Sangameswrar/Jvarahareswar
There
is a Siva temple in Tamilnad where the special offerings are black
pepper and cumin (jeera). The temple is in Bhavani a place in Erode
district of Tamilnad. The Siva temple is dedicated to Lord Siva in the
form of Lord Sangameswara (Lord of sangam - joining - uniting). This may
be probably due to the joining of the rivers Kaveri and Bhavani at this
place. Just as at Allahabad (Prayag) a third river but invisible to the
eyes, Saraswati (flowing underneath) is joining with the Ganga (Ganges)
and Yamuna to make the sangama, at Bhavani a 3rd river invisible
(flowing underneath), Amuda River is joining the the other 2 rivers of
Kaveri and Bhavani. This place of the temple of Sangameswara is also
known as the Southern Prayag (Dakshina Prayag) due to the confluence of
the 3 holy rivers. The principal deity of the temple, Sangameswara is
facing river Kaveri. There are sub shrines for upa devathas namely Lord
Ganesh, Lord Dakshinamurthy (a form of Lord Siva), Lord Subrahmania,
Lord Vishnu, Goddess Mahalakshmi, Lord Venugopala (Sri Krishna), Goddess
Durga and Lord Nataraja (another form of Lord Siva), Lord Saneeswarar.
Next to Lord Saneeswarar there is a shrine with Jvarahareswar
in it. Besides there are special place for the 63 Nayanmars (staunch
devotees of Lord Siva who can visualize the Lord and who have sung many
verses in praise of the lord which are codified and made stotras. The
consort of the presiding deity is powerful Goddess Veda Nayagi and has a
shrine for her in the complex. On the bank of the river there is a
Peepal tree and beneath the tree there are naga devathas.
This
place is holy place as explained as the same is considered as the
Dakshina Prayag. Pilgrims come here take bath in the river and offer
their worship to the deities here. The Jvarahareswar (jvara means fever and hareswar means the lord who eradicate = remover of fever)
deity is considered as a very powerful deity. Patients with mental
trouble may get relief from their mental problem by offering special
offerings like 'abhisheaka' (sacred bath) to the Jvarahareswar
with cooling items and offer cooked rice, black pepper, jeera, rasam,
leaf vegetables etc with praying to the Lord with archana of Bilva dala
(Bael leaves). The belief of the devotees is that by heartfelt prayer to
the Jvarahareswara will relieve the patients of their diseases especially the fever.
How to reach Sangameswrar/jvarahareswar Temple
The temple is 16 km away from the Erode Railway Station. Nearest airports are Coimbatore and Trichy.
Bhavani Town is the nearest town from where and Erode Town plenty of buses are plying to this place.
Accommodation: Nearest place with accommodation is Erode and the hotels may of budget type hotels.
There are many other temples around Erode.