हिंदीOn this day
Standing

Sakshinathar Temple, Avalivanallur

She is not she, she is the one: where Shiva stood witness for a wife her own husband did not know. Sambandar and Sundarar sang it.

Built: Old temple of the Pancha Aranya circuitWhere: Tamil Nadu (Tiruvarur district)Deity: Bhagwan Shiva as Sakshinathar; Devi as Soundaranayaki10.83° N, 79.33° E
Photo: பா.ஜம்புலிங்கம் · CC BY-SA 4.0

01The Lord as witness

A priest of this temple went to Kashi soon after his wedding and was gone for years. His wife fell ill with a disease that scarred her face, and her younger sister came to nurse her. When he came home he took the beautiful sister for his wife. The wife prayed, and the Lord and the Devi appeared on Nandi and told him the truth: aval ival, not that one, this one is she, which is how the village is named. So the Lord is Sakshinathar, the witness, and behind the linga a panel shows Him and the Devi on the bull as they appeared; the priest and the two sisters stand in the prakaram. The temple stood in a forest of padiri, trumpet-flower trees, and is the second shrine of the Pancha Aranya circuit.

Visiting

About 21 km south-west of Kumbakonam and 3.5 km west of Haridwaramangalam; town buses from Kumbakonam to Ammapettai pass here. On the Pancha Aranya day, come between 9.30 and 10 a.m.

Nearby

Pathaleeswarar Temple, Aradaipperumpazhi (Haridwaramangalam)Standing
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Pathaleeswarar Temple, Aradaipperumpazhi (Haridwaramangalam)

Where Bhagwan Vishnu as Varaha bored into the earth looking for Shiva’s feet; one of the five Pancha Aranya shrines. Sambandar sang it.

Venni Karumbeswarar Temple, Tiruvenniyur (Koil Venni)Standing
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Venni Karumbeswarar Temple, Tiruvenniyur (Koil Venni)

A linga shaped like a bundle of sugarcane stems, by the field where Karikala Chola won the battle of Venni. Appar and Sambandar sang it.

Mullaivananathar (Garbharakshambigai) Temple, TirukkarukavurStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Mullaivananathar (Garbharakshambigai) Temple, Tirukkarukavur

The Devi who protects the child in the womb. Women come to Garbharakshambigai from all over the world to pray for children and safe birth. Appar and Sambandar sang the shrine.

Apatsahayeswarar Temple, Alangudi (Guru)Standing
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Apatsahayeswarar Temple, Alangudi (Guru)

The Guru sthala of the Navagraha circuit. The village is named for the halahala poison that Shiva drank at the churning of the ocean, and Dakshinamurti here is worshipped as Guru.