Tiruvidaiyaru

Shiva as Marundeeswarar

Consort ஞானாம்பிகை, சிற்றிடைநாயகி

lingam

Shaiva temple

250px|thumb|left|The central shrine as viewed from the first precinct As per Hindu legend, sage Sukhabrahmma was overhearing the Sivarahasya, the secret that Shiva was telling his wife Parvathi in Kailasa. Shiva cursed the sage for the offence. The sage prayed to Shiva to propitiate his sins - Shiva was pleased by the devotion and gave him a boon that he would be born as sage Vyasa in his next birth. It is believed that sage Vyasa resided in this place and worshipped Shiva to relieve off his curse. As per another legend, sage Agastya installed and worshipped a Linga, which is called Agastya Linga. Another legend indicates that Somaskanda depiction is usually indicated with child Skanda (Muruga) depicted between Shiva and Parvathi. This temple has Bala Vinayaga in place of Skanda in the Somaskanda image. The original complex is believed to have been built by Cholas, while the present masonry structure was built during the 16th century. There are inscriptions from later Chola emperors like Rajaraja Chola I (985–1014), Kulothunga Chola I (1070–1120) and Rajendra Chola III (1246–1279). There are inscriptions from Pandya kings like Maravarman Sundara Pandyan (1216–1238), Maarvarman Vikrama Pandiyan and Maravarman Veerpandiyan. The contributions of the kings of the Vijayanagara Empire like Achyuta Raya, Sadasiva Raya (1542–1570) and Rama Deva are also found in the inscriptions.

Architecture

Dravidian architecture

First attested

7th century

Details are compiled from Wikimedia projects and published temple sources. Send a correction if something is wrong.

• Wikipedia, Paadal Petra Sthalam
• Wikipedia, Marundeeswarar Temple, T. Edayar

More links

• HRCE Tamil Nadu
• English Wikipedia
• Google Maps
• Tamil Wikipedia