हिंदीOn this day
Standing

Manikandeswarar Temple, Tirumalperu (Thirumalpur)

Tirumal is Vishnu and peru is what he gained: here, says the temple’s katha, Bhagwan Vishnu worshipped Shiva with a thousand lotuses and offered his own eye, and received the Sudarshana chakra. Appar and Sambandar sang it.

Built: Chola stone temple; central shrine and mandapa of the time of Parthivendravarman (Aditya II), gifts of Rajaraja IWhere: Tamil Nadu (near Kanchipuram)Deity: Bhagwan Shiva as Manikandeswarar; Devi as Anjanakshi (Karunai Nayaki)12.96° N, 79.67° E
  1. 988 CE
Photo: Ssriram mt · CC BY-SA 4.0

01The thousandth lotus

The Shiva Purana tells how Vishnu worshipped Shiva each day with a thousand lotuses, and one day found a flower missing; rather than leave the puja incomplete he offered his own lotus-like eye, and Shiva gave him the Sudarshana chakra. The temple holds that it happened here, and the place was also called Harichakrapuram. Nandi here stands rather than sits. Appar left four padigams on Tirumalperu and Sambandar two. Maasi Magam, Adipooram and Aani Tirumanjanam are kept, with Navaratri for the Devi and a Garuda seva for Vishnu.

02Chola gifts

The Cholas from Aditya I to Rajaraja I endowed the temple. An inscription of Parthivendravarman in the central shrine records that the sanctum and the mandapa around it were built in granite, and an inscription of 988 CE records that Rajaraja I himself gave a golden flower to the Lord. The place is older still: Palaeolithic tools and megalithic pottery have been found around it, and it is named in the Kasakudi plates of the Pallava Nandivarman II.

The life of this place

  1. 988 CERajaraja Chola I gives a golden flower to Manikandeswarar.
Visiting

On the Ocheri–Tirumalpur road, about 15 km north of Kanchipuram; Tirumalpur has a railway station on the Arakkonam–Kanchipuram line. Open 6 a.m.–1 p.m. and 4–8:30 p.m.

Nearby

Jalanatheeswarar Temple, Takkolam (Tiruvural)Standing
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Jalanatheeswarar Temple, Takkolam (Tiruvural)

Tiruvural, the shrine of the spring, sung by Sambandar. Near it in 949 CE the Chola crown prince Rajaditya fell on his elephant fighting the Rashtrakuta Krishna III.

Vijayaraghava Perumal Temple, ThiruputkuzhiStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Vijayaraghava Perumal Temple, Thiruputkuzhi

Here Shri Rama performed the last rites of Jatayu, the vulture king who fell fighting Ravana. Pul is a bird, kuzhi a pit: the name of the village is the grave of Jatayu.

Onakantheeswarar Temple, Onakanthanthali, KanchipuramStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Onakantheeswarar Temple, Onakanthanthali, Kanchipuram

Here Sundarar sang to Shiva for gold, and the tamarinds of the tree are said to have turned to gold. Two asura captains, Onan and Kanthan, gave the shrine its name.

Ekambareswarar Temple, KanchipuramStanding
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Ekambareswarar Temple, Kanchipuram

The earth (Prithvi) sthala of the Pancha Bhuta lingas, where Mata Parvati shaped a linga of sand under a mango tree. Its 11-tier rajagopuram is one of the tallest in the south.