Sri Jambukeshwarar Temple At Thiruvanaikoil

This Shiva temple is located at Thiruvanaikoil (Jambukeshwarar) in Trichy district of Tamil Nadu. This is one of the Panchabhoota sthala representing the element water. As one of the Aathar sthalams it represents Svadhisthana chakra. It is a Padal Petra Sthalam i.e. one of the 275 Shiva temples revered by Nayanmars i.e. Shaiva saints. 

Moolavar (Main Deity): Jambukeshwarar

Utsava moorti: Chandrashekharar, Somaskandha

Name of consort: Parvati (Akhilandeshwari)

Sthala-vruksha (Sacred tree): Safed (white) jambhool fruit

The temple is about 1700 years old and the Shivalinga is the swayanbhu linga. Other deities in the temple are Maha-Saraswati (without Veena) behind Lord Shiva’s sanctum, Chandra with wives Kritika and Rohini, Panchamukha Vinayak, Lord Shani with his wife Jyeshtha devi.

On the bank of Jamboo-teertha, there is a Kuber linga (worshiped by Lord Kubera). Abhishek is performed on a full moon day of June-July with the fruits, plantain, mango and jackfruit on the Kuber linga. It is stated in Sthala puran that Goddess Ambika performed penance in the Tamil month of Aadi (July-August) at this place. Mother Parvati graces this place as Maha Lakshmi in the morning, as Parvati in the afternoon and as Saraswati in the evening. The sanctum of Jambookeshwarar lingam has an underground water stream. In spite of pumping the water under the lingam, it gets filled again and again. 

Kshetra Puran:

A number of legends are associated with this place in kshetra puran. 

When Lord Shiva was in deep meditation at Kailas, Parvati thought why he should seat in meditation when I am by his side. She teased him on this account. Due to this, Lord Shiva got angry and cursed her to go to Bhulok as an atonement. She asked for forgiveness and he stated that he will give her dnyanopadesh in the Bhulok and will pardon her. Parvati reached bank of Kaveri and discovered a Shiva Linga in the waters. The place where she performed penance and installed the Appu Linga (Shiva Linga in water) is Thiruvanaikaval. Lord Shiva became her Guru and gave dnyanopadesh at this place which indicates that the Guru is necessary for obtaining dnyanopadesh. There was no need for Parvati to have a Guru as she was Adi Parashakti herself but to teach the world a necessity of Guru for dnyanopadesh she must have enacted this drama. In this temple we come across the scene where Parvati worshipped Lord Shiva and this is enacted by the Shivacharya (Shaiva priest) in this temple.  The water spring under the Shiva Linga is known as Hema Teertha (Pataal Ganga). The water from Hema Teertha is used for the Abhishek of Jambukeshwarar linga. It is believed that the water from this spring was used by Parvati for worshipping Shiva Linga. At this place Parvati is depicted as an unmarried girl performing penance and as a student waiting to get upadesh from the Guru.

There were 2 quarrelsome Shiva ganas namely Malyavan and Pushpadanta. During one of their fights Malyavan cursed Pushpadanta to become an elephant and in turn Pushpadanta cursed Malyavan to be a spider on the earth. The elephant and the spider came to Jambookeshwarar and continued the worship of Lord Shiva. The elephant collected water from Kaveri and did Abhishek. The spider spun a web over the Shivalinga to prevent the dry leaves falling on the lingam from the Jamboo tree. The elephant thinking the web to be the dust over the lingam, cleaned the lingam daily by pouring water. And in turn the spider spun the web everyday. Once getting angry the spider crawled into the trunk of the elephant and bit the elephant to death. In this process it also got killed. Lord Shiva, moved by their devotion, relieved them of the curse and gave moksha. As the elephant worshiped at this place, the place is known as Thiruaanaikaa (thiru means holy, aanai is elephant, kaa (kaadu) means forest). Later the name 'Thiruaanaikaa' become 'Thiruvanaikaval' and 'Thiruvanaikoil'. In the next birth, the spider was born as a King and built the Shiva sanctum so small that no elephant can enter the temple. The entrance is about 2.5 ft wide and 4 ft high. 

Goddess Parvati is known as Akhilandeshwari at this temple. The idols of Shiva and Akhilandeshwari are opposite to each other. These type of temples are known as Upasana sthalams. There is no Thirukalyanam (divine marriage) conducted at this place as Parvati is a student and Lord Shiva is Guru. 

Aadi-Shankara installed Prasanna (pleasant) Ganapati opposite to Akhilandeshwari and installed a pair of Srichakra (as ear rings) to reduce the anger of Parvati. The shrines of Parvati and Prasanna Ganapati are in the shape of Pranav Mantra “OM”. The image of Ekapada Trimurti (Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma) is similar to the one at Thyagaraja temple at Thiruvottiyur near Chennai.