275 Thevara Shivasthalam !! Thiru Kuranganilmuttam – Sri Valeeshwarar Temple, Thiruvannamalai !!

Jai Sriman Narayana !!


Jai Boley Nath !!







Sri Valeeshwarar Temple is one of Thevara Shivasthalam of Lord Shiva situated on the southern banks of river Palar in Kuranganilmuttam, district of Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu.  In this temple Lord Shiva worshipped in the form of a self-manifested Linga. 



Presiding deity – Moolavar -Sri Valeeshwarar/Koyyamalarnathar with his consort Goddess Sri Irayarvalai Ammai



Sthalavruksham – Ilandai



Theertham – Kakkaimadu Theertham/ Vayasai Theertham – Lord Yama in the form of a crow created a pond and worshipped Lord Veleeshwarar in this sacred land.



Mangalasasanam – Thiru Gnana Sambandhar praised this sacred land as one of the Mukthisthalam, which provides liberation from the cycles of birth and death.



Worshipped by – Monkey King Vali a zealous devotee worshipped Lord Shiva in this temple, he did not pluck the flowers of the tree where the Linga was positioned, he wobbled the entire tree and showered the flowers on Linga.  Thus, the presiding deity of this temple has got the name Sri Koyyamalarnathar.



Goddess Irayarvalai Ammai was worshipped by Lord Indra, Monkey King Vali and Lord Yama in this temple.  Married women worship Goddess to have virtuous offspring and offer bangles.



Festivals – Thirukarthikai, Annabhishekam, Aurudra Darisanam, Maha Shivaratri



Sannidhis – Lord Kasi Vishwanathar, Lord Bhairavar, Navagrahas, Sapthamathas- Sri Brahmi, Sri Maheshwari, Sri Koumari, Sri Vaishnavi, Sri Varahi, Sri Indrani and Sri Chamundi, Lord Vishnu and Serpent Gods.



The legend has that Sage Markandeya was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva; he had a curse on him that he would die at the age of sixteen.  He wanted to worship Lord Shiva as much as he could before the death call arrives; he visited many shrines of Lord Shiva and worshipped him.    Finally the time has come Lord Yama arrived on the spot and threw a closure of rope aiming at the sage while Sage Markandeya was engrossed in worshipping Lord Shiva.   But the fastener of the rope was wrongly fallen on the Linga.  Lord Shiva was furious at this and cursed Lord Yama to turn out a crow.  Thus, Sage Markandeya was saved from the curse.  Pathetically Lord Yama prayed to Lord Shiva to remove the curse.  The most compassionate Lord advised Lord Yama to visit this sacred land and worship Him.  At the divine instruction of Lord, Yama arrived at this sacred land and created a pond, had a holy dip in the pond and worshipped Lord Shiva.



Lord Indra was cursed by Sage Gautama for visualizing his chaste wife.  He approached Lord Shiva to get rid of the curse.  Lord Shiva instructed him to visit this holy land on the Earth. Lord Indra disguised in the form of a squirrel and arrived on this sacred land.  All three devotees Lord Indra, Lord Yama and Monkey King Vali of Lord arrived on this land concurrently and worshiped Lord Shiva.  Lord Shiva was pleased at the devotion and provided dharshan to his devotees and relieved from the sins of Lord Indra and Lord Yama.  The place where Monkey King Vali (Kurangu), Lord Indra as Squirrel (Anil) and Lord Yama as a Crow (Muttam) worshipped Lord Shiva came to known as Kuranganilmuttam.



In this temple devotees worship Lord Valeeshwarar for eradication of sins and cure for the illness of children/Balarishta. Worship of Lord Valeeshwarar and Goddess Irayarvalai Ammai attains wisdom and intelligence and also provides boons to Childless couple with virtuous offspring.



This temple remains open from 7.00AM to 9.00AM in the morning and 5.00PM to 9.00PM in the evenings

Jai Boley Nath !!



Jai Sriman Narayana !!




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