THIRUKETHEESWARAM TEMPLE IN SRI LANKA
Mannar is the tip of Sri Lanka nearest to India, across the popular Ram Setu that joins the two nations.
On the off chance that on the Indian finish of Ram Setu, we have the Rameshwaram sanctuary, the Sri Lanka end has the Thiruketheeswaram sanctuary.
It was a clamoring port town till bygone eras and thus associated with the remainder of the world.
Today, it is a curious beachfront town that vacationers have not totally neglected.
I arrived at Mannar at night after a lengthy drive from Colombo, halting at two or three puts on the way.
It was a tiny spot with negligible offices at the lodging. In the first part of the day, I set off on a mission to see the sanctuary that I was there to do a story on.
It entranced me as coming, I had perused a full book on the narrative of this astonishing sanctuary.
Legend of Thiruketheeswaram Temple
The account of this sanctuary interfaces it to the Sagar Manthan or the agitating of the seas.
At the point when the nectar was being appropriated, an asura came and sat in the column of Devtas.
When Vishnu understood this, he utilized his plate to cut him into two pieces. In any case, having taken the nectar, he was at that point deified.
The two pieces of his body are currently known as Rahu and Ketu. The previous is the head without a body and the last option is a headless body.
It is accepted that Ketu venerated Shiva here and he was the first to introduce the Shivalinga here. Consequently, the sanctuary is named after him – Thiruketeeshwara.
Mannar is additionally accepted to be the place where there is Vishwakarma, the heavenly draftsmen who alongside his children have constructed the best of spots.
Customary Sthapatis or modelers follow their heredity to him.
Mandodari, the central sovereign of Ravana came from this district, as she was the girl of Mayan, one of the children of Vishwakarma.
History of ThiruketheeswaramTemple
It is said that the loftiness of this antiquated sanctuary matched that of the Rameshwaram sanctuary across the ocean. It was belittled by the significant rulers of South Indian administrations like Cholas.
Tamil artists and holy people composed verses in commendation of this sanctuary, however, we couldn’t say whether they truly visited this sanctuary. Indeed, even the Chinese explorer Huan Tsang referenced this sanctuary in his travelogs.
Portuguese came and they eradicated the sanctuary totally. There was no sign left of this sanctuary and the backwoods filled around here.
Gradually the sanctuary was deleted from the memory as well. In the nineteenth CE, a young fellow from Jaffna called Arumugam Navalar concentrated on Shaiva Siddhanta and dealt with taking it to the majority.
It is then that he ran over the verse of Myanmar Sampandrar and Sundrar discussing a sanctuary of the master of Ketu.
Navalar began a frantic chase after the sanctuary including digging the woodlands haphazardly.
He ultimately found a gigantic Chola time Shivalinga that is as yet revered in the sanctuary.
This was the re-birth of the sanctuary. Individuals initially fabricated a little one-room sanctuary and afterward, after some time, gathered reserves and continued to extend the sanctuary.
In the middle interferences came when there was affable turmoil when the sanctuary stayed unavailable to people in general.
It likewise lost a great deal of Mathas that were around the sanctuary albeit no significant damage was finished to the fundamental sanctuary.
At the point when I visited, the extension work was all the while going on.
Indeed, even the Indian government and ASI have upheld crafted by building this sanctuary.
Visiting Thiruketheeswaram Temple
Since a significant development work of the sanctuary is going on, the sanctuary was moved to an improvised space and the reveres were happening there. I even saw a wedding occurring there.
A tall Raj gopuram of the sanctuary with a colossal chime on one side invites one inside the sanctuary.
Sanctuary chime here was requested from England and it is an interesting element of the Sri Lankan sanctuaries.
You generally see a couple of sanctuary chimes on one or the other side of the fundamental gopuram. Seems to be a congregation impact, particularly on the grounds that they are typically obtained from Europe.
Right external in a little sanctuary-like nook that has an old Nandi Murti in it.
Grabhagriha has another Shivalinga that was brought here from Rameshwaram, where it came from Kashi. I was excited to see a Shivalinga from Varanasi being venerated here.
A more modest sanctuary as an afterthought is committed to Gauri Amman and there is a wonderful Murti of her in the sanctum.
Recently constructed 100-pillared mandapa prompting the sanctum has murtis of Ketu, Mandodari, writers Sampandrar and Sundar, Chola lords, and two champions riding the ponies as though protecting the sanctuary.
Different support points have columns of Shiva Tandav acts like models, Ganesha figures, Vishnu models, and types of Devi. They are sprinkled with heavenly artists like Urvashi and Rambha.
Roofs have portrayals of Navagrahas, Sun, zodiac signs, Kamdhenu, and Sri Yantra.
Clerics let me know that Pallavi is illustrative of Ganga, and how Shiva comes to Parvati’s chambers consistently and returns to his chamber in the first part of the day where he meets Ganga as Pallavi water is utilized for his Abhishek. How stories keep on living!
Sanctuary Tank – Palavi Teertham
A sanctuary is unfinished without a sanctuary tank. This sanctuary has an immense tank called Palavi towards the north of the sanctuary.
It is said that quite a long time ago it was a stream that was equivalent to Ganga. Tank water is utilized for every one of the ceremonies of the sanctuary including the Abhishek.
Different ceremonies like keep going rituals are performed on its banks as well.
A structure has been worked around it where the gods would sit when they get out of the sanctuary. Loads of birds should be visible zooming around.
There is one more tank before the sanctuary near a cow cover.
Utsava Murtis
Sanctuary has an exquisite assortment of old bronze murtis that are properly wearing fine garments. Recognizable among them are the Chola time murtis of Nataraja and Somaskanda.
There are murtis of 63 Nyanmar writer holy people that we see in numerous Shiva sanctuaries across Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
The 10-day yearly celebration of the sanctuary happens around the full moon day of Vaishakh month.
Any remaining Hindu celebrations like Shivaratri, Navaratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Skand Sashthi are praised in the sanctuary. Being a Shiva sanctuary, Monday is exceptional for the sanctuary.
Meeting the Sthapati
My greatest award for visiting this sanctuary was meeting the Sthapati R Selvanathan and his significant other Ponni.
They were dealing with the ongoing period of extension, adding the more modest sanctuaries encompassing the primary sanctuary, fabricating a new vimana, or the superstructure.
I endured two days paying attention to them and this was my schooling on what happens in the background of sanctuary design.
A portion of the things I learned include:
There are various sorts of stones, delegated male, female, and impartial. Each has its own motivation. For instance, just a male stone can be utilized to cut a Shivalinga.
There are various sorts of sanctuary upkeep schedules. A portion of these incorporate standard upkeep that should be done like clockwork.
There is arranged development which should be finished as per the first arrangement of the sanctuary.
There is an upkeep routine recommended for sanctuaries that might have dropped out of purpose because of any explanation and for sanctuaries that have been despoiled deliberately.
I found out about the music that is inbuilt in sanctuaries and the accounts that they tell.
I saw them drawing plans on stone and afterward breaking off what isn’t required.
Hyderabad to Srisailam taxi service
Truth be told, I took a shot at delivering some stone and under the direction of specialists, it appeared to be sufficiently basic.
Mannar Fort
This is a little stronghold that you see when you enter the island town in the wake of crossing the thoroughfare. It was first worked by the Portuguese and afterward caught by the Dutch and lastly came under the control of the British. It basically lets you know the pilgrim past of the area.
You can basically stroll around the remains and see the designs and a few rooms.
There are a few engravings however I was unable to accumulate a lot of them here. Most rooftops are no more. The youngsters were playing cricket when I visited it at night.
Slam Setu
The old extension that associates Sri Lanka and India should be visible as shoals. You can go near the ocean and do some watersports like paragliding here.
What is fascinating here is water on one side is forceful while the opposite side is totally serene.
What you see is a ton of sand hills to the extent that your eye goes and afterward a little shine of seawater.
I was told on a crisp morning you can without much of a stretch see the Rameshwaram sanctuary from here.
Inns lodgings and cafés here would show the permeable drifting stones that float on water.
Doric Bungalow close to Mannar
Remains of an old cabin hanging carefully on a bluff sitting above the ocean. This was the site of pearl looking for a very long time, referenced in old sacred texts.
The fishing gave to frontier powers and they printed cash from the pearls they got from here. A board outside the lodge portrays the cruel strategies that were utilized to track down the pearls underneath the water. Jumpers who were for the most part local people were utilized to gather shellfish.
Today it is a flat-out ruin yet an exquisite breezy put when you go on top. I should add it is a piece unsafe to climb it as there is no guide accessible nearby in the event of any issue. A little beacon-style tower stands near it.
The holy place of Our Lasy of Madhu
This is a well-known Christian church found somewhat far away from Mannar.
Yodha Weva
It is a monster old tank tracing all the way back to the fifth CE.
Boabab trees are famous here among travelers. They are an indication of exchange with Africa eventually in time.
Mannar and the regions around it are superb for birdwatching. With a ton of salt sheets around, that look stunningly gorgeous, there are countless birds around. Vidathaltheevu is a fishing town renowned for birding.
You can see heaps of salt normally accumulated here shaping fascinating round designs as they harden. Nearby residents fill them in containers and bring them back home.
Check whether you can recognize a little estimated Ass in the roads here. These came here with the exchange from a long way off.
