Temple Renovation Project

2. Siddhalingamadam, is a village on the Southern bank of the sacred river South Pennar. The holy hill of Arunachala casts its glow on it. The very name of the village is suggestive of its association with Siddhas.

3. Siddhalingamadam was once a forest in the midst of which there was a beautiful Siva Linga. According to legend, a great Siva Yogi became the Siva Linga. It was discovered accidentally by a king when he came for hunting.

4. The Siva temple is known as Vyaghrapadeswara because the Sage Vyaghrapada, on his way to Chidambaram, worshipped Lord Siva in this temple.

5. The first temple built enshrining the Siva Linga was of mud and wood. Later, between 907 and 914 AD, the temple in stone was constructed

6. The temple of Siva has more than seventy stone inscriptions bearing evidence of its great antiquity.

7. The temple was completely renovated during the period of Kulottunga Chola I. A prakara was added surrounded by a grove of Aracanut trees and mandapa in the Siva temple. The second Prakara of the temple with the shrine of Divine Mother Neela Visalakshi, was also constructed in the same period.

8. It was during the reign of Rajaraja Chola I, that the beautiful vigraha of Nataraja was installed (1013 AD).

9. A shrine for Kshetrapala Pillayar was constructed by a Brahmin devotee. There is a beautiful temple car with exquisite carvings.

10. Temple tank.

11. Sadguru Gnanananda, arrived at Siddhalingamadam in 1942 and stayed at a place adjacent to the temple. He was attracted to the kshetra by the subtle presence of siddhas and the special spiritual energy of the ancient temple of Sri Vyaghrapadeswara.

12. The residents of the village have come forward to take up the arduous task of renovation of this temple of great antiquity. They approached Pujya Sri Swami Nityananda Giri of Sri Gnanananda Thapovanam with the request that the devotees of Sadguru Gnanananda might sponsor the construction of a Rajagopuram as a superstructure over the existing kalharam . The temple was subject to severe neglect for a very long time due to absence of Royal patronage.

14. Centuries ago, the supporting structure ( kalharam ) for the Rajagopuram at the entrance of the temple was constructed. But the superstructure of Rajagopuram was not built.

15. A three tier Rajagopuram similar to the one of Kilaiyur Veerattana temple at Tirukoilur, was constructed after the approval of the drawings by the architect of HR & CE Board.

16. During the process of Rajagopuram construction .

17. As the pandal covering the painted Rajagopuram has not yet been removed, we are not able to add a picture with the general view of the painted Gopuram.

20. View before laying the tiles on the terraces View after laying the tiles on the terraces Tiles were laid on the roofs of all shrines and Mandapas, meeting the overrun of the cost (Rs. 1.03 lakhs) over the amount of Rs.2.15 lakhs sanctioned by the HR & CE Board.

21. skylight Skylight in Ardha Mandapa in the Siva temple has been provided with 2 nos. grills and toughened sandwiched glass.

22. This is the same column Walls demolished View b e f o r e d e m o l i s h i n g t h e w a l l s A strong room that had been constructed previously in the prakarana was preventing the sun light to enter. It has been demolished. View after demolishing the walls

23. In the northern side and inside the ardha mandapa , a new strong room has been provided with grill doors, proper locks and burglar alarm. Now the beautiful utsava vigrahas can be seen and at the same time are safe.

24. The new strong room has three grill parts. The floor has been leveled and the structure for the grill work has been made in concrete.

25. View from inside the ardha mandapa

26. A traditional wooden door made of teak wood and iruppai wood has substituted a metallic door at the entrance of the Ardha Mandapa in front of Sri Vyaghrapadeswara shrine.

29. A wooden Vimana for housing the vigrahas of Sri Nataraja, Sri Sivakami and Sri Manikavachakar is being constructed.

30. Complete dismantling and reassembly over new foundation of stone Mandapa in front of Sri Dakshinamoorti.

31. Complete dismantling and reassembly over new foundation of stone Mandapa in front of Sri Ganapathi

32. Small ornamented altar in front of the murtis in the niches of the outer wall of the garbha graha .

33. Replacement of three Saptamatrikas that are broken.

34. Replacement of Parvatavardini that is damaged

35. Murtis of the four great Shaivite saints, Appar, Gnana Sambandar, Sundarar, and Manickavacakar.

36. Naga-abharanam for Sri Vyaghrapadeswara and tiruvatchi (decorative arch in brass) for Sri Neelavisalakshi are being made.

37. Replacement of sudai work in Chandikeswara Vimanam in Siva temple and five colour painting.

38. Sri Vyaghrapadeswara Vimanam sudai work and painting.

40. Replacement of sudai work and five colour painting at the Nandikeswara Vimanam in front of Sri Vyaghrapadeswara shrine.

41. The sudai work and five colour painting of Sri Nataraja Vimanam .

42. Replacement of the entire sudai work and five colour painting in Sri Neelavisalakshi temple. As the Vimanam is fully covered by the scafolding until the consecration of the temple, we are not able to add a full view of the Vimanam.

43. Sri Nandikeswara Vimanam in front of Sri Neelavisalakshi Temple

44. Nandis have been replaced and the wall has been repaired.

46. The sudai work and five colour painting of all the Vimanas and Nandis.

47. The side walls In the entrance of the Navaratri Mandapam have been removed and a grill gate has been provided.

48. The vahanas for the utsava vigrahas are being kept in the Navaratri Mandapam. With the grill gate they will be seen from outside.

50. The entire granite flooring of Navaratri Mandapa is being taken up for complete renovation.

51. A side door in the wall has been removed and the roof edges have been repaired.

53. Before pointing After pointing

57. The Dvajasthamba was broken in the upper portion. On 2 nd May Kala-akarshana was performed . This ritual is the extraction of the spiritual energy from the existing Dvajasthamba and storing it in a special tirtha kalasa .

58. After this procedure, the Sthapati dismantled the existing D vajasthamba and prepared a new Teakwood core to be installed.

59. Once the carpentry work was completed, the copper kavacham was prepared. When the copper cladding ( kavacha) was assembled, the energy stored in the tirtha kalasa was retransmitted to the Dvajasthamba again.

60. Once the log was made ready, the bottom extreme was painted with a protecting primer and covered with lead sheet. The nails that hold the lead sheet are of copper.

61. A new pit was arranged. On 18 th August the core of the new Dvajasthamba was placed in position following all the required procedures prescribed in the Agamas .

62. Coins, noble metals, gems, sacred herbs, leafs and flowers were placed in the spot before the core of the new Dvajasthamba was placed in position.

63. Finally and with the help of all, the core of the new dvajasthamba was erected and placed in position.

64. In the Coppersmith workshop, the copper Kavacham was made ready.

65. In the Coppersmith workshop

66. In the Coppersmith workshop

67. During the assembling of the kavacham

68. During the assembling of the kavacham .

69. Detail of the engraved work in the dvajastambha

70. After renovation Before renovation

72. Bali Peetham under renovation.

74. We seek your active participation in the ongoing project of renovation and Kumbhabhisheka of Sri Vyaghrapadeswara temple. SIDDHALINGAMADAM VYAGHRAPADESWARA TEMPLE RAJAGOPURA-THIRUPPANI COMMITEE Contact details: Sri V. Parameswaran – FCA “ Kamalalaya” E-7, 3 rd Floor Gemini Apts Cathedral Garden Road Chennai 600.006 Cell: 9444 109 401

75. May Lord Sri Vyaghrapadeswar, Sri Neela Visalakshi and Sadguru Gnanananda bless us all with Sowbhagya, prosperity and Sreyas, the highest good! OM TAT SAT! We pray that with Sadguru’s Grace the renovation project of Sri Vyaghrapadeswara temple may soon be completed and the Kumbhabhisheka celebrated successfully.