sree nellaiappar temple,thirunelveli (Tirunelveli)

 temple, Shiva temple, thevara paadal petra sthalam

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PNT14 - sree kandhimathi amman sametha sree venuvana nathar or nelvelinathar temple, venuvanam thirunelveli is 14th paandiyanaattu thevara temple.Mukuruni vinaagar is the sthala vinayagar.PT Food/Annadhosham - curing all kind of food related problems, lord shiva protected the paddy by a fence, since the name nel-paddy,vaeli- fence.PST04 - one of the pancha sabaa temples and this one is thamira (copper) sabai.SkPT - shakthi peetam temples, this one is gandhi sakthi peetam.SCPT - one of the sreechakra prathishta temples by sree aathishankara, sree chakram is opposite to amman sannithi in maha mandapam.MuVT - Moolavar vishesham temple, the lingam has 21 aavudaiyars(peetams) below the earth only the 21st peetam is visible and also has devi's image could be seen while abishekam.PT Ayush dhosham- The temple to be worshiped for extending the lifespan, swamy here blessing as mruthyunjaya murthy.FRDT - temples where foreign religion devotees got the god's blessings,anwarkhan worshiped the lord anavaratha lingam here.MDTA - Marriage Dharshan temple to sree agasthiyA rishi,Since it is parikAra temple for marriage related problems.FSAT - temple known for its famous sculptural arts.NvPT buthan - navagraga parikara temple means curing temple for those who has buthan(mercury) dhosham in jathaka.PT Family integration - parikAra temple to worship for the family integration.PT Childboon - parikaara temple to be get blessed with child boon, sree polla pillayar here is powerful to bless to get child boon.TrVT - theertha vishesha temple,temples known for the specialty of their holy water ponds (theertham), reiver thamirabarani has seprate sannithi with ganga and yamuna as dwarabalagis.
temple.dinamalar.com/en/new_en.php?id=909
Location:Tirunelveli is a main city in thamizhnadu.
edit] History
The temple dates back to 700 AD and in the temple are inscriptions going back to 950 A.D. It is believed there were two distinct temples. They were built for Shiva and for Parvati, the consort to Lord Shiva, by the Pandyan kings.

The Sangili Mandapam, a big terraced hall linking these two, was built in the 17th century. The towers also date back to early 17th century. It is the largest Shiva temple in Tamil Nadu. The Aani Car festival is the most famous festival in this temple. The temple has five cars each for Vinayakar, Murugan, Nellaiappar, Kanthimathi, Sandikeswarar.

Nellaiappar Car is the third largest car in Tamil Nadu and it is the first largest man-powered car. Nellaiappar Temple is one of the Panchasabha (with the Thaamira Sabha).

Lord Vishnu and sage Agastya are believed to have worshipped Shiva here.


[edit] Temple
The temple is a complex of two huge temples covering an area of 14 acres and linked by the Mandapam (pillared hall) which has pillars with beautiful life-sized sculptures carved into them, as do many of the Mandapams there. The thousand-pillared hall is of great beauty. The musical pillars in the Mani Mandapam produce sound in various pitches when struck and are from the 7th century AD.[2]

This is a vast temple with many unique features such as the Manimandapam near the Nandi mandapam that has two huge pillars carved out of a single stone. Each giant pillar has 48 small pillars which produce musical sounds when struck.[3]

This temple houses a shrine to Shiva and to Parvati. There is also a shrine to Vishnu near the sanctum signifying the belief that Nellai Govindan (Vishnu) visited Tirunelveli to officiate the divine marriage of Shiva and Kanthimathi. There are several other legends associated with this temple.

There is a legend that there is a tunnel behind the Ravana sculpture in the temple corridor that connects Thirunelveli and Madurai. This tunnel was supposed to have been used by the Pandya kings and their spies on secret missions.



Tirunelveli, July 25: Shiva is the Destroyer in the Hindu trinity. But here he is Lord Nellaiyappar, the Protector of Paddy, as the name of the town itself testifies — nel meaning paddy and veli meaning fence in Tamil.

Prefixed to nelveli is tiru, which signifies something special — like the exceptional role of the Lord of Rhythm or the unique musical stone pillars in the temple.

Temples often have columns portraying dancing damsels or musicians playing their instruments, but rarely do the mute pillars themselves make music. In the Nellaiyappar temple, gentle taps on the cluster of columns hewn out of a single piece of rock can produce the keynotes of Indian classical music.

“You can hear the saptha swarangal (the seven basic notes) come like a wave as it were from the stone pieces,” says a senior priest.

“Hardly anybody knows the intricacies of how these were constructed to resonate a certain frequency. The more aesthetically inclined with some musical knowledge can bring out the rudiments of some rare ragas from these pillars,” he adds.

The Nelliyappar temple chronicle, Thirukovil Varalaaru, says the nadaththai ezhuppum kal thoongal — stone pillars that produce music — were set in place in the 7th century during the reign of Pandyan king Nindraseer Nedumaran.

Archaeologists date the temple before 7th century and say it was built by successive rulers of the Pandyan dynasty that ruled over the southern parts of Tamil Nadu from Madurai. Tirunelveli, about 150 km south of Madurai, served as their subsidiary capital.

The rulers following Nedumaran made some additions and modifications, but left the 10 musical stone pillars in front of the main Shiva shrine untouched.

Each huge musical pillar carved from one piece of rock comprises a cluster of smaller columns and stands testimony to a unique understanding of the “physics and mathematics of sound”, temple authorities said.

In all, there are 161 such small pillars that make music in the Nada Mani Mandapam before the main shrine of Lord Nellaiyappar, the chronicle says.

Two equally impressive musical pillars adorn the shrine dedicated to Goddess Gandhimathi Ambal in the temple complex spread over nearly 14 acres.

To pilgrims, as awe-inspiring as the deity are the isai thoongal, meaning musical pillars in Tamil.

The chronicle says, quoting well-known music researcher and scholar Prof. Sambamurthy Shastry, the “marvellous musical stone pillars” are “without a parallel” in any other part of the country.

In the South though, several temples boast of such pillars, like those at Azhavar Thirunagari, Tenkasi, Kalakaadu, Kuttralam, Shenbagarama Nallur, Suseendaram near Kanyakumari, Thiruvananthapuram and Madurai.

But the pillars of Tirunelveli stand out.

“What is unique about the musical stone pillars in the Tiruelveli Nellaiyappar temple is the fact you have a cluster as large as 48 musical pillars carved from one piece of stone, a delight to both the ears and the eyes,” says the chronicle, citing local Tamil poet Nellai M.S. Shankar.

Generally, musical stone pillars can be classified into three types, says Shankar, who has done a study on them.

The first is called Shruti pillar as it can produce the basic notes — the swaras on the basis of which the Theavarm (collection of devotional hymns) and the Vedas would be rendered.

Second is the Gana thoongal, which can generate basic tunes that make classical ragas like Harahara Priya. The third variety is the Laya thoongal, pillars that produce taal (beats) when tapped.

The pillars at the Nellaiyappar temple are a combination of the Shruti and Laya types, Shankar said.

“This is an architectural rarity and a sublime beauty to be cherished and preserved,” he adds

This shrine is the 14th (Last) Thevara Koil in Pandya Naadu.