Srimushnam and nearby

Timeline - June 2019

We visited Chidambaram for a known person's marriage and en route back to Chennai, planned to visit a couple of temples.

Narthana Vallabeswarar Temple (NNT003)

Deity: Lord Shiva is worshipped as Narthana Vallabeswarar or Nerikkaattunathar.

About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams. This is 14th Shiva Sthalam in Thondai Nadu.

Temple Timing : 6:00 AM to 11:30 AM, 5 PM to 7 PM.

Parking: Available for a few vehicles

Route: This is located 10 kms before Sri Mushnam and 10 kms after Sethiathope from Chidambaram. The roads are quite good. Can be located easily on Google maps (NNT003).

History: The temple is famous for the legend that Brahma saw Lord Shiva perform dance here. Chitragupta had visited and prayed to Lord Shiva here.

Sri Neelakandeswarar Temple / Swedarkkavaneshwarar Temple - Erukkathampuliyur (NNT004)

Deity: Lord Shiva is worshipped as Neelakandeswarar or Swedarkkavaneshwarar. The temple is also called Sri Kumaraswamy Shiva Temple.

About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams. This is 4th Shiva Sthalam in Thondai Nadu located in Rajenderapattinam.

Temple Timing : 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM, 6 PM to 8 PM.

Parking: Available for a few vehicles in front of the temple, by the tank.

Route: This is located 12 kms before Sri Mushnam on the road from Virudhachalam towards Srimushnam. The temple can be located easily on Google maps (NNT004).

History: The deity is Swayambumurthi. Lord Muruga worshipped Lord Shiva to cleanse the sins of throwing the Vedas into the sea. Also, Chola King Raja Rajan visited this temple, and his son was born - Rajendra Cholan. Hence, the name of the place is Rajendrapattinam.

Lord Bhuvaraha Swami Temple

This is an important Temple for Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu is in Varaha avatar in this temple. The main sanctum hosts Lord Vishnu in the form of boar, a Swayambu form made of Saligrama. This a Divya Desam.

The temple is very special also in the means that one gets to see the Abhishek of Lord Vishnu and Mahalakshmi - Thirumanjanam directly, which is not the case in most of the temples. The temple is one of the Ashtakshara kshetras - Lord Vishnu in swayambu form. The demon Hiranyaksha stole Earth and took it to the planet to his kingdom in the netherworld. The goddess of earth Bhudevi prayed to Lord Vishnu for rescue. Lord Vishnu took a new avatar here in the form of Varaha, a boar, killed the demon, and saved Earth.

The temple has beautiful sculptures in the mandapa.