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.
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