Visited on: Sunday, September 18, 2016
Location
Thiru Mundeecharam is situated at a distance of about 17 kms from Villupuram on the Villupuram to Thirukkovilur route.
Other Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams near this place are –
Thiruvennainallur, T.Idaiyaru, Thiruvamathur, Puravar Panangkattur, Thirunavalur, Thiruvathigai Veerattanam and Thiruthuraiyur.
General Information
- Moolavar
- Sri Shivalokanathar, Sri Mundeeswarar
- Ambal
- Sri Soundarya Nayagi, Sri Kaanaar Kuzhali,
Sri Selvanayaki - Theertham (Holy water)
- Brahma Theertham/ Mundaka Theertham
- Sthala Vriksham (Sacred Tree)
- Vanni
- Pathigam (Hymn) rendered by
- Saint Thirunavukarasar (Appar)
- This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 19th Shiva Sthalam in Nadu Naadu.
- Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested).
- This east facing temple has a single corridor and its main tower (Rajagopuram) has 5-tiers.
- The flag post (Dwajasthambam) was installed recently.
- The last consecration ceremony (Maha Kumbabishekam) took place on 10.09.2006.
History of the Temple
This temple is located on the southern bank of the Malattaru (Pennai river), now known as Malattaar. As per the stone inscriptions available in this temple, this place was once the capital of Mudiyur Nadu.
Also, these stone inscriptions reveal that this place was once called “Mouli Gramam” (“Mouli” means chieftain and “gramam” means village in Tamil). However, over a period of time, this was shortened to just Gramam.


Legend
According to legend, this is the place where Mundi, one of Lord Shiva’s securities (Dwarapalakas), worshiped him. Hence this place is called “Mundeescharam” and the lord is praised as “Sri Mundeeswarar”. Lord Shiva’s other dwarapalaka, Thindi is believed to have worshipped Lord Shiva in “Thindeeswaram” (now called Tindivanam).
Another legend associated with this place is that of a king called Chokkalingam who is believed to have visited this place in Dwapara Yuga. He is believed to have noticed a strange lotus flower in a pond. He wanted to pluck the flower but was unable to do so as it kept moving in the water. The king shot an arrow and as soon as it hit the flower, the water turned red. Upon further investigation, he found a Shivalingam inside the flower. He immediately built a temple there. The Shivalingam still has a scar on it.
It is also believed that it is in this place that Lord Shiva gave a bag (Pokkanam) of sacred ash (Vibhuthi) to a king called Veerapandiyan. Hence the lord here is also praised as “Pokkanam Kodutha Nayanar”.
It is believed that Lord Brahma and Lord Indira have worshipped Lord Shiva here.
Deities in the temple
Shrines and idols of lords Vinayagar, Murugan with his consorts, Natarajar, Somaskandar, Dakshinamurthy, lingothbavar, Brahma and Mahavishnu, Nalvar, Navagraham, Saptamadakkal, Aiyanar, Bairavar, Suryan, Pancha lingams (5 lingams), Chandiran, Thindi and Mundi, Durgai and Chandikeswarar, can be seen in the corridors.












Salient Features
The temple is of Somaskanda design as the shrine of Lord Murugan is in between those of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi.
Lord Dakshinamurthy is seated on his bull mount (Rishaba Vahanam) on a hill instead of being seated under the banyan (Kallala) tree.
There is a beautiful 25-pillared hall (Mandapam) with lots of intricately carved reliefs.
It is believed that this is one of the temples where Saint Thirunavukkarasar performed his cleaning services (Uzhavara Pani).
Greatness of this Temple
Worshiping Goddess Soundarya Nayaki here is considered to be auspicious for those seeking excellence in the fields of music and dance.
Important Festivals
Many festivals are celebrated in this temple. Some of them are –
Appar Vizha is celebrated in the Tamil month of Chithirai (April-May),
Aani Thirumanjanam in the Tamil month of Aani (June-July),
Vinayakar Chaturthi in the Tamil month of Aavani (Aug-Sept),
Navarathri in the Tamil month of Purattasi (Sept-Oct),
Skanda Shashti and Annabishekam in the Tamil month of Aippasi (Oct–Nov),
Thiruvadhirai in the Tamil month of Markazhi (Dec-Jan),
Makara Sankranthi in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan-Feb),
Mahashivrathri in the Tamil month of Masi (Feb-Mar) and
Panguni Uthiram in the Tamil month of Panguni (Mar-Apr).
Pradosham is also observed regularly.
Temple Timings
From 06:00 AM to 10:00 AM and from 06:00 PM to 08:00 PM.
Temple Address
Sri Sivalokanathar Temple,
Gramam (Thirumundeecharam),
Thiruvennainallur Taluk,
Villupuram District,
Tamil Nadu - 607 203
Temple priest Sri Kannan Gurukkal can be contacted at +91 4146 206 700.



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