Thiruvedagam - Edaganathar Thirukoil - Madurai

This is an ancient Sivasthalam near Madurai. Situated 20 km or a 30 minute drive northwest of Madurai, it is the 248th Paadal Petra Sthalam and the 4th in the Pandian country. Originally built by Pandian kings, the current masonry structure is mostly 16th century Nayakkan. It is a relatively small temple compared to others we have been to and is in a state of mild disrepair and needs better maintenance. There is an interesting story about this temple. During the early 7th century, Madurai was ruled by King Arikesari Maravarman or Koon Pandian as he had a hunchback. He was an ardent follower of the Jain faith. The queen, the Chola princess Mangayarkarasiyaar was a Saivite. She enlisted the help of Thirugnanasampanthar to convert the king to Saivism. So a debate was arranged between the Jain monks and Sampanthar at this site. Sambanthar wrote the first verse of his pathikam - "Vaalga Anthanar..." on a palm leaf Edu and threw it into the River Vaigai and the Jain monks wrote some lines from their scriptures and did the same. The Jain leafs were washed away while Sampanthar's leaf reached the other bank and the king was convinced to change his faith and became the saint Nindraseer Nedumaran. It was a bit dark when we reached this temple and I could not take enough pictures. Unless you are very much in to Saivite history and legend you can skip this one. If you are interested in Saivite history or want to see all the Paadal Petra Sthalams, then this one is easily reached from Madurai.

We visited in August 2019. Base Madurai.

Madurai - Tamil Nadu

You may have noticed that we have featured a few temples in and around the city of Madurai in the posts so far. Madurai is an ancient city located in the southern part of Tami lNadu, India and is an ideal city in many ways to explore the lesser known temples of Tamil Nadu and other interesting sites in southern Tamil Nadu. We based ourselves in Madurai last summer for a couple of weeks to explore the deep south.

This is an ancient city with a lot of history. Capital city of the ancient Pandian Kingdom, it was a major metropolis even in the time of the Roman Empire in Europe. Madurai might be much older. There are many legends about the origins of the city which are obscure. Legends abound. Many ancient records within India and beyond mention the the city of Madurai. One of the oldest periods is referred to as the Sangam period when the Pandian kings of Madurai are believed to have presided over a collegium of poets who created a body of literature, some which are still in existence. Legend tells us that there were three Sangams and that the present Madurai, on the banks of the river Vaigai is the location of the last Sangam, while the previous two further south were inundated by the sea. Recent excavations at Keeladi, a few kilometres downstream on the banks of the Vaigai, are uncovering evidence of an ancient, advanced settlement possibly contemporaneous to the Harappan or Indus Valley Civilization.

Many dynasties have ruled this city and have left their mark.  In Sangam times, the Pandian kings ruled this city and the surrounding country which was known as Pandya Nadu. Pandya Nadu together with Chola Nadu (the area around The Kaveri delta) and Chera Nadu (present day Kerala) were the three main Kingdoms of the Sangam period. There were many other minor kingdoms. The Pandian kings have ruled on and off until the14th century in Madurai with many intervening periods when other dynasties ruled here. Sometimes after the Sangam period, in the first half of the first millennium CE, a dynasty called the Kalabhra are supposed to have ruled Madurai. The details of these kings are obscure and some even question whether such a dynasty ever existed. In the 6th century, Pandyan rule was revived and continued until the mid 10th century when the expanding Chola empire subsumed it for a few centuries. During those 2-3 centuries Madurai was a provincial capital of the Chola empire. By the early 13th century, Pandyan power was again revived for a short period when the Chola empire crumbled and the Pandians  emerged as the major power in the Tamil country and beyond. This was cut short in the early 14th century when civil war broke out with two half brothers competing for the throne at Madurai which led to intervention from the Delhi Sultanate. The subsequent raid by Malik Kafur, the general of the army of the Delhi Sultanate was known for it wanton destruction of Madurai. After many such raids by the forces of Delhi, Madurai became a Muslim Sultanate for about 60 years.  In the late 1300s the expanding Hindu empire of Vijayanagar wrested control of Madurai from the Sultanate of M'bar. In the late 1500s when Vijayanagar lost power, their provincial governors called Nayakkar became independent kings and Madurai was ruled by the Madurai Nayakkar dynasty until the 18th century. There onwards it was briefly under the control of the Nawab of Arcot before passing in to hands of the colonial British, first as an outpost of the British East India Company and later in the 19th century as a provincial city in the Madras Presidency of the British Raj in India.  In independent India it is a Tier 2 city in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The religious and cultural beliefs of the Sangam era are little known. Some of it is evident from the literature of that period. Some archeological evidence is emerging recently. The religious beliefs appear to have been more local in origin and not very formal. In the post Sangam period, Buddhism and Jainism, two great religions originating in the Gangetic Plain in around present-day Bihar, held sway in the Tamil country for several centuries. Many of the kings belonged to these two faiths. While  Jainism persisted until about the 12th century, with many ancient sites related to this religion around Madurai, Buddhism disappeared early and left very few physical traces. From the 6th century onwards, the two Hindu traditions of Saivism and Vaishnavism based on Vedic Hindu principles, went through a revival in the Tamil country and became the dominant religious traditions. The worship of Murugan, a deity who is often revered as the Tamil god and likely predated the advent Vedic Hinduism in the Tamil county, is also widely celebrated and many temples have been dedicated  to lord Murugan.

Today Madurai is a chaotic and densely populated metropolis with all the problems facing contemporary Indian cities. But things are changing with better sanitation (poor sanitation was a legacy of the British Raj which neglected such issues), accomodation and transportation facilities.

Madurai has many interesting sights for the visitor and beautiful temples for the pilgrim. It is best known for the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple better known as the Madurai Meenakshi Temple. In many ways it is the centre of this ancient city around which it revolves. The remnants of the Nayakkar Place or Mahal is also another interesting historical site. In this blog we will concentrate on lesser known temples and sites.

How to get there? Madurai is easily reached by domestic flights from many major Indian cities including the state capital of Chennai. The airport is modern and comfortable. There are modern four-laned highways that lead to it from all directions. It is about an 8 hour drive from Chennai. It is smooth driving for the most part. It is also well-connected by rail, although we are not fans of rail travel in India in general.

Where do you stay? Our recommendations are based on comfort, safety, reputation and cleanliness. We generally stay at upscale hotels. In Madurai there are many nice hotels including budget ones. Please do your own research

1. The Gateway Pasumalai - Owned and operated by the legendary Taj group this is a 5 star hotel perched on the top a hill with panoramic views of the city below. Home to a large flock of resident peacocks. We have stayed many times and will recommend it anyway. Wonderful place to stay.

2. The Heritage Madurai - 5 star hotel in the heart of the city. We have not stayed but have had lunch here. Excellent choice. Designed by the legendary Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa to reflect traditional Tamil architecture.

3. Regency Madurai by GRT Hotels - 3 star hotel. We have not stayed or visited but have stayed at many GRT hotels which have been excellent.

4. Courtyard by Marriott Madurai - 3 star hotel. We have not stayed. It is highly rated and belongs to the Marriott chain and should be fine.

Madurai Meenakshi Amman

Vandiyur Mariamman Theppakulam

Madurai Meenakshi Amman

View of Madurai from Pasumalai

Pazhamuthircholai or Palamuthircholai

This popular Murugan temple is inside the Alagar Malai hills. It is about 4 km from and very close to the Kallazhagar Vishnu temple. It is one of the 6 Abodes or Aru Padai Veedugal of Murugan. It is the 6th Abode. Tamil legend says that Murugan tricked Auvvayar - the wise old poetess of Tamil folklore - at this site. One day Auvvayar was walking through the forest, on a hot sunny day and sat down under the shade of a Naaval berry or Rose apple tree to to rest. The tree had a lot of ripe fruit and she was hungry. There was a little boy on the tree and he asked her whether she wanted some fruit and she said yes. He wanted to know whether she wanted roasted and hot fruit or cold and raw fruit. She was annoyed and ignored him. The little boy (who was Murugan) shook the branches of the tree and some of the fruit fell on the ground. The old woman promptly picked up a few fruit and blew on them to get rid of the sand that had got stuck on the fruit and the boy told her that she had wanted the hot fruit after all. There is a tree here that people claim is a descendent of the original tree.

The temple structure itself is quite small and not as impressive as some of the other Siva and Vishnu temples we have seen. You can see that it has been recently rebuilt with many structures built in the 20th century. Murugan temples in general, in spite of the antiquity of the sites, are small affairs perhaps because the deeply Vaishnavite and Saivite kings and queens who built the great temples likely did not pay much attention to Murugan the most popular deity of the common people. But some temples like the Palani Murugan had royal patronage. There is also a dispute whether this is the original site of Pazhamuthircholai.

Visited August 2109. Base Madurai

Thiru Aappanoor or Thiruvappanur Aappudayar Temple Madurai

This little known temple in Sellur on the outskirts of Madurai is a lovely small Sivan temple. We liked it a lot. Small but elegant it still retains its Pandian origins. Originally built by Pandian kings it was later renovated by the Sethupathy kings of Pudukkottai. The architecture is still very Pandian. Look at the clean simple granite pillars or columns. The later Vijayanagara and Nayakkan pillars were more elaborate. It does not have a rajagopuram. The gopurams came later.

Appu means wedge in Tamil. The legend is that an ancient king was tired at the end of the day's hunt and was looking for a lingam to do his evening Siva Pooja. A woodcutter lent his wedge as a makeshift lingam and then it would not move and a temple had to be built around it. 

It is the 246th Paadal Petra Sthalam and the 2nd one in the Pandian country. Sampanthar composed the Pathikam.

Visited August 2019. Base Madurai

Kallazhagar or Kallalagar Temple at Alagar Koil

This much venerated Divya Desam temple (not to be confused with the Koodalazhagar temple in Madurai) is one of the holiest Vaishnavite shrines in the south. 21 kms north of Madurai, about a 30 minute drive, it lies nestled close to the verdant Alagar Malai hills. It has been in existence since the Sangam Period and every dynasty since then has contributed to it. The existing structure is mainly late Pandian, Vijayanager and Nayakkan. It is home to some of the most exquisite Nayakkan era granite sculptures. A granite wall surrounds the entire complex. It has a 7 tier rajagopuram. There are many myths and legends around this temple. The outermost fortifications were destroyed by the forces of Hyder Ali, then Sultan of Mysore in 1757 when the temple was looted and ransacked. You see a remnant of that wall in the last set of pictures below. The remains of a giant gopuram can be seen. Pay attention to the construction of the structure which is exposed in the ruins.

Visited August 2019. Base Madurai

Temples of Tamil Nadu - An approach

As we have mentioned before, the temples of Tamil Nadu are numerous. They vary according to their antiquity, traditions, regions where they are found and styles.  Some are ancient and some are of recent construction. Some are active and some are not. Some are well known and others are not. How does someone who has very little knowledge, experience at least some of these temples when there are such a bewildering number to choose from?

The earliest existent temples are around 1500 years or older. Some temples have been constructed on the sites of older places of worship and as such the actual sites are older than the current structures. So one approach would be to concentrate on the antiquity of the temples. Here too it becomes complicated because many temples were not entirely built in a certain era or period in history. Their construction spans multiple centuries. They were built upon by different dynasties that ruled this land. So these temples are the end result of about 1500 years of constant renewal, renovation and addition. Some other temples were built in a certain, single era by a single king or dynasty and have remained more or less untouched since.

Most temples are active temples and are places of active worship. People who visit these temples should take care to be respectful and not offend people who worship at these temples. Having said that most Hindu temples are very tolerant and welcoming places, although some temples have areas that are restricted to Hindus only. Most older, active temples are owned and operated by the government. Initially independent institutions, they were, except for a very few, taken over by the government in the 1920s. Today they are administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. Other temples which are not active are historical monuments and are administered by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) which is a an agency of the Indian Central Government or the Archeological Department of the Tamil Nadu Government. Access to these sites are generally less restrictive. Some have paid admission while others are free.

Temples can also be classified according to popularity and fame. If you type in "Temples of Tamil Nadu" or " Best Temples of Tamil nadu" or some such entry into a Google search you will end up with about 30 to 40 temples. These are but a handful of the temples in existence. They are well known because they are large and beautiful temples. To the faithful, they are also special due to their reputation as very sacred places of worship. It is difficult to define the line between well known and lesser know temples as it depends on the knowledge and experience of the person making these definitions. For the purposes of this blog we will define all temples that are not extremely well known as lesser known temples. It is an arbitrary and subjective definition.

Temples can be classified according to the main deity in the temple. There are temples dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, Shakthy, Murugan and Ganesha. The majority of the temples are either Saivite (Siva is the primary deity) or vaishnavite (the primary deity is Vishnu). Numerous other temples are dedicated to Murugan, frequently identified as the Tamil god.  There also Jain temples which are mostly inactive. In addition there also ancient churches and mosques too.

The temples can be classified according to literary mention too. There are about 276 temples that are dedicated in the 7th to 9th century Saivite canonical work the Thevaram. These are called the Paadal Petra Sthalams. These sites can be safely dated to that period. The vast majority of them are in Tamil Nadu. There are another 150 or so sites that are casually mentioned in the Thevaram and are called Thevara Vaippu Sthalams. The most important Vishnu temples are known as the Divya Desams. They find mention in the Vaisnavite Tamil canonical work the Naalaira Divya Prabantha. They are 108 in number and most of them are in Tamil Nadu. Then there are the Arupadai Veedu or the 6 abodes of Murugan. There are other groupings according to their importance. We will explore these further on.

Tamil Nadu is a big state and has many regions. In ancient times these regions were different kingdoms. As such the temples can be classified according to region also. The very south including the area around Madurai and further south is Pandian country.  To the Northeast of it and with the delta of the River Kaveri as it centre including the ancient city of Thanjavur, is the Chola country. Further north along the coast the area around the current state capital of Chennai is known as Thondai Nadu. To the West, closer to the Western Ghats is the Kongu. Then there are areas like Nadunadu or centre country sandwiched between the Thondai and the Chola lands.

With this background, let us explore these temples over the next several posts.

Thiruparankundram Madurai

This ancient temple is found on the outskirts of Madurai set against a granite hill. It is a rock cut cave temple with some unique features. Unlike other temples where there is only one deity in the sanctum sanctorum (the Karuvarai), this temple has five deities - Siva, Vishnu, Murugan, Ganesha and Durga. It is revered as an important Sivasthalam (Paadal Petra Sthalam) as well as one of the most important Murugan temples (it is one of the Aru Padai Veedu). A large temple has been built over the centuries around the ancient original cave. As it is set against the hillside, it does not have the traditional prakarams(Circumbulatory enclosures). Amazing temple. Must see if you visit Madurai. If you have time and energy go up the hill and visit the Kasi Visvanathar temple for some amazing views.

Visited in August 2019. Base Madurai

Koodalalagar or Koodal Azhagar Temple Madurai

This is an important Vishnu temple in Madurai very close to the Meenakshi Amman temple. It is a Divya Desam temple. Very ancient, it is mentioned in the Sangam Literature of the 1st century BCE to 2nd century CE. But the current structure was originally built by Pandian kings between the 9th and 12th centuries (with some Chola input) and extensively renovated during the Vijayanagar and Nayakkan periods between the 14th and 16th centuries, it has layers of history embedded in it. There is an inscription from the 8th century. The sanctum has 3 levels and is one of only two temples where you can see Lord Vishnu in all 3 poses - sitting (on the main level), lying (on the second level) and standing ( on the 3rd level). There is a small fee to access the upper levels. The style of the Vimanam (it is eight sided - Ashtanga Vimanam) suggests the 10th century. Absolutely stunning architecture. Look carefully at the sculptures and you may be able to see that they were crafted at different time periods.

We visited in August 2019. Base Madurai.

Introduction - Lesser Known Temples and Other Sites of Tamil nadu

The southern state of Tamil Nadu in India is known for its temples. It is often called the Land of Temples. Numerous temples big and small exist here. The Hindu and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu is said to have 38,615 temples on its roster according to sources. There are others too. The tradition of temple building in the Tamil country is several hundred years old. You find ancient temples here as well as very modern ones. Some are active places of worship while others are historical sites that are not active or partially active. The sites of some of these temples are very ancient and their dates of origin are obscure. The structures that we see today are up to 1500 hundred years old or older. Most temples are Hindu temples belonging to the Saivite or Vaishnavite traditions. There are places of worship belonging to other faiths that are very old too. All these sacred places are very important from cultural, artistic and architectural points of view. Some are well known, while others are less well known.

Our objective is to highlight these sites, mostly temples, that are less well known, through a series of posts over time. Some posts will highlight a particular temple or site while others will be about subjects that are related. These subjects might relate to history, an architectural element, iconography or other cultural aspect that might make the experience of visiting these places more meaningful. Others will concentrate on helping travellers plan their trips to visit some of these remote locations  Your reason for visiting might be religious, spiritual or due to curiosity to learn about a culture and civilization that is several hundred, perhaps thousands of years old. Whatever your reason and motivation might be, we invite you to visit this intriguing land. There is more to Tamil Nadu than what the basic travel guides will tell you. You might be an Indian from the cities or a foreigner. If you are are foreigner, you might be a diaspora Indian or Tamil person wanting to know more about your heritage or someone wanting to learn about this ancient culture. Whatever your background maybe, you might find these posts interesting.

These are mostly temples and sites we have visited. These posts are not meant to be comprehensive guides. They are introductions for the reader to explore further. I hope to give you some insight and tips if you ever plan to visit.