हिंदीOn this day
Standing

Theerthapureeswarar Temple, Tirunelvayil Arathurai (Tiruvattathurai)

Where Shiva gave the child Sambandar a palanquin, a parasol and trumpets of pearl, so that his small feet need not walk the long roads. All three Tevaram saints sang it.

Built: Temple with a five-tiered gopuram on the Thozhudur–Vriddhachalam roadWhere: Tamil Nadu (Cuddalore district, on the Vellar)Deity: Bhagwan Shiva as Theerthapureeswarar (Arathurainathar, Anandeeswarar); Devi as Ananda Nayaki (Arathurai Nayaki)11.38° N, 79.19° E
Photo: பா.ஜம்புலிங்கம் · CC0

01The pearl palanquin

The Periya Puranam tells how the boy Sambandar walked from shrine to shrine, and at Arathurai the Lord appeared to the temple’s priests in a dream and had a pearl palanquin, a pearl parasol and pearl trumpets made ready for him; from then he travelled in the palanquin with the trumpets sounding before him. Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar each sang one padigam here. Nambiyandar Nambi and Sekkizhar, who gathered and told the saints’ lives, are also remembered as having worshipped here. Mahashivaratri, Margazhi Tiruvadirai and Panguni Uttiram are kept.

Visiting

About 20 km from Thozhudur on the Thozhudur–Vriddhachalam bus route.

Nearby

Sudarkozhundeeswarar (Pralayakaleswarar) Temple, Pennagadam (Pennadam)Standing
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Sudarkozhundeeswarar (Pralayakaleswarar) Temple, Pennagadam (Pennadam)

The Thoongaanai Maadam, the shrine shaped like a sleeping elephant. Here Appar prayed for and received the marks of the trident and the bull on his shoulders. Appar and Sambandar sang it.

Neelakandeswarar (Thirukumaresar) Temple, Erukkathampuliyur (Rajendrapattinam)Standing
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Neelakandeswarar (Thirukumaresar) Temple, Erukkathampuliyur (Rajendrapattinam)

Birthplace of Tiruneelakanta Yazhpanar, the musician who played the yazh beside Sambandar as he sang. Sambandar sang this shrine of the white erukku forest.

Vriddhagireeswarar (Pazhamalainathar) Temple, VriddhachalamStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Vriddhagireeswarar (Pazhamalainathar) Temple, Vriddhachalam

Tirumudukundram, the ancient hill: a Chola temple on the Manimuktha river where Sundarar received gold he later took out of the tank at Tiruvarur. All three Tevaram singers sang it.

Bhuvaraha Swamy Temple, SrimushnamStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Bhuvaraha Swamy Temple, Srimushnam

One of the eight Swayam Vyakta kshetras of Vishnu, where Bhagwan as the Varaha who lifted the Earth from the ocean is held to have appeared of himself.