The Visit to this Sri Thanthondreeswarar Temple at Iluppaikudi near Karaikudi was a part of Shiva,
Vishnu Temples of Pudukkottai and Sivagangai Districts Visit on 23rd
& 24th September 2023. Sri Thanthondreeswarar Temple also called Sri Swayamprakasha Eswarar Temple is one of the
9 Shiva temples of Nattukottai Nagarathars in Sivaganga District.
Moolavar : Sri
Swayamprakasha Eswarar,
Sri Thanthondreeswarar
Consort :
Sri Soundarya Nayaki
Some of the salient features of this Temple are...
The temple faces east with a 5-tier Rajagopuram
and the south side Rajagopuram is of 3 tiers. Dwajasthambam, balipeedam, and Rishabam are after the Rajagopuram. Dwarapalakas are at the entrance of the sanctum
sanctorum. Utsavars are in ardha mandapam. In koshtam Vinayagar,
Dakshinamurthy, Annamalaiyar, Brahma and Durga.
In Prakaram Vinayagar, Chandikeswarar, Viswanathar
& Visalakshi, Chandikeswarar, Nagars, Vinayagar, Maha Vishnu, Maha Lakshmi,
Saniswaran, Navagrahas, Bairavar, Palliyarai, Suryan, and Chandran.
Ambal Sri Soundarya Nayaki is in a separate
sannidhi near Palliyarai. Ambal is in standing posture with abhaya varada
hastam.
Bairavar
ARCHITECTURE
The temple consists of sanctum sanctorum, antarala, and ardha mandapam. The sanctum sanctorum is on an upanam and pada bandha adhistanam
with jagathy, Virutha kumudam, and pattikai. The Bhitti starts with Vedika. The
kostas are patra kostas with silambu kumudam. A Mandapam was constructed
abutting Sri Dakshinamurthy's koshtam. There are 8 elephant faces on the
Bhitti in between Kostas similar to Madurai Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple.
The prastaram consists of valapi with mathalam, kapotam with nasikudus and
Viyyalavari. Maha Vishnu’s avatars and Shiva’s various forms are in the nasi kudus.
The praharam is completely covered with a roof/ceiling. The Praharam circumambulatory path has exquisitely carved
pillars similar to the Rameswaram temple. A three tier dravida vimana is on the
sanctum sanctorum.
The special feature of this temple is an inch
sculpture of Vinayagar about 1.5 inches tall, on an ardha mandapa pillar.
HISTORY
AND INSCRIPTIONS
This temple is one of the 9 Shiva temples of
Nattukottai Nagarathars. As per Sivagangai mavatta Tholliyal Kaiyedu, this temple
was constructed about 150 years before.
The east side of Rajagopuram was constructed and maha Kumbhabhishekam was conducted on 08th February 1985.
Again after thirupani Maha Kumbhabhishekam was
performed on 11th September 2002.
From 19th May 2016, a Thakkar was
appointed to this temple by the Tamil Nadu HR & CE vide order no 5763 /
2015 அ 2, which
means, the temple has come under the control of HR & CE.
LEGENDS
Since this place was once with a lot of Iluppai
trees, this place obtained the name of Iluppaikudi.
It is believed that Kongana Siddhar attained Siddhi
in this temple and Shiva Linga is installed on the Samadhi.
POOJAS
AND CELEBRATIONS
Apart from regular poojas special poojas are
conducted on Pradosham, Maha Shivaratri, etc,.
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 landline number 04565 221 810 may be contacted
for further details.
HOW TO
REACH
This Sri Thanthondreeswarar Temple at Iluppaikudi is about 2.2 KM from Sri
Iinutreeswarar Temple at Mathur, 5.5 KM from Ariyakudi Arulmigu
Tiruvengadamuadaiyan Temple, 4.5 KM from Karaikudi Bus stand.
The nearest railway station is Karaikudi.
LOCATION
OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE
--- OM
SHIVAYA NAMA ---
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