This is the fifth temple in Sapta Sthana temples around Thiruneelakudi. It is also associated with other groups of temples such as Panchakrosha sthalam and one of the six temples along the banks of river Kaveri which are considered equal to Kashi. The temple is also considered to be Shakti Peetha and Pancha Linga Sthala. It is located at Thiruvaimaruthur near Kumbhakonam on the southern bank of river Kaveri. This temple was revered by Naayanmars namely Shri Appar, Shri Sundarar and Shri Sambandhar. The present temple is more than 2000 years old.
Valuable contributions have been made by the Pandya kings, Chola Kings and Tanjavur Nayaks in the maintenance and renovation of the temple. The temple is at the center of seven Shiva temples which are situated at cardinal points. The vigraha (murtis) at this temple are known as Sapta Vigrahas (murtis). This place is also known as Idaimaruthur as it is situated between two Shiva temples which have the Marut tree (Arjun tree) as the Kshetra Vruksha.
Mulavar: Shri Mahalingam, Shri Mahalingeshwarar, Shri Marutvanar, Shri Marutavaneshwarar
Devi: Shri Parumuraial, Shri Brihadsundarargujambika, Shri Naanmoolainayaki
Sacred Teertha: KarunyaAmrut, River Kaveri
Kshetra Vruksha: Marut Tree (Arjun Tree)
Puranik Name: Mathirarjunam, Shenbagaranya, Shaktipuram, Tapovanam, Muktipuram
Kshetra Puran:
Pattinathar and Bhadragiriyar: Shaiva Saint Pattinathar is closely associated with this temple. His disciple Bhadragiriyar who was a king renounced his kingship and became a saint. He came to this place and stayed with his Guru Pattinathar. He always had a begging bowl and a dog with him. Once Shri Shiva came in the form of a beggar and asked for alms to saint Pattinathar. Pattinathar directed Him to Bhadragiriyar whom he addressed as a Sansari. Bhadragiriyar felt sad as his guru made him a sansari because of the begging bowl and dog with him. In anger he threw it on the dog which got killed. Shri Shiva manifested in front of him and gave him salvation and also for the dog. Hence this place is known as Naladiyar Kovil.
Brahmahatya Dosha: A chola prince killed a brahmin and was infected with Brahmahatya dosha. He came to this temple and prayed to Shri Shiva for relief. As a spirit of dead brahmin was following him, Shri Shiva advised him to leave the temple by another door. As the Brahmahatti was unable to enter the temple it was waiting at the door in which the prince entered the temple. It is believed that it is still waiting to enter the temple, Hence people avoid going out of that temple from that entrance. There is a sculpture of Brahmahatti on the eastern entrance.
Some people also associate this kshetra puran with King Varaguna Pandian. It is stated that the king went hunting in the nearby forest. As the darkness was fast approaching he hurried back to the city on his horse at a very fast pace. He did not notice an aged Brahmin sleeping under a tree. The hooves of the horse accidentally crushed the Brahmin to death. The king came to know of the incident through his soldiers. When he enquired with the scholars they informed him that he had incurred the dosha of Brahmahatya. They advised him of remedial measures prescribed in the shastra but the king did not get any relief. He went to Shri Sundareshwarar temple in Madurai. While doing pradakshina a celestial voice advised him that a Chola King will lead his country and the invader will be defeated. When the invading king flees from the battlefield he was asked to follow him so that he will reach Shri Mahalingeshwar temple where Shri Shiva himself worshiped the shiva linga. The Brahmahatya dosha will leave you when you pray there by entering through one entrance and by leaving through another. At the temple Shri Mahalingeshwarar advised him to leave the temple by western entrance as he had entered through eastern entrance. By following the directions he got rid of the Brahmahatya dosha. It is believed that the Brahmahatti is still waiting outside.
Pancha krosha sthala: After the pralay, the amrut kalash reached Kumbhakonam and settled there. Droplets of nectar are believed to have fallen at five places around Kumbhakonam namely at Thiruvadimaruthur, Darasuram, Thiru nageshwaram, Swamimalai and Koranattukarpur. These kshetras are at a distance of five kroshas from each other, hence they are known as Panchakrosha sthala.
Jyotirmay Mahalinga: When the sages were doing penance, Sage Agastya came here along with his disciples and did penance towards Shri Umadevi. She gave him darshan. The sages after paying due respect to her, requested her for the darshan of Shri Shiva also. She along with sages did penance towards Shri Shiva. In appreciation of their penance Shri Shiva gave darshan to them. After giving darshan to them, Shri Shiva scolded the sages for not worshiping the Shiva Linga first. Shri Umadevi was astonished by the act of Shri Shiva and asked him about the reasons as Shri Brahma and Shri Indra and others are only supposed to worship her customarily. Shri Shiva stated as sages forgot to worship him first they have to undergo atonement. From that day, the sages started worshiping him first and attained salvation.
When the sages were doing penance along with Shri Parvati Devi, Shri Shiva manifested from the heart of Shri Parvati Devi in the form of a flame. As he graced the sages in the form of Jyoti he is addressed as Jyotirmay Mahalinga.
About the visit of Adi Shankaracharya to this place: When Adi Shankaracharya came to this place he desired that the Lord should declare the truth about Advaita so that the doubts about this principle will be cleared once for all. In response to this prayer Shri Mahalingeshwarar appeared from the Linga, stated the truth three times as Satyam Advaitam, Satyam Advaitam, Satyam Advaitam. At the Shankara Math in this place on the Gopuram we come across the sculpture of Shri Mahalingeshwar with a raised hand and the sculpture of Adi Shankaracharya in front of him with folded hands. In the central courtyard of the Math, Devi’s shrine was constructed and the sacred paduka of Adi Shankaracharya was installed.
The Shiva linga is a Swayambhu Linga. There are four Rajagopurams, one in each direction. The main Rajagopuram is five tier. And the western Rajagopuram is seven tier. It has three parikramas, each enclosed by huge walls. In the second parikrama we come across many sculptures. The temple complex covers an area of about 22 acres and is rectangular in shape. The temple has a very large sacred teertha (tank). There are a large number of shrines in this temple complex. We mention some of them below.
Shri Shiva Shrine: This shiva linga is facing the east. As Shei Shiva himself worshiped Linga, it is known as MahaLingam. It is on a huge pedestal with two Nandis in front. One of the Nandis is made of copper. As usual we have Balipeeth and Dhwajastambha in their usual positions. In this temple, puja is performed first to Shri Shiva then to Shri Vinayaka as it is believed that Shri Vinayaka worshiped Shri Shiva in this place.
Shrine of Devi: She is facing the east. And the shrine is on the right hand side of Shri Shiva on the southern side. As she is to the right of Shri Shiva it is considered to be a wedding posture. We find a painting on the ceiling of Artha Mandap depicting the marriage of Shri Meenakshi Devi and Shri Sundareshwarar. We come across a number of paintings on the walls of Devis’s shrine. Besides this, we have an idol of Saiva saint Sambandhar in this shrine. It is a practice to go out of the temple after worshiping Shri Ambika Devi.
Shri Mukambika Shrine: It is situated inside the Devi’s shrine. There are only two places in India where Shri Mukambika Devi is housed in a separate shrine.
Shri Ananda Vinayaka Shrine: In the inner prakara, to the south of Lord’s shrine we come across the shrine of Shri Vinayaka known as Shri Ananda Vinayaka.
Shiva Lingas in this temple: In the parikrama we come across 27 lingas dedicated to 27 Nakshatras. According to Puran, these 27 nakshatras installed these lingams and worshiped Shri Shiva. This is a nakshatra parihar sthala.
This temple is referred as a Pancha Linga Sthala as it has four lingas at four cardinal points with the Mahalingeshwarar at the center. On the east street we have Shri Kashi Vishwanathar temple. In the west we have Shri Rishipurishwarar temple. In the south Shri AtmanaEshwarar temple. And in the north Shri Chokkanadar Temple. Besides these, we come across Akash Linga, Kashyapa Linga, Romesh Linga, Chola Linga, Chera Linga, Sahasra Linga, Panchabuta Lingas in the parikrama. We come across a brass statue of a woman made of brass holding a lamp. This statue is about 120 cm in height and was donated to the temple by the maratha king Pratap Singh Bhosale in the eighteenth century.
There is a small shrine for Shri Balakrishna. He gave darshan to Sage Kashyap in this form in this place.
There is a shrine for Shri Vinayaka at the entrance known as PadiThurai Vinayaka.
Besides this we have shrines for Shri Muruga, Shri Aghor Veerabhadra, Shri Airawateshwarar, Shri Atmalingeshwarar are in the Parikrama.
On the eastern and western entrances, we come across the idols of Pattinathar and Bhadragiriyar. In the temple complex we come across a Shaiva Siddhanta library which contains manuscripts in Palm leaves. There are about 32 sacred teerthas associated with the temple of which 5 are in the temple and 27 outside the temple.
Special features:
According to traditional rules, at cardinal points in the space we have shrines of Shri Vinayak at Thiruvalanchuri, shrine of Shri Murugan at Swami Malai, shrine of Shri Chandikeshwarar at Shayalayur, shrine of Shri Suryanar Kovil, shrine of Shri Nataraja at Chindamabaram, shrine of Shri Bhairava at Sirgazhi (Sirkazhi), shrine of Nandi at Thiruvidaimarudur and the shrine of Mahalingeshwarar at the center in this place. This represents the structure of a Shiva temple according to the traditional rules.
The shrine of Shri Mukambika Devi is a special feature as there are only two separate shrines for Shri Mukambika Devi in India. In this shrine she is seated in Padmasana and is facing the north. This temple is to the south of Devi’s shrine. The sanctum is similar to those in the North India just like in Maharashtra. In the sanctum a Sri Chakra (Mahameru) has been installed. Shri Mukambika Devi is also addressed as Shri PidariParameshwariAmman. The tower of the shrine resembles the Manikarnika teertha in Kashi. She is doing penance to get rid of the Brahmahatya dosha she incurred by killing an asura.
It is believed that Shri Vinayaka in Shri Ananda Vinayaka shrine worships Shri Shiva according to the rules of Panchayatan Puja with the help of puja materials supplied to him by the devaganas. It is believed that (according to Puran) he rules the world from here, hence he is known as Shri Ananda Vinayaka.
There are lots of stone inscriptions which give details about the donations and repair works done by various kings and other details about the temple.
There are Shri Vinayaka temples at the junction of four main streets through which the chariot procession takes place.
Ashwamedha pradakshina: When we do pradakshina around the temple in the first parikrama it is known as Ashwamedha prarikrama. For this parikrama we have to first worship Shri Murugan. People do 7, 12, 24 or 108 pradakshinas. Those who light lamp in the month of Karthigai and do pradakshina in the month of Thai also yield benefit of Ashwamedha yadnya.
When we do pradakshina in the second parikrama it gives the benefit of doing Girivalam around Mount Kailash.
As this place lies between Shri Sailam (Shri Mallikarjuna) and Thirupadaimaruthur in Thirunalveli (known as Pudararjunam), this place got the name Thiruadaimaruthur means Madhyararjunam. Arjunam means Marutha tree. These are three places where kshetra vruksha is Marutha Tree i.e. Arjuna tree.
As Bhagwan Mahavishnu worshiped Bhagwan Shiva at this place, first puja is done for Bhagwan Shiva then only to Bhagwan Vishnu.
Bhagwan Shiva gave darshan to Sage Markandeya at this place as Shri Ardhanarishwarar.
All the four Shaiva saints namely - Shri Appar, Shri Sundar, Shri Sambandhar and Shri Manikvacharar have sung sacred hymns.
There is a jiva samadhi of Shri Sridhara Ayyarval, a great sanskrit scholar. He merged with the shiva linga in the form of a jyoti in the seventeenth century.
Those who worshiped at this place: Shri Shanishwar, Shri Chandra, Sages Kashyap, Pattinathar, Bhadragiriyar, Arunagirinathar, Karuvur Devar, King Varaguna Pandiya, Shri Umadevi, Shri Vinayaka, Shri Muruga, Shri Vishnu, Shri Brahma, Shri Rudra, Shri Lakshmi Devi, Shri Saraswati Devi, Shri Kali Devi, Sages Vashishtha, Agastya, Romesha, Kapilaa, Markandeya and Siddha (Sridhar Ayyarwal), fifty ninth Sage of Kanchi Math HH Sri Bodhendra Saraswathi, Sukirti and Veerasena.
Prayers:
People pray here for removal of marriage obstacles, removal of sorrow, unhappiness and also for child boon and also for safe delivery. People pray here for relief for mental depression and psychic disorders. This is a parihara sthala for Brahmahatya dosha. And for the nakshatra Anusham (Anuradha in Marathi) (nakshtra before Jyeshtha nakshatra)
Thai (Jan-Feb): 10 days festival of Thaipusam
Vaikasi (May-June): Divine marriage festival
Aadi (July-Aug): Adi Puram
Aippasi (Oct-Nov): Skanda shashthi, Deepavali
Margazhi (Dec-Jan): Thiruvathirai (Arudra Darshan)
Karthigai (Nov-Dec): Karthigai Deepam, abhishek with 1008 conches during Karthigai Somwar
Maasi (Feb-March): Shivaratri
Thai (Jan-Feb): Pongal
Tamil and English new year.
Special pujas and Abhishekas are performed.
Pujas:
Daily pujas are performed six times in a day.
Weekly: Special worship on Somawar and Sukrawar
Fortnightly pujas: Pradosha Puja
Monthly puja: New Moon Full Moon, Chaturthi
Phone: 91-4352460660/1946, 91-9790525781
Courtesy: Various websites and blogs
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