Karpaganathar, Karpaganathar Kulam, Tiruvarur

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Karpaganathar	Ambal / Thayar:	Soundara Nayaki, Balasundari
Deity:	Siva	Historical name:	TirukkaDikkuLam
Vriksham:	Pala	Teertham:	Vinayaka Teertham
Agamam:		Age (years):
Timing:	6 to 12 & 5 to 8	Parikaram:
Temple group:	Paadal Petra Sthalam (Kaveri Then Karai)	–
Sung by:	Sambandar	Temple set:
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Karpaganathar Kulam	District:	Tiruvarur
Maps from (click):	Current location	Tiruvarur (48.3 km)	Nagapattinam (56.1 km)
	Kumbakonam (79.1 km)	Thanjavur (80.9 km)

Location

Karpaganathar Kulam is located about 29km from Vedaranyam and 18km from Tiruthuraipoondi.

Sthala puranam and temple information

We are aware of the story of Vinayakar and Murugan having a bet to see who could go around the world the quickest, and the winner would receive a mango from their father, Lord Siva. Vinayakar, of course, went around Siva and Parvati (and not the world as such, because he believed they were his world), and won the prize, and a furious Murugan left Kailasam in a huff. It is believed that this is the place where that competition took place.

To the south of the temple, is a smaller, east-facing shrine dedicated to that Vinayakar, called Karpaga Vinayakar!

Karthikasuran, a demon, worshipped Lord Siva with great devotion and earnest. In turn, the Lord showered him with boons as and when the demon asked for them. Because Siva was handing out boons to him as the Karpaka Vriksham does, the demon built a temple where he named Siva as Karpaganathar.

In the Ramayanam, prior to construction of the bridge from Dhanushkodi to Lanka, Rama prayed at various Siva temples, including this one, and to the adjacent Karpaga Vinayakar as well. Near this temple is a separate, small temple for Kodandaramar.

The temple puranam talks of a brahmin who brought his father’s ashes for immersion at the pond near the temple. As he did so, the ashes turned into kondrai flowers – Lord Siva’s favourite. Due to this incident, this place is regarded as holy and special for performing pitru puja.

Very uniquely, the Lingam / banam is octagonal in shape, and not rounded and smooth as is typical of temples in this region. It is believed that praying at this temple gives one the wealth of the ashta-Lakshmis.

Other information for your visit

We visited this temple in December 2018, in the weeks following the Gaja cyclone (the pictures below are from that visit). Although it was nearly 45 days after the cyclone hit the place, one can understand the damage it caused just by looking at the state of the mandapam here and the ceiling fans. The temple was not supported for renovation / upkeep either.

Because of its location, there are no great accommodation options nearby, except some budget and mid-range accommodation at Mannargudi and Pattukottai.