Kailasanathar, Murappanadu, Tirunelveli

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Kailasanathar	Ambal / Thayar:	Sivakami Amman
Deity:	Siva	Historical name:
Vriksham:		Teertham:
Agamam:		Age (years):
Timing:	to & to	Parikaram:
Temple group:		–
Sung by:		Temple set: Nava Kailasam
Navagraham:	Guru	Nakshatram:
City / town:	Murappanadu	District:	Tirunelveli
Maps from (click):	Current location	Tirunelveli (17 km)	Thoothukudi (46 km)
	Nagercoil (92 km)	Kanyakumari (95 km)

Location

Sthala puranam and temple information

A Chola king of the region had a daughter who was unfortunate to have been born with the face of a horse. The king worshipped Siva, who asked him to bathe in the waters of the Tambraparani river, at this place (today’s Murappanadu), because at this point the river flows from north to south, and for that reason it is called the Dakshina Ganga. The king did as he was told, and his daughter was restored with a human face, while at Siva’s direction, Nandi took on the horse face. The king, overcome with gratitude, built this temple. Even today, Nandi can be seen with the face of a horse, at this temple.

It is believed that in the Ramayanam, while Rama was trying to figure out a way to Lanka, he passed by this place, and that an impression of his foot is in the temple.

There is an interesting etymology to the name of the place. When Soorapadman was committing atrocities against the Devas, the latter wanted to petition Siva to help them. So they came to this place, and worshipped him with proper honours and procedure. As a result, the place came to be known as Muraippadi Easwaranai Nadi Nindra Oor (the place where Siva was worshiped appropriately), which became Murappanadu over time!

According to another puranam, a lady of this village once drove out a tiger using just a Muram (winnow used to remove chaff from grain), which gave the place its name.

Yet another story goes that this place was filled with flat stones (locally called Murambu), and hence the name.

This is the fifth of the Nava Kailasam temples, and is dedicated to Guru (Jupiter). The temple was consecrated by Sage Romaharshana and is on the banks of the river Tambraparani. Read the story of the Nava Kailasam temples, here.

It is said that Vittala Rayan of the Vijayanagara Dynasty worshipped Guru here before a battle against the Travancore family, for not having paid taxes. He also won a battle against foreign invaders, after worshipping here. From that time, this has become a rather popular place of worship.

While the origins of the temple are not specifically known, it is speculated that the temple was built by a Vallal king, and later renovated in the time of the Vijayanagara Dynasty. The temple features interesting elements of iconography – for instance, the dwarapalakas are both Vinayakars. Also, there are two Bhairavars in the temple –Kala Bhairavar who is seen with his dog, and Veera Bhairavar, seen without the dog.