the Ultimate Web on Indian Gods & Temples

 by Padmani,

Abodes of Shiva

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.

This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 19th Shiva Sthalam in Nadu Naadu. This east facing temple has a single corridor and its main tower (Rajagopuram) has 5-tiers. The flag post (Dwajasthambam) was installed recently. 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). Worshiping Goddess Soundarya Nayaki here is considered to be auspicious for those seeking excellence in the fields of music and dance.

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.