Swetaranyeswarar, Pudhukudi, Tiruvarur

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Swetaranyeswarar	Ambal / Thayar:	Anandavalli
Deity:	Siva	Historical name:
Vriksham:		Teertham:
Agamam:		Age (years):
Timing:	to & to	Parikaram:
Temple group:	Vaippu sthalam	–
Sung by:		Temple set:
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Pudhukudi	District:	Tiruvarur
Maps from (click):	Current location	Kumbakonam (15 km)	Tiruvarur (27 km)
	Mayiladuthurai (29 km)	Nagapattinam (53 km)

Location

Sthala puranam and temple information

There is no specific sthala puranam associated with this temple. However, this is a Tevaram Vaippu Sthalam which finds mention in one of Appar’s pathigams, in which the saint also refers to temples in Purkudi, Makudi, Devankudi, and Neelakudi.

The garbhagriham is from the Chola period, however, the rest of the temple seems to be a relatively more recent construction. In addition to the shrines for Siva and Amman, there is a Natarajar sabhai, and also are separate shrines for other deities including Vinayakar, Dakshinamurti, Lingodhbhavar, Subrahmanyar, Gajalakshmi, Durga, Chandikeswarar, Navagraham, Bhairavar and Suryan. These are all set as per agamic rules.

There is also a separate shrine for the Tevaram moovar (Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar) and Manikkavasagar, and a shed in the prakaram, housing five Lingams. Quite unusually, there is a shrine here for Adi Sankarar at this temple.