The Visit to Sri Agastheeswarar Temple at
Ettiyathali near Aranthangi was a part of the Shiva, and Vishnu Temples of
Pudukkottai and Sivagangai Districts
Visit on 23rd & 24th September 2023.
Moolavar : Sri
Agastheeswarar
Consort :
Sri Akilandeswari
Some of the salient features of this Temple are...
The temple faces east with an entrance
Rajagopuram base. A stucco image of Shiva and Parvati as Rishaba roodar is on the
top of the entrance. Balipeedam and Rishabam are in the mukha mandapam.
Dwarapalakas are at the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum. Moolavar is on a square
avudayar. In Kostam Vinayagar, Dakshinamurthy, Lingothbavar, Brahma, and Durgai.
Ambal is in a separate sannidhi facing south in
maha mandapam. There are two Ambal sannidhis in this temple. One Ambal is
called Akila and the other Ambal is called Akilandeswari. Nalvar and
Natarajar Sabha is in the ardha mandapam.
Navagrahas are in the mandapam before the maha mandapam. Rahu and Ketu
are found interchanged.
In the outer praharam Vinayagar, Murugan,
Chandikeswarar, Bairavar, Chandran ( wrongly written as Suriyan )
Thavvai - Jyeshta Devi
ARCHITECTURE
The temple consists of a sanctum sanctorum, antarala,
ardha mandapam, and a maha mandapam. The
sanctum sanctorum is on a pada bandha adhistanam with vrutha kumudam. Sthamba
panjaras are in antarala portion. The Bhitti starts with Vedikai. The pilasters
are with square base & Naga bandham, Vishnu kantha body, malai thongal,
kalasam, kudam, lotus petals mandi, palakai, Veera kandam, and poo mottu pothyal.
The Prastaram consist of lotus petals valapi, kapotam with plain nasi kudus and
Chandra mandapam. Yazhi vari is above the kapotam. A two tier stucco vesara
Vimanam is on the bhumidesam. Shiva, Dakshinamurthy, Maha Vishnu ( Narasimhar
), and Brahma are in the Tala and Greeva koshtams. The lingothbavar stucco image is on
the west side of the 1st tala.
Chandikeswarar, Vinayagar, and Murugan sannidhis are
partially built with laterite stones.
HISTORY
AND INSCRIPTIONS
The original temple may belong to the early Pandya
period and later the mandapas were added. The 14th to 16th
Century inscriptions are found on the wall. One of the inscriptions records an
endowment and Shiva as Thiruagatheechuramudayar.
LEGENDS
As per the legend, Agasthiyar, after worshipping
Shiva at Kashi, on the way to Pothigai Hills stayed here to do the ritual of Sandhyavandanam. He worshipped this swayambhu Shiva Lingam at Ettiyathali and
stayed in the night. The Thondai mandala King Kalingarayan, who was suffering
from ashtama Sani, passes through this place. When the King asked Agasthiyar,
the way to get rid of Ashtama Shani dosha, Agasthiyar, in turn, asked the King to
construct a temple for the Swayambhu Lingam. He further told the king, to install
the Navagrahas on the Esanya direction to get more power from Shiva. Also, the
Navagrahas are in front of Akilandeswari Ambal’s Sannadhi, who is also known as Navagraha Nayagi, who gets
more power from Ambal.
In the Navagrahas group, the positions of both Rahu
and Ketu are interchanged. Hence this is a Shani, Rahu & Ketu dosha parihara Sthalam. Also, this is a Kalathira dosha nivarthi sthalam.
POOJAS
AND CELEBRATIONS
Apart from regular poojas, special poojas are conducted
on pradosam, Maha Shivaratri, Sani peyarchi day, and Saturdays.
TEMPLE
TIMINGS
The temple will be kept open between 07.00 hrs to
12.00 Hrs and 17.00 hrs to 20.00 hrs.
CONTACT
DETAILS
The mobile numbers of Gurukkal +91 9894930536 and
+91 8939661302, may be contacted for further details.
HOW TO
REACH
The Temple at Ettiyathali is about 500 meters from
Ettiyathali Main Road Bus Stop. Town bus No 21 From Aranthangi to Peravurani
stops at Ettiyathali.
Ettiyathali is about 8 KM from Aranthangi Bus Stand,
18 KM from Peravurani Bus Stand, 22 KM from Avudaiyarkoil, and 41 KM from Karaikudi.
Nearest Railway Station is Aranthangi.
LOCATION
OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE
Bairavar
--- OM
SHIVAYA NAMA ---
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