Rare Shiva Linga With Wings – Annur Manneeshwarar Temple
Sri Manneeshwarar Temple is located in a place called Annur in Coimbatore Dist., Tamilnadu. The temple is estimated to be 500 years old. The Main God of the temple is Lord Shiva and He graces His devotees by the name Manneeshwarar (Anneeshwarar). The unique feature of this temple is that the Shiva Linga is seen with the wings on both sides. The Goddess is known by the name Arunthava Chelvi. The presiding deity is a Suyambu Moorthy and He faces West.
As per the Sthala Purana, the region was once a forest and was densely surrounded by Valli (Sweet Potato – Sakkara Valli) plants. A hunter named Anni lived in the forest and he was hunting the animals for his livelihood. Sometimes, he used to think that killing animals would be a sin but he continued to hunt since he did not have any other option for his livelihood. One day, as he did not get any animal, he dug the Valli plant for its root to quench his hunger. Surprisingly, the length of root did not reduce despite his cutting. He continued to dig further and found that the root was bleeding. He was shocked at this sight and at that time, he heard a voice saying that all his sins had been pardoned and it also advised him not to hunt the animals anymore. The hunter trembled and informed the King about this incident. The king came to that place and found a unique Shiva Linga with the wings attached to it. He tried his best to pull out the Shiva Linga. He even tried to pull it with a chain dragged by an elephant but could not succeed. Then the Lord appeared in his dreams that night and advised him not to pull out the Shiva Linga as He would like to stay there itself. The king then built the temple in that place. The Shiva Linga has scars on it showing the mark of the chain and also the mark of the weapon used by the hunter. The place where the temple was built was named after the hunter and so it was known as Anniyur. Over the course of time, it became Annur.
Another legend says that a large portion of Shiva Linga came down flying and it rested in this place and so the Linga is having wings attached to it. The Shiva Linga with the wings attached on either side of it looks like that of a Garuda (the eagle vehicle of Lord Vishnu) in a folded form. As we know, Garuda has a sharp vision and it could see even small things on land while flying high. Similarly, it is believed that Lord Shiva is also closely watching our doings with His sharp vision and hence this form.
Lord Manneeshwarar graces His devotees as Suyambu Moorthy in the color of the sand under the Kailasa Vimana in the sanctum. There is a separate shrine for His consort, Arunthava Chelvi. Oonjal Festival (Swing festival) will be performed on each Fridays and it is believed devotes who worship the Goddess on these days would be blessed with the Baby Boon. Other shrines of this temple are 7 Nagar idols (Snake idols) known as Sarparaja shrine, Anjaneyar, Lord Muruga with His consorts Valli and Deivanai, Lord Bhairava, Natarajar, Guru Bhagawan (Jupiter), Nalvar who sang the Thiruvasagam and Thevaram hymns and Tiruneelakanda Nayanar. The Sarparaja Shrine with 7 Snake idols is found under the Vanni tree and the devotees perform Sarpa Dosha Parihara poojas for relieving them from Sarpa Dosha.
A large number of devotees visit this temple for repenting their sins or wrongdoings that was committed knowingly or unknowingly. It is strongly believed that the Lord would pardon any sinner if they sincerely and honestly promise before Him that they would not repeat committing the sins again.
