हिंदीOn this day
Standing

Erumbeeswarar Temple, Tiruverumbur

The ants’ Lord on a sixty-foot rock east of Tiruchirappalli, sung by Appar, where the devas came as ants and the linga tilted to let them climb.

Built: Built in the series of Aditya Chola I (871–907 CE); inscriptions from the 10th century; ASI protectedWhere: Tamil Nadu (Tiruchirappalli)Deity: Bhagwan Shiva as Erumbeeswarar; Devi as Narunguzhal Nayaki10.79° N, 78.77° E
Photo: Hayathkhan.h · CC BY-SA 3.0

01The devas as ants

Erumbu is the ant. The temple’s katha says the devas, fleeing the asura Tarakasura, took the form of ants to worship Shiva here unseen. The linga was smooth and the ants slipped, so Shiva became an ant-hill of earth and tilted his head so they could climb. The linga is still of earth and leans a little, with marks on it that devotees see as the ants’ path; it is covered and receives no water abhishekam. Appar sang Tiruverumbur in the Tevaram.

02Aditya’s temple on the rock

The temple is one of a series raised along the Kaveri by Aditya Chola I (871–907 CE), and its walls hold Chola inscriptions from the tenth century onward. The main shrine and two prakarams sit on top of a rock about sixty feet high, reached by steps, with a hall and the tank at the foot. The Archaeological Survey of India protects it as a monument, and local people call it the Kailasa of the south. The Brahmotsavam is its main festival.

Visiting

In Tiruverumbur, about 10 km east of Tiruchirappalli on the Thanjavur road, near BHEL.

Nearby

Adimooleswarar Temple, Tiruppatrurai (Tiruppalathurai)Standing
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Adimooleswarar Temple, Tiruppatrurai (Tiruppalathurai)

The milk-ford near Tiruvanaikaval, where a Chola king found a linga in a mound that gushed milk. Sambandar sang it.

Kallanai (Grand Anicut)Standing
Shungas, Satavahanas, Kharavela and the Sangam Kingdoms

Kallanai (Grand Anicut)

The stone weir across the Kaveri below Srirangam, credited to the Chola king Karikala, that turns the river’s water into the canals of the Thanjavur delta. Among the oldest water works in the world still in use, it gave the British engineer Arthur Cotton his model.

Nithyasundareswarar Temple, TirunedungalamStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Nithyasundareswarar Temple, Tirunedungalam

A temple east of Tiruchirappalli whose sanctum carries two vimanas, for Shiva and Shakti together. Sambandar’s hymn here is sung to clear troubles away.

Rock Fort, TiruchirappalliStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Rock Fort, Tiruchirappalli

An 83-metre rock over the Kaveri at Tiruchirappalli, with Shri Ganesh on the summit, the Thayumanaswamy temple halfway up, and Pallava cave shrines cut into its flanks. In the 18th century whoever held it held the Kaveri delta.