01Sand into rice
Aappu is a wedge or peg. The temple’s katha says the Pandya king Sozhanthakan, out hunting, first found the swayambhu linga here, and the name comes from a peg that became the linga. In a famine a priest set river sand to boil and the Lord turned it into rice, so he is Annavinodhar, the Lord who sports with food. The shrine is of the Somaskanda type, with Murugan between the shrines of his parents. On Panguni Uttiram, Meenakshi and Sundareswarar come across the river from the great temple and return on the Rishabha vahana.
Visiting
In Sellur, Madurai; cross the Vaigai from Simmakkal, or take a town bus from Periyar bus stand to the Tiruvappudaiyar Koil stop. Masi Brahmotsavam and Navaratri are kept.
