Kailasanathar, Kandaramanickam, Sivaganga

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Kailasanathar	Ambal / Thayar:	Elavar Kuzhali
Deity:	Siva	Historical name:
Vriksham:		Teertham:
Agamam:		Age (years):
Timing:	6 to 10 & 4 to 8	Parikaram:
Temple group:		–
Sung by:		Temple set:
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Kandaramanickam	District:	Sivaganga
Maps from (click):	Current location	Karaikudi (20 km)	Pudukkottai (50 km)
	Madurai (73 km)	Sivaganga (77 km)

Location

Sthala puranam and temple information

This small – but clearly old – temple was just about to close when we visited, and only the caretaker was around at the time, and he was unable to give us much information on the temple’s sthala puranam. The age of the temple is also evident by the layers of construction both inside and outside the temple, due to which the temple appears to be at a lower plane than the surrounding areas.

The temple is administered by the Sivaganga Samasthanam Devasthanam.

While the temple faces east, and indeed there is an eastern entrance, it is sometimes kept closed. The eastern entrance looks more like the entrance to a house, but for an arch with a stucco image of Amman. If it is closed, one can enter from the gate on the southern side. There is a one-level gopuram on the south, but due to the high walls that have been built around the temple, the gopuram does not visually stand out as such.

The architecture here appears to be from the later Pandya period. The moolavar faces east, while Elavar Kuzhali Amman is in a separate south-facing shrine. Of the various other murtis in the temple, only the Siva Lingam, two Nandis, Bhairavar and Chandikeswarar appear to be relatively older; all others appear to be of more recent craftsmanship.

In the koshtams are Vinayakar, Dakshinamurti, Lingodhbhavar, Brahma and Durga. In the prakaram, there are shrines for Vinayakar, a Siva Lingam for Chokkalinganathar, Murugan, Mahalakshmi, Chandikeswarar, Bhairavar, Saneeswarar, Chandran and Suryan, and a separate Navagraham shrine.