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| Suddha Rathneswarar temple Oothathur, TN Trell |
across its land, brings out the fact that religion has been occupying an important part of the people's lives since ancient time. The ancient rulers had deep faith in almighty and ruled the land and their subjects efficiently without deviating from fair justice and path of righteousness. They built lots of fascinating temples of beauty and grandeur for the benefits of people so that they could lead a disciplined life and chase wealth and prosperity honestly with a spiritual bent of mind and not deviating from the path of Dharma. So, it is not surprising to see Hindu temples with hoary past in remote places in Tamil country. A fascinating aspect of some temples is they are unique in their own way. Some temples are purported to ward off sins commuted by devotees, some help you prosper in your business and other temple are for childless couples, etc. There are some temples that offer some kind of remedy to incurable health problems which doctors themselves find it tough to cure. For example, to be bestowed with good health, lots of people visit the famous Vaitheeswaran temple (Presiding deity Vaidhyanatha swamy) near Mayavaram, Nagapatnam District. Though it may sound superstitious, as I mentioned in many of my early posts on this subject, trust in God is the key factor reminding us of the old wise saying , ''Faith can move mountains.'' One such temple is The Rathneswarar Temple in the small town of Oottathur (also Uttatur) in Perambalur District.
The presiding deities in this Shiva temple are Sri Suddha Rathneswarar and his consort Sri Akilandeswari. It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams glorified by Nayanmars in the early medieval Tevaram devotional hymns on Lord Shiva. Believed to have been originally built in the 7th Century, it was renovated by none other than Raja Raja Chola I, Rajendra Chola and his son Rajadhiraja Chola as confirmed by the numerous inscriptions in this temple from their times. It is said there are as many as 50 inscriptions by the Chola rulers.
The legend has it God Brahma (a Trinity God in charge of ''Creation'' according to the Hindu mythology) who has just a few temple dedicated to Him because of a curse he incurred apparently from Lord Shiva (refer to the legend of Karthikai Deepam) wanted to get rid of the sin. When he sought forgiveness, Lord Shiva told him to worship him with holy Theertham collected from the holy rivers across the world. So he chose a place close to this temple, had a well dug and poured all the holy waters into it. He created a spring here containing holy waters and, at last, He was free from the curse he incurred, This holy water is called Brahma Theertham. The strong belief is if a person takes bath mixed with this Brahma Theertham, he will be free from health problems. Almost daily lots of people make a beeline to this place for medical remedy, to be relieved from ailments.
In a semi-dry place like Oottathur and its surrounding areas where the ground water can be accessed at great depths, the Brahma Theertham spring near the sanctum is perennial, available year round . More or less the ground water level is between 10 to 15 feet from the ground. It is said that the underground water tunnel linking Brahma Theertham and nearby Perumal is either closed or blocked.
A note on the name of this place: Because of the presence of a Spring in this place, it was then called Ootrathur (in Tamil ''Ootru'' means spring) during the colonial period, it was called Uttatur. Presently the name is spelt Oottathur.
How did the Shiva temple come up in this part of land far removed from big towns? According to a legend : Once the great Chola king Sri Raja Raja I was passing through this place, once a wooded area full of wild plants and bushes and while his soldiers were blazing the trail by removing the plants and wild grass, etc, they accidentally saw blood oozing from the ground. On orders from the Chola king, they dug the ground and found an amazing Shiva Linga which had a cut on the upper part. The original Suddha Ratneswara Temple (7th century) had been buried under the sand during that time and was covered by thick Bilwa trees and bushes. The king, being a pious Shiva Bhakthar, built this temple with this Shiv Linga idol as the main deity.
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| Oottathur Shiva temple. Nataraja stone statue Aalayam Kanden |
A fascinating feature of this lingam is it is made of pure ruby with clear surface (Suddha manickam or Suddha Ratnam). To the left of the garbagriha - Sanctum Santorum, is a separate shrine for Nataraja called Panchanadhana Nataraja and his consort Sivakama Sundari. It is rare to see the Lord of Dance Sri Nataraja in dancing posture carved in stone. On the idol of Suddha Ratneswara the Sun's ray falls during a particular time for three days in the Tamil month of Maasi (12, 13, 14) and for three minutes on Vaikasi Visakham day.
Yet another odd feature in this temple is, besides the regular Nandi (bull), Lord's mount, there is another Nandi facing East of the Artha mantapa. It is said on orders from Lord Shiva Nandi drank the holy waters of all five rivers and among them, it was the Ganges water that flowed through the Nandi and it formed the Nandi river. .
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| Nandi (bull) East facing at Oottathur Sulekha Rivr |
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| Nandi facing East Oottathur Suddha Rathneswarar Templemarvelmurugan.com |
Brahma Theertham is used for abhishekam for Lord Suddha Ratneswara and devotees collect the Abhiseka water as it has medicinal properties. This temple is famous for the cure of kidney problems and people from various places with kidney ailments flock to this temple regularly in large numbers to be blessed and cured of their health problem. First they offer Vetiver (local herb) Mala (garland) to the deity and and perform abhishekam (anointing) with the water of Brahma Theertham. This water is then collected and given to the person concerned. It is said after consuming a small amount of the medicinal water continuously for 45 days, the person can see improvement in his health and countless people's positive remarks bear testimony to the effects of the medicinal water from Brahma Theertham.
The shrine of Goddess Akilandeswari is found in the second praharam (Prathakshana path) behind the temple.
http://www.oottathureswarartemple.tnhrce.in/history.html
https://www.marvelmurugan.com/2016/03/oottathur.html
