A myth straddling continent. Even considering one that is surprisingly common between Abraham and the Indic – Noah’s ark – is fascinating. Some might be bothered by the comparison these days, but when you visit the Thoniappar Temple in Sirkazhi in Mayiladuthurai district, you are inevitably reminded of the famous ark. In the Bible, before destroying the earth, God instructs Noah, a virtuous man, to build an ark. According to the instructions of the Lord, he carries a male and female pair of animals of all the species of the world into the ship, the stock of which is to be replenished.
Sirkazzi has his own ship: here only God works, not leaving it to mortals. S.R. Balasubramaniam says, “During the Great Deluge, or Pralayam, as the Hindus call it, Lord Shiva and his wife Parvati turned Pranava into a boat and swam across the floodplain and touched the land on the mound here and the gods and saved the people from destruction.” Author of later Chola temples. Thoni in Tamil means boat. Balasubramaniam, who writes in detail about the Sirkazhi temple, explains in his book, “Thoni-upper is a representation of the legend (cf. the legend of Noah’s ark).” “Although Shiva is worshiped in the form of a linga in most temples, Sirkazhi is one of the few temples where he is worshiped in human form,” said Mathusuthanan Kalaiselavan, a faculty member of the Shaiva doctrine of Dharmapuram Adhiyanam, which manages does. Temple.
In Sirkazhi also, the main deity Brahmapureeswarar is worshiped in the form of a linga. Thonippar is on a mound on the first floor, accessible by a flight of stairs. The Sattainathar temple – as he wore the skin of Vishnu – is on the second floor. “More than 12 feet in height, Thoniapar is probably one of the tallest idols of Shiva. Parvati is sitting next to him and both the idols are made of plaster. Oils treated with herbs will be applied on the idols six times a year,” said Mr. Kalaiselavan.
Sirkazhi has a unique place in the Tamil Bhakti movement and classical music. The Saivite saint Jnanasambandar, who established the supremacy of Shaivism in Tamil Nadu, was born here. Legend has it that when a three-year-old child cried for milk, Thoniappar and Parvati appeared before him on the mound in a boat and offered milk. He sang his first song Thodudaiya Sevaiyan. It was also sung by Appar and Sundarar, the other two Shaivite saints. Other names for Sirkazhi are Brahmapuram, Venupuram, Pugli, Venguru, Thonipuram, Pundrai, Sirapuram, Sanabai, Sirkaki or Srikali, Kochaivayam and Kalumalam.
According to Balasubramaniam, Sirkazhi was also the original home of Kali (the mother goddess). “In such an old and famous center there are only three inscriptions of the later Cholas: one of Rajathiraja II and two of Kulothunga III,” he notes.
original lost
But the origins of the temples of Brahmapureeswarar, Thoniappan and Sattainathar are lost in oblivion. “The latter three Chola inscriptions do not shed any light on the earlier fabric. All the earlier inscriptions may have been lost in the later renovation. It is a pity,” he laments. He has said that this temple complex must have expanded , as in the case of the Nataraja temple at Chidambaram, occurred in the period of Kulothunga I, Vikrama Chola, Kulothunga II and was completed during the reign of Kulothunga III.
Sirkazhi also has a prominent place in Tamil classical music. Long before the arrival of the Carnatic Trinity – Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri – were born here Muthu Thandavar (1525–1600), Arunachala Kavirayar (1711–1778) and Marimutta Pillai (1712–1787). He is known as Tamil Trinity or Sirkazhi Mover. Later Tamil scholar UV Swaminatha Iyer recalled in his autobiography that his father made a name for himself by singing the Rama Natak Kirtan of Arunachala Kavirayar.