This Shiva temple is Sapta sthana Shiva temple of Thiruneelakudi. The temple is situated on the southern bank of river Cholan (a tributary of Kaveri). This is a Thevaram Vaippu sthalam as it finds a mention in the sacred hymns of Shaiva saint Appar. This is a parihaar sthala for Vrushchika raas. The present temple structure was built by Chola queen Sembiyan Mahadevi and this is about 1200 years old. There are a lot of stone inscriptions in the temple.
Mulavar: Shri Airavateshwarar
Devi: Shri Abhiramiamman
Sacred Vruksha: Bilva, Shamee
Sacred teertha: Gautam Teertha, Chandra Teertha, Yama Teertha, Agni Teertha, Agastya Teertha, Bramha Teertha, Kashyap Teertha, Shesha Teertha.
Kshetra puran:
1) Shri Chandra had lost his brightness due to the curse of Dakshaprajapathi. He came to this place and worshiped Shri Ganesha by creating Chandra teertha. Shri Ganesha advised him to pray Shri Shiva. He prayed to Shri Shiva and got relieved on the day of Anuradha nakshatra. As this nakshatra falls in Vrushchika raas, this place is parihaar sthala for Vruschika raas.
2) Shri Bramha had given a garland of Jasmine flowers to Sage Durvasa to be handed over to Shri Indra. When it was handed over to Shri Indra, he threw it away. So the sage cursed both Shri Indra and his mount Airavat. This resulted in Shri Indra losing his kingdom and mount Airavat became black. They worshiped Shri Shiva at this place and got relief. Hence Shri Shiva is praised as Shri Airavateshwarar.
3) An asura named Marutasura used to torment people and sages. They approached Shri Shiva who fought with Marutasura and slayed him. Hence the name is Maruthwakudi. In this battle, Nandi protected Shri Shiva by coming between Shri Shiva and asura. He was pierced by the arrow of asura. Hence we find holes on the body of Nandi.
4) The Nandanvan of temple also finds a mention in the sthala puran. Once a bramhin worshipped Shri Shiva at this place with great devotion and acquired some spiritual powers. This made him arrogant and greedy. He started demanding alms (daan) from one and all. When the people gave him daan, he also started acquiring the sin associated with the daan. Due to the accumulation of the sin, he lost his luster and became black. He did penance for 12 years and got relieved of the sin and became lustrous again. But he started doing the same thing as before. Shri Indra complained to Shri Shiva about the harassment of the bramhin. Lord sent Aghoramurti and took bramhin in the custody. The bramhin realized his mistake and pleaded for mercy. Shri Shiva pardoned him. In order to change his mental thought, he made him in-charge of the Nandanvan.
The temple is about 2 kms from Aaduthurai bus stop, 4 kms from Thiruvidaimuduthur and 13 kms from Kumbhakonam. This is an east facing temple with 5 tier rajagopuram. Balipeetha, Nandi are in the outer parikrama facing the sanctum. Idol of Nandi is small and is made of white clay. The Shiva linga is swayambhoo linga facing the east in a sanctum which is in the form of a linga. It is made of white clay so Abhishek is performed by putting a kavach on the linga. It is believed that Nandi came in between the Asura and Shri Shiva during a fight to protect Shri Shiva. Hence we find some holes on the body of Nandi which are believed to be due to piercing of arrows. He is praised here as Bananandi. In the south facing Shrine we have Shri Abhirami Devi. There is a Shri Ganesha Shrine on the SW corner of the temple. The trunk of Shri Ganesha is shaped like a scorpion and all over the body of the idol we find images of scorpion sculptured. Shri Subramanya is in a separate shrine with his consorts. There are 2 more Shri Ganesha idols, one at entrance near Nandi, other one near Shamee tree along with idols of Nagas and 2 Shiva lingas. In NE corner we come across Navagraha shrine. In this shrine, all the Navagrahas are found with their mounds and consorts. There is a shrine of Shaiva Saint Nalavar in the parikrama.
Those who worshipped at this place:
Shri Krishna worshipped Shri Shiva for getting married to Shri Rukmini. Sage Agastya, Shri Indra, Shri Airavat, Shri Chandra
Prayers:
1) Devotees pray at Shri Ganesha’s shrine for relief from insect, snake and scorpion bite
2) This is a Parihar sthala for Anuradha and Vrushchika raas.
Note: We are unable to provide the details of pooja, temple timing. We will update later
Address: Airavateshwarar temple, Melamarutwakuri, Taluka Thiruvidaimaruthur, TN
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