Rajan's Orthopaedics and General Knowledge

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Samayapuram Mariamman Temple is a Hindu temple in Samayapuram near Trichy / Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, India. The main deity,Samayapurathal or Mariamman is made of sand and clay like many of the traditional Mariamman deities, and hence unlike many other Hindu deities there are no abhishekams (sacred washing) conducted to the main deity, but instead the "abishekam" is done to the small stone statue in front of it.

It is believed by the devotees that the Goddess has enormous powers over curing illnesses^[1] and hence, it is a ritual to buy small metallic replicas, made with silver or steel, of various body parts that need to be cured, and these are deposited in the donation box.^{[citation needed]}

Devotees also offer mavilakku, (Tamil - மாவிளக்கு) a sweet dish made of jaggery, rice flour and ghee. ^[2] Offerings of raw salt is also made to the Goddess by the rural devotees.

The temple attracts thousands of devotees on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays, the holy days for Mariamman. Samayapuram is the second most wealthy (in terms of cash flows) temple in Tamil Nadu after Pal

History

History of the temple is unclear. In early 18th century, King Vijayaraya Chakkaravarthi built the present day form of the temple.^[3] There is scant history of the period before that though it is believed that the locals worship the Goddess for many centuries before building the current temple. One legend says that the present deity was at the Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam, and one of chief priests of the temple believed that the idol caused him illness and hence asked it to be removed from the temple. It is a common belief in that part of the region that such local Gods have immense powers and they must always be satisfied by proper offerings and sacrifices. The idol was moved outside Srirangam, and later found by some of the passerby who built a temple named, the Kannanur Mariamman temple.

During that period (around 17th century CE), Trichi was ruled by the Vijayanagar kings and the area was used as an army base. It is believed that they made a commitment to build the temple if they win the war and after attaining success they built a shrine for the Goddess. Originally it was under the management of the Thiruvanaikaval temple, a popular one in the region. Later, the control was split and currently Samayapuram is under an independent trust monitored by the Government of Tamil Nadu, which also monitors the annadanam distribution (an act of offering food to the devotees).^[4]

[edit]Festivals

Thai Poosam, usually occurring in the Tamil month of Thai.

Like most Tamil temples the main festival is during the start of the summer, generally in April. During this time, the temple chariot processions and teppams (lake processions) happen.^[5]

All the Fridays in the Tamil months of Aadi (July 15 - Aug17) and Thai (Jan 15 - Feb 15) are celebrated in a grand manner.

[edit]Significance of the temple

Samayapuram is a significant symbol of the native culture in rural Tamil Nadu and there a number of unique practices concerning the Mariamman temples. Samayapuram has been used a model to describe rural folklore in a number of research works on sociology and religion.^[6]^[7]^[8]

During festivals, it is not unusual to find people doing extreme things to make their bodies suffer as an act of sacrifice including, walking over a red-hot bed of charcoal and holding hot mud-vessel in bare hands. Mariamman temples also typically involve Samiyattam wherein one of the deveotees (usually a female), gets hyper-excited during prayer and starts talking in an hysteric way interpreted by the devotees as an act of communication by God.^[6]^[7]

[edit]Heritage of Samayapuram outside India

The legacy of Samayapuram is well spread beyond Tamil Nadu and even after centuries of emigrating from India, many people in Sri Lanka, Singapore, South Africa and Fiji still maintain their loyalties to the temple and try to create similar temples and environment in their new country, raising both a cause of concern and an appreciation of diversity.There is also a Samayapuram Mariamman Temple in Tanjong Rambutan at Malaysia.There is also a shrine for Goddess Sri Samayapuram Mariamman at the Sri Veeramuthu Muneeswarar Temple which is located at Yishun Industrial Park,Singapore. During the month of Aadi,the annual Kozh Valarpu festival is conducted with much granduer by the Sri Samayapuram Mariamman Pillaigal at Jurong West,Singapore.^[8]^[9]

[edit]Chithirai Ther Thiruvila (Charriot Festival in the month of Chithirai --- April)

Samayapuram is located 15 KM from Tiruchirappalli on the National Highway (NH-45) which is now a 4 Lane Road from Chennai to Tiruchirappalli.

Here, at Samayapuram, the Chithirai Charriot Festival is celebrated for a period of 13 days. The Festival Starts on the 1st Tuesday of the month “Chithirai”. The Charriot Festival will be on the 10th day of the Festival. The Chariot (Car) with Goddess Samayapuram Mariamman will be pulled by devotees around the Temple. It is a Maha Festival --- Grand Festival, which attracts Lakhs of Devotees.

[edit]Arrangement during the Charriot Festival

During the Charriot Festival, no vehicle is allowed to go inside SamayaPuram Town and all the vehicles are stopped one Kilometer away from the Town and everybody have to go to the temple by walk.

The Crowd is so much, though the Government made so many arrangements, still it is un-manageable. Luckily for Devotees, nowadays, they are following the traffic rule of left side walking in the road. This helps a lot for the smooth movement, which avoids any complications associated with big crowds. Still you will find that so many children missing, which is being announced during the festival time in the loud speakers.

During the Charriot Festival time, the Local Government arranges a ‘’’Special Bus Stand’’’, which is one Kilometer away from the SamayaPuram Town. All the Buses and any other 2 / 3 / 4 wheelers are stopped there only. The vehicles which are going beyond Samayapuram in NH-45 will only be allowed with a little bit delay.

The 4 laning of the National Highway 45 has helped to ease traffic congestion to a considerable extent. Onward traffic can take the flyover, while those going to Samayapuram for Darshan can take the Service Lane which leads to the Temple.

For festival days, during the Chithirai Charriot Festivals, there are 24 hours bus services to nearby places like, Salem, Namakkal, Karur, Thuraiyur, Thanjavur and other nearby Small Towns. Further, there are continuous Town Bus Services provided which mainly connect to Tollgate (Salem-Trichy main road junction), Chathiram Bus Stand and Central (Main) Bus Stand.

During the Festival days we can see that, the Tamil Nadu Police, NCC, Scout (School and College Students) Controlling the Crowd every where including the Temple premises.

Mother of all Mothers --- The Goddess Shiva Sakti ---Samayapurathal is so Powerful to fulfill the Prarthanas of Devotees. In very few temples, you can see the presiding deity from the entrance of the temple. Yes, Samayapurathu Mariyamman is visible from the Main Entrance of the Temple and it will look like that the mother is waiting for your arrival.

A Typical Mariamman Kovil

PENITENT WITH PIERCED TONGUE, MARIAMMAN TEMPLE, SAMAYAPURAM, TAMIL NADU, INDIA

Thiruvannamalai Annamalaiyar temple

Thiruvannamalai the home of Annamalayar or Arunachaleswarar and Unnamalayal, is an ancient city named after the holy mountain. Thiruvannamalai is one of the Pancha Bootha Sthalangal representing the fire element and also a historic pilgrim centre, located about 175 km from Chennai and 66 km from Pondicherry. It is the Mukthi Sthalam (Place of Salvation) for several saints like Ramana Maharishi, Arunagirinathar etc. Every full moon day(Pournami), thousands of pilgrims worship Shiva by circumambulating the Arunachala hill barefoot.

Annamalaiyar Temple

Of the great temples of Tamilnadu, Annamalayar temple is one. It is spread over an extent of 24 acres. The number of Gopurams are 9 in all. Of these, four are in the midst of the walls. Raja gopuram is the name, by which the big tower in the east is called. Ammanaiammal gopuram, Tirumanjana gopuram and pey Gopuram are the names of the north, south and west towers respectively.

Girivalam

The Holy Mountain of Arunachalam rises up with an elevation of 2669 feet (800 m). The Road encircling the mountain where devotees circumbulate is 8 1/2 miles which is 14 kms long. On Full Moon(Pournami) days and festival days (like Karthigai, first day of the Tamil month, Tamil New Year day) hundreds and thousands of devotees circumbulate (GIRIVALAM) the mountain and get the blessings of the Lord Arunachalam. The Annamalai Hill was Agni (fire) during Kirthayugam, was Manikkam (Emerald) during Threthayugam, was Pon (Gold) during Dwaparayugam and rock during Kaliyugam. There are eight lingams located at the eight directions and provides an octagonal structure to Tiruvannamalai Town. The eight lingams are: Indra Lingam, Agni Lingam, Ema Lingam, Niruthi Lingam, Varuna Lingam, Vayu Lingam, Kubera Lingam and Esanya Lingam

Karthigai Deepam

The Karthigai Deepam festival is celebrated in the Tamil month of Karthigai. The festival begins in the uthiradam (star) day in Karthigai and winds up with the Bharani Deepam lit in the early hours of the tenth day. The Deepam is lit at dusk, Coinciding with a full moon, after the Ardhanareeswarar deity is taken to the "Katchi Mandapam" where the Panchamoorthis have already been kept. In all nine days Poojas will occur both in morning and evening. On seventh day five wood cart(marathier) for each Vinayagar, Murugar, Annamalayar, Unnamalai amman and Sandigeswarar.

source:http://annamalayar.com/

Last edited by lalithaelangovan; 24th Nov 2010 at 04:54 PM.

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