the Ultimate Web on Indian Gods & Temples

 by Padmani,

Abodes of Shiva

It is believed that Sage Bairava Maharishi worshiped Lord Shiva here. As per legend, there lived a trader here who was also an ardent Shiva devotee. Nagapattinam, a nearby place, was the import and export hub during that period. Once, he had gone to Nagapattinam to trade some pepper. There was a check-post on the way, and he knew that the pepper that he carried with him would be taxed there. He realised that if he paid the taxes, he would incur a heavy loss. The trader prayed to Lord Shiva asking him to transform his stocks of taxable pepper into tax-free pulses (Payaru in Tamil) till such time the inspection at the check-post was complete. The lord fulfilled his wishes. It is believed that the trader spent his profit in renovating this temple. Hence the lord here is praised as Sri Payatru Nathar and the place gets the name Payatrur.

This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 78th 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 east facing temple has a single corridor and its main tower does not have any tiers. In place of the Gopuram, there are beautiful sculptures depicting the panchamoorthy (Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvathy, Vinayakar Murugan and Ankarakan). This temple has no flag post (Dwajasthambam). The historical name of this place is Thiruppayatrur but it is now known as Thiruppayathankudi. There are some stone inscriptions in this temple which date back to the period of Chola King Rajarajan-II. One of the stone inscriptions here narrates the story of a man named Panchanathavaanan. He was suffering from some eye diseases and he prayed to the lord for a cure. He was cured of his ailments. His family then donated some land to this temple. This temple is under the administrative control of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of Government of Tamil Nadu (HR&CE). This temple’s Sthala Viruksham is the Silanthi tree. This tree’s flowers are yellow in colour and resembles a spider. There is no shrine for Goddess Durgai here but in its place, there is a shrine for Goddess Veeramaakaali. The peacock idol in front of Lord Murugan looks very beautiful. Also, the idols in the Navagraham are very beautiful. The front hall (Mandapam) of this temple is designed to look like the forehead of a bat (Vovval Nethi Mandapam). This looks very beautiful. The sanctum sanctorum is in the form of semi-circular tank (akazhi in Tamil). Those suffering from eye related diseases can take a dip in this temple’s Theertham and worship Goddess Kaviyangkanni for relief. Devotees can worship Goddess Veeramaakaali to ward off evil spirits.

Brahmotsavam is celebrated in the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May-June) on Visakam star day in a grand manner. Some of the other important festivals celebrated in this temple are – Full moon day in the Tamil month of Chithirai (Apr-May), Aadi Pooram and Fridays in the Tamil month of Aadi (July-Aug), 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), Thiru Karthikai in the Tamil month of Karthikai (Nov-Dec), Makara Sankranthi and all Fridays in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan-Feb) and Shivrathri in the Tamil month of Masi (Feb-Mar). Pradosham is also observed regularly.