Aadi Mooleswarar, Tirupattrurai, Tiruchirappalli

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Aadi Mooleswarar	Ambal / Thayar:	Mekalambika, Mohanayaki, Nithyakalyani
Deity:	Siva	Historical name:	Tiruppaatruthurai
Vriksham:	Vilvam	Teertham:	Kollidam
Agamam:		Age (years):
Timing:	7 to 12 & 4 to 7	Parikaram:
Temple group:	Paadal Petra Sthalam (Kaveri Vada Karai)	–
Sung by:	Sambandar	Temple set:
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Tirupattrurai	District:	Tiruchirappalli
Maps from (click):	Current location	Tiruchirappalli (14 km)	Thanjavur (51 km)
	Perambalur (56 km)	Ariyalur (58 km)

Location

This temple is located on the eastern side of Srirangam island.

Sthala puranam and temple information

Once, a Chola king (one legend says it was Parantaka Chola) took a break here during a hunting trip, when he saw a white bird flying away. Wanting to capture it, the king shot an arrow but it missed the bird. After identifying the bushes where the bird had made its nest, the king waited for a long time but the bird did not return. Then the king saw milk oozing from the bush, and was terrified as he could not understand what was happening, and so he returned to his palace. Later that night, Siva came in the king’s dream, and told him that it was He who was in a Swambhu murti Lingam at that place, and that the king should dig it out and install it, and this was duly done thereafter. Since the spot above the Lingam was oozing milk, the place gets the name Pattrurai (paal=milk, thurai=place by the river bank). The temple is located on the south bank of the Kollidam river, ie between the Kaveri and Kollidam.

Another legend says that once during worship of Lord Siva, Sage Markandeyar could not find the necessary water. So Siva caused a fountain of milk to appear, to help the sage complete his worship.

This is clearly a Chola temple, going by the architecture as well as the various inscriptions in the temple (including some on the walls of the parivara devata shrines and the koshtam). The ardha mandapam here is called the Deva Sabha, and Siva is said to rule the world like a king, from here.

There are also some very interesting elements of iconography here. Several of the Amman is depicted with four hands displaying Abhaya, Varada, Kamala and Neelotpala hasthas. The temple also has a separate shrine for Krishna as Venugopala, along with Rukmini and Satyabhama. Some of the kostha murthis are set in a different stone (reddish) from what we would normally see (black) in other temples, and these bas relief images – of Veenadhara Dakshinamurti (who is seen standing), Bhikshatanar, and others – are simply astounding. Finally, on the western koshtam wall – where typically one sees Lingodhbhavar, Ardhanareeswarar or Vishnu – the deity installed is Sankara Narayanar.

This temple is considered prarthana sthalam for couples who have lost a child, to beget another.

Other information for your visit

If based in Trichy, this is a convenient place to visit during the temple hours, since it is not too far from the main city.

Trichy is served by an international airport. Being in roughly the geographical centre of Tamil Nadu, Trichy is well connected by trains to the rest of the state and with other destinations as well.

There are several accommodation options in Trichy across all budgets.