AGASTHEESWARAR TEMPLE KABISTHALAM
The history of this temple is no-where recorded in any forms like stone culverts, papers, books etc. I am told by my father and my father told by my grand father and my grand father told by my great grand father and so on. This tradition of passing the story to their descendants is called as “Karna Parambarai” (in Tamil). Now I am happy to share this story with you all.
Location:
Kabisthalam Village – Papanasam Taluk – Thanjavur District – Tamil Nadu – India
Situated between Cauvery River in the North and Kollidam River (Coleroon in English) in the south
Deities:
Agastheeshwarar
Akhilandeshwari
Vinayakar
Subramaniyar, Valli, Theivanai,
Durga
Saneeshwarar
Natarajar
Bairavar, Manickavasagar, Somas Kandar
Dakshana Moorhty, Lingothbavar (Thiruvannamalai), Navgraha, Nandi
Earlier Consecrations:
1935
1946
1958
Genesis:
Around 250 years ago, a group of yogis (Siddhars in Tamil) were passing by Kabisthalam on their pilgrimage. One of the yogis in that group, named Thathuvaraya Swamigal, noticed a Shiva Lingam lying in an open field without any proper maintenance. On seeing the beauty and elegance of the lingam, something struck his mind that he is destined to build a temple for Lord Shiva on that place. He understood that it is his purpose of life in this world. He decided and he stayed in Kabisthalam. He did not pursue his travel from thereon.
Challenges in building:
Money
Show stopper. He was not belonging to any descents of a King’s lineage (as temples were built only by kings in olden days) and also he was not having any money. As you all know, in those days, pilgrims are those who had given up every materialistic thing in life including money. With his own will power and with His power, he started building the temple.
The mystery is that he paid off the worker’s wages daily without any debt. No one knew where he had got the money from.
Resources
Located in the lush greenery of Cauvery delta, the nearest mountain to get stones for the construction is 75 km away. 75 is a mammoth number with no proper means of transportation in those days. With all these hurdles, he managed to get the stones by bullock carts and by other feasible means and he successfully built the temple. He also bought some lands for the temple which can be leased to the local farmers so that a constant income is flowing in for doing poojas and also for maintenance.
Temple’s Features:
Built on the rules of Aahama Vithi (Rules for building temple)
Facing East
One water tank in front of the temple, one well inside at the centre of the temple for doing Abhishekam (Bathing Ceremonies), one well at the back of the temple. This is one unique feature. Not many temples are built like this.
Jeeva Samadhi:
With his life’s mission getting accomplished by God’s will, Thathuvaraya Swamigal stayed in Kabisthalam even after that and he did not leave. He said he will attain Jeeva Samadhi on this day and on this time. For administrative purposes, he handed over the temple to our family. He requested with the villagers to bury him at a particular place and not inside the temple. His Samadhi is now called as “ Samadhi Temple ”
This is the full history of our family temple. om namasivaya !
yours,
ravichandran kumbakonam
Courtesy: http://kmsriram.tumblr.com/