275 Thevara Shivasthalam !! Thiru Punnaivayil Thiru Pazhampathinathar Temple !!


Jai Sriman Narayana!!

Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara !!





Thiru Punnaivayil is one of the 275 Thevara Shivasthalam of Lord Shiva located in Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu.  In this temple Lord Shiva worshipped in the form of a huge Lingam.  Previously the Lingam worshipped by Lord Brahma on this sacred land had four faces – Chathurmukha Linga.     




This is one of the oldest temples of Lord Shiva built by King Sundara Pandiya II.   It has the resemblance of Chozha and Pandya architectural style and a huge Linga was consecrated on its place of  Chathurmukha Linga known as  ‘Vrudha Pureeswarar’.   This is one of the ancient temples existing in all four Yugas of Kritha Yuga, Tretha Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and Kaliyuga with the names of Vajravanam /Indrapuram,  Brahmapuram,   Vrudhakasi and Pazhampathi respectively.   In this temple Thiru Pazhampathinathar is worshipped as a manifestation of four Vedas.





Presiding deity – Thiru Pazhampathinathar/ Vrudhapureeswarar/Mahalingeswarar with his consort Goddess Sri Periya Nayaki/Karunai  Nayaki



Mangalasasanam – Thiru Gnana Sambandhar and Appar



Festivals – Brahmostavam, Maha Shivaratri, Arudra Darisanam, Vaikasi Visakam,



Theertham – Indra Theertham, Brahma Theertham, Lakshmi Theertham, Chakkra Theertham, Surya Theertham, Chandra Theertham, Kalyana Theertham, Shivagangai Theertham, Varuna Theertham, Pambaru



Sthalavruksham – Punnai/Makizham/Kalli/Kurudha



Worshipped by – Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Lord Yama, Lord Indra, Lord Surya, Lord Chandra, Sage Vashishta, Sage Agastya,



Sannidhis – Lord Ganesha, Lord Subramanya with his consorts Sri Valli & Deivayanai, Lord Brahma, Lord Dakshinamoorthy, Lord Surya, Lord Bhairava, Lord Chandra, Lord Nandikeshwara, 14 Lingas , Chandikeshwara,  Gajalakshmi, Kali,



The legend has that Lord Brahma was discarded from the duties of ‘Creation’ due to his ignorance about the meanings of Pranava Mantra.   Goddess Parvati instructed Lord Brahma to worship Lord Shiva on this sacred land on Earth.  Lord Brahma arrived on this land and created a pond to worship Lord Shiva.  He sanctified a Linga with four faces and worshipped Lord Shiva, he performed sacred bath for the Linga with the water from the pond- Brahma Theertham.



Worship of Lord Vrudhapureeswarar and his consort Goddess Sri Karunai Nayaki on this temple would bring the devoutness of visiting all the fourteen Thevara Shivasthalam of Lord Shiva located in the Pandya Kingdom. 



This temple remains open from 6.00 AM to 11.30 AM in the morning and 4.30 PM to 7.30PM in the evenings.




Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara !!




Jai Sriman Narayana !!

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