01Mohini
The Bhagavata Purana tells how the devas and asuras churned the Milk Ocean together, and how, when the pot of amrita rose, the asuras seized it. Vishnu came among them as Mohini, so lovely that they let her share it out, and she gave it all to the devas. Thirumohur holds that this happened here, and the Thayar is Mohanavalli. The Chakratalvar shrine shows Sudarshana with sixteen arms and Yoga Narasimha on the reverse, and prayers here are made for protection.
02Pandya builders, a raid of 1755
An inscription on the south wall names the builder as Kalamegan alias Kangeyan, in the reign of the later Pandya Jatavarman Sundara Pandya; the Madurai Nayakas added the halls and the five-tiered gopuram with its great tank. In 1755, during the Carnatic wars, the Company’s commander Colonel Heron carried off the temple’s images and treasure; Kallar men of the villages around attacked his column and brought them back, and the Kallars still hold the right to pull the temple car. Nammalvar sang Thirumohur in a decad of the Thiruvaimozhi and Thirumangai Alvar once; twelve pasurams are counted.
The life of this place
- Alvar periodNammalvar and Thirumangai Alvar sing Thirumohur.
- Jatavarman Sundara PandyaAn inscription names Kalamegan alias Kangeyan as the builder of the temple.
- 1755Colonel Heron’s troops take the images; local Kallars recover them.
About 12 km north-east of Madurai, off the Melur road; combine with Alagar Kovil.
