Sarguna Lingeswarar, Maruthanallur, Thanjavur

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Sarguna Lingeswarar	Ambal / Thayar:	Kalyana Nayagi, Advaitha Nayagi, Sarvalankara Ambikai
Deity:	Siva	Historical name:	TirukkarukkuDI
Vriksham:	Vilvam	Teertham:	Kari Kulam, Yama Teertham
Agamam:		Age (years):
Timing:	8 to 10 & 5.30 to 7	Parikaram:
Temple group:	Paadal Petra Sthalam (Kaveri Then Karai)	–
Sung by:	Sambandar	Temple set:
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Maruthanallur	District:	Thanjavur
Maps from (click):	Current location	Kumbakonam (5 km)	Tiruvarur (36 km)
	Mayiladuthurai (39 km)	Thanjavur (41 km)

Location

This temple is located about 5km south of Kumbakonam, after Sakkottai, on the way to Valangaiman.

Sthala puranam and temple information

In the Ramayanam, prior to leaving for Lanka to rescue Sita, Rama came here. In addition, he asked Hanuman to bring a Lingam from the north, for worship. But as Hanuman was delayed, Rama made a Lingam out of sand and worshipped it. Eventually, Hanuman also brought a Lingam from the north. The Lingam established by Rama is worshipped as the moolavar, while the one brought by Hanuman is also in the temple, as Hanumanta Lingam. (There is a similar story of Hanumanta Lingam at the Ramalingaswami temple at Papanasam in Thanjavur district.) The moolavar Lingam is made of mud, small in height, and a human palm impression is visible on the surface, in consonance with the puranam.

A trader named Dhananjayan had contracted leprosy. When people asked him how this happened, he told them the truth, which was that he had inadvertently had sexual relations with his stepmother. As this was considered a grievous sin, the villagers ostracized him. With nobody else to turn to, Dhananjayan came to this temple and worshipped Siva here, and was relieved of his disease. Even a sin of such serious nature was pardoned by the all-benevolent Lord endowed with infinite gunas, and so Siva here is called Sarguna Lingeswarar. A murti of Dhananjayan is installed opposite the Amman shrine.

Accordingly to another legend, a Pandyan king called Sargunan worshipped Siva here and hence the name of the Lord is Sarguna Lingeswarar. There is an image of Sargunan and his minister worshipping Lord Siva here.

Brahma is said to have worshipped here, so the Lord here is also called Brahmapureeswarar. Vinayakar at this temple is a Valampuri Vinayakar. Dakshinamurti here is Veenadhara Dakshinamurti, and is seen with only two sages and not the usual four. Interestingly, Murugan’s vehicle – the peacock – looks downwards at the ground rather than towards Murugan.

While there are some inscription slabs at the temple, they are mostly illegible or have been misplaced, yielding little information on the temple. However, in one of the more clear inscriptions, there is reference to Kulothunga Chola III, indicating this was likely a Chola temple.

Other information for your visit

The road to the east of the temple leads to Nachiyar Koil. On that road, located about 3 km from this temple, is Enanallur, the avatara sthalam of Enathi Nayanar, one of the 63 Nayanmars.