92. SRI ABHI MUKTHEESWARAR TEMPLE AT THIRU PERUVELUR (MANAKKAL AYYAMPETTAI)

Devara Paadal Petra Sthalam	209th Shiva Sthalams(One of the Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam)
Region	Chola Naadu - South
Chola Naadu - South	92nd Shiva Sthalam
Pathigam	Saint Thirugnanasambanthar, Saint Thirunavukarasar (Appar)

HISTORY:

Lord Murugan came to this place, created a pond and worshiped Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva blessed him with a “Vel” (a weapon). Hence this place gets the name “Velur” and the theertham is known as “Saravana Poikai” (“Saravana” refers to Lord Murugan).

It is believed that this temple is built on top of a small piece of Mount Kailash that had fallen down during a fight between Aadhisheshan and Vayu. The historical names of this place are Katturainpettai and Kattur Iyampettai. Now it is known as Manakkal Iyampettai.

Lord Mahavishnu:

Lord Mahavishnu prayed to Lord Shiva here so that he could shed his “Mohini” form and come back to his original form. There is a separate shrine for Lord Mahavishnu with Goddesses Sreedevi and Poodevi in this temple. In this shrine, Lord Mahavishnu is seen in a sitting posture.

People who worshipped here:

Lord Murugan, River Ganges, Sages Gowtama and Birungi and Saints Thirugnanasambanthar and Thirunavukkarasar have worshiped Lord Shiva here.

SALIENT FEATURE

·        This temple is counted as one of the Maadak Koils built by Chola King Kochenganan.

·        This east facing temple with main tower (Rajagopuram) has 3-tiers.

·        It is believed that this is the place where “Lalitha Thirisathai” originated.

·        Goddess Parvathy’s shrine is in the ground floor facing the east. Goddess Parvathy here is in a sitting posture (“Veerasanam”) with four hands (“Abhayavaradham”). There are only three places where Goddess Parvathy can be seen in sitting posture, the other two being Kanchepuram and Thirumeichur.

·        As per Sthala Puranam, once there was a mute boy who was brought by his parents to the shrine of Sri Saraswatheeswarar. They prayed to the lord and it is believed that Lord Shiva blessed the child with the gift of speech.

·        A beautiful banyan tree carved out of granite can be seen behind Lord Dakshinamurthy’s idol.

·        The idol of Vinayakar is made of white stone.

·        In this temple, there are three Bairavar, two Durgai and two Chandikeswarar.

·        Another uniqueness of this temple is that the idols of Saints Nammazhvaar, Thirumangai Aazvar and Ramanujar are placed in a row in the main hall.

·        The front hall (Mandapam) of this temple is designed to look like the forehead of a bat (“Vovval Nethi Mandapam”). This looks incredibly beautiful. Lord Natarajar’s shrine (“Saba”) is present in this hall. 

·        It is believed that Chola King Kochenganan built about 70 “Madakkoils”. The distinguishing feature of a Madakkoil is that it is not easily approachable by an elephant. He built these temples at an elevation and there are a few steps that need to be climbed before seeing the lord. Also, the sanctum sanctorum’s (Karpagragam) entrance is narrow such that no elephant can enter it. In this temple, there are 18 steps to reach the sanctum. 

·        It is believed that the “Trinity of Carnatic music”, also known as the “three Jewels of Carnatic music” (“Sangeetha Mummoorthigal”) - Syama Sastri, Tyagarajar and Muthuswami Dikshitar have worshiped the lord here.

TEMPLE INFORMATION:

Moolavar	Sri Abhi Muktheswarar, Sri Piriyaa Nathar, Sri Seshapureeswarar
Ambal	Sri Abinambigai, Sri Niraikonda Nayaki, Sri Elavar Kuzhali, Sri Minnanaiyalammai
Theertham	Saravana Poikai, Agni Theertham
Sthala Vriksham	Vanni tree

BELIEF:

This is a “parihara sthalam” for planet Sukran. Devotees with debt burden worship the lord here for relief.

Devotees believe that by worshiping the lord here, obstacles from their marriage proposals will be removed.

In this temple, Chandikeswarar is known as Yoga Chandikeswarar. He is seen along with his wife which is quite rare. It is also believed that couples who are facing problems in their relationship can worship this Chandikeswarar for relief.

Those having speech impairment (e.g. stammering) can pray to Lord Saraswatheeswar to seek relief.

TEMPLE FESTIVAL:

Tamil Month	English Month	Festival Name
Aadi	July-Aug	Aadi Pooram
Avani	Aug-Sept	Vinayakar Chaturthi
Purattasi	Sep-Oct	Navarathri
Aippasi	Oct–Nov	Skanda Shashti and Annabishekam
Karthikai	Nov-Dec	Thiru Karthikai
Markazhi	Dec-Jan	Thiruvadhirai
Thai	Jan-Feb	Makara Sankranthi
Maasi	Feb-Mar	Maha Shivrathri

HOW TO REACH:

Peruvelur (Manakkal Ayyampettai) is situated at a distance of about 8 kms from Thiruvarur on the Kumbakonam-Kudavasal-Thiruvarur route. From Kudavasal, this place is about 12 kms. From Manakkal, this place is about one kilometer away.

TEMPLE ADDRESS:

Sri Abhi Muktheeswarar Temple,
Peruvelur (Manakkal Ayyampettai),
Kudavasal,
Thiruvarur,
Tamil Nadu- 610 104.

LOCATION: