Neelakandeswarar Temple, Tirumannippadikkarai (Iluppaipattu)

01Five lingas of the Pandavas

The temple holds that the Pandavas sheltered here in their exile and each worshipped his own linga: Yudhishthira Neelakandeswarar, Arjuna Padikkarai Nathar, Bhima Magadeesar, Nakula Parameswarar and Sahadeva Muktheeswarar. When Duryodhana poisoned the tank, the Devi neutralised it with the amrita in her hands, and Shiva drank the poison, his throat turning blue; so he is Neelakanta here and she Amirthakaravalli, she who holds nectar. The two chief lingas, of Yudhishthira and Arjuna, share the raised sanctum with their Devis; Bhima’s is a shodasha linga. The name comes from the bank of the Manni river, while locals use Iluppaipattu, after the illuppai tree that is the sthala vriksham. Sundarar’s padigam is in the seventh Tirumurai, and Arunagirinathar sang its Murugan.