Neelakandeswarar Temple

Overview

Rajendrapattinam is also known as Erukathampuliyur. Thiru Erukkathampuliyur is one of the 275 Thevara Shivasthalas of Lord Shiva located in Virudachalam, Kadaloor District, Tamil Nadu. This is one of the prominent Shiva temples known as Pancha Puliyur Shivasthalam. In this temple Lord Shiva worshipped in the form of a Linga. Pancha Puliyur Shivasthalams are Thiruppathiri Puliyur, Perumpattrapuliyur (Chidambaram), Thiru Perumpuliyur, Omapuliyur and Erukkathampuliyur.

About The Temple

This is among the oldest temples of Lord Shiva built during the regime of Chozha dynasty, King Rajaraja Chozha and his son Rajendra Chozha have made abundance of contributions to this temple. King Rajaraja Chozha had no offspring for quite some time. He worshipped Lord Neelakandeswarar and blessed with a son Rajendra Chozha. This is an east facing temple with a 5 tier Rajagopuram. This is the birth place of Thiruneelakanda Yaazhpaanar (one of the 63 nayanmars). He along with his wife Madangachoolamani and their descendant Valli are credited as the people who composed the tunes, sang, taught the thevaram songs and later revived them, thus performing a great deed for Tamilnadu. Rajendra Pattinam is the name of this village named after the son of Raja Raja Chola who prayed to the lord for child boon.Thevaram Hymns have been rendered by Thirugnanasambandar. The main shrine for Shiva and the shrine for the goddess have T podikai and the outer walls of the garbhagriha each have a panjara instead of a niche. The T podikai suggests a construction date belonging to the time of Rajaraja Chola, till around the time of the ascention of Kulottung I. The Panjaras are of the II b type. They do not have a base of their own, and the shala which forms the top is not part of the kapota. It is very well possible this shrine may have been build by Rajaraja or his son, Rajendra. The murtis in the panjara do not seem to belong to these panjara, or to the Chola period. They look very archaic and are much smaller than the panjaras. They may have been preserved from the earlier temple structure when this temple was rebuilt under the Cholas.

Holy water

Neelorpala Theertham, Skanda Theertham

Sacred Tree

Vellerukku (Calotropis gigantea)

About the Deity

In this temple, the Presiding deity is Neelakandeswarar/ suvedarkavaneswarar/ thirukumaresar facing east. The Goddess is Neelamalarkanni / neelorbalambal / abithagujanayagi facing south.

Other Deities

Lord Ganesha, Lord Nandikeshwara, Navagraha, Nalvar, Lord Vishwanathar and Goddess Visalakshy, Lord Subramanya with his consort Goddess Valli & Deivayanai, Goddess Lakshmi, Goshtamurtham – Lord Dakshinamurthy, Lingodbhavar, Lord Brahma, Goddess Durga.

Legend and Stories

Sage Vyagrapadha learned the glories of Lord Shiva of Chidambaram from his father. He was enthralled at the splendor of Lord and set out to Chidambaram. He arrived at Chidambaram and worshipped Lord Nataraja and Goddess Sivakami. He was captivated by the beauty of Lord and serenity of this sacred land. He settled here and worshipped Lord Nataraja with the alluring fresh flowers collected from the garden situated. He continued this practice of collecting fresh flowers in the previous day in order to avoid any flies or honey bees polluting the same. He was blessed with the forethought, sharp eyesight and the feet of tiger. Hence, he was known by the name Vyagrapadha (Vyagra + Padha – Tiger +Feet). The legend has that Lord Shiva while describing the essence of Vedas to Goddess Parvati at Mount Kailash, in a moment she failed to focus on the subject. It infuriated the Lord and cursed Goddess Parvati to born in the fishermen (Bhartha) clan. Lord Subramanya was furious at the act of his father; he angrily hurled the entire Veda and Vedanga into the sea. It annoyed Lord Shiva, in a mounted anger cursed Lord Subramanya at his supercilious manners. Due to the curse Lord Subramanya took birth as a dumb child on Earth. This child became an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and visited many sacred places of Lord. Finally, he arrived at Thiru Erukkathampuliyur consecrated a Linga and underwent severe austerities praying to Lord. Lord Shiva was pleased at the devotion of the dumb child and blessed him with speech. Thus, the presiding of this temple has got it name ‘Thiru Shiva Kumara Swamy’.

Accessibility

The nearest airport is at Chennai. The nearest railway station is Virudhachalam Junction railway station. One has to travel on the Viruddachalam - Jayamkondaan road for about 12 Kms. and look for a branch road on the left which leads to this sivasthalam. A temple for Lord Vishnu is at Sreemushnam, 7 Kms from here.

Temple Address

Arulmighu Neelakandeswarar Temple,
Rajendrapattinam,
Rajendrapattinam Post,
Virudhachalam Taluk,
Cuddalore District,
PIN - 608703.