Swamithoppu Vaigundar Ayya 10 Kms from Nagerkoil Nagerkoil Maruthuva Malai Sadguru Nayanar Swami At the foothills of Maruthuvamalai. Pothayadi is the place. Namakkal Reddiapatti Kanthagiri Thuravi Veri Govindasamy Murugan Temple on top of hill. 3 Kms Enroute Namakkal-Thurayur Namakkal Thattagiri Swyam Prakasa Swamigal. Avudaiyar kovil, Athmanathar temple is a Sivan temple and is located in Avudaiyar kovil, Pudukkottai district, Tamil Nadu state, India.

Sivagurunathar temple at Sivapuram is one temples I had been wanting to visit for a long time. Finally, I made my first visit to Sivapuram during my latest trip in February/March 2014. The Lord is a Swayanbhu or self manifested here. The Lord is also known as Sivagurunathaswamy, Sivapureeswarar, Brahmapureeswarar and Sivapuranathar. His consort here is Singaravalli. She is also known as Aryambal or Periyanayaki. Shenbagam is the sthal vruksham and Chandra Pushkarni opposite to the temple is the theertham.

Sivagurunathar temple at Sivapuram

Sivagurunathar temple at Sivapuram

Specialty of Sivagurunathar temple at Sivapuram in Tamil

This ancient temple is said to be around 200 years old and was built by the Cholas. The five tiered Gopuram is facing East. As you enter the temple there is a Shrine for Kalabhairavar facing North and to your right. Suryan and Chandran have also worshipped at this temple. One can see the koshta murthys of Narthana Vinayakar, Lingothbhavar, Brahma, Lingothbavar and Durga. The shrine for Goddess Singaravalli is facing south. There are also the idols of the four Saivite saints or Nalvar, signifying that the temple is a Padal Petra Sthalam and that all four of them have sung in praise of the Lord here.

Legend has it that Ravana once went to Kailash and sought Lord Shiva’s audience. He was however stopped by Nandi as Ravana was neither mentally nor physically pure. Kubera who had also come there seeking the Lord’s audience supported Ravana and thus incurred the wrath of Nandi. Nandi cursed Kubera to be born as a greedy King. He was born as King Thanapathy who was extremely greedy for wealth. King Thanapathy who ruled from his capital situated near Sivapuram once came to this village to worship Lord Shiva. He chanced upon a copper plate which stated that by sacrificing a male child without any scar on the body had to be sacrificed on Mahashivaratri which falls on a Pradosham day, one can get a lot of wealth. It also said that the parents of the child should be holding the child at the feet and the head while the body should be cut and abishegam to be performed to the Shivalingam withe the blood.

Painting depicting the Temple Legend. Sivagurunathar temple at Sivapuram in Tamil

King Thanapathy was greedy and would do anything to get wealthier. He identified a poor Brahmin couple’s child that matched the requirement. On the Mahashivaratri day falling on Pradosham the child was cut while the helpless parents held on to the feet and head of their child. The child prayed to Goddess Singaravalli, who requested Lord Shiva to stop the macabre act. Lord Shiva then told that this was being done only to absolve Kubera of the curse. The child was Agni Deva and Indra and his wife Indrani were the parents of the child. It is said that blood stain is still present on the Shiva Lingam here. It is said that the child is present as the parrot in the hand of Durga.

Another legend associated with this temples is connected to the Varaha Avataram. Again Nandi was the once who cursed, this time Vishnu was at the receiving end of the curse. Lord Vishnu had once come to the temple here to pray to Lord Shiva. Nandi came in the way and Lord Vishnu asked him to move aside which angered Nandi who cursed Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu took a dip in the Varaha tank (I understand that this is adjacent to the Mahavishnu temple at Malayppanallur which is enroute Kumbakonam) and prayed to Lord Sivagurunathar here to be absolved of the curse. Lord Shiva asked Lord Vishnu to worship Him in a place where the Lord was present along with Rahu and Guru. Accordingly, Lord Vishnu worshipped Lord Dakshinamurthy present in the southern corridor of the temple along with Rahu, and was absolved of the curse. The serpant that is usually seen on Lord’s neck is seen near the feet of Dakshinamurthy. This rare combination of Rahu and Guru is probably unique to this temple.

Painting depicting the Temple Legend. Sivagurunathar temple at Sivapuram in Tamil

Varaha performing puja to Shiva. Sivagurunathar temple at Sivapuram in Tamil

Rahu and Guru together. Sivagurunathar temple at Sivapuram in Tamil

The Kala Bhairavar here that I mentioned earlier is facing east and His mount, the dog is to His left and seems to be sniffing at the skull in Bhairavar’s left hand. It is believed that all the prayers of the devotees are carried by the dog to Lord Bhairavar. There is no seperate shrine for the Navagrahas and this is an indication of the age of the temple.

Kala Bhairqavar. Sivagurunathar temple at Sivapuram

The twelve Zodiac signs on the ceiling. Sivagurunathar temple at Sivapuram

It is believed that this village is very holy and there are Shivalingams under the ground here. The Saivite saints of Lore were aware of this and did not place their feet on the ground here, as that would be great disrespect to the Lord. They therefore did angapradakshinam (rolling over) to reach the temple.

The childless are blessed with progeny by doing abishegam to the Goddess and observing fast for eleven consecutive fridays. The other worship benefit includes removal of all doshas including the navagraha doshas and good health of children.