Prayers to
different Gods inside
a Temple of Lord Shiva
Translation of prayers ,
By
P.R.Ramachander
( I got these prayers from a book
published by Giri traders and my grateful acknowledgements to them .
I also have translated those prayers
and added some notes on etiquettes
to be observed inside the Shiva Temple .I would be grateful if the readers can point out
the mistakes I have committed as
my knowledge in this aspect is only
peripheral. )
You have to enter
the temple of Lord Shiva with a
clean body and mind .Before entering the temple outside the flag pole offer salutations to the God by prostrating on the ground .(This should
never be done in side the temple
because you would be showing your back to some Gods.) If possible do three
Pradakshinas outside the temple . Before
you enter the Shiva temple touch the
raised threshold with your right hand and enter
in to the temple placing right
foot first.The first God you
will see is Lord Nandikeswara who is the
Vahana of Lord shiva.
Put the left middle and
thumb on the two horns of the Nandi,
with your right hand pet his tails and look through the horns of Nandi and
see the shiva lingam. Then pray
Nandfikeswara.Please also determine the proper method of Pradakshina in the Shiva temple you enter.Once you enter in side the
temple, in some temples, the pradkshina stops at the point where Abhisheka Theertha is going out
from the Shiva temple.Then the devotee turns back and
walks in the opposite direction till they reach the same point.
1.Prayer before
Nandikeswara
Nandikesa
Mahabhaga , shiva dhyana parayna,
Uma Sankara sevartham
anujnaan dathumarhasi
Oh Lord Nandi , Oh great one who always
meditates on Lord Shiva,
I request your
permission for the service of
Lord Shiva and Goddess
Uma.
After reciting this enter the temple , visit the following temples in the same order chanting
the stotras given before the Gods.
2,Prayer
before Lord Ganesa
(It is the
custamory to knock with both your fists on the forehead before Lord Ganesa. Some
people stand crossed leg, catch the ears and bobbing up nd down before Ganesa)
Omkaranilayam
devam , Gajavakthram ,
chathurbujam,
Pichandila , maham
Vandhe Sarva Vighnopasanthaye
Oh God who stays
in OM , who has elephant’s head , who
has four hands,
And who has a pot
belly , I salute you and pray you to remove all obstructions .
3.Prayer
before Lord Subrahmanya
Uma Komala hasthabja sambhavitha lalatakam ,
Hiranya kundalam
vandhe Kumaram pushkarasrajam.
Salutation to the Lord wearing a lotus wreath , golden ear rings ,
Who has foreheads brought
together by the lotus like hands of Goddess Uma.
4.Prayer before
the Goddess
(In most of Shiva temples the Goddess would not be in same sanctum as Shiva but will have a separate temple)
Sarva mangala mangalye
shive saravartha sadhike,
Sharanye tryambike
devi Narayani namothuthe.
My salutations to the goddess Narayani,
Who is the auspiciousness
of all auspiciousness ,
Who is consort of Shiva , Who grants all desires,
Who can be
relied upon and who is the trinity of Goddesses.
5.Prayer
before God Shiva
Anyadha Saranam
nasthi, thwameva Saranam mama,
Thasmath Karunya bhavena
Raksha Raksha Maheswara
I don’t have anybody to seek refuge,
Except thee , Oh great God,
So please have mercy upon me,
And protect me again and again.
6.Prayer before
Dakshinamurthi
(Normally
Dakshinamurthy temples would be in the
inner periphery of the temple , with God facing south ,It would wonderful if
you can sit and meditate before him as
he is the teacher.)
Gurave Sarva LOkanam , bhishaje bhava roginam,
Nidhaye sarva vIdhyanam, Sri Dakshinamurthaye nama
Salutations to God Dakshinamurthy, who is the Guru of the
entire world,
Who is the doctor to disease birth-death cycle and a
treasure house of all knowledge.
7.Prayer to
Goddess Durga
(Durga is a ferocious form of Goddess Parvathi in many cases facing the north.)
Sarva roope sarvesi, sarva shakthi samanvithe ,
Bhayebhya sthrahino devi, Durge Devi Namosthuthe
Oh Goddess who takes all forms, who is the Goddess of
all, Who is filled with all powers,
Please save us
from fear Oh Goddess, I salute to the Goddess
Durga.
8.Prayer to Lord
Nataraja
(E=when Nataraja
, Shiva in the dancing pose is not the main God , he would
be in the inner periphery.)
Krupa samaudram, sumukham, trinethram,
Jadadaharam, Parvathi vama bhagam,
Sada shivam, rudramanantha roopam,
Chidambaresam hrudhi
bhavayami.
I meditate on that Lord of Chidambaram,
Who is the ocean of mercy,
Who has a pleasant mien,
Who has three eyes,
Who has matted locks,
Who keeps Parvathy on his left side,
Who is ever peaceful,
And who is limitless and angry.
9.Prayer to Lord
Vishnu
(Most of the huge
temples of Tamil Nadu also have temples
for Lord Vishnu inside the Shiva
temple
Sasankha chakram sakireeta
kundalam sappeethavastram saraseruhekshanam,
Sahara vaksha sthala shobhi kousthubham
namai Vishnum sirasa chaturbhujam
I bow before the God Vishnu,
Who has four arms,
Who has a conch and wheel in his hands,
Who wears a crown and ear globes,
Who wears yellow silks,
Who has lotus like eyes,
Who shines because of Kousthbha ,
Worn in his garlanded chest.
10,Prayer to Goddess
Lakshm-Saraswathi
Sridevi amruthothbhutha, Kamala Chandra Shobhana ,
Vishnu pathni vaishnavi
cha varoraha cha Sarngini,
Hari priya deva
devi Mahalakshmi cha Sundari,
Bhashyadhi sarva shastrani ye cha anyai niyamasthadhaa,
Aksharani cha
sarvani thwam thu devi namosthuthe.
Oh Goddess Lakshmi born along with Nectar, who sits on lotus , shines like moon,
Oh Consort of Lord
Vishnu who worships Lord Vishnu, who has pretty hips and holds the Sarnga bow,
Oh Goddess dear to
Hari, The goddess of all gods, The Mahalakshmi
and the pretty one ,
Oh Goddess who is
all the commentaries , all the Sasthras
and all other Laws,
And who is also
all the alphabets , You are our Goddess
and I salute you.
11.Prayer to Chandikeswara
(It is common to
clap hands or make sound with fingers
before Chandikeswara temple,He is supposed to be the one who keeps
the account of our visits to the Shiva
temple. By making sound we are informing him that we have
visited Lord Shiva, as Chandikeswara is always in deep meditation,Some
people are of the opinion that we should
only rub our hands before him , showing
him that we are not even taking the dust
from the temple.)
Neela kanda padambhoja parisphuritha manasa,
Shambho seva balam
dehi Chamdeswara Namosthuthe.
Oh Lord who opens
his mind to the lotus like feet of Lord
Neelakanda,
Give us the results
of Serving Lord Shiva and I salute you Chandeswara.
12.Prayer to Lord Bhairava
(This very angry
looking God is a great devotee of Lord Shiva, who takes care of
Lord Shiva and his temple.If his
temple is there in a shiva temple , it is a must to go and salute him.)
Athikroora mahakaya Kalpantha dahanopama ,
BHairavaya namasthubhyam
Anujnam Dhatum arhasi
I salute that Bhairava
who is very cruel, who has a huge body,
Who is similar to
the destruction at deluge, I need to take your permission.
13.Prayer to Lord
Hanuman
(It is very
rare to find a Hanuman temple in side
the Shiva temple .Many devotees consider
Hanuman as the son oof Lord Shiva also.)
BUdhirbalam
dharyam nirbhayathwa marogatha.
Ajadyam vaak
paduthwam cha Hanumath
smaranath bhaveth
By meditating on Hanuman
, you get intelligence , strength, courage ,
Fearlessness , freedom from disease, freedom from
laziness and command of language .
14.Prayer to Nine planets
(Most of the
Hindus firmly believe that it is
the nine planets that cause problems or luchk to them. In most of the
Shiva temples there would be a Navagaraha SAnnidhi where all the nine planets would be placed together. It is
important to worship them before coming out of the temple)
Aarogyam dadadathu
no Divakara, Chandro Yaso nirmalam,
Bhoothim Bhoomi sutha, Sudhamsu thanaya prajnam , Guru
Gauravam,
Kavya KOmala vaak
vilasamathulam , mandho mudham
sarvadhaa.
Rahur Bahu balam , Virodha samanam Kethu Kulosyonnathim
The Sun gives us health , The moon pure fame ,
Mars gives us well being , Wisdom is given by Budha(son
of moon)
Guru gives us respect, Shukra gives up pretty incomparable speech,
Saturn always
gives us happiness, Rahu power
and strength and Kethu the greatness
of our family.
15.Sit in a place outside the main temple tell the following stotra
addressed to the Shiva Ganas
Maha Bala pradha
sarve, Shivajna paripalaka,
Maya samprathithaa
yooyam Gachathwam Shiva sannidau.
Oh servants of
Lord Shiva who are the very strong Pradhas,
Please go in front
of Lord Shiva and inform him about all my prayers
16.Mediate on
the two manthras given below for some time
before leaving the temple
I.Mrutyunjaya manthram
Tryambakam
yajamahe
Sugandhim pushtivardhanam
Urvarurkamiva bhandhanam
Mrityor mukshiya ma -mrtat.
We salute and respect,
Him who is naturally scented,
Him who looks after his devotees with mercy,
And him who has three eyes.
And pray and request,
To move us away from the catch of death,
Like the cucumber separated from its stalk,
And firmly put us in the path of salvation.
II.EEsana manthram
Eesana sarva Vidhyanam , Easwara
sarva bhoothanam,
Brahmadhipathi, Brahmanoadhipathi,
Brahma Shivo may
asthu Sada shivam
Possessing all
the knowledge , God of all beings ,
The Lord of Brahma
, The Lord of Brahmanas,
Sadashiva exists
as Shiva as well as Brahma
It is
believed that , nothing belonging to the temple of Lord Shiva should be
brought out of the Temple of Shiva. This includes the
dust in the temple of Shiva
