Navagraha Temple
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Location of the Navagraha Temple in Tamil Nadu |
The Navagraha temples are a group of nine Hindu temples in the Kaveri Delta in southern India , which are dedicated to the personified nine heavenly bodies of Hindu astrology ( Navagraha ). They are located within a radius of 60 kilometers from the city of Kumbakonam in nine small towns in the districts of Thanjavur , Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam of the state of Tamil Nadu and in the district of Karaikal of the union territory of Puducherry .
Most Shivaite temples in Tamil Nadu have shrines dedicated to the Navagrahas. In the case of the Navagraha temples, each of the nine temples is dedicated to one of the nine heavenly bodies. In the temple of Sooriyanarkoil , the sun god Surya is the main deity. The other Navagraha temples, on the other hand, are all Shiva temples with a shrine for one of the Navagrahas each. The Navagraha temples are an example of a cluster of temples that are grouped together. Other well-known temple clusters in Tamil Nadu are the Pancha Bhuta temples , in which Shiva is embodied in one of the five elements according to Hindu ideas, and the six pilgrimage sites ( Arupadaividu ) of the god Murugan or the twelve Jyotirlingas , which are distributed all over India . A second, less well-known Navagraha temple cluster is located in the Tirunelveli district in southern Tamil Nadu.
Six of the Navagraha temples are already being sung in the Tevaram , a collection of devotional hymns from the 7th and 8th centuries. The association of the Navagraha shrines with a cluster of nine temples is much more recent. Today they are popular pilgrimage destinations that are visited either individually or as part of pilgrimage trips. Various operators offer organized tours lasting one to several days, during which all nine Navagraha temples are visited.
| Heavenly bodies | temple | place | Coordinates | image |
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| Surya ( sun ) | Suryanar Temple | Sooriyanarkoil | 11 ° 2 'N, 79 ° 29' E |
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| Chandra ( moon ) | Kailasanathar Temple | Thingalur | 10 ° 54 'N, 79 ° 8' E |
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| Mangala ( Mars ) | Vaitheeswaran Temple | Vaitheeswarankoil | 11 ° 12 'N, 79 ° 43' E |
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| Budha ( Mercury ) | Suvedharanyeswarar Temple | Tiruvenkadu | 11 ° 11 'N, 79 ° 49' E |
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| Brihaspati ( Jupiter ) | Aabhatsakayeswarar Temple | Alangudi | 10 ° 50 'N, 79 ° 25' E |
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| Shukra ( Venus ) | Agniswarar temple | Kanjanur | 11 ° 3 'N, 79 ° 30' E |
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| Shani ( Saturn ) | Darbaranyeswarar Temple | Tirunallar | 10 ° 56'N, 79 ° 48'E |
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| Rahu (ascending lunar node ) | Nageswarar temple | Tirunageswaram | 10 ° 58 'N, 79 ° 26' E |
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| Ketu (descending lunar knot) | Naganathar Temple | Keezhperumpallam | 11 ° 8 'N, 79 ° 50' E |
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literature
- Padma Raghavan, Savita Narayan: Navagraha Temples of Tamil Nadu. Kaveri Delta. Mumbai 2005.
- Vatsala Jambunathan: Navagraha temples of Tanjore District of Tamilnadu. Mumbai 2002.