Basic information about the temple
| Moolavar: | Magudeswarar | Ambal / Thayar: | Soundranayaki |
| Deity: | Siva | Historical name: | TiruppaaNdi Kodumudi |
| Vriksham: | Vanni | Teertham: | Deva Teertham, Brahma Teertham, Kaveri |
| Agamam: | Age (years): | ||
| Timing: | 5 to 1 & 4 to 9 | Parikaram: | |
| Temple group: | Paadal Petra Sthalam (Kongu Nadu) | – | |
| Sung by: | Temple set: | ||
| Navagraham: | Nakshatram: | ||
| City / town: | Kodumudi | District: | Erode |
| Maps from (click): | Current location | Karur (31 km) | Erode (41 km) |
| Namakkal (45 km) | Tiruppur (75 km) |
Location
Kodumudi is located about 27 km from Karur, on the banks of the river Kaveri.
Sthala puranam and temple information
In an ancient type of tug-of-war, Vayu and Adiseshan contested with Mount Meru as the centre pillar. This contest was designed by Indra. Adhiseshan hugged the mount tightly, while Vayu blew with all his might, to dislodge the mount. In this struggle the top of Mount Meru broke in to five pieces (some say seven) and fell in various places as gems. They are red coral at Tiruvannamalai, ruby at Ratnagiri (Tiruvatpokki), Emerald at Eengoimalai, sapphire at Pothigaimalai and diamond at Kodumudi. This diamond became a swayambhu lingam of Siva. Since snakes are tamed / controlled using a magudi (a kind of flute), Siva at this place is known as Magudeswarar. Since Adiseshan had been responsible for creating the swayambu murti, this temple is also well known for clearing nagadosham.
Vishnu is revered here as Pallikonda Perumal/Veeranarayana Perumal, and has a separate shrine.
There is also a separate shrine for Saraswati, at this temple.
This is a Moovar Paadal Petra Sthalam, ie, all three of Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar have sung pathigams at and about this temple.
It is believed that Sage Agastyar consecrated the swayambu lingam, and so his fingers are seen on the deity even today. Also, Siva showed his kalyana kolam (wedding scene) to sages Agastyar and Bharadwaja. Bharadwaja was presented with the dance of Siva here.
Brahma is seen with three faces here under the vanni tree (the tree is the fourth face). It is estimated that the tree is over 3000 years old and the leaves of the tree are said to keep the water clean for days together. Some of the leaves have thorns and some don’t (sadly, some of the locals trade in these leaves unofficially).
Vinayaka is seen here with elephant face but the legs of a tiger, and so is named Vyaghrapada Vinayaka (vyaghra = tiger, pada = legs / feet). Needless to say, such iconography is a rarity. Devotees pour as many pots of water on him (as abhishekam) as their age in years, to get relieved of Rahu and Ketu dhoshams.
Devotees who have a dip in the Kaveri river and pray to Siva and Vishnu at this temple, are cured of all their illness. It is said that the fingers of the Pandya prince grew to the normal size (a deficiency at birth) when he bathed here. Based on this place is also called as Pandi Kodumudi, and the king, pleased with the result, built three gopurams here.
Other information for your visit
There are budget and mid-range accommodation options available in Coimbatore, and in Erode (60 km away). Alternatively, Trichy is another option for staying overnight, but it is 113 km away.
It may be difficult to visit all 7 Kongu Naadu Paadal Petra Sthalams in one day, both due to the distances involved, and temple timings. However, with one stop overnight, it is possible to visit all temples between the 2nd half of day 1 and first half of day 2.
When we traveled to these temples from Chennai, we visited Tiruchengode and Bhavani on the first evening, stayed overnight at Erode, and visited Avinashi, Tirumuruganpoondi, Kodumudi and Karur the following morning. We could not visit Venjamakoodalur, as it was closed (after 12 noon) and we had to head to Trichy thereafter.
Contact
Gallery
TN Temples Project 