Nallur Vilvavaneswarar Temple… Vilvavaneswarar Temple is situated in Nallur(Not to be referred as Nallur, Sri Lanka) which is located a few kms far away from Vridhachalam, Tamil Nadu. Here we can find the shrines of Ma Balaambika sametha Shri Vilvavaneswarar. The temple is kept open for public view from 9 am to noon and from 5 to 7 pm. Those who are interested in performing pujas can contact the temple office authorities in advance through 04143 230232 and 094436 16639. The Temple tree is Vilvam and the Temple Pond is Manimuthar (Triveni Sangamam).
This temple is related with Lord Murugan. After destroying Demon Soora Padman, Lord Murugan was affected with a certain type of sin (Dosham) known as Veera Hathi (Due to the killing of a warrior). Due to that, he visited this temple, and prayed to Lord Shiva. In this temple, Lord Murugan can be seen along with his consorts Ma Valli and Ma Devasena, who sincerely worships his father Lord Shiva. He appears with six faces (ARUMUGAM) and twelve arms (PANNIRUKARATHAN), sitting on his majestic peacock.
Once the king of Madurai, Veera Pandian, presented golden flowers to this temple Lord, and he also made enormous donations to the temple. As advised by Sage Narada, during the Dwapara Yuga, Pancha Pandavas were believed to have worshipped here during their time of exile.
SONGS IN PRAISE OF LORD VILVAVANESWARAR ARE AS FOLLOWS: –
I praise and praise you, Oh Lord Vilvavaneswara, let your devotees always be in a happy state of mind, let your hands always touch their heads, let you remove the negativity of your devotees and, let you show the proper path to them.
I praise and praise you, Oh Lord Vilvavaneswara, let the pains and sufferings of your devotees comes to an end, let your crescent moon give coolness to the sufferers, and let the planetary positions of your devotees always do good to your devotees, and let you dwell on the souls of your devotees.
I praise and praise you, Oh Lord Vilvavaneswara, let you pierce the bad habits of your devotees through your holy trident, let you turn into Guru Dakshinamoorthy and deliver silent teachings to your devotees.
I praise and praise you, Oh Lord Vilvavaneswara, Let you reduce the severity of this Kali Yuga, let you safeguard your devotees from fire burns and from accidents, let your devotees lead a normal death, let your devotees be good at all times, let you give your unlimited blessings to your devotees, and let you give us the boon of reciting your Mantra, “OM NAMAH SHIVAYA”.
I praise and praise you, Oh Lord Vilvavaneswara, you have given eyes to us only for having your darshan. Hands are gifted to us to bow at you, legs are meant for marching towards your temples, our soul must be filled up with your image only, our heart beat must chant only your names, our mouth is given only for reciting your Mantras and singing songs in praise of you, our nose is given for smelling the fragrance of the sacred ash, our neck is gifted by you for wearing the holy Rudrasha Mala, and our entire body is dedicated to you alone.
I praise and praise you, Oh Lord Vilvavaneswara, you are the Lord of Kashi, and hence you are called as “KASHIVISWANATHAR”, you are the Lord of Somnath, and hence you are called as “SOMNATH MAHARAJ”, you are the Lord of Srisaialam, and hence you are called as “SRISAILANATHAR”. You are the affectionate husband of Ma Uma Devi, and hence you are called as Sri Umamaheswara. You are very attached to your devotees, and hence you are called as “BAKTHALINGESWARA”. Since you have been worshipped in the temples in the form of several millions and millions of Lingams, you have been called as “SRI KOTILINGESWARA”.
I praise and praise you, Oh Lord Vilvavaneswara, I am performing puja to you, please accept it whole heartily and render your blessings, I am adorning you with fragrant flowers, please accept it, I am offering you the Holy Prasad items, please have it, I am reciting your Mantras, please be satisfied with that, I am doing meditation on you, please be satisfied, I am doing my divine service at my level best, and still if you find any fault on my side, kindly pardon me like my father, and please accept me as your son.
I praise and praise you, Oh Lord Vilvavaneswara, large number of devotees approaches me and tells their problems. Kindly look into it, and remove their troubles and turmoil.
I praise and praise you, Oh Lord Vilvavaneswara, since you have given your half part of body to Ma Shakti Devi, you are called as “UMAPATI”, “SIVAGAMI SUNDARA”, “RAJARAJESWARA”, “KAMAKSHINATHA”, “DURGAPATI”, DURGESHWAR” “SHAKTEESWARA”.
I praise and praise you, Oh Lord Vilvavaneswara, though I am a saint, yet, I want to learn more and more from you, “OM SRI VILVAVANESWARA”, please stay with me on my soul, and teach me more and more divine subjects, in order to get more and more spiritual knowledge.
I praise and praise you, Oh Lord Vilvavaneswara, please give me enough strength and powers, in order to perform your puja excellently until my last breath.
I offer one leaf of Vilva(Bilva) to Lord Shiva which has three leaves, which represents the three eyes of Shiva, and which would destroy one’s past birth sins.
I offer one leaf of Vilva to Lord Vilvavaneswara which is very sacred and which is very soft and tender, and Vilva is very much liked by Lord Shiva, whoever utter the word Vilva would be considered as if they have uttered the Shiva Mantra, “OM NAMAH SHIVAYA”.
I offer one leaf of Vilva to Lord Shiva which is very much liked by Lord Nandikeswara, the divine attendant of Lord Shiva. Whoever offers the holy Bilva Leaf to Shiva and Nandikeswara, would be freed from their all sins.
I offer one leaf of Vilva to Lord Shiva which is considered equivalent to offering a Shaligrama (a rare stone) to a Brahmin and which is considered equivalent to performance of an Ashwamedha Yagna.
I offer one leaf of Vilva to Lord Shiva which is considered to be a very good act than that of the act of Gifting of the entire earth including the sea.
I offer one leaf of Vilva to Lord Shiva, which would purify one’s mind, removes their lust, anger and greed, gives the best spiritual enlightenment.
I offer one leaf of Vilva to Lord Shiva, whose significance cannot be fully explained even by the creator god Brahma, whose powers could even change the fate of a person.
I offer one leaf of Vilva to Lord Shiva, which is worshipped even by the gods like Vishnu, Indra and Brahma, and it is considered to be very best among all other leaves, since the Holy Vilva Leaves had originated from the abode of Lord Shiva, the Holy Mountain Kailash.
I offer one leaf of Vilva to Lord Shiva, since the holy act gives salvation, and with regard to its significance, Vilva tree is considered as a sacred tree than, that of the wish fulfilling divine tree, “PARIJATHA”, and whoever reads these sacred verses of Vilvashtakam, would be freed from their sins and they would attain the holy abode of Lord Shiva.
“OM SRI VILVAVANESWARAYA NAMO NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R. HARISHANKAR