SREE
KSHETRA SUCHEENDRAM IS THE MOST POWERFUL SECRET KSEHTRA OF LORD
DATTATREYA. But the main attraction is the renowned shrine dedicated to
Lord STHANU-MAL-AYAN (Siva, Vishnu and Brahma). Suchindrum means the
place where Indra attained ‘Suchi’ i.e., purification. It is one of the
few temples in the country where the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and
Ishvara, are worshipped. The linga is in three parts. The top represents
“Sthanu” name of Siva,the middle “Mal” name of Vishnu, and the base
“Ayan” name of Brahma. It is believed that the Trinity. Suchindram
Temple is approximately 1,300 years old. The temple construction took
place over an extended period of at least six hundred years, so parts of
the temple date back to the late 8th century, while others are 15th
century. The earliest lithic records of Suchindram belong to the 9th
Century A.D. Up until the time Kanyakumari became part of Tamil Nadu,
the Suchindram Temple was under the administration of the Travancore
Kings.
The unique feature of the Suchindrum temple is that both Saivites and
Vaishnavites hold the temple in the high esteem. The shrines within,
which are thirty in number. The sanctum sanctorum presenting a
Shivalinga, the Thekkadam presenting the image of Lord Vishnu (human
form), the Konnayadi presenting the three svayambhu lingas at the foot
of an old tree (nature worship), the holy sanctum of Chitra sabha
presenting a mirror (formless aspect of self-realisation) and many other
smaller shrines presenting almost all the deities of Hindu.
LOCATION
It is in the state of Tamil nadu in India and is 7 kilometers from
Nager Coil and 13 kms only from Kanyakumari. Though the kshetra is in
Tamilnadu, it is also nearer to Trivandrum (Kerala state) which is about
3 hours journey only. The village is surrounded on all sides by paddy
fields and coconut groves.
STORY BEHIND SUCHEENDRAM
There
are two stories about this kshetra, One is about Indra (King of Gods)
and second one is about Lord Dattatreya Once Indra deva was infactuated
with Ahalya, wife of Gauthama rishi. One night he took the form of a
cock and came to the hermitage of Gauthama and gave the clarion call to
think that Gauthama was late for his bath. Gauthama arose and hurried to
the river. Indra in the disguise of Gauthama, entered the hermitage and
molested Ahalya. Gauthama muni saw the river yet sleeping and returned
to the hermitage and find Ahalya and Indra there. He cursed Indra that
his body should be covered with a thousand female genital organs and
Ahalya to become a stone. Greatly afflicted by his disgrace and Indra
went to Gnaanaranya and performed penance for a long time. Atlast, the
grace of Lord Shiva purified him thoroughly. Indra built the shrine and
the Trimurthis were represented in one linga with the name
Sthaanumaalaya.
The legend is that, Indra is still doing pooja in the temple at
midnight hours every night. As Indra was purified at this Gnaanaranya,
it’s name was changed to SUCHI+INDRA = SUCHINDRA and the village is
SUCHINDRUM Second story goes like this : The great sage Atri and his
devoted wife Anasuya had their hermitage at this gnaanaranya (now it is
Suchindrum). Anasuya was renowned for her chastity. Once the sage Atri
was away to participate in a Yagna, and in his absence Anasuya was doing
pooja to the Paadatheertha of her Lord. She was able to bring rains
from the sky by sprinkling the paadatheertha of her husband during the
times of severe drought. When Goddesses Laxmi, Saraswathi and Parvathi
heard throught Narada that a woman of the world had excelled them in her
love towards her husband, they became jealous and decided to test the
chastity of Anasuya. To satisfy the bidding of their wives, Lord Brahma,
Vishnu and Maheshwara appeared in the form of old Brahmins at the
hermitage of Anasuya and begged alms.
Trimoorthis asking for alms When she was about to serve them food,
they told her that they had taken a vow not to eat fod served by a
person who wore any dress. So, she prayed to her Lord and sprinkled the
paadatheertha on the Brahmins. Immediately the old Brahmins were
transformed into three suckling babies. She then undressed and fed them.
She put them in a cradle and made them sleep. The long absence of the
Gods instilled fear in the minds of the three Devis, and they approached
Anasuya for Mangalya bhiksha. Then Anasuya sprinkled the paadatheertha
on the babies and the three Gods appeared in their resplendent glory by
the side of their partners. These thrimoorthis combined together and
gave a birth to Atri and Anasuya in the form of Lord Dattatreya. So the
pooja performed to Sthanumalyan at sucheendram is as good as
worshipping Lord Dttatreya. After the Trinity left the place there
sprouted three svayambulingas at the foot of a laurel tree. This laurel
tree and the lingas can be seen even now at the Suchindrum temple.
IMPORTANT TEMPLES IN AND AROUND MAIN TEMPLE
PUSHKARINI:
The Pushkarini is at the outside of the temple. It is a big tank with a
beautiful Mandapam in the center. It is advised to take a bath in the
Pushkarni before having the darshan of Stahanumalayan/Lord Dattatreya.
The legend is that, the sins of the devotees will be purified by having a
bath in this Pushkarini. Swamy’s Kalyana and Theppotsava will always be
performed in the Mandapam of the Pushkarini.
Tower(Gopura) of the temple:The tourists will always attracted by the charm and grandeur of the lofty Gopuram at Suchindrum temple. The Gopuram is a marvel of construction, standing majestically 134 feet height with 7 steps. Even from a distance the tower of the temple, framed by the coconut trees and the sky as a backdrop, makes a fascinating picture.
Smiling Subrahmanyeshwara: The Lord Subrahmanya in this temple is appearing with full smiling face. He is in the shakti sampanna form.
Vigneshwari: Lord Vinayaka is appearing as a part of female and
remaining as a male form. This vinayaka is a combination of male and
female form and hence this Vigneshwar is terming as VIGNESHWARI. This
Ganeshaani murti in sukhasana pose at Suchindram is one of only a few,
the others being at a 10th century temple dedicated to 64 yoginis in
Bheraghat, near Jabalpur, and one at the Tanumalaya Swami Temple in
Suchindrum, Kerala. In Tibet, this female form of Ganesh is worshiped as
Gajanani.
Viswaroopa Hanuman:Vishwaroopa Hanuman-Jai Hanuman It is stunned to see
the huge image of Lord Hanuman the embodiment of devotion and humility,
depicting his Vishwaroopa Darshan given to Sitha at the Ashoka forest,
as described in the Sundarakanda of Ramayana. It is about 18 ft height
and is remarkable for its grandeur and massiveness. As we approach the
image we feel how insignificant we are and stand transfixed. This figure
is placed diametrically opposite to the figures of Lord Rama and Sitha.
The full tail of Lord Hanuman is in the full upward direction.. As per
Shaastra, it is very powerful to perform puja to tail of Lord Hanuman.
In this temple, it is a practice to apply butter to the edge of the tail
to give cooling effect to Lord Hanuman to get a relief from the burning
position of the tail. Sides of vigraha two ladders are there, the
priest will go to the top of the murthy and apply the butter to the
tail. They will give the applied butter as a prasada and if we apply
this butter to the backside of our children, there won’t be any graha
doshas to the kids.
NAVAPAASHAANA BALAJI: Lord Venkateshwara is
appearing with silver kavacha and the stone used for the lord Balaji
moorthi is Navapaashana shila. We can find this type of shila in Palani
(Lord subrahmanya moola virat) and in very few temples. Whoever takes
the abhisheka theertha of this navapaashana shila, then deceases if any
of the concerned person will be cured within few days.
Shankhu powder Nandeeshwar (huge white bull):In this
temple, we can find very big Nandi (vahana of Lord Shiva) . It is 9 ft
height and 13 ft width. It is a gigantic bull and is terming as Makkalai
which is facing Lord Sthanumalaya. The full Nandi was made with full
shankhu powder only.
Jagadguru Adishankara: There is a legend that,
Jagadguru Aadishankara obtained the “PRANAVA” mantropadesha from Lord
Shiva and had seen the Shiva thaandava darshan of Lord Shiva in this
Suchendrum.
Lord Sthanumalaya: The Sanctum Sanctorum of Lord
Sthanumalaya, is fully illuminated by oil lamps. Crossing the Nandi, we
have the darshan of Lord Sthanumalaya in the form of Linga at about 1.25
ft hight. Except at the time of Abhisheka (4.00 a.m.), the linga is
fully covered by a golden kavacha. The charming serenity of the spot and
the devotion is superb. The main hall of this garbhalaya appearance is
very great and akhanda jyothi is continuously illuminating in this hall.
Sapthaswara piller/ring piller: It is true that, we
can hear the music from the rock pillars of the temple. By entering into
the Alankara mantapa, we can see four pillers each carved out of a s
ingle stne. Two of them contain 33 smaller pillars. These are the famous
Musical pillars and one can hear the most melodious musical saptaswara
tunes emanate from then when tapped. It is real and another pillar will
give the sound of a ring. The aarohan and avarohana styles can be easily
experienced as per your tapping style of the pillar. We can also see a
pillar in the temple premises, in which if we introduced a piece of wire
through the right nostril of the statue, it will comes out of the left
ear and when it is made to pass through the right ear comes out of the
left. It is a wonder and can be seen in the temple.
Lord Dattatreya: We can have the darshan of Lord Dattatreya in the hollow at the foot of the tree, where three lingas sprout one above the other. This can be seen only at the time of abhisheka in the morning (4.00 a.m.) and they are usually hidden in the a golden kavacha in the day hours.The branches of the Konnai (laurel) tree are also seen at the top of the shrine. It is an irrefutable fact that the tree is very old and parts of the tree were sent to London and Kalkatta and were examined by experts who concluded that the tree would have flourished atleast 2000 years ago. There is an evidence that, almost all the shrines in the temple are came into existence before the first quarter of the 12th century.
It is confirmed that Indra is regulary visiting this temple in the night hours and performing puja to Sthanumalaya. Even priests of the temple are confirming that the location of the puja samagri in the Garbhalaya are changing by the next day morning everyday means, Indra is coming and performing puja to Trinity God.It is advised to every one to visit this Kshetra atleast once in their life time and have the blessings of Trimoorthi roopa.
If an unmarried person visits Kanyakumari devi and Suchidrum
Trimoorhty in a single trip, their marriage will be settled at the
earliest. Thus this sacred shrine leaves indelible impressions in the
minds of the visitors and no tourist fails to carry sweet memories on
his exit from this shrine.
FESTIVALS PERFORMED
There
are two important festivals, one in Markazhi (December/January) and the
other in Chiththirai (April/May). During the Markazhi festival, on the
9th day the deities are taken out in procession around the streets on
three festival cars.
The chariot is made of wood and is carved with beautifully detailed
sculptures, many of which feature the pastimes of Krishna and Rama
leela. Each year, the upper portion of the car is remade with fresh
poles and fabrics, and taken out on procession.
While Their Lordships’ original temple chariot was destroyed during
the invasion of Khan Chanda Saheb, many devotees sacrificed their lives
in protecting the remaining chariots, thus forcing the invaders to
retreat. Afterwards, the Devi (Amman) car was made the major chariot.
Each year it is accompanied by the chariots of Ganesha and Swamy, and
each of the chariots bears one member of the Trimurtis.
DAILY POOJAS
Abhishekam is being performed thrice a day in this temple. Ad midst
regular poojas, there are special poojas performed to the God and
Goddesses.
- Abisekam for Moola lingam at 4.15 a.m
- Abisekam for Thanumalayan Shrine at 4.45 a.m
- Daily festival Pooja at 5.30 a.m
- Tharai Abisekam at 6.30 a.m
- Mistanga Pooja at 7.00 a.m
- Uchikkala Poojai, Deepa Aradhanai at 11.00 a.m
- Deepa Aradhanai, Ahala Poojai & Arthajama poojai at 6.30 p.m
ACCOMODATION
Suchendrum is a small village and hence lodging facilities are
available at nominal cost with ordinary facilities. Some choultries are
also available for staying purpose. It is strongly recommended to have
at least one night sleep in the kshetra and perform Abhisheka in the
early morning at about 4.00 a.m.
HOW TO REACH
| BY TRAIN | From Chennai:There
are direct trains to Nagercoil (Nagercoil express)/Kanyakumari / Trivandrum and from there one can reach Suchendrum very easily. If any
one reaches Madhurai (Goddess Meenakshi), then it is convenient to
reach Suchendrum by Travels buses maintaining by Private operators or by
Tamilnadu tourism or by Tamilnadu State Road Transport. It is around 15
to 16 hours journey From Hyderabad: Direct train is available to Kanyakumari or one can reach Chennai to catch a connected train as per our convenience. From Vijayawada: Direct trains are available to Kanyakumari/ Nagercoil/ Trivandrum and weekly special trains are also available. It is around 24 to 26 hours journey from Vijayawada to Kanyakumari. City buses/private buses are available to reach Suchendrum. FROM PUNE / MUMBAI / HOWRAH / BANGALORE: Direct trains are available to reach Kanyakumari/ Nagercoil and weekly special express is also available to reach Kanyakumari. |
| BY AIR | Regular flights are available from Bangalore, Hyderabad, Rajkot,
Pune, Mumbai, Kalkatta to Trivandrum and one can take bus/train/taxi to
reach Suchendrum. Jet airways/Airdeccan etc., services are available for
Trivandrum. |
| BY BUS | It takes 26-28 hours from Hyderabad. So it is advised to reach Nagercoil or Kanyakumari by train and travel by bus to Suchindram. |
CONTACT
Arulmigu Thanumalaya Swamy Thirukkoil
PH 04652- 241421
Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment
Ph 04652 – 241270
Ph 04652 – 241270