Discovery of Lingam Idol

Sri E.S.Srinivasa Iyer (1899-1974), philanthropist, visionary, and a native of Edamanal engaged full time in agriculture, was the prime mover of the now existing full fledged Shiva temple complex. In 1965 he was originally constructing a temple complex for the idol of Kattamudu Vinayakar mentioned in the narration of the Chola Era Legend.  

The Vinayakar idol had been present on the banks of a local creek under a simple thatched roof. A decision had been made to move this idol to a properly built sturdier temple structure for worship according to the Agama Shastras. This new temple was almost complete at that time pending only the prathishthapana (installation) of the idol in the garbhagriham (Sanctum Sanctorum). It was during the later phase of this construction in 1965 that Sri Srinivasa Iyer during the course of his daily work at a field came upon a large stone protrusion from the ground in a grove of cashew and Iluppai trees. 

Closer inspection made Sri Srinivasa Iyer realize that it was indeed the upper part of a Shiva Lingam. The base portion, called the Aavudaiyar, had completely sunk underground. Disturbed by the condition of this sacred Lingam, he was impelled by an inner determination to install the Lingam in the temple under construction for Vinayakar.

A Moving Experience

The enormous task of moving this massive Lingam from the dense grove was all the more complicated due to its significance of divinity. Thus extreme care had to be exercised at each step of the movement to avoid any damage to the idol. The narrative below through the words of Sri Srinivasa Iyer’s youngest son Sri E. S. Rajagopalan, who was part of this effort, describes the blessed operation.

"My father was fully aware of the monumental task of lifting the lingam from below the ground level to the surface.  But still he went ahead with his mission nonchalantly backing his gut feeling and inner instinct.  He deployed around 10 to 15 persons on the job using a simple tool called kadapparai, similar to a pickaxe, to dig the ground around the big lingam beneath the surface.  It took 4 to 5 days (vivid memory) of digging to get the lingam out completely without any damage to the idol. In fact, it was only then that the gigantic size of the lingam became apparent.

Next was the challenge of transportation. In the absence of mechanised vehicles such as trucks, tractors, etc in those days, the use of an open wooden cart (called kattai vandi) pulled by none other than a pair of bullocks was the only viable option – a very fitting arrangement indeed – bull being the official vahana of Lord Shiva!

The problem of loading and unloading this enormously heavy Lingam onto the kattai vandi had to be solved. Here is how it was done. Two big tree trunks with at least 10” of diameter were cut out. They were placed on both sides of the Lingam as support. This unit was moved by simply rolling it over with the help of heavy-duty ropes tied to thick iron bars (kadapparai). In order to make a slope for easy pulling, the load plank of the cart was tilted with the back end down and the front end up (like a see-saw). While rolling over the Lingam slowly from the back to the middle of the cart, big wooden blocks were placed on the front side simultaneously to balance the weight as well as to prevent the Lingam from moving down in the front.

Next was the task of yoking the bullocks to the cart. All of us formed a human chain, holding the balanced cart around the yoking rod (called nugathadi in Tamil) while the bullocks were yoked to the cart. Then it was moving slowly on the road to the destination.

There was no motorable road on the direct route of about 3KM from the grove to the temple site. So the journey was around 10KM through Vettangudi, Amappallam Palani Andavar Koil, Varisai Pathu Mariamman Koil, onto the Melappalayam Pillaiyar Koil location. It took two days for transporting the Lingam with the Aavudaiyar to the temple site. Unloading the lingam from the cart was accomplished by the same techniques used for loading.

Since the idol of Vinayakar hadn’t been installed yet, father thought it fit to install the Lingam instead, inside the garbhagriham and install Pillaiyar in the outer area of the sannadhi on the southern side, facing east. The task of placing the Lingam there posed yet another challenge. The garbhagriham was relatively small since it was meant for the smaller idol of Kattamudu Vinayakar. The labor force was skeptical to undertake an operation that demanded far more precision in a very limited space. There was also an element of fear.

Father again took the courageous lead and got it accomplished in a little over three days. It is still a mystery to me when I think of how it all happened!  The very first phase of this project thus concluded in early January of 1966.

The Lingam filled the garbhagriham with barely enough space for the priest to move around for puja, abhishekam, etc. It remained in that state for close to 20 years, until the temple was renovated before the Kumbhabhishekam of Kattamudu Vinayakar in September 1987.”

This entire episode indicates the divine intention and force right from the start. He makes the impossible possible when it is His will and it happens according to His timetable.

According to experts, for this temple to function as a proper Shiva temple, conforming to the Agama Shastras, several requirements needed to be met. After Sri Srinivasa Iyer’s time, his sons Sri E. S. Subramanian and Sri E. S. Ramakrishnan took over the task of continuing their father’s vision for this project.   Their dedicated efforts constitute the second phase of this temple project, which culminated in the Kumbhabhishekam and consecration of Kattamudu Vinayakar in His originally intended garbhagriham.  Part of this process included the arduous task of moving the massive Lingam once again to its own space under a thatched roof, north of the garbhagriham so that Kattamudu Vinayakar could be placed and consecrated there.

Blessing for the Project

In the early part of the 1980’s, Sri E. S. Subramanian and Sri E. S. Ramakrishnan went to the Kanchi Matam and sought the blessings of Kanchi Maha Swamigal for this project. Paramacharyar gave his blessings and advised them to name the Presiding Deity as Sri Kasi Viswanathaswamy and the Deity of Ambal as Kasi Visalakshi Amman.

With Maha Periyaval’s blessings and the tireless efforts of Sri Subramanian and Sri Ramakrishnan, the structure that started out as a temple for Kattamudu Vinayakar was significantly improved and Kumbhabhishekam was performed on September 4, 1987.

Sri E.S. Subramanian and Sri E.S. Ramakrishnan continued their mission with zeal (1988 – 1998) by constructing enclosures for the Shiva Lingam and Amman, erecting Maha Mandapam, and procuring idols of most of the core deities that are required as per Agama Shastras for the Shiva Temple Complex. The idol of Sundaramurthy Swamigal was installed in early 2000. After their time a private trust was formed to pursue the completion of the construction of the temple and manage the activities in the temple complex.

Brig. E.S.K. Murthy (Management Trustee) and Sri E. S. Jayaraman (Trustee) along with the support of Sri N. Raman (Trustee) actively pursued their effort to complete the Shiva temple complex construction from the year 2009.  Ultimately the whole construction was completed in 2012.  The Kumbabishekam was performed on 31st May 2012.

With HIS Blessings the temple is functioning on a regular schedule.