Arulmigu Kangiamman Thirukovil / அருள்மிகு காங்கியம்மன் திருக்கோவில், திருவோத்தூர் / Thiruvothur, Thiruvannamalai District, Tamil Nadu.

The visit to this Kangiamman Temple at Thiruvothur was part of a Heritage Visit to the Temples, Thavvai, Kotravai, Durgai, and Hero Stone Sculptures around Cheyyar in Tiruvannamalai District on 22^nd August 2021. Thanks to Babu Mano, Manoj, and Logesh for their guidance.

Thiruvothur is a part of Cheyyar. This temple is on the end of the street opposite Sri Vedapureeswarar Temple, one of the 276 Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam, and on the banks of river Cheyyar. Even though this temple has more than 800 years of history, this is a lesser-known temple.

Main deity        : Sri Kangiamman

Some of the salient features of this temple are…

The temple faces North with a mukha mandapam and a 3-tier Rajagopuram.  Vinayagar and Murugan are at the entrance of the ardha mandapam. Stucco images of Saptamatrikas, keeping Chamundi as the main deity are at the top of the entrance. Dwarapalakas / Bhuta Ganas are at the entrance of the sanctum. Saptamatrikas are in the sanctum sanctorum. No images are in the koshtam. 

In praharam, Nava kanda / Arikanda Hero Stones (  will be covered in a separate post ), 4 out of Saptamatrikas ( Samundi / Chamundi was made of green stone. Hope these Saptamatrikas group might have been replaced the existing new images ) and an Amman in standing posture with old Dwarapalaka and Dwarapalaki ( These Dwarapalaka and Dwarapalaki might have been replaced by the existing in the ardha mandapam ).

ARCHITECTURE

The temple consists of sanctum sanctorum, antarala and ardha mandapam and a mukha mandapam. There are two entrances to Ardha mandapam from east side and south side. The temple was reconstructed with Brick and cement mortar. The sanctum sanctorum is in a rectangular shape to accommodate Saptamatrikas. The Gopura above the Sanctum Sanctorum is of 3 tiers. Stucco images of Various incarnations of Ambal are on the Gopuram. The Saptamatrikas are on a platform in the sanctum sanctorum along with Veerabhadra.

HISTORY AND INSCRIPTIONS

As per the inscriptions the original temple was constructed during Chozha King Vijayakanda Gopalan’s 27^th reign year ( 1284 CE ) period. From the inscriptions, the original temple was dedicated to Kotravai as “Kanakarai Selvi ( Kanamar selvi  - கானமர் செல்வி )”. We do not know when the Kotravai was replaced by the Saptamatrikas.  The old 4 out of ( 7 ) Saptamatrikas are kept on the back side of the Temple and the fate of the rest is not Known. The Chamundi was made of Green Stone. (A similar stone was used in Konar Temple, near Thirumalpur ).

To support the assumption of Kotravai as the main deity, the Pandya King Vira Pandya’s 27^th reign year (maybe –Vira Pandyan –I,  11^th to 12^th Century CE ), an inscription records the gift of Land as Pidari Padam by a Devaradiyar  Unnamulai’s daughter Samba after establishing the “Kanakarai Selvi”, image. This inscription clearly indicates that the image was established during the Pandya Period and later the temple may have been constructed during the Chozha King Vijayakanda Gopalan’s period.

This temple is under the control of Senguntha Mudaliars trust. Ashta Bandhana Maha Kumbhabhishekam is  conducted on 12-12-1986, 19-07-2002, and on 08-02-2015. For 2015 Kumbhabhishekam, Rs 6.08 lakhs was donated by the Mudaliars Community.

LEGENDS

Ma Parvati as Dhatchayani, went to Yagna conducted by his father Daksha without inviting Lord Shiva. When Dhatchayani insulted Lord Shiva, Veerabhadra destroyed the Yagna and cursed the Devas for attending the Yagna. To get rid of the sin caused due to the above, Ma Parvati came to this place on the banks of Cheyyar and did a penance on Lord Shiva, to pardon her.  The Saptamatrikas guarded her during the penance. Finally, Lord Shiva satisfied with her penance, pardoned her and took her to Kailash. 

 

As per the Local legends, A marriage party was traveling through this place, with the married couple. Burglars snatched all their ornaments and started sharing between them. In the meantime the Marriage party prayed to Kangiamman, to help them. Kangiamman appeared before the burglars made them blind and gave back the ornaments to the marriage party.

Kangiamman’s story is painted in the mukha mandapam walls.

Amman’s Prasad will be offered to the ladies, who are born at this place or got married to this place, after the 7-month pregnancy. Special poojas will be done at the temple for safe delivery. The Prasad is offered as madi picksha and the woman has to receive the same through her saree mundhanai / muntanai.  This function is called Pachai Padaithal.

POOJAS AND CELEBRATIONS

Apart from regular poojas special poojas are conducted on Aadi month Fridays, Pournami ( Full moon days ), and Amavasya days ( No moon days ). The Amavasya Pooja will end around midnight.

TEMPLE TIMINGS

The temple will be kept open between 07.00 hrs to 10.00 hrs and 17.00 hrs to 19.00 hrs.

HOW TO REACH

This temple is about 500 meters from Sri Vedapureeswarar Temple.

The temple is 2.4 KM from Cheyyar Bus Stand, 33 KM from Kanchipuram, 61 KM from Arakkonam, 63 KM from Chengalpattu, 81 KM from Thiruvannamalai and 111 KM from Chennai.

The nearest Railway station is Kanchipuram and Junction is Arakkonam.

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE

Sri Durgai Amman 

Old Dwarapalaka and Dwarapalaki

The original ( ... ?) Samundi / Chamundi  in Greenstone 

Dwarapalakas

--- OM SHIVAYA NAMA ---