श्रीऐरावतेश्वराष्टोत्तरशतनामवालिः
ॐ श्रीगणेशाय नमः ।
ॐ गौरीप्राणवल्लभाय नमः ।
ॐ देव्यै कथितचरिताय नमः ।
ॐ हालाहलगृहीताय नमः ।
ॐ लोकशङ्कराय नमः ।
ॐ कावेरीतीरवासिने नमः ।
ॐ ब्रह्मणा सुपूजिताय नमः ।
ॐ ब्रह्मणो वरदायिने नमः ।
ॐ ब्रह्मकुण्डपुरस्थिताय नमः ।
ॐ ब्रह्मणा स्तुताय नमः ।
ॐ कैलासनाथाय नमः ।
ॐ दिशां पतये नमः ।
ॐ सृष्टिस्थितिविनाशानां कर्त्रे नमः ।
ॐ गङ्गाधराय नमः ।
ॐ सोमाय नमः ।
ॐ रुद्राय नमः ।
ॐ अमिततेजसे नमः ।
ॐ पशूनां पतये नमः ।
ॐ पार्वतीपतये नमः ।
ॐ अन्तकारये नमः ।
ॐ नागाजिनधराय नमः । २०
ॐ पुरुषाय नमः ।
ॐ महेशाय नमः ।
ॐ पुष्टानां पतये नमः ।
ॐ साम्बाय नमः ।
ॐ गुरवे नमः ।
ॐ कैवल्यपददायिने नमः ।
ॐ भवाय नमः ।
ॐ शर्वाय नमः ।
ॐ सदसस्पतये नमः ।
ॐ शम्भवे नमः ।
ॐ गिरिशन्ताय नमः ।
ॐ नीलग्रीवाय नमः ।
ॐ कपर्दिने नमः ।
ॐ वरिष्ठाय नमः ।
ॐ महीयसे नमः ।
ॐ विश्वम्भराय नमः ।
ॐ विश्वाय नमः ।
ॐ जगतां पतये नमः ।
ॐ सच्चिदानन्दरूपाय नमः ।
ॐ समस्तव्यस्तरूपिणे नमः । ४०
ॐ सोमविभूषाय नमः ।
ॐ विरूपाक्षाय नमः ।
ॐ समस्तमुनिवन्द्याय नमः ।
ॐ देवदेवाय नमः ।
ॐ महादेवाय नमः ।
ॐ भर्गाय नमः ।
ॐ मायातीताय नमः ।
ॐ कर्पूरधवलाङ्गाय नमः ।
ॐ मेरुकोदण्डधारिणे नमः ।
ॐ कुबेरबन्धवे नमः ।
ॐ कुमारजनकाय नमः ।
ॐ भूतिभूषितगात्राय नमः ।
ॐ त्रिनेत्राय नमः ।
ॐ भवरोगविनाशाय नमः ।
ॐ भक्ताभीष्टप्रदायिने नमः ।
ॐ पञ्चास्याय नमः ।
ॐ इन्द्रदोषनिवृत्तिदाय नमः ।
ॐ इन्द्रेण अमृताभिषिक्ताय नमः ।
ॐ सुधाकूपजलाभिषिक्ताय नमः ।
ॐ रम्भया सुपूजिताय नमः । ६०
ॐ रम्भालिङ्गितगात्राय नमः ।
ॐ इन्द्रेण स्तुताय नमः ।
ॐ कारणकारणाय नमः ।
ॐ पिनाकपाणये नमः ।
ॐ देवेशाय नमः ।
ॐ गिरीन्द्रशायिने नमः ।
ॐ अनन्तमूर्तये नमः ।
ॐ शिवया समेताय नमः ।
ॐ प्रपञ्चविस्तारविशेषशून्याय नमः ।
ॐ त्रयीमयेशाय नमः ।
ॐ सर्वप्रधानाय नमः ।
ॐ सतां मताय नमः ।
ॐ मृत्युञ्जयाय नमः ।
ॐ त्रिपुरान्तकाय नमः ।
ॐ जटाभारविभूषिताय नमः ।
ॐ अखिललोकसाक्षिणे नमः ।
ॐ सुसूक्ष्मरूपाय नमः ।
ॐ दिगम्बराय नमः ।
ॐ शूलपाणये नमः ।
ॐ सुरवन्दिताय नमः । ८०
ॐ विष्णुसुपूजिताय नमः ।
ॐ अखिललोकवन्द्याय नमः ।
ॐ कल्याणरूपाय नमः ।
ॐ सदाशिवाय नमः ।
ॐ सर्वज्ञमूर्तये नमः ।
ॐ सकलागमाय नमः ।
ॐ भीमाय नमः ।
ॐ नित्याय नमः ।
ॐ कृपालवे नमः ।
ॐ भक्तपरायणाय नमः ।
ॐ समस्तार्तिहराय नमः ।
ॐ रम्भाशापविमोचकाय नमः ।
ॐ ऐरावतदोषनिवृत्तिकराय नमः ।
ॐ गजोत्तमवरदायिने नमः ।
ॐ पञ्चमुनिभिः प्रशस्तवैभवाय नमः ।
ॐ पञ्चमूर्तिस्वरूपाय नमः ।
ॐ पञ्चामृताभिषेकसुप्रीताय नमः ।
ॐ पञ्चपुष्पसुपूजिताय नमः ।
ॐ पञ्चाक्षरजपसिद्धिप्रदायकाय नमः ।
ॐ पञ्चपातकनाशकाय नमः । १००
ॐ भक्तरक्षणदीक्षिताय नमः ।
ॐ दर्शनादेव भुक्तिमुक्तिदाय नमः ।
ॐ पञ्चानाम्ना प्रसिद्धवैभवाय नमः ।
ॐ पारिजातवनेशाय नमः ।
ॐ ब्रह्मेशाय नमः ।
ॐ इन्द्रपुरीशाय नमः ।
ॐ पुष्पवनेशाय नमः ।
ॐ श्रीअलङ्कारवल्लीसमेत श्रीऐरावतेश्वराय नमः । १०८
From Sri Niyama Kshetra Mahatmyam
Sri Nemam – Nemam
nemam or shrI nemam is located on the southern
side of the Cauvery belt in thirukaatupaLLi,
Tanjore district, Tamil Nadu. Conforming to the
traditions of Tamil Nadu’s township pattern,
a Shiva temple by name airAvateshwara, facing the
east and a Vaishnav temple, facing the west is
found in this place. Pleased with the staunch
devotion, stupendous rituals and persistent
meditation of the people, the Lord voluntarily
desired to go over to this holy place and shower
His grace; and living there gives a sense of
pride and happiness; His grace is carefully
protected by the kshetra.
kAshI and rAmeshvaram are considered to be
important kshetra-s in Bharat. People however
claim that the aura in, and the importance of,
this kshetra are much higher than those two.
One could feel innately in this place, the
divine grace of the Lord spread all over India.
The kshetra enjoys the following powers:
- Proximity to the river Cauvery;
- brahmateertha, sudhA kUpam (well), baaNa
kUpam and similar teerthas’ capacity to
purify the soul;
- The demised person’s holy ash when buried,
becomes a Linga to attain the realization
of Shiva;
- The Lord clears the sins and sorrow of
the devotee who utters His names and/or the
pancAkShara mantra and purifies his body,
intellect and the soul;
- The Lord’s consort shrI alankAravalli, makes
everyone realize that she occupies a special
place in their hearts as a mother, relative and
lovable divine power to attain enlightenment by
the personification of Her kindness.
- She, the alankaari, manifests as the mother at
every moment as alankAravalli, that Her divine
grace is all-pervasive and omnipresent across
the kshetra.
Recognized by the purAnAs as one among the
few important kshetras, its history can be
found in brahmOttara kANDA of brahmANDapurANa.
shrI airAvatham iyer – kumAra swaminAtha
iyer compiled its history from palm leaves and
protected it in handwritten grantha lipi. His
grandson, and owner of mAtangi publications, Shri
S Shridharan, has now taken the responsibility
of publishing this book.
Around shrI nemam, there are plenty of
shivasthalAs which worship airAvateeswara
as their presiding deity, some of which
are: aayirathaLi, arikulakesareeshwaram,
nirupakesareeshwaram, chandramalliishwaram,
attupaLLi, etc. The Cauvery floods, the fight
amongst the rulers closer to the place and the
invasion of Malik Kafur had damaged thousands of
temples, reducing this area from a mammoth town
to a tiny village. With the Lord’s grace,
it would get back its original size and glory.
The purANAs would vouchsafe the fact that
this kshetra existed in brAhma kalpa before
the present svetavarAhakalpa. During the
krutayuga, at the time when tirupArkadal
(milk ocean) was churned to get the amrutA, a
portion of this amrutA got spilled over in this
place out of which a pArijAta tree sprouted to
become a pArijAta vanA for the Lord to reside
there; and the place to be called as pArijAta
vanam, brahmapuri, indirapuri, puShpavanam,
airAvateshwaram and nemam. Elders would say
that as the people were living with lot of
self-restraint and discipline, the place came
to be called as nemam. History would also state
that these elders were able to reach the abode of
the Lord for the reason that Shri ala~NkAravalli
voluntarily guided them to achieve the feat of
bliss and enlightenment.
When a devotee of shrI alankAravalli raised his
left hand to deliver his blessings to a Chozha
king, the king got angry that an inappropriate
protocol was observed; the devotee explained to
the king that the right hand which worships the
Lord had immense illumination and keerthi (fame,
glory) which a human cannot bear.
The grace of shrI alankAravalli is matchless
that both children and the Heavens would
celebrate it with joy and happiness. Closer to
nemam, there is a place called Pazhamaarneri.
A resident by name mahAdeva dikShitar was
a pundit and intellectual but was not very
popular. He was praying to shrI alankAravalli
to bless him with a child. On Her command, he
went to Madurai to worship Goddess meenAkshi.
At that time, Madurai was ruled by a famous
king thirumalai nAyakan. He had a minister by
name neelkantha dikShitar who did not honour
the visitor. On learning that mahAdeva was
sent by shrI alankAravalli, he rushed to pay
his respects to mahAdeva and extended him a
warm hospitality. This story was informed to
us by Shri Mahaperiyavaa and it is mentioned in
deivathin kural, volume 4.
There is yet another story on shrI
alankAravalli. You will find two deities with
the same name here. Several thousand years
back, either because of floods in cauvery
or Malik Kafur’s atrocities, the idol of
shrI alankArvalli got buried in the sands.
The villagers searched for it most meticulously
but failed; heartbroken, they made an identical
idol and started worshipping it. It so happened
the original idol that got buried surfaced
itself one fine day, that the villagers raised
another kOShTa and installed the deity there.
It seemed to be yet another inscrutable and
divine play of Hers to demonstrate that both of
Them were one and the same.
The crematorium in nemam is located near
brahmateertham. Instead of dissolving the ash
of the dead, it is buried near this teertham.
The purAnA-s seek to explain that this act is
much sacred and holier than dissolving the ash
in Ganga.
Devotees would have the darshan of the Lord
airAvateshwara from outside the temple with the
illumination gained from the glittering lamp
in the sannidhi. In order not to obstruct the
darshan, nandikeshvar sits in a deep pit. During
the times of hot summer when the river bed gets
dried up, it has been noticed that if you fill up
this pit with the water sinking nandikeshvar,
you do get rains to your surprise and awe.
Inasmuch the Lord can be worshipped from outside,
there is a small dvaara on the wall of the
sanctum sanctorum through which you can happily
have the darshan of shrI alankAravalli.
On the southern side of the temple, Lord
dakShinAmoorthy grants siddhi to those who
have been initiated into different mantras.
Then, you will find Lord Vishnu in His divine
posture. The amudha koopam is located on the
southern side; the brahma teertham and the
baNa teertham are located outside the temple.
Since the practice of conducting rituals near
these teerthas are not in vogue, they have
become pathetically dilapidated. Whence the
way of living of our people changes to seeking
His blessings, these teerthas, would naturally
get back their purity and sanctity.
There are seven kshetras around tiruvaiyaru
called saptasthAna kshetras. Including
nemam, the other six are: thirukAttupaLLi,
thiruchennampooNDi, thirukaanoor, vAnavarAngudi,
thiruchadaivaLandai and chendalai.
With their deep insights and experience our
elders have proved that when we worship the
Lord with love, unflinching faith and care,
He manifests himself as our Father, Mother,
Friend and Teacher (guru) as well to enhance
the value of our life.
Encoded by Sivakumar Thyagarajan
shivakumar24@gmail.com Prooferad by Sivakumar
Thyagarajan, PSA Easwaran