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Let me describe the sanctum of Sri Kalyana Bagavathi

   Now let me describe the sanctum of Sri Kalyana Bagavathi. We know how this idol sprang up from the floor of Swami's home in Kumbakonam. From that time until January 1988, the idol was kept in Ganesh Nagar in Selaiyur in Mr. Narayanaswami's house (one of Swami's devotees) as per divine order and was installed in the newly constructed temple in June 1988. This idol had two hands. Swami earlier had a divya darshan of Devi holding mangal sutra in one hand. Devi's chest, face and the two hands are only seen and the lower part, which was formless, was under the ground. The eyes of Devi have maximum sanctity. There is a soolam, which is kept near Devi, which has a divine secret. Devi had told Swami that if once he could go and get Ganges water for Her first abhishekam, then Her grace would bring Ganges water to her premises. Later as per the divine order a bore well was drilled behind Devi's sannadhi. The real wonder of the whole episode is that only the water of this peetam is sweet and pure while the rest of the Tambaram area has salt water. Initially a hand pump was installed to cater to the needs of the local people. Later an electrical pump was installed to cater to the entire peetam. An idol of Lord Ganapathi known as Shakthi Ganapathi was installed on the same day of Devi prathishta, facing the Devi idol. This Ganapathi idol was also a moola vigraham. The Devi deity is another form of Chothanikkara Devi. Shakthi Ganapathi is the symbolic representation of Gnananandar. Even if the sannidanam doors of Devi are closed, by worshipping Shakthi Ganapathi, the Lord showers His blessings and He keeps account of all those who visited and passes on the information to Devi. Initially, the peetam was about 800 square feet in area. During prathishta, Devi had told Swami that at a later stage, She would have other gods all around her and finally the whole place would become famous and be called as Bagavathi Nagar. As per the divine order, the other idols in the peetam were all installed by Swami as per tanthric ritual. The beauty and wonder of this siddhar peetam is that each idol installed here has a historical and mystic legend behind it and each has its own unique importance in solving the misery and problems of devotees. Mere sprinkling of the peetam's water over oneself is equivalent to having a holy dip in Ganges water. Lets now learn a little more about each of the idols.

   Sri Valliyur Nagaraja

   Let us visit the Lord Valliyur Nagaraja, who is situated behind Devi's sannidhanam. The legend behind this idol is as follows. In the year 1989, while Swami was camping in Bombay, a devotee by name Hariharan came to see Swami along with his son-in-law who was infected with an acute skin disease with white spots all over his body. He told Swami that he had undergone all possible medical treatment for the affliction but neither allopathic, homeopathic nor ayurvedic treatment was of any use. He further added that the same skin disease also affected his children. He sought Swami's blessings to cure his ailment.

   After keenly looking at him for a few moments, Swami started enquiring about his family details and native place. The man replied that he had three brothers and after his father's demise, the fixed assets and the ancestral property were divided among the three of them and he was given the ancestral house in Valliyur in Nagarkovil (a town in Tamilnadu) as his share. He further went on to say that he had let it on rent for a nominal amount. Swami immediately started narrating the following to him. The diseased man's ancestor, who lived in that house a number of decades ago, had an evil effect of the snake (known as nagadosham — naga means snake in Tamil and dosham denotes evil effect). To undo that, he brought a stone idol of the snake god and had hidden that in the courtyard in a place where paddy was stored. He actually wanted to construct a small temple for the idol and worship. He did not reveal this to any of his family members. Before he could fulfill his desire, his life came to an end. In course of time five generations had passed by and that the diseased man was none other but his great grand father reborn. Swami further added that the stone idol of Nagar was still buried under ground, for nearly 600 years now, in the courtyard of his ancestral home. He advised the man that either he could renovate and construct a temple there itself for Nagar or he should donate that idol to any temple. By doing so, his future generation would not be affected by the skin disease. Swami asserted that whatever he had uttered was the absolute truth behind his suffering and that the diseased man could visit his native place and verify the facts for himself. This incident took place in the year 1989. A few months later, the man went to visit his ancestral home. As he went near the site, the people living there cautioned him not to go near since they had witnessed snakes moving around there. He recollected Swami's sayings and his faith in Swami's words increased tenfold. He started digging vigorously into the ground, which was full of mud and stone. First, he came across the skin of a snake and when he dug further, he came upon the idol of Nagar, fully covered with mud, centuries old. He was amazed at how true Swami's words were. He started pondering as to which temple he should donate that idol. In the meantime, when Swami was performing Devi Pooja in solitude, Devi ordered him to construct a stone peetam and a stone umbrella above that just behind Her idol. As per the divine wish, Swami completed the said job. Many devotees who visited the peetam at that time were very curious and asked him why no idol was consecrated in that place. Swami replied that he was waiting for the divine order. The diseased man not knowing all this, by then had finally made up his mind deciding that he would donate the idol to Swami himself and requested him to install the same in the temple. So in the year 1990, when Swami was present in the temple premises, the man came and donated the idol to Swami. He became very emotional and fell at Swami's feet and humbly requested him to install the idol in the temple and sought his blessing to remedy his ailment. The Lord Nagar was placed in the already constructed peetam, which was lying vacant till then, and the divine consecration was done then and there. If people having naga dosham pray to this idol, the naga dosham would be wiped out completely. Further, anyone who seeks a boon from this idol should write their name and grievances in a paper and tie it around Nagar with a yellow thread and pray fervently. They would definitely be blessed by the divine grace. Thus, even today, when one visits this idol, one can see pieces of paper tied in yellow threads around the neck of Nagar. Many devotees have seen a snake moving around within the temple premises. According to Swami, this snake was a sage in his earlier birth who visits the temple in the form of the snake. Swami instructs devotees not to hurt that snake since he happens to be a sarpam.

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