The visit
to this Aazhimala
Shiva Temple was a part of the Malai Nadu Divya
Desam visit from 10th to 14th June 2025, organized
by Mantra Yatra (website). Thanks to Mr. Balaji Davey and
his team of Mantra Yatra for the excellent arrangement and personal care.
Since this Shiva temple is situated
between hills with huge rocks and on the seashore, the place is called Azhimala. The original temple was called Aazhimala Pulinkudi Sree Mahadeva
Temple. Due to the existence of Cheetahs around the hill, this place was
named Pullikudi, and the same was corrupted to the present name of
Pulingudi.
Moolavar: Sree Mahadeva
Some of the salient features of this
temple are….
The temple faces east with a 3 tier
Rajagopuram. Dwajasthambam, Balipeedam, and Rishabam are after the Rajagopuram.
The temple complex consists of Shiva, Ambal, and Vinayagar sannidhis. All three sannidhis are facing east in a row.
ARCHITECTURE
The temple was
constructed as per the Dravidian architecture with sanctum sanctorum, ardha
mandapam, and mukha mandapam. The complete temple was constructed with bricks
and cement concrete. The temples are painted colorfully.
The main attraction
of this temple is the 52-foot-high statue of Gangadheeswara, one of the forms
of Shiva. Shiva is in a sitting posture holding a trishul in the lower left hand, a damaru in the upper right hand, and the left upper hand releases Ma Ganga
through his matted hair. The right lower hand rests on his thigh. He wears
rudraksha beads, tiger skin on his waist, and a moon on his head. This statue was
sculpted by the sculptor P S Devanathan. The statue was completed and unveiled to the public on 31st December 2021. It took almost 6 years to complete the same.
HISTORY AND
INSCRIPTIONS
The temple
authorities claim that the temple has existed since the 8th century, built by the Pandya Dynasty. However, the present structure was constructed in
recent years.
Neelaniyeru, a Brahmin, was a well-versed Veda preacher who was the son of Vizhinjam Kadaikulam
Madam’s Chief. The Maharaja made Neelaniyeru a chief priest in 64 temples. The
king also donated 58 acres of land in Pulinkudi and 48 acres of land in
Punnavila. Idichathimoopil was the bodyguard of the King, and Neelakandan was
the nephew of Idichathimpooli, who had two daughters. Neelaniyeru fell in with
Neelakandan’s 2nd daughter and wanted to marry her. Since the caste system
was very strict, Neelaniyeru was expelled from his caste for marrying
marry girl from a lower caste. Since both Neelakandan and Idichathimpooli didn’t
have objections, the marriage was conducted. Neelaniyeru continued as a priest, and several years later, he took Samadhi to the worship center.
Later, Sree Narayana Guru
Swami visited this place and had the intuition of God’s blessings around the
samadhi. A Temple was built with the local people. Regular
Kumbhabhishekam was conducted, and an annual 10-day utsavam has been conducted since
then. Poojas are conducted as per the tantric system by Brahmasri Sugathan
Tantigal.
LEGENDS
The hillside has
many caves. It is believed that the Pancha Pandavas, during their exile, lived in
these caves of Azhimala. In that legend, Bheema created a spring for Panjali’s
request.
POOJAS AND
CELEBRATIONS
Apart from regular 3
kala poojas (Ushakala pooja, Uchakala pooja, and Athala pooja), special poojas
are conducted, Udayasthama pooja, Pradosham (16.00 hrs to 18.00 hrs), Maha Shivaratri,
Pournami, Amavasya, etc. Lamps will be lit from morning to evening during
Udyasthama pooja. (Charge will be Rs 5001).
TEMPLE TIMINGS
The temple will be
kept open from 05.00 hrs to 11.00 hrs and from 17.00 hrs to 20.00 hrs.
CONTACT DETAILS
The landline number
of the temple is +914712268422
Temple website: https://aazhimalasivatemple.in/
E-mail address aazhimalamahadevatemple@gmail.com
HOW TO REACH
This place, Aazhimala, is about 6 km from Vizhinjam, 13 km from Thiruvallam, and 19 km from
Padmanabaswamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram.
The nearest Railway
Station is Thiruvananthapuram.
LOCATION OF THE
TEMPLE: CLICK HERE
--- OM SHIVAYA NAMA
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