Saathanur gears up again

Participating in the renovation work of dilapidated temples has been one of the top priorities of our Sabha since its inception,some three decades ago. The place where the Siddha saint from Kailash entered into the dead body of Moolan, a caretaker of the cows in a village on the banks of the river Cauvery,became "Thirumoolar" and remained in Yoga posture for several years. 3000 Tamil Hymns called Thirumandiram was his creation. One can find topics such as greatness of Vedas,Agamas,Yoga,Chakras etc. in that outstanding work.

Sathanur is located 4 km from Aduthurai, a place on Mayiladuthurai- Kumbakonam route. It used to be a very big village,comprising places like Thiruvavaduthurai. Thiruvisaippa calls this place as Saandhai in short.Thiruvavaduthurai adheenam, a saivaite Mutt is located here. It is also known as Navakoti sidhdhapuram,where sidhdhas practised Yoga. Since five shiva temples of ancient origion are seen here, it is also called Pancha Linga Kshetram. Thiruvavaduthurai temple is looked after by the Mutt and is in good condition. The remaining four shrines are in sathanur,3 km away from thiruvavaduthurai.

Kailasanatha temple and Sidheswara temple at Sathanur were renovated few years back in which our Sabha took active part. The third temple is in ruins. Only the Shivalinga(called as Viswanatha) and Nandi are in good shape. The locals have shown lot of interest in rebuilding the shrine. The earth work is on for Shiva sannadhi. At the moment, the deities are housed inside a thatched shed. The shrines of Ganapathi and Subramanya are coming up which shows the keen interest exhibited by the villagers. I was fortunate to inspect the ongoing work over there and overwhelmed with the affection shown by them on seeing me. To start with I handed over a sum of Rs 3000 for the purchase of cement for constructing Shiva sannadhi. Hopefully the foundation work will be over before the end of this month.

Later,I attended a weekly meet conducted by the villagers in Sidheswara temple. As the gathering consisted mostly of Ladies and Children, I stressed the parents to help attain bhakthi in the minds of their children. I was happy to see that the lecture was well taken with lot of interest.

The Fifth temple is at the corner of the village where we can see only the Shiva Linga now. The place is called Linga Thidal.The Deity is without a roof and there are signs of the destroyed temple which is surrounded by paddy fields. I told the villagers to take up the rebuilding of this temple after completing Viswanatha temple. I was happy when that the suggestion was readily accepted without hesitation.They have an unshaken faith that the Lord will show way through some philanthropists as in the past.