Brahmapureeswarar, Melacavery, Thanjavur

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Brahmapureeswarar	Ambal / Thayar:	–
Deity:	Siva	Historical name:
Vriksham:		Teertham:	Brahma Teertham
Agamam:		Age (years):
Timing:	– to – & – to –	Parikaram:
Temple group:		–
Sung by:		Temple set:
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Melacavery	District:	Thanjavur
Maps from (click):	Current location	Kumbakonam (3 km)	Mayiladuthurai (39 km)
	Thanjavur (41 km)	Tiruvarur (43 km)

Location

Sthala puranam and temple information

The part of Kumbakonam to the north of the Kaveri river is called Melacavery. Going by one of the engraved slabs announcing the beautification of this temple’s tank in 1957, this place used to be called Brahmeshtipura Agraharam.

This part of Kumbakonam boasts of two prominent Siva temples today – this temple, and the nearby Kailasanathar temple which is a Tevaram Vaippu Sthalam. There is also a temple nearby for Lord Siva as Nanjundeswarar, which was unapproachable to visitors due to its poor maintenance, at the time of our visit (though this has later been cleaned up and is a functional temple now).

This temple for Brahmapureeswarar was left neglected for several years. During the Mahamaham festival in 2015, the temple and its tank were renovated, and kumbhabhishekam was held here.

According to the limited sthala puranam information available, it is said that Brahma worshipped Lord Siva here, and hence the moolavar here gets the name Brahmapureeswarar. Having a bath in the temple tank and worshipping Lord Siva here is believed to help get rid of Brahmahathi dosham.

The structural temple here dates back to the medieval Chola period, making it between 1000-2000 years old. It is possible this temple was built originally in the reign of Raja Raja Chola I or Rajendra Chola. The temple is fully a brick temple.

Upon entering the temple premises through a gate on the eastern side, a long pathway leads us to the temple’s gopuram, with the temple’s Teertham on the left. Upon entering through the gopuram, is a long vavvaal nethi mandapam leading to the garbhagriham and the Amman shrine. On the left, is a pedestal with Srinivasa Perumal and His consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi, and on the right are other deities who we will visit shortly. The mandapam ends at the garbhagriham, with the shrine for Brihan Nayaki Amman on the right. In the ardha mandapam are vigrahams for Sani, Bhairavar and Suryan, as well as a small lingam for Koteeswarar. In the outer prakaram, the only koshtam deity is Dakshinamurti, and there are no separate shrines for the parivara devatas, except Chandikeswarar.

Back into the main maha mandapam we have a large lingam for Nanjundeswarar, facing east, along with his consort Mangalambigai, and a Nandi and bali peetham in front. It is said that this used to be the Nandi at the nearby Nanjundeswarar temple. There is also Pratyankara Devi on the far south, and Brahma depicted with all four faces on the vigraham (with a mirror to enable devotees to see the fourth face which is normally not visible).

There are also inscriptions in some parts of the temple, though it is not clear if these have been read and translated by epigraphists.