Manjaneeswarar Ayyanar appan of Keezhputhupattu

Manjaneeswarar  Ayyanar appan  of Keezhputhupattu

Compiled by

P.R.Ramachander

    It is believed that the power of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu who had come as Mohini  joined together to form a God. This form looked similar to a cloud   and it was called Manjani by the villagers who saw it . This power became An Ayyanar and got  settled down in a forest in a  village called  Keezh Pudupattu  which is near Pondicherry on the   eastern express way connecting Pondicherry    and Madras. He along with Gods Ganesa  , Shiva,  Sani as well as Ravana is  believed to protect all the villages surrounding  Keezh Puthu pattu.  Due to his original name of Manjani  he is also called as Manjaneeswarar  and also Ayyanarappan.His devotees believe that he would be living in Puthupattu only till evening and as soon as the sun sets, he starts going round the world  riding on his white horse all over the world to protect every one  .He would come again to Puthupattu only next day early morning., This Ayyanar temple was supposed to be built about 900  years back by one Kulothunga Chozhan.   Like  some other Ayyanar temples , this Ayyanar has two consorts Poorna who is the daughter of king of Ilavanji and Pushkala the daughter of king Bikaranjan. And these consorts sit on both sides of the Ayyanar idol.  Unlike many ayyanar temples,  animals are not given in sacrifice to this Ayyanar but   are sacrificed to a folk God called Malayalathan (Man of Malayalam)  who is at the entrance of this Ayyanar temple. People believe that the king of Pandala came for hunting in this forest and found a child in this spot and that child was adopted by the king and Named Manikandan .Manikandan later  was consecrated as Ayyappan in Sabarai Malai   of  Kerala. Because of this, Many Ayyappa devotees who go to Sabari Malai visit this temple also during their Annual pilgrimage  and believe that their pilgrimage would not be complete without visiting Keezhpudupettai.

   This Ayyanar is the Family God of very large number of families. Many of these people pray to this Ayyanar to  lock the mouth of their enemies who jeer at them . They write their prayer on a piece of paper and tie it to the feet of this Ayyanar . Many other people who are slaves to bad habits write on the chit of paper that they have left their bad habit.  Since Ayyanar punishes those who tell a lie , many of these people do leave out their bad habits, Other forms of worship include , making dolls of small white horses and keeping them  at the Ayyanar temple . Preparing pongal and offering to Ayyanar , Giving their hair to ayyanar , Offering  goats and hen to Malayalathan  etc,People who are being troubled by the planet Sani(saneeswara)  visit this temple on every Saturday and get rid of their problems, The temple is open from 6.30 Am to 8 PM.

Additional note:-

“Elderly devotees recall making the trip to the temple by bullock cart, when priests and pilgrims had to brush aside branches on the narrow path to the shrine in the center of the forest. Now a wide dirt road (tar in some places) connects all the subsidiary shrines in the forest. Devotees can freely drive from the ECR all the way up to the main temple gate, but on auspicious days (Mondays) they generally park their vehicles along the road through the forest, inadvertently widening it still further. Devotees enter the forest from the west, passing two giant horses, an anthill shrine (the first of at least three), and the shrine of Veerabhadra,  Aiyannarappan’s guardian deity, and his Veerans. The actual temple to Aiyannarappan is a large complex built on the pattern of a typical south Indian temple complete with brightly painted gopuram, cool inner sanctum, and verandah equipped with metal railings to direct pilgrim traffic. On Mondays in Adi(June-July) vast crowds come to visit. “(http://www.scribd.com/doc/142441178/Meanings-of-Trees-and-Forests-in-India)