Thiruvapudaiyar Kovil
As soon as we say Madurai, we visit only the temples that come to mind, Meenakshi Amman Temple and Alaghar Temple, but there are many temples with many ancient glories in this Madurai city. In this way, I am writing here about Appudaiyar Temple, which is the oldest temple in this area.
Here are some key points about the history and special features of the Thuiruvapudaiyar kovil:
Temple Structure:
The temple does not have a rajagopuram; instead, it has a front gate. In the front gate are Lord Shiva, Rishabharudra, Parvati, Muruga, and Vinayagar. Upon entering, we see the flagpole and the altar.The mandapam in front of the Lord's shrine is beautifully carved, and the Lord's shrine is facing east. If you visit the temple, you can have darshan of Lord Vinayagar, KashiVishwanath Temple, Pancha Lingam, and Chola period Sandikeswarar. And before Muruga shrine, there is the Thalaviruchamvanni tree; next to the Vanni tree is Mother Shrine. This structure is called the Someskandhar structure because there is a Muruga shrine between the ready shrine and the Lord's shrine.
Here, in a separate hall, Nandi Deva is depicted as a stone sculpture of Nataraja playing mattalam near Shivagami. These idols are beautifully carved, and the pillars here have beautiful carvings.
ThalaPurana:
A king named Chozandhakan was a Shiva devotee.He ate only after doing Shiva Puja. Once, he went hunting in the forest. He saw a deer in the forest, got mesmerized by its beauty, chased it, and went far in the forest.He fainted from exhaustion. The minister who came to look for the king was shocked to see the king lying in a coma and asked him to drink some food to clear his unconsciousness. He refused, saying that he would eat only after doing Shiva Puja. The wise minister drove a wedge into a piece of wood lying nearby and said to the king, "Manna, there is a Swayambu lingam here; you can worship it and eat it."The king, who was in a daze of hunger, believed the peg to be Shiva, worshiped it, and ate it. After eating the food, the unconscious king was shocked to learn that it was not Shiva that he was worshiping, but a wedge. He prayed to forgive his mistake and ask the Lord to show him this place, and he decided to take his own life. This is why Shiva became Appudayar.
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