Palani Hill Temple and Idol
Arulmigu Dandāyudhapāni Swāmi Devasthānam, Palani
Palani Hill Temple and Idol
Lord Murugan is the deity of the Tamil Land. Palani (Tiru Avinankudi) is the third Padai Veedu. The temple at Palani is an ancient one, situated at an elevation of 1500 feet above sea level. It is a charming campus from where one can take a look at the Idumban Hill, the Kodaikanal Hills, the Western Ghats, the greenery of the paddy fields, rivers, tanks, Palani town and the colleges. On a lovely, clear and mist-free day, the Kurinci Āndavar Temple is visible from here against the bright sun. In daytime, Palani is Hill Beautiful; at night, it is Hill Resplendent.
The deity of Palani is known as Dandayudhapani Swami, the Lord having the Staff in his Hand. The deity at the sanctum sanctorum is made out of an amalgam of nine minerals popularly called Navabashana. The deity is in a standing position with a baton in his hand. He has the look of a person who has renounced all worldly pomp. He has just a loincloth besides the baton. He is a mute messenger of the great precept ‘Renounce all to reach Me’. The icon is unique in the whole world. It was made by siddha Bhogar by combining nine poisonous substances (navabashana). Murugan signifies beauty and Lord Murugan of Kurinji land is the god of Beauty and Youth.
Palani Hill Temple: The Idol
Unlike other temples, here the Lord does not take a siesta and the temple-doors are open continuously from twilight to night for nearly 16 hours at a stretch without interval. The presiding deity in any temple is of stone. Here, it is an amalgam comprising navabashana or nine different kinds of medicinal minerals (some say poisons) blended together in certain rare proportions, the resultant substance resembling hard wax.
The slim figure has withstood the effect of abhishekams for centuries—about 700 abhishekams are done on a Karttikai day!—most miraculously and beyond human explanation. Some knowledgeable persons have felt that it is an understatement to call the image of Dandāyudhapani as an ‘amalgam’.
The nine pashanas (poisons) of siddha science are all elements and compounds which evaporate under slight heat and there is no conceivable way in which they could have been ‘amalgamated’ into a castable metal. Only spectroscopic, radiographic and carbon C-14 tests of the image can throw final light on it.
Like the non-corroding Iron Pillar in New Delhi, the deity at Palani has stood as a mute witness to history. Sage Bhogar has created another timeless sentinel of a great scientific tradition, which now all but extinct.
The constant performing of abhishekams has perhaps added cohesive strength to the image and in turn the medicinal qualities absorbed by the abhishekam materials, attributing to them miraculous curative properties. The overnight sandal paste in particular is a wonder drug, a panacea for many incurable diseases. Not even the rationalist can say that the abhishekam is a waste. For every drop of it is consumed with profit and pleasure by devotees, far and near.
Leucoderma and asthma are cured by the use of abhishekam water. Modern physicians say that milliards of bacteria are stored in the idol and anything taken out of the touch of the idol by abhishekams also infected with the bacteria which grow in geometrical progression. This is the reason for the preservative quality of the articles offered during abhishekam. Prasadam filled with bacteria when consumed internally cures several human diseases.
Palani Moolavar: Its Medicinal Powers
The constant performing of abhishekams has perhaps added cohesive strength to the image and in turn the medicinal qualities absorbed by the abhishekam materials, attributing to them miraculous curative properties.
The overnight sandal paste in particular is a wonder drug, a panacea for many incurable diseases. Not even the rationalist can say that the abhishekam is a waste. For every drop of it is consumed with profit and pleasure by devotees, far and near.
Leucoderma and asthma are cured by the use of abhishekam water. Modern physicians say that milliards of bacteria are stored in the idol and anything taken out of the touch of the idol by abhishekams also infected with the bacteria which grow in geometrical progression.
This is the reason for the preservative quality of the articles offered during abhishekam. Prasadam filled with bacteria when consumed internally cures several human diseases.
No individual is unaffected by the mystery, the beatitude and the abiding compassion of the deity.
See also: Palani Moolavar: A Scientific Analysis
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| Siddha Munivar Bhogar formulated a clever mixture of nine poisonous metals, an amalgamation called nava pāsanam or ‘nine minerals’. The idol for the presiding deity was sculpted out of this nava pāsanam. The poisonous nature of all these metals was harnessed, hardened like granite, and converted into a beneficial amalgam with medicinal and curative properties. |
Bhogar Shrine at Palani
No pilgrim should fail to mark attendance at the shrine of Bhogar in the southwestern corridor of the temple. He it was who created the navabhashana image and consecrated the deity.
God is believed to have appeared to saints in certain forms. These are forms made to appear to them by His grace or rather they are outward symbols of His mercy as omnipresent, but assumes certain forms at certain times just as sea-water sometimes takes the form of an iceberg.
Bhogar is believed to have lived in the beginning of Kali Yuga, i.e. before 3,000 B.C. and traveled widely in the Near- and Far East. He is said to have been a rare mathematical prodigy, a diplomat of great calibre and an expert in the field of medicine.
Bhogar realised the importance of Muruga worship and conferred with siddhars on the form in which Muruga’s image should be installed atop the hill. He created the amalgam of nine chemicals and did daily services.
Bhogar’s body rests here. The image of Nava Dūrgā or Bhūvanesvari and the Maragadha (emerald) Siva Lingam worshipped by him are found here. An underground passage is said to link the sanctum sanctorum with the Bhogar shrine.
