Appu linga of Jambukeswaram or Thiruvanaikaval and deekshithar’s pancha bhutha sthala Krithi

Appu linga of Jambukeswaram or Thiruvanaikaval  and deekshithar’s   pancha bhutha   sthala Krithi on Appu linga

    Jambukeswaram called as Thiruvanai kaval or  Thiruvanai kovil  is situated  in the  Srirangam Island between the rivers Cauvery  and Kollidam . It houses the temple  of Lord Shiva called  Jambukeswara, where the  linga  is always made   wet by the  waters  of  river Cauvery. There  is a  very interesting story  about the  origin of this temple . It  seems Goddess Parvathi mocked  at lord Shiva    about his  penance and he cursed her to do  penance  in a forest of  Jambu trees(Rose apple trees) . She went to the forest and  made a  linga out of the waters of river Cauvery and  was doing penance there under a Jambu tree  . Later Lord Shiva   appeared before her personally and Goddess  Parvathi  as Akhilandeswari(Goddess of all the world)   was given Upadesa  by him .At that time she was facing east and the God was facing west.

   Meanwhile   Two Shiva Ganas   called Malyavan and Pushpadantha kept on fighting with each other and caused  problem to the God. While fighting  Malyavan cursed  Pushpa dantha to be born as an elephant   and Pushpa dantha cursed  Malyavan to become a spider. Both of them came to this Jambu forest and started  worshipping  Lord Shiva.Pushpa Dantha used to bring water  in his trunk      and anoint   the God. The spider daily used to build nets and wanted to protect the linga from Sun light. The elephant was greatly agitated and during the fight the spider  entered the trunk of the   elephant and killed him. Due to that sin, the spider was born as a Chozha king called “Kochengol chozhan ” . It was this king who built this great  temple. It seems  that he was  very particular that  no elephant should be able to approach the God and so the final entrance of the temple is  only four feet high and two and half feet wide.

   Akhilandeswari   is outside the sanctum and is  facing east .It seems she was  having a look of great   anger. Adhi Sankara   who happened to come here   consecrated an idol of Ganapathi before her   and  she became extremely peaceful, for how can a mother   be angry while seeing her eldest son. Akhilandeswari  is supposed to do the noon Pooja at  this temple  and so the priest wears a Sari  while doing pooja.

   There are five prakaras around the  temple and It is believed that Lord built the fifth Prakara himself .IN that prakara  is a wall which is one mile long, 25 feet high and   two feet thick. In the fourth prakara  the wall is 2436 feet long  there   are 796 pillars. The temple runs a  school for learning Nadaswaram.I am giving below the  krithi of Muthuswamy deekshithar   about this temple

Jambu pathe

By

Muthuswamy Deekshithar

Translated  by

P.R.Ramachander

Ragam Yamuna kalyani

Thalam Roopakam

Pallavi

Jambu pathe maam pahi , nija ananda amrutha bodham   dehi

Pallavi

Oh lord of rose apple tree , protect me  and give me   true joy  of nectar like consciousness.

Anupallavi

Ambujasanadhi   sakala   deva  namana ,

THumburu   nutha   hrudaya   thapopasamana  ,

Ambudhi ganga Cauvery Yamuna  ,

Kambu kandya akhilandeswari Ramana.

Anupallavi

Oh Lord saluted  ny Lord  Brahma  and all other  devas ,

Who  is prayed to by THumburu, who  pacifies  the  pain of the mind  ,

Who is like the ocean, river ganges , Cauvery and  Yamuna  ,

Who is   the consort  of Akhilandeswari with conch  like neck.

 (note the mention of several water bodies by   the composer)

Charanam

Parvathja   prarthitha  appu  linga  Vibho,

Pancha  bhootha maya  prapancha  prabho,

SArva jeeva   dayakara  shambho,

Samajatavi   nilaya  swayambho,

SArva   karuna  sudhaa  sindho,

Saranagatha   vathsalartha  bandho  ,

Anirvachaneeya   nadha  bindho,

Nithya mouli vidrutha  gangendho,

(Madhyama kala  sahithyam)

Nirvikalpaka   Samadhi nishta   shiva kalpaka tharo  ,

Nirvisesha  chaithanya   niranjana   guru guha  guro.

Charanam

Oh Lord of  linga of water   prayed to by  daughter  of mountain,

Oh Lord of the world which is made   of the five elements  ,

Oh Shambho  who  is kind    to all beings  ,

Oh self made  one   who stays  in the  forest of Sama Veda/elephants ,

Oh sea of  nectar  of mercy called Sarva,

Oh friend  of those suffering people who have surrendered  to you,

Oh  indefinable  musical  sound ,

Oh Lord who carries the  Ganga   on  his head daily  .

(Madhyama kala   Sahithya)

Oh divine tree  of Lord Shiva who is  in  unwavering Samadhi  ,

Oh Guru of  Lord Subramanya  who has absolute  spirit and is stainless