Sri Saniswara

When one mentions the name Thirunallar, the temple that comes to one’s mind is that of Saniswara or Sanaischara (one who moves slowly), though he is not the presiding deity there. Housed in a subshrine near the inner tower known as ‘Kattai Gopuram’ in the Dharbaranyeswarar temple there, he faces East with ‘Abhaya Varada Hastham’ and is considered the ‘Anugraha Murthi’ (one who bestows good things). One of the 274 places sanctified by the Thevaram songs, Thirunallar’s original name was Darbaranyam or the place in a forest of Kusa grass (Darbam). According to legend, Brahma and many sages worshipped Lord Siva at the place, and the Lord, who appeared before them, took the form of the Lingam after teaching them the Vedas. Brahma asked the divine sculptor to establish a temple in the place, and also named it Adhipuri. Later, Emperor Musukunda installed in the temple ‘Nakavidangar,’ one of the seven ‘Vidangars’ obtained by him from the celestial king, Indra, and worshipped the Lord.

Hence, the place also came to be known as ‘Nakavidangapuram’. When Saint Thirugnana-sambandar won the religious duel with Jains in Madurai, known as ‘Analvaadham’ and ‘Punalvaadham’, he put in the fire the manuscript containing his hymn in praise of the Lord of Thirunallar, but the fire did not consume the same. Hence, the place is also known as ‘Pachai Padhigam Petra Thalam’ or the place that got hymns that were indestructible. These hymns, which link the Thirunallar and Madurai Meenakshi-Sundareswarar temples, are known for their fine rhythm and deep meaning. Appar and Sundarar have also sung in praise of the Lord.


Though sanctified in the Thevaram songs as one of the holy places, Thirunallar is more famous for its shrine dedicated to Saniswara, as the planet Saturn is known. The Puranas say that Yama, the god of death, hit him in his leg and he lost the sight in one of his eyes as he participated in the Yagna conducted by Daksha, ignoring Lord Siva. When Saturn passes through the ‘Janma Rasi’ in one’s birth chart, he causes untold hardship to him or her. When he passes through the eighth house — from one’s Janma Rasi (Ashtamathu Sani) — he causes more hardship. But these adverse effects affect the person only if he or she does not lead a righteous life. And if one treads the path of virtue and worships Saturn and other gods, he or she can ward off the evil effects to a great extent. When he transits from one house to another every two-and-a-half years, it is known as ‘Sani Peyarchi’. And this year, Sani Bhagavan transited from Rishaba (Taurus) Rasi to Mithunam (Gemini) on May 22. Thirunallar is five kilometers west of Karaikal on the Karaikal-Mayiladuthurai-Kumbakonam bus route. Though almost all Siva temples and even some Vishnu temples have a shrine dedicated to the Navagrahas or nine planets, Thirunallar is the only place where Saniswara is accorded a special status as it was here that the legendary king Nala of Nishadha country, worshipped Lord Darbaranyeswarar and Saniswara and got relieved of the evil effects due to the affliction of Saturn. The king prayed to Saniswara, according to Puranas and "Nalavennba" (a great Tamil work by Pugazhendi), to grant him a boon not to afflict those who heard his story and worshipped the Lord here.

According to the Puranas, Nala, who was a virtuous ruler, lost his kingdom and was wandering in the forests along with his wife and son due to Saturn’s influence. One day, Saturn appeared before them as a beautiful bird. Like Sita, who requested Rama to get the golden deer, Nala’s wife Damayanti, requested him to fetch the beautiful bird. He threw his shawl towards the bird to catch it, but it flew away with the shawl. The king, who slept with them in the night without his shawl, had to leave them in the dead of night, again due to Saturn’s influence. After the seven-and-a-half-year period, Nala worshipped Darbaranyeswarar in Thirunallar and after taking bath in the holy water source, was relieved of the affliction, was reunited with his wife and son, and even got back the kingdom.

Another legend connected with the Thirunallar temple says that a shepherd, who was grazing the cattle belonging to the temple, used to obtain milk from the cows and remit it with a temple official. But the official reported to the king that the shepherd had not given the milk. When the king initiated action against him, he prayed to Lord Darbaranyeswarar to save him. When the case against the shepherd came up for enquiry before the king, the temple official repeated the lie and the Lord, who was infuriated by this, threw His Trident towards the official, whose head was severed and fell in a place known as Mandaikulam. The Lord, on the shepherd’s appeal, revived the temple official. A shrine on the southern side of the sanctum sanctorum, where the idols of the shepherd, his wife and the temple official are found, stands testimony to this episode. Nandi and the Balipeedam are also found moved a little away from the sanctum sanctorum, as they did not want to block the Trident thrown by the Lord.

The Lord is known as Darbaranyeswarar and Nallarappar and His Consort’s names are Pranamambika and Bogamartha Poonmulai-ammai. She is worshipped in a separate shrine near the one dedicated to Saniswara. The holy plant is ‘Kusa’ (Darbam) and the holy water source is the ‘Nala Theertham’ as well as 13 other ‘Theerthams’. The temple has a five-tiered Rajagopuram and faces east. Around the compound wall are trenches, which have been silted now. The inner gopuram is known as ‘Kattai Gopuram’ and it is near the shrine of Saniswara.
The scars caused due to the friction of the Kusa grass are visible even now as the Lingam came on its own from the ground amidst these plants. At the southern entrance is the Thyagarajar shrine and in front of it is the emerald ‘Nakavidangar,’ installed by Musukunda Chakravarthi. Abishekams and aradhana are performed to Nakavidangar. There are shrines for Ganapathi, Somaskandar, Saptamatas, Vishnu, Gajalakshmi, Nataraja with Sivakami, Bairavar, Surya, Navagrahas and Saivite saints apart from the famous one for Saniswarar. The main festival, apart from the one held during the `Sanipeyarchi,’ is held for 18 days in the Tamil month of Vaikasi.