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| Sivalokanathar Temple,Tirupunkur. hiramprakash.wordpress.com |
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| Caste distinction in the UK drambedkarbooks.com |
Mr. Shaw was highly critical of class divisions, aristocratic arrogance, middle class morality, dress code, stupid dining table manners, etc., in England. He was equally critical of the British royalty, their over spending of public funds and bizarre customs.
In the US, about the racial discrimination between the whites on one hand and African Americans, Chicanos and others, particularly prevalent in the former confederate southern states, the less said, the better.
It is quite pathetic that such racial or caste distinction in a society is retrograde. During the colonial rule the British openly followed racial discrimination in jobs, housing, etc. In rural areas in India such caste distinction was openly visible in the past. Quite unacceptable fact is not allowing the so-called Dalit people into the temple to pray.
Prior to India's independence great efforts were made by Indian leaders to throw open the temples to Harijans (Dalits). In Kerala leaders like T.K. Madhavan, Kolappan, Narayana Guru, et al., got the attention of the people of India by organizing big protest (1924–25) against caste discrimination being followed in the places around the popular Sri Mahadeva temple at Vaikom (Kottayam district).
After the passing of the Temple Entry Authorization and Indemnity Act by the government (Madras) in 1939, with the backing from Gandhiji and other leaders like Rajaji in the then Madras Presidency, for the first time on 8 July 1939 Dalits entered the Meenakshi temple in Madurai under the leadership of lawyer and patriot V. Vaithyanatha Iyer (16 May 1890 – 23 February 1955). Late Sri Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thever, an associate of Netaji Bose gave full support to the temple entry mission.
Sivalokanathar Temple, Tirupunkur, Tamil Nadu:
In all the Shiva temples, you will see the main entrance tower, flag staff (dwajasthambam), Shiva's mount Nandi (bull) facing the shrine lie in a straight line. Seldom do they lie off the straight axis. But in the case of a Shiva temple - Sivalokanathar Temple in the village of Tirupunkur (also called Thirupunkur), about 3 miles west of Vaitheeswaran Koil (a famous Prarthanai sthalam), the position of Nandi is just off the original position.
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| Kailasanathar temple, Thirupunkur. pinrest.com |
The legend has been that an ardent devotee of God Shiva used to visit the temple regularly to sing and pray to the lord. But the temple administrators and the people living there did not allow him to enter the temple to say his prayer; the reason being he happened to be a Dalit. In those days Hindu temple regulations were against the Harijans or dalits. The misconception was that the divinity of the sanctified place would become polluted or vitiated by people doing odd menial jobs and this kind of social discrimination had been in vogue for a long time. despite protests by some reformists.
Belonging to a community of tanners who were experts in making various specialized leather for percussion instruments (drums), Nandanar was denied entry into the temples as he was dealing with dead animals and making leather. As he was an ardent devotee of God Shiva, he was overwhelming with joy when singing in praise of the lord. Almost daily one could see Nandan praying to God Shiva right before the temple without stepping into the temple premises. In those days Dalits could not access the temple and the reason was his line of profession. Indeed a despicable tradition.
To supplement his income Nandanar was working in the agricultural lands owned by a landlord belonging to an upper caste. His devotion to God Shiva was so intense, he was ambitious to visit Sri Nataraja temple at Chidambaram. On a few occasions he could make a vein attempt to convince his landlord to give him time off to visit Chidambaram.
Driven by ego and contempt, the landlord told him that he would give him leave to visit the Shiva temple if he could plough all 40 acres of paddy field overnight. An impossible task for a man to carry on this difficult farm work all alone. Quite dejected, Nandanar prayed to God Shiva with deep devotion. Following morning both Nandanar and the landlord were astonished to see the entire land well well ploughed, not a patch of land was left out. A miracle had happened in that village.
Upon seeing the miracle, the landlord realized that Nandanar was a noble soul and divinity was much close to him and sought his forgiveness. He felt ashamed of his folly, ego and ill-treatment meted out to Nandanar. On his way to Chidamparam temple, Nandanar was keen to have darshan of God Shiva at Thirupungur but the Nandi right before the shrine was blocking his view. Nandanar went into a meditative mood and started singing in praise of the lord. God Shiva after hearing the soul-stirring devotional songs asked Nandi to move a few inches to the other side so that his devotee Nandanar could enjoy a full view of the lord in the sanctum. Here, both big Nandi in the outer prakara and the small one in the inner prakara are off their original position so that Nandanar could see the god in the garbagriha. You may also take a close look at the posture of the big sitting bull (Nandi) leaning its body toward one side. This confirms the legend of Nadanar and his true devotion to God Shiva.
In the following images you can see the position of Nandi (in sitting posture) making the sanctum visible from the entrance:
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| Nandi moved to one side Shivalikanathar temple in.pinterest.com |
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| Sivalokanathar Temple,Tirupunkur findmessages.com |
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| Sivalokanathar Temple,Tirupunkur. commons.wikimedia.org / |
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| Sivalokanathar Temple,Tirupunkur. thiruppungur.business.site |
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| Sivalokanathar Temple,Tirupunkur.youtube.com |
The main entrance gate - Rajagopuram has 5 tiers and there is a separate shrine for Nandanar near the entrance. The temple tank is called Rishabha Theertham and is said to have been established by Nandanar with the help of Vinayakar. God Shiva is in the form of a prithvilingam, an anthill. On Mondays during the arthajama pujas the Shivalingam is covered with punuku (prepared from secretions from civet cat's skin). There are many idols of gods and goddesses associated with Shiva temples. There are also navagraha idols in this temple. As to the origin of this temple it is not clear who the builder was. From the inscriptions we understand that it was built during the Chola period.
Lots of people visit this temple and because of COVID -19 in the last two years most of the Hindu temples as well as other places of worship have very limited admission to devotees. Many famous temples, I understand, on many days remain almost deserted. Now, the fear of COVID third wave is haunting the people!
https://hiramprakash.wordpress.com/2015/07/17/thirupannanthal-2/
https://temple.dinamalar.com/en/new_en.php?id=511
http://www.findmessages.com/nandi-rear-view-in-sivalokanathar-temple
http://templenet.com/Tamilnadu/s211.html
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