்சார்யர்களின் வேத கோஷங்கள் ஒலிக்க நடைபெற்ற நிகழ்ச்சியை கிராம மக்கள் பெரும் திரளாக வந்து கண்டு களித்தனர்.  சிதிலமடைந்திருந்த இக்கோவிலில் கும்பாபிஷேகம் நடந்து ஒரு நூற்றாண்டுக்கு மேல் ஆகிவிட்டதல்லவா. அதனால்  ஊர் மக்களின் மகிழ்ச்சி வெள்ளம் கரை புரண்டு ஓடியது.

The selected kodimaram is a 40 feet single piece of teak wood log out of which 7 feet goes below the ground into the foundation pit pictured here. Another 6 feet above that is the surrounding peedam from the ground level and 27 feet will be the visible portion outside.

After performing the necessary pooja, yantra pradhishta was done at the pit . A crane was brought in to help in the correct placement of the Kodimaram.

Amidst the holy sounds of vedic chants, nadaswaram, cymbals and conch, the Kodimaram was consecrated at the auspicious time determined earlier. With devotees offering, precious stones,gold, silver and coins into the pit, it was tightly packed and a peedam  was constructed thereafter.
   

After witnessing the consecration of  Dwajasthambam, our members Ashok and friends are seen here completing the  writing of Siva-Siva on the outer side of the temple compound walls, unmindful of the hot sun.

Thirunandeeswarar Beckons us again

Hardly ten days left for the Maha Kumbabishegham at Manavur on 25.03.2012.  Many of us have already decided  to visit the shrine again on coming Sunday, 18.03.2012 to witness the Dwajasthamba Pradhishta and also to offer any possible assistance from our side to give a finishing touch before  the GRAND FINALE.

Shri Arvind Prabhu  hailing from Manavur presently at UK was earlier connected with the renovation work and the originator of the blog "thirunandeeswarar.blogspot.in".  After seeing the photos uploaded by us here, he has conveyed his appreciation of our work thus:   "We on behalf of Manavur village thank every individual, who have stepped up to help us in completing this pending work, which we are sure, would not have been complete, without such massive and dedicated participation". [Source: http://thirunandeeswarar.blogspot.in/2012/03/getting-ready-for-kumbabishekam.html]

In a separate message  to this writer, he has penned: ".... very grateful to your team, I do not have words to express my thanks. Went through your blog, happy to see the temple brighter...I sincerely pray to almighty that you all be blessed for undertaking such a noble work. I will be in India on the 18th, but will not be in town. I hereby invite you all to participate in the kumbabishekam. Let us all together witness a 2000 year old temple, undergo kumbabishekam after approx. 250 years".

For many of us too, this will be a once in a life time opportunity to witness the Grand Occassion.    Let us all gather in huge numbers to receive the Blessings of Lord Thirunandeeswarar.

Theerthapaleeswarar Temple

A day after our work at Manavur Temple, we were invited by the authorities of  Shri Theerthapaleeswarar Temple at Mylapore/Triplicane  to help them out in sprucing up the temple in connection with the Masi Maham Theerthavari festival.

(Photo Courtesy: www,agasthiar.org)

This ancient temple is one of the seven Saptha Sthana  Siva Temples of the Mylapore region.  The other six temples are:   Shri Karaneeswarar Temple, Shri Velleeswarar Temple, Shri Virupaksheeswara Temple, Shri Vaaleeswarar Temple,  Shri Malleeswarar Temple and Shri Kapaleeswarar Temple.  Sages Agasthiar and Athri have worshipped here. The temple has significance that when the seven deities of the Sapthasthana temples take bath in the sea during the Theerthavari festival in the tamil month of Masi, this deity takes the first place.

Our group has already done uzhavarappani at this temple during 2010 and 2011 and therefore much familiar with the temple and nature of work that we had to perform.  A group of about 30 members of our team went there on March 04, 2012(sunday) and did the work.  The following pictures depict the nature of work done by our members.

தீர்த்தவாரி உற்சவத்தில் கொண்டுவரப்படும் இறைவனின் வாகனங்களை துடைத்து சுத்தம் செய்யும் அடியார்கள்.

அழகான ஓவியங்கள் வரையப்பட்டுள்ள மண்டபத்தில் படிந்துள்ள ஒட்டடைகளை நீக்கும் பணி நடைபெறுகிறது

மகளிர் அணியினர் கோவில் பூஜை பாத்திரங்கள் மற்றும் விளக்குகளுக்கு மெருகூட்டுகின்றனர்

Dried leaves that have fallen on the roof-top of the mandapam are removed

Damaged flooring of the outer praharam is levelled by spreading  pit sand  first and  compressing it using water and granite roller over it later.

Manavur Thirunandeeswarar Temple

With the Divine Blessings of the Almighty God Shri Nandeeswarar, right from day one we started enlisting our members and co-workers at our workspot, besides our relatives. Detailed planning was undertaken to source the men and materials and to our pleasant surprise,  support  started pouring in from different quarters.  Only the previous week, we were a bit sceptical if we could finish the job in a single day.  Our coordinator Shri Ramachandran was worried that without Divine Help, we may not be able to finish, since the area to be covered is around 14000 sq. ft.

Hearing our plight,  more than 20 seasoned volunteers from Shri  Adalarasan's  Thirukovil Uzhavarappani Mandram came to our rescue.  As the place is a remote village, we had accumulated the required  cement paint mixture, brushes and empty buckets and carried them in a van to Manavur on the previous evening itself.  A group of 30 people had reached Manavur on Saturday(25.02.202) and stayed there overnight.  This group started the work early in the morning by  05.30am , while other volunteers reached on 26.02.2012 morning. 

Notable among our participants is Shri Jayaraman,  a physically challenged devotee without both the legs.  His fervor and devotion in Uzhavarappani was admired by every one.( His photo appears in the earlier post). Women devotees were also present  in large numbers and engaged themselves in cleaning the various Sannadhis.  In all nearly eighty volunteers participated in the white washing.  Breakfast and lunch for the volunteers was arranged from the  Appar Madam at the nearby Thiruvalangadu with the notable help of Shri Adalarasan's group.

By late afternoon, all the outer walls were given two coats of white washing, besides the two smaller shrines within the temple compound.  Thereafter a few members took upon the work of writing  சிவ சிவ on the inner walls using luminous paint.  Everybody returned home that night with a sense of satisfaction for having contributed his/her mite in the renovation of this great Temple.

Before & After
Just a small comparison

White washing the outer walls

The damaged old Kodimaram and
the new one ready for installation

 At the end of the day Jayaraman cleans all the brushes & buckets and keeps them ready for the next Uzhavarappani.

One of our volunteers in the process of painting the image of Lord Nandeeswarar on the Western side inner wall.  

After reviewing the various snaps taken, some of us felt that a few more finishing touches with terracota colour may add more beauty to the walls.  Accordingly, it has been planned to visit Manavur Temple again on 18.03.2012 to add a touch of colour, besides witnessing the installation of the new  KODIMARAM.  More about it in another post.

Thirunandeeswarar Temple Uzhavarappani

As programmed earlier, the work of white washing the outer walls of Manavur temple was successfully completed on 26.02.2012.  Due to lack of net connectivity and modem problem, the updates could not be posted immediately.   Within the next two days, I will post the full details.  In the mean time, I am just attaching a few snaps of the work by our team members.

நடுவில் இருப்பவர் நண்பர் ஜெயராமன்.

உடல் ஊனம் ஒரு பொருட்டல்ல சிவத்தொண்டுக்கு என்பதை நிரூபிக்கும் பக்தர்.

                                                                                                     

வெள்ளை அடிக்கப்பட்ட   உட்புற சுவர்களில்
  சிவ-சிவ   என்று எழுதும் அடியார்கள்





வெள்ளை அடிப்பதற்கு முன் சுத்தம் செய்யும் பணி நடக்கிறது  --- பத்து அடி உயர மதில் சுவரின் மீது ஏறி அமர்ந்து.