5 Famous Temples To Visit In Thiruvaiyaru

Visited on: 30^th June, 2018.

Location

Vada Kurangaduthurai is situated at a distance of about 22 kms from Kumbakonam on the Kumbakonam to Thiruvaiyaru route. It is less than a kilometre from Aduthurai Perumal Koil en route Ganapathy Agraharam. From Thiruvaiyaru, this place is about 11 kms away.

Other Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam near this place are –

Thiruppazhanam, Thiruvaiyaru, Thiru Neithanam, Perumpuliyur, Thiru Mazhapadi, Thirukkandiyur, Thiru Chotruthurai, Thiruvedhikudi, Thiruvirkudi, Thiru Nallur and Thiru Palaithurai. 

General Information

• This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 49^th Shiva Sthalam on the Northern bank of the river Cauvery in Chozha Nadu (Vadakarai).
• Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested). 
• This east facing temple has two corridors and its main tower (Rajagopuram) has 5-tiers.
• This temple has no flag post (Dwajasthambam).

History of the Temple

This ancient temple is believed to have been built about 1300 years ago.

There are some stone inscriptions here which date back to the periods of Chola Kings - Koppara Kesari Varman, Pandian Thalaikonda Koppara Kesari Varman, Raja Rajan-I, Rajendran-I, Kulothungan-III and Pandiya King Vikrama Pandiya Devan.

There are two places by the name of “Kurangaduthurai”. At these two places, Lord Shiva is believed to have been worshiped by two monkeys (“kurangu” in Tamil) from Ramayana – Sugreev and Vaali.

This place is called as “Vada Kurangaduthurai” as it is located on the northern side of the river Cauvery and Vaali is believed to have worshiped Lord Shiva here. The other Kurangaduthurai is called “Then Kurangaduthurai” since it is located on the southern side of the river Cauvery and Sukreevan is believed to have worshiped the Lord Shiva there.

This place (Vada Kurangaduthurai) is now also known as Aaduthurai Perumal Koil.

This temple is one of the 88 temples controlled by Tanjore Palace Devasthanam and it is also under the purview of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of Government of Tamil Nadu (HR&CE).

Visited on: 30^th June, 2018

Location

Thiru Kandiyur is situated at a distance of about 3 kms from Thiruvaiyaru on the Thiruvaiyaru to Tanjore route. From Tanjore, this place is about 10 kms away.

Other Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam near this place are – 

Thiruvaiyaru, Thiru Neithanam, Thiruppazhanam, Thiru Chotruthurai, Thiruvedhikudi, Thiruppunthuruthi and Thiru Alampozhil.

General Information

• This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 12^th Shiva Sthalam on the Southern bank of the river Cauveri in Chozha Nadu (Thenkarai).
• Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested).
• This is the first among the eight Veerattana sthalams.
• This is one of the Sapthasthanam temple of Thiruvaiyaru.
• This west facing temple has two corridors and its main tower (Rajagopuram) has 5-tiers.

History of the Temple

This ancient temple is located on the banks of the river Kudamurutti.

In the stone inscriptions, the lord is referred to as “Thiru Veerattanattu Mahadevar” and “Thirukkandiyur Udaiya Mahadevar”.

The historical names of this place are Aadhi Vilvaaranyam and Tri Moorthy Sthalam.

There are certain stone inscriptions in this temple which date back to the periods of Pallava king Nirupathunga Varman, Chola kings Koppara Kesari Varman, Uthama Cholan and Rajendra Cholan-I.

This temple is under the administrative control of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of Government of Tamil Nadu (HR&CE).

Atta Veeratta Sthalams

In Hindu mythology, there are eight special places where it is believed that Lord Shiva vanquished various demons and exhibited acts of bravery. These places are Veeratta Sthalams. In Tamil, this is referred to as “Atta Veerattanam” (“Atta” means eight and “Veeram” means bravery). Thirukkandiyur (this place) is the first Veeratta Sthalam where one of Lord Brahma’s five heads was plucked by Lord Shiva.

The other seven Veeratta Sthalams are –

1. Thirukkovilur where the demon Andhakasuran was vanquished;
2. Thiruvathigai where the lord is believed to have done the “Thiripura Samharam”.
3. Keezha Parasalur where Dakshan’s yagna was stopped and he was killed;
4. Thiruvirkudi where the demon Jalandharasuran was killed;
5. Thiru Vazhuvur where the elephant Gajasuran was vanquished;
6. Thiru Korukkai where Manmathan was burnt and later blessed.
7. Thirukkadaiyur where Lord Yama was kicked and punished to save Markandeya.

Visited on: 20^th October, 2018.

Location

Thiruvedhikkudi is situated at a distance of about 6 kilometres from Thiru Kandiyur (Via Veerasingampettai). Kandiyur is 3 kms away from Thiruvaiyaru on the Thiruvaiyaru to Tanjore route.

Other Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam near this place are –

Thiruvaiyaru, Thiru Neithanam, Thiruppazhanam, Thiru Kandiyur, Thiru Chotruthurai, Thiruppunthuruthi and Thiru Alampozhil.

Note: There is another Shiva temple near this place by the name of Sri Aadhi Vaithyanathaswami Temple at Veerasingampettai (3 kms east of Thiru Kandiyur).

A unique feature of this temple is that there are 276 Shiva lingams installed at one place in the corridor (prakaram). Each one represents the main deity of the 276 Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams. By visiting this temple, one can get the benefit of visiting all the sthalams.

General Information

• This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 14^th Shiva Sthalam on the Southern bank of the river Cauvery in Chozha Nadu (Thenkarai).
• Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested).
• This is one of the Saptha Sthanam temples of Thiruvaiyaru.
• This east facing temple has two corridors and its main tower (Rajagopuram) has 3-tiers.
• The last consecration ceremony (Maha Kumbabishekam) took place on 19.03.2014.

History of the Temple

There are some stone inscriptions which date back to the periods of Aditha Chola-I, Kopparakesari Varman and Korajakesari Varman. In these inscriptions, the lord of this temple is referred as “Vedhikudi Mahadevar” and “Parakesari Chathurvedhi Mangalathu Mahadevar".

This temple is under the administrative control of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of Government of Tamil Nadu (HR&CE).

Visited on: 20^th October, 2018.

Location

Thiru Chotruthurai is situated at a distance of about 6 kms from Kandiyur. Kandiyur is 3 kms away from Thiruvaiyaru on the Thiruvaiyaru to Tanjore route. This place is about 15 kms away from Tanjore.

Other Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam near this place are –

Thiruvaiyaru, Thiru Neithanam, Thiruppazhanam, Thiru Kandiyur, Thiruvedhikudi, Thiruppunthuruthi and Thiru Alampozhil. 

General Information

• This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 13^th Shiva Sthalam on the Southern bank of the river Cauvery in Chozha Nadu (Thenkarai).
• Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested).
• This is one of the Saptha Sthana temples of Thiruvaiyaru.
• This is one of the 44 Paadal petra sthalams where the “Moovar” (the three saints - Saint Thirugnanasambanthar, Saint Thirunavukarasar (Appar) and Saint Sundaramurthy (Sundarar) had rendered their Pathigams.
• This east facing temple has no main tower (Rajagopuram). In place of the Gopuram, there is a beautiful sculpture depicting Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy seated on a bull.
• There is a 3-tiered tower at the second entrance. The temple has two corridors.

History of the Temple

This ancient temple is situated on the southern bank of the river Kudamurutti.

There are some stone inscriptions which date back to the periods of many Chola kings like Adhithan-I, Paranthakan, Rajarajan, Rajakesari Varman, Konerinmai Kondan and Kulothungan. In these inscriptions, the name of the lord is mentioned as Tholaiyachelvar and Thiru Chotruthurai Nathar. 

From these inscriptions, it is known that this temple was renovated by Chola King Adhitha Chola-I.

This temple is under the administrative control of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of Government of Tamil Nadu (HR&CE).

Visited on: June 30, 2018.

Location 

Thiruppazhanam is situated at a distance of about 4 kms from Thiruvaiyaru on the Thiruvaiyaru to Kumbakonam route. From Kumbakonam it is about 30 kms away.

It is about 2 kms away from the famous Thingalur Lord Chandran temple.

Other Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam near this place are – 

Vada Kurangaduthurai, Thiruvaiyaru, Thirukkandiyur, Thiru Chotruthurai, Thiruvedhikudi, Thiruppunthuruthi, Thiru Alampozhil, Thiru Neithanam, Thiru Nallur and Thiru Palaithurai. 

General Information

• This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 50^th Shiva Sthalam on the northern bank of the river Cauvery in Chozha Nadu (Vadakarai).
• Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested).
• This is one of the Saptha Sthana temples of Thiruvaiyaru.
• This east facing temple has two corridors and its main tower (Rajagopuram) has 5-tiers.
• There is no flag post (Dwajasthambam) here.
• The last consecration ceremony (Maha Kumbabishekam) took place on 08.09.2005.

History of the Temple

The historical names of this place are Thiruppazhanam, Kathalivanam, Kausikasramam, Prayanapuri and Pazhanappathi.

“Pazhanam” means fertile land. True to its name, this place is surrounded by many such fertile fields.

There are about 28 stone inscriptions in this temple which date back to the periods of many Chola kings like Aditha Cholan-I, Paranthakan-I, Kulothungan-III, Rajarajan and Rajakesari Varman. 

It is believed that this temple was constructed by Chola kings Aditha Cholan-I and Paranthaka Cholan-I.

This temple is one of the 88 temples controlled by the Tanjore Palace Devasthanam.

This temple is also under the purview of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of Government of Tamil Nadu (HR&CE).