Place of Surutapalli Pallikondeeswar Temple
This is an article giving the details of the deities of the shrine and deities of the Surutapalli Pallikondeeswar temple, the specialities of this temple, the legends associated with this place and deities here.
There are many temples where Lord Vishnu can be seen in sayana (reclining - lying down) pose. The Lord can also be seen in sitting and standing postures. But it is very rare to find any other god or goddess in the lying down (palli konda kolam or kidantha kolam) posture. One such rare temple where the Pallikonda eeswar (pallikonda means lying down and eswar means god) Lord Siva is in a village Surutapalli in Chittoor District of Andra Pradesh on the border of Andra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. It is about 56 km from Chennai on the Chennai - Thirupathy route via Uthukottai.
There are some other images of Gods like Varasidhi Vinayaka (Lord Ganesha), Sri Venugopala Swami (Lord Krishna), Kasi Vishwanathan with Visalakshi and others present in the inner praharam of the temple.
Opposite to the Valmikeeswar shrine is the shrine dedicated to Ramalingeswar. The idol here is believed to have been installed by Sri Rama on his return from Lanka after killing Ravana. He wanted to offer prayer to Lord Siva and he installed this Linga and hence the shrine got the name Ramalingeswar shrine. The Valmikeeswar and the Ramalingeswar are face to face to each other. This is a specialty in this temple that the idols of Lord Siva face each other whereas in most of other Siva temples there will be a Nandi facing the lord in front of Siva Linga.
In the sanctum on one side Sri Ram and Seeta Devi and on the other side idols of Bharatha and Satrugna are found. There is an idol of Anjaneya (Hanuman) facing Bharatha and Satrugna which is another specialty as Hanuman (Anjaneya) will always be looking at and praying to Sri Rama and Seeta Devi. The Hanuman's posture may be in appreciation/admiration for what Bharath & Satrugn (brothers of Sri Rama) have done for his master (Hanuman's master Sri Rama) and consort even though they were in a most advantageous position to enjoy the wealth and power for themselves.
On the South side wall of the Valmikeeswar shrine on the outside, an idol of Dakshinamurthy (Lord Siva as Guru Bhagavan - Jupiter) with his consort Tara is installed. This beautiful idol of Dakshinamurthy called by some as dampathya Dakshinamurthy is another specialty in this temple as this may be the only Dakshinamurthy idol with his consort. The posture of the Lord Dakshinamurthy is also special in that the left is kept in raised and the knee folded in such a way that the feet is resting on the seat itself and the Lord's right leg is pressing the mischievous demon on the ground as usual. The consort Tara is standing behind the Lord and her face is seen as if peeping. Worshiping this Lord on Thursdays will help to have the devotees' desires fulfilled, have marriage with good partner and a peaceful life.
The shrine of the main deity - the Pallikondeeswar - of Surutapalli temple is on the right to Valmikeeswar's shrine is the shrine for Pallikondeeswar (Palli konda = lyingdown, Eswar = god) or kidantha (lying down - reclining) eswar shrine.In the sanctum of the shrine the idol of the deity of Lord Siva (huge 16 feet) is in a reclining posture having his head on the lap of goddess Parvathy (known here as the goddess Sarva Mangalaambigai) just like the Ranganatha temples where Loard Vishnu will be in reclining position keeping the head on the lap of goddess Lakshmi.The specialty of this deity is that the same is in human form and in reclining position, unlike the usual Linga form found in almost all other Siva temples. The Lord's consort Parvathy is in siting pose with the Lord's head on her lap. On to the either side of the goddess Parvathy are the idols of Kamadhenu (the celestial cow) and Karpaka Viruksham (Holy tree known for granting boons to) which came out of the palaazhi (milky ocean) manthan (churning). There are several other deities inside the sanctum. The idols of Sun and Moon gods are found on either side of the goddess Sarva Mangalaambigai. Other gods namely Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma, Goddess Laxmi, Sage Maarkandeyar, Sage Agasthair, Valmiki, Indran, Sage Naradhar, Lord Subramaniyam with His consorts Valli and Devayani and Lord Ganapati are also seen here to know the well being of the Lord and to pay their respects to the Lord for his courageous act of protecting the Universe by holding the Haalaahala poison in his throat.
There are several other idols of saintly persons and gods found in this temple of the Pallikondeeswar or kidantha eeswar at Surutapalli. They are the idols of Valmiki (sage who wrote the great epic Ramayan), Appar, Sambandar, Sudarar, (all the 3 are greatest devotees who spent their lives writing and singing the hymns of the lord Siva) Varasiddhi Vinayagar, Kasi Viswanathar with consort Visalakshi Thai, Sri Venugoplar, Nandi, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahalakshmi, Saraswathi, Saptarshis and other gods.
There is a shrine for goddess Rajarajeswari known as Rajamathangi. Local people here feels that there is an underground tunnel (cave way) leading to the famous Siva Temple known popularly as the Kalahasthi Temple on the way to Thirupathi. The tunnel is closed according to the local people.
In almost all the Siva temples Vibhhooti (Bhasm - holy ash) is given as prasad. Here Vibhooti is not given and only the holy water collected from the abhishek (water used for sacred bath) is given as prasad.Just as in the Vaishnav temples the blessings of the lord is given by touching the 'Chadri' (a metal crown like thing) on the heads of the devotees.
The main deity is in form of human being reclining pose and this is the only exception of this kind in Siva temples. All other Siva temples will have only Linga as the idol of the deity except for the Utsavamurthy (idol taken in procession during temple festivals) of the temple which will have form other than Linga. This pose is found only in the temples of Lord Vishnu in the form of Ranganath
Unlike other temples there is no separate shrine for Lord Ganapathi.
Most of the deities in this temple are with their respective consorts. For example Pallikondeeswar with Sarva Mangalambigai, Valmikeeswar with Maragathambigai, Vinayagar (Gnapathi) with Siddhi and Buddhi, Saastha with Poorna and Pushkala, Kubera with Sanganidhi and Padmanidhi, Dakshinamurthy with Tara, Kasi Viswanathar with Visalakshi and Subramanya (Karthikeya) with Valli and Devayani. Other gods like Sri Rama is seen with Seeta, Vishnu and Mahalakshmi, Brahma and Saraswati are others.
Normally all shrines of Siva will have a Nandi (carrier - vehicle of lord Ox) facing the idol of Linga in the front. Here instead of this normal position the Nandi is outside. It is placed in such a way that the Nandi will be facing the Valmikeeswar through the grills fixed in the walls of Ramalingeswar shrine. Abisheka to the Nandi will be done during Pradhoshas.
Lord Dakshinamurthy will normally be alone where as here he is with his consort. The only other place where Dakshinamurthy with consort is found in the temple of Sakthi Dakshinamoorthy’ in Thirukallil. The pose of the idol is also unique here as mentioned earlier.
Lord Subramanya is facing South (the direction of Lord Yama the god of death). Hence people believe that worshiping Lord Subramanya here removes the fear of death.
The shrines of Valmikeeswar and Ramalingeswar are opposite to each other and the Lingas of these two shrines face each other. The reason for the twin shrines are said to be for the reason that Valmiky and Sri Ram prayed together at the same time to Lord Siva.
The idol of the deity of Lord Ganesha is made out of Salagrama
In front of the Valmikeeswar shrine at the left side there is a stone which has imprints of footprints of kids. It is believed to be that of the twin sons of Sri Rama and Seeta Devi, the Lava and Kusha.This stone was lying buried in the temple premises without anybody knowing about it. During the year 1976 the Maha Periyavar (great sage) of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peeddham Sri Sri Chandrasekhar Saraswathi came and camped for about 40 days. During this period the Swamiji suggested to dig a particular place and on digging the place the stone with the foot prints of Lava and Kusha was found and kept the same in the present place. This gives the hint that the Lava, Kusha might have been brought up here while Seeta Devi was exiled and which further suggests that Sage Valmiky had his 'Ashram' here.
At present there are several deities in the shrines and are overcrowded to a great extent. The temple management is planning to create separate shrines for some of the deities like Ganesh, Subramanya, Sapthamaathaas (7 sacred mothers) and Navagrahas etc. The Rajagopuram is a small one and it is to be made a bigger one with 5 tier.
Most important days are Pradosha days (Thrayodasees - 13th Sayam Sandhyas of the Lunar months)
The legend about the Pallikondeeswar is that during the churning of the milky ocean several valuable items came out. The Kamadhenu and Kalpa Vruksha found on either sides of the Maragathambigai in the shrine also came from the churning of the ocean. These 2 items are powerful enough to give any boon to those whom these 2 feels like giving. But the first thing happened was that the serpent king Vaasuki which was used as the rope to bind the Meru Parvath for churning the milk, was about to vomit a deadly poison which if touches the ground will destroy the entire universe with all the living thing. When they wanted solution, Lord Vishnu suggested to seek the help of Lord Siva and accordingly the gods and the demons jointly prayed to Lord Siva. Siva promptly took the poison which came out of Vaasuki in his mouth. Goddess Parvathy saw this and felt that the lord will be reduced to ashes if the poison reaches the stomach due to the strength of the poison. So to prevent this pressed the throat of the lord with her hands to prevent the poison reaching the stomach. The poison got stuck to the throat and his throat turned into blue color due to the poison. For this reason Lord Siva is called Neelakantan (one whose throat is blue). When the throat was pressed, the poison was about to fall from Siva's mouth which would have been disastrous. To prevent this Lord Vishnu covered Siva's mouth with his hand resulting his becoming dark bluish in color and the poison sticking to the Siva's throat.
The poison was taken by Lord Siva on the dasami day (10th day of the Lunar month). Due to the effect of the poison he swooned in this place and goddess Parvathy (as the Sarva Mangalambigai) sat here and kept the head of the lord on her lap during his rest. This is the reason attributed to the peculiar pose of Lord Siva in reclining state with the head on the lap. The idols of all the gods present here indicate their coming here to inquire about the well being of the lord and to thank his for protecting the universe. The gods and holy persons came here and waited for the lord to recover from the swoon. He recovered on the thrayodasi day (13 the day at the Sayam Sandhya time - 4 to 6 pm) and was pleased with the presence of all gods and holy persons and danced with joy in between the horns of the Nandi. That is the reason for the importance of Pradosha time (dusk of 13th day of Lunar months). The Pradosha of Makara month is the Mahasivarathri day.
Address:
Trust Board, Sri Pallikondeswara Swamy Devasthanam,
Surutapalli, Dasukuppam Post, Nagalapuram M.D.,
Chittoor District Pin-517 588 (A.P.)
Darshan Time:
Morning : 6.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
Evening : 4.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.
Pradosham days morning 6.00 a.m. to 8.30 p.m.
Sani Pradosham is especially important
Since it is not very far from Chennai (about 55 km) people can stay at Chennai where accommodations are plenty.
This is an article giving the details of the deities of the shrine and deities of the Surutapalli Pallikondeeswar temple, the specialities of this temple, the legends associated with this place and deities here.
There are many temples where Lord Vishnu can be seen in sayana (reclining - lying down) pose. The Lord can also be seen in sitting and standing postures. But it is very rare to find any other god or goddess in the lying down (palli konda kolam or kidantha kolam) posture. One such rare temple where the Pallikonda eeswar (pallikonda means lying down and eswar means god) Lord Siva is in a village Surutapalli in Chittoor District of Andra Pradesh on the border of Andra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. It is about 56 km from Chennai on the Chennai - Thirupathy route via Uthukottai.
Surutapalli Temple with many shrines
Maragathambigai shrine
The shrine of Goddess Maragathambigai has to be visited first which is between the shrines of the Valmikeeswar on to the left side of entrance to the complex. On to the right side of the Gopuram is the Pallikondeeswar shrine, the main deity of this Surutapalli temple. The garbha griha (sanctum) of the shrine of Maragathambigai is guarded (dwarapalaka) by Lord Kubera (God of wealth) with his consort Sanganidhi on left side and with his another consort Padumanidhi on the right side. Since Kubera is the keeper of Wealth praying to him first before entering to the shrine of Maragathambigai is considered as appropriate. The goddess inside is standing with Kamadhenu and Karapaha Viruksham on one side each of the goddess to symbolize prosperity.
There are some other images of Gods like Varasidhi Vinayaka (Lord Ganesha), Sri Venugopala Swami (Lord Krishna), Kasi Vishwanathan with Visalakshi and others present in the inner praharam of the temple.
Valmikeeswar shrine
After offering worship to goddess Maragathambigai one has to offer worship at the Valmikeeswar shrine which is to the left of the shrine of the goddess. The idol is in the form of Linga as is the case in most of the Siva temples. But here the Linga is in triangular shape. The deity of this temple is believed to have been installed by the Sage Valmiki to invoke blessings of Lord Siva before his starting to write the great epic Ramayana during the life time of Sri Rama itself. Hence the name. At the Valmikeeswar shrine offer worship to Lord Valmikeeswr. The Valmikeeswar is a Swayamboo (self manifested - came into being on its own) Linga.
Ramalingeswar shrine
Opposite to the Valmikeeswar shrine is the shrine dedicated to Ramalingeswar. The idol here is believed to have been installed by Sri Rama on his return from Lanka after killing Ravana. He wanted to offer prayer to Lord Siva and he installed this Linga and hence the shrine got the name Ramalingeswar shrine. The Valmikeeswar and the Ramalingeswar are face to face to each other. This is a specialty in this temple that the idols of Lord Siva face each other whereas in most of other Siva temples there will be a Nandi facing the lord in front of Siva Linga.
In the sanctum on one side Sri Ram and Seeta Devi and on the other side idols of Bharatha and Satrugna are found. There is an idol of Anjaneya (Hanuman) facing Bharatha and Satrugna which is another specialty as Hanuman (Anjaneya) will always be looking at and praying to Sri Rama and Seeta Devi. The Hanuman's posture may be in appreciation/admiration for what Bharath & Satrugn (brothers of Sri Rama) have done for his master (Hanuman's master Sri Rama) and consort even though they were in a most advantageous position to enjoy the wealth and power for themselves.
Dakshinamoorthy idol
On the South side wall of the Valmikeeswar shrine on the outside, an idol of Dakshinamurthy (Lord Siva as Guru Bhagavan - Jupiter) with his consort Tara is installed. This beautiful idol of Dakshinamurthy called by some as dampathya Dakshinamurthy is another specialty in this temple as this may be the only Dakshinamurthy idol with his consort. The posture of the Lord Dakshinamurthy is also special in that the left is kept in raised and the knee folded in such a way that the feet is resting on the seat itself and the Lord's right leg is pressing the mischievous demon on the ground as usual. The consort Tara is standing behind the Lord and her face is seen as if peeping. Worshiping this Lord on Thursdays will help to have the devotees' desires fulfilled, have marriage with good partner and a peaceful life.
The main deity of Pallikondeeswar shrine
The shrine of the main deity - the Pallikondeeswar - of Surutapalli temple is on the right to Valmikeeswar's shrine is the shrine for Pallikondeeswar (Palli konda = lyingdown, Eswar = god) or kidantha (lying down - reclining) eswar shrine.In the sanctum of the shrine the idol of the deity of Lord Siva (huge 16 feet) is in a reclining posture having his head on the lap of goddess Parvathy (known here as the goddess Sarva Mangalaambigai) just like the Ranganatha temples where Loard Vishnu will be in reclining position keeping the head on the lap of goddess Lakshmi.The specialty of this deity is that the same is in human form and in reclining position, unlike the usual Linga form found in almost all other Siva temples. The Lord's consort Parvathy is in siting pose with the Lord's head on her lap. On to the either side of the goddess Parvathy are the idols of Kamadhenu (the celestial cow) and Karpaka Viruksham (Holy tree known for granting boons to) which came out of the palaazhi (milky ocean) manthan (churning). There are several other deities inside the sanctum. The idols of Sun and Moon gods are found on either side of the goddess Sarva Mangalaambigai. Other gods namely Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma, Goddess Laxmi, Sage Maarkandeyar, Sage Agasthair, Valmiki, Indran, Sage Naradhar, Lord Subramaniyam with His consorts Valli and Devayani and Lord Ganapati are also seen here to know the well being of the Lord and to pay their respects to the Lord for his courageous act of protecting the Universe by holding the Haalaahala poison in his throat.
Many other Gods in the Surutapalli Pallikondeeswar Temple
There are several other idols of saintly persons and gods found in this temple of the Pallikondeeswar or kidantha eeswar at Surutapalli. They are the idols of Valmiki (sage who wrote the great epic Ramayan), Appar, Sambandar, Sudarar, (all the 3 are greatest devotees who spent their lives writing and singing the hymns of the lord Siva) Varasiddhi Vinayagar, Kasi Viswanathar with consort Visalakshi Thai, Sri Venugoplar, Nandi, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahalakshmi, Saraswathi, Saptarshis and other gods.
There is a shrine for goddess Rajarajeswari known as Rajamathangi. Local people here feels that there is an underground tunnel (cave way) leading to the famous Siva Temple known popularly as the Kalahasthi Temple on the way to Thirupathi. The tunnel is closed according to the local people.
Specialties of the Surutapalli Pallikondeeswar Temple
In almost all the Siva temples Vibhhooti (Bhasm - holy ash) is given as prasad. Here Vibhooti is not given and only the holy water collected from the abhishek (water used for sacred bath) is given as prasad.Just as in the Vaishnav temples the blessings of the lord is given by touching the 'Chadri' (a metal crown like thing) on the heads of the devotees.
The main deity is in form of human being reclining pose and this is the only exception of this kind in Siva temples. All other Siva temples will have only Linga as the idol of the deity except for the Utsavamurthy (idol taken in procession during temple festivals) of the temple which will have form other than Linga. This pose is found only in the temples of Lord Vishnu in the form of Ranganath
Unlike other temples there is no separate shrine for Lord Ganapathi.
Most of the deities in this temple are with their respective consorts. For example Pallikondeeswar with Sarva Mangalambigai, Valmikeeswar with Maragathambigai, Vinayagar (Gnapathi) with Siddhi and Buddhi, Saastha with Poorna and Pushkala, Kubera with Sanganidhi and Padmanidhi, Dakshinamurthy with Tara, Kasi Viswanathar with Visalakshi and Subramanya (Karthikeya) with Valli and Devayani. Other gods like Sri Rama is seen with Seeta, Vishnu and Mahalakshmi, Brahma and Saraswati are others.
Lord Dakshinamurthy will normally be alone where as here he is with his consort. The only other place where Dakshinamurthy with consort is found in the temple of Sakthi Dakshinamoorthy’ in Thirukallil. The pose of the idol is also unique here as mentioned earlier.
Lord Subramanya is facing South (the direction of Lord Yama the god of death). Hence people believe that worshiping Lord Subramanya here removes the fear of death.
The shrines of Valmikeeswar and Ramalingeswar are opposite to each other and the Lingas of these two shrines face each other. The reason for the twin shrines are said to be for the reason that Valmiky and Sri Ram prayed together at the same time to Lord Siva.
The idol of the deity of Lord Ganesha is made out of Salagrama
In front of the Valmikeeswar shrine at the left side there is a stone which has imprints of footprints of kids. It is believed to be that of the twin sons of Sri Rama and Seeta Devi, the Lava and Kusha.This stone was lying buried in the temple premises without anybody knowing about it. During the year 1976 the Maha Periyavar (great sage) of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peeddham Sri Sri Chandrasekhar Saraswathi came and camped for about 40 days. During this period the Swamiji suggested to dig a particular place and on digging the place the stone with the foot prints of Lava and Kusha was found and kept the same in the present place. This gives the hint that the Lava, Kusha might have been brought up here while Seeta Devi was exiled and which further suggests that Sage Valmiky had his 'Ashram' here.
At present there are several deities in the shrines and are overcrowded to a great extent. The temple management is planning to create separate shrines for some of the deities like Ganesh, Subramanya, Sapthamaathaas (7 sacred mothers) and Navagrahas etc. The Rajagopuram is a small one and it is to be made a bigger one with 5 tier.
Most important days are Pradosha days (Thrayodasees - 13th Sayam Sandhyas of the Lunar months)
Legends abut the Surutapalli Pallikondeeswar temple
The legend about the Pallikondeeswar is that during the churning of the milky ocean several valuable items came out. The Kamadhenu and Kalpa Vruksha found on either sides of the Maragathambigai in the shrine also came from the churning of the ocean. These 2 items are powerful enough to give any boon to those whom these 2 feels like giving. But the first thing happened was that the serpent king Vaasuki which was used as the rope to bind the Meru Parvath for churning the milk, was about to vomit a deadly poison which if touches the ground will destroy the entire universe with all the living thing. When they wanted solution, Lord Vishnu suggested to seek the help of Lord Siva and accordingly the gods and the demons jointly prayed to Lord Siva. Siva promptly took the poison which came out of Vaasuki in his mouth. Goddess Parvathy saw this and felt that the lord will be reduced to ashes if the poison reaches the stomach due to the strength of the poison. So to prevent this pressed the throat of the lord with her hands to prevent the poison reaching the stomach. The poison got stuck to the throat and his throat turned into blue color due to the poison. For this reason Lord Siva is called Neelakantan (one whose throat is blue). When the throat was pressed, the poison was about to fall from Siva's mouth which would have been disastrous. To prevent this Lord Vishnu covered Siva's mouth with his hand resulting his becoming dark bluish in color and the poison sticking to the Siva's throat.
The poison was taken by Lord Siva on the dasami day (10th day of the Lunar month). Due to the effect of the poison he swooned in this place and goddess Parvathy (as the Sarva Mangalambigai) sat here and kept the head of the lord on her lap during his rest. This is the reason attributed to the peculiar pose of Lord Siva in reclining state with the head on the lap. The idols of all the gods present here indicate their coming here to inquire about the well being of the lord and to thank his for protecting the universe. The gods and holy persons came here and waited for the lord to recover from the swoon. He recovered on the thrayodasi day (13 the day at the Sayam Sandhya time - 4 to 6 pm) and was pleased with the presence of all gods and holy persons and danced with joy in between the horns of the Nandi. That is the reason for the importance of Pradosha time (dusk of 13th day of Lunar months). The Pradosha of Makara month is the Mahasivarathri day.
Address:
Trust Board, Sri Pallikondeswara Swamy Devasthanam,
Surutapalli, Dasukuppam Post, Nagalapuram M.D.,
Chittoor District Pin-517 588 (A.P.)
Darshan Time:
Morning : 6.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
Evening : 4.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.
Pradosham days morning 6.00 a.m. to 8.30 p.m.
Sani Pradosham is especially important
Since it is not very far from Chennai (about 55 km) people can stay at Chennai where accommodations are plenty.
