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| Nagercoil Nagaraja temple, Tamil Nadu. theramblingshoes.blogspot.com |
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| Nagercoil Nagaraja temple, Tamil Nadu. temple.dinamalar.com |
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| Nagercoil Nagaraja temple, Tamil Nadu.temple.dinamalar.com |
Nagercoil Nagaraja temple, an ancient snake temple ( age: 1000 to 2000 years) is in the heart of Nagercoil town, Kayakumari district, Tamil Nadu of Peninsular India. Kanya Kumari is only 22 km from Nagercoil. The near-by Trivandrum Int'l Airport is only 58 km away.
The traditional story about this temple is as follows: That when the temple was exactly built is a subject of debate and discussion. It is believed, it was established by a senior member of the Namputheri Brahmin family of Kerala -'Pambumekkatu Mana' of 'Mala, Trissur. The Namputheri consecrated a Nagaraja image in his residence after he had a vision of Vasuki, the head of she-snakes. Whoever came to his place with skin related problems, presumably caused by sarpadosham - ill - effects of snakes as per horoscope were cured. Once the Namputhiri priest visited the palace of a Pandya king on his request and cured his skin problem which happened to be leprosy, using his mystical power. On his way back to Kerala, in the place where Nagaraja temple stands now, he saw a peasant woman quite upset over an incident in which her sickle had just hit the head of a Nagaraja stone idol hidden in the ground covered by bushes, etc. Surprisingly, blood was oozing out of the idol!! The place used to be a wooded area then. The learned Namputhiri pundit realized it was a five headed Nagaraja idol with enormous power that had been there for a long time undetected. Without wasting time, with help from the local community, in the same place he consecrated the Nagaraja idol with consent from the local ruler, which later became the famous Nagaraja temple of Nagarcovil.
Initially the temple was a humble one - a hut with thatched roof. Responding to yet another vision, he had during his sleep, he finally consecrated the Nagaraja idol in the same place where it was found The idols of Shiva and Vishnu were also consecrated in the new structure which became Sanctum Sanctorum or Srikovil of this famous Hindu temple.
In the shadow of a Peepul tree on the temple premises, there are several 5 headed snake stone idols and Ganapathy idol. People are supposed to go around the snake idols and pray to get rid of sarpadosham.
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| snake images to ward off Sarpadosham anushankarn.blogspot.com |
Every year in the Malayalam month of 'Karkadakam' old thatched roof of the sanctum sanctorum with coconut leaves and bamboo stick is replaced by new ones. The name of the place became Nagercoil and the mystical power of this temple also spread far and wide. Now it is a popular temple - a parikara sthalam for those affected by sarpadosham as per their horoscope.
Every year in the Malayalam month of 'Thulam' (Sep-Oct) 12 days special pooja will be done including 'Ayilyam Star day' by the Thantri of Pambimekkattu Illam. Ayilyam star day in every month and all Sundays are auspicious. The annual 10 day festival is in the month of 'Makaram' and 'Arattu' will be on 'Ayilyam star day of Makaram' (Jan-Feb).
Some fascinating facts:
01. The temple rituals and pooja protocols being followed here are based on Kerala tradition as this part of Tamil Nadu was under the control of Travancore princely ruler prior to 1956.
02. The main tantri is from Kerala from the Namputhiri family of Pambumekkatu Mana' of 'Mala, Trissur
03. Because of dispute over the puja rights, in this temple, the tantric rights are bestowed for alternative years only. One year for the tantri from Thiruvalla Illam and next year it will be tantri from Pambumekkattu Illam. This system is is followed at present. The temple has been under the management of Tamil Nadu Devasthanam since 1956.
04. The Prasadam given to the devotees here is he sand from the ground in the sanctum of Nagaraja. The red color of the soil is said to be due to the blood shed from the idol when it got struck by the sickle
05. The soil that is given as 'Prasadam' has medicinal properties capable of curing skin ailments of the devotees .
06. A fascinating fact about this temple is there are several cobras moving here and around the temple prescient and so far there has been no report of any cobra bite what so ever. No report of bite in the adjacent areas as well.
07. Nagercoil Nagaraja is believed to bless the childless couples. If the couples come to this temple and pray with sincere faith and devotion, soon their request for a kid will be answered.
08. Several childless couples are reported to have admitted that they were blessed with children after their visit to this temple.
09. To get rid of 'sarpadosham', besides worshiping the snake stone images in the temple, devotees offer stone images of 5 headed snakes in silver to the temple and participate in a puja ritual called 'Noorum palum'. This will relieve them of the bad effects of Ragu and Ketu.
10. Incidentally the idol here is Suyambumurthy (self manifested)
11. As for Agama pujas, both Vaishnava and Saiva traditions are followed. The priests are only from Kerala and they have the hereditary rights to conduct puja rituals here.
Tit-bits:
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| Mysterious B vault with a snake image. The News Minute |
Across India, the Hindus give importance to the worship of Serpents - Cobra. and try to avoid killing Cobra. If they do kill the serpent, under compulsion, they have to follow certain rituals to get rid of the sin. At the famous Thiruvanthapuram Padmanabha Swami temple (dedicated to Lord Vishnu) in Kerala, the richest temple in the world where the vast temple treasures are stored in underground vault, one vault is not yet open. The reason is there is an image of a Serpent on the vault B's door. The belief is that particular vault is being guarded by a snake, similar to Adisesha. So, the temple authorities are afraid to open it for inventory purpose. If opened, they suspect, it might cause some untoward incidents!
Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagaraja_Temple,_Nagercoil
http://temple.dinamalar.com/en/new_en.php?id=63
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