What is Paadal Petra Sthalam ?
Tirikala's- Paadal Petra Sthalam?
Lord Shiva, popularly
termed as the lord of destruction, but without whom creation cannot occur, is
symbolized by the Shiva Lingam. Saivism is the major faith in the Indian system
of belief, that worships Shiva as its principal God. Shiva temples are spread
all over India.
About Nayanmars
Thirunavukarasar,
Thirugnanasambandar and Sundarar were the first Nayanmars who composed songs in
the praise of Lord Shiva after visiting the temples of Lord Shiva and brought
out the glory of the God by their pathigams.
3 Nayanmars visited these temples along with their followers in spite of the inconveniences they faced while travelling the nook and corner of Tamilnadu in search of these temples. There are instances when God Shiva himself had directed them and shown the way to some of the temples so that the above Nayanmars could visit these temples and compose Pathigams.
3 Nayanmars visited these temples along with their followers in spite of the inconveniences they faced while travelling the nook and corner of Tamilnadu in search of these temples. There are instances when God Shiva himself had directed them and shown the way to some of the temples so that the above Nayanmars could visit these temples and compose Pathigams.
These Pathigaams (poems or songs) composed in the
classical Tamil language are of immense value to the Tamil literature.
Pathigams composed Praising of
Lord Shiva
|
Thirunavukarasar
|
Sambandar
|
Sundarar
|
Visited Siva sthalam / Temple personally
|
125
|
219
|
84
|
Not visited Siva sthalam or Temple
|
98
|
12
|
54
|
Not composed
|
51
|
43
|
136
|
Total
|
274
|
274
|
274
|
Saivite Tirumuraigal have
been grouped into 12. The first 7 Tirumuraigal consists of the Pathigams
composed by Thirunavukarasar, Thirugnanasambandar and Sundarar and are
collectively and popularly known as Tevara Paadalgal.
These Tevara Paadalgal
convey one message clearly - that the temples referred in the Pathigams were in
existence 1000 years before.
LORD SHIVA QUOTE
Lord Shiva himself had
made a comment on the services rendered by 3 first Nayanmars and it quote as.
ஞானசம்பந்தன் தன்னை பாடினான்
திருநாவுக்கரசன் என்னை பாடினான்
சுந்தரன் பொண்ணை பாடினான்
Meaning
Gnanasambandan composed
the songs in praising god bringing him also into the picutre, Thirunavukarasar
composed the songs purely in the praise of god, whereas Sundarar composed his
songs praising god and requesting for
wealth.
Role of king Rajaraja chola
Played a key role in
compiling all these songs and name it as “Devaram” with the help his priest Nambiandar Nambi.
These songs in the form of a palm leaf manuscript were recovered from one of
the closed chambers in Chidambaram Natarajar Temple. Unfortunately, only
approximately half of the total manuscripts could be recovered and the rest had
been destroyed by termites.
Why padal petra
Sthalam?
Most
important among them, glorified by the 63 Tamil Nayanmars, particularly the 3
viz, Thirunavukarasar (Appar), Sundarar and Sambandar in their Tevaram hymn,
are revered as the Tevara Paadal Petra Sthalams.
They are 274 Shiva temples in
number and out of which 264 temples are situated in Tamilnadu. The 274 odd
shrines that have at least one Pathigam composed in their honor are referred to
commonly as Paadal Petra Stalangal, or more generally Shivastalams. Most
of them are located in TamilNadu, details as shown below.
Places
|
No.
of Temples
|
Tamil Nadu
|
260
|
Puducherry
|
6
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
2
|
Sri Lanka
|
2
|
Uttarakhand
|
2
|
Karnataka
|
1
|
Kerala
|
1
|
Nepal
|
1
|
Tibet
|
1
|
TOTAL
|
276
|
