Sivayoginathar Temple, Tiruviyalur (Tiruvisanallur)

01Eight yogis and four Bhairavas

The temple says eight Shiva yogis attained the Lord here and merged into the linga, and so he is Sivayoginathar. The present stone shrine goes back to the reign of Parantaka Chola I, and the walls carry inscriptions of Parantaka I, Rajaraja I and Rajendra II, with later Pandya, Nayaka and Maratha gifts. Its vyala friezes are admired by students of early Chola work. A five-tiered gopuram faces east; inside, Nandi stands before the flagstaff, the reverse of the usual order. The Chaturkala Bhairava shrine holds four Bhairavas, one for each yuga, and on the first three days of Chittirai the morning sun reaches the swayambhu linga. A stone sundial stands near the south wall. Sambandar’s hymn on Tiruviyalur is in the first Tirumurai.

02Ayyaval’s well

Tiruvisanallur was the home of Sridhara Ayyaval, the saint of the Nama tradition remembered with Bodhendra Saraswati. The village tells how, on a Karthigai new moon, he prayed that the Ganga come to the well of his house for the people, and the water rose and overflowed. Every year on Karthigai Amavasya thousands queue to bathe from that well. The temple also has a Lakshmi Narayana shrine, with Shri Lakshmi seated on Bhagwan Vishnu’s lap, where couples pray for marriage and children.