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Temple Speciality

Temple Name

Sthalam

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Apathsahyesvarar, Elavarkuzhali

Apatsahayesvarar Temple, Alangudi&nbsp;or&nbsp;Guru Sthalam&nbsp;or&nbsp;Tiru Irum Poolai&nbsp;is a&nbsp;Hindu&nbsp;temple dedicated to&nbsp;Shiva&nbsp;located in the village of Alangudi in the&nbsp;Valangaiman taluk&nbsp;of&nbsp;Tiruvarur district,&nbsp;Tamil Nadu,&nbsp;India. Shiva is worshipped as Apathsahyesvarar, and is represented by the&nbsp;lingam. His consort&nbsp;Parvati&nbsp;is depicted as Elavarkuzhali. The presiding deity is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the&nbsp;Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the&nbsp;Nayanmars&nbsp;and classified as&nbsp;Paadal Petra Sthalam.

The temple complex covers two acres and it houses a five tier gateway tower known as&nbsp;gopurams, one facing the Apathsaheswarar shrine and other towards North. The temple has a number of shrines, with those of Apathsaheswarar and his consort Elavarkuzhali being the most prominent.

The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 6:00&nbsp;a.m. to 8:30&nbsp;p.m., and four yearly festivals on its calendar. The Brahmotsavam festival celebrated during Chittirai (April&ndash;May) is the most prominent festival.

The original complex is believed to have been built by&nbsp;Cholas, while the present masonry structure was built during the&nbsp;Nayak&nbsp;during the 16th century. In modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by the&nbsp;Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department&nbsp;of the&nbsp;Government of Tamil Nadu.

The temple has a 5-tier&nbsp;rajagopuram&nbsp;surrounded by two&nbsp;prakarams&nbsp;(closed precincts of a temple). The temple is located in Alangudi, a village located 16&nbsp;km (9.9&nbsp;mi) from&nbsp;Kumbakonam&nbsp;and 56&nbsp;km (35&nbsp;mi) from&nbsp;Thanjavur&nbsp;on the Thanjavur - Thiruvarur road.

Puranam

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Legend is that&nbsp;Siva&nbsp;consumed deadly poison, giving rise to the name Alangudi and deity being termed Apatsahayesvarar, indicating saviour during hard times. The other names of the presiding deity are Aranyeswarar. There are sixteen waterbodies associated with the temple. 
Pancha Aranya Sthalams: Aranyam means forest and the following five temples at different forests Thanjavur / Kumbakonam / Thiruvarur region are revered as &quot;Pancha Aranya Sthalams&quot;.

1. Sri Mullaivananathar Temple at Tirukkarugavur &ndash; Mullai vanam [SCN018] 
2. Sri Satchi Nathar Temple at Avalivanallur &ndash; Paadhiri vanam [SCN100] 
3. Sri Paathaaleswarar Temple at Thiru Aradaipperumpazhi (Haridwara mangalam) &ndash; Vanni vanam [SCN099] 
4. Sri Aapathsahayeswarar Temple at Thiru Erumpoolai (Alangudi) &ndash; Poolai vanam [SCN098] 
5. Sri Vilvavaneswarar Temple at Thirukoovilam Pudhur (Thirukalambur) &ndash; Vilva vanam [SCN113]

Navagraha 
The temple is one of the nine Navagraha temples of Tamil Nadu and is a part of the popular Navagraha pilgrimage in the state - it houses the image of Guru (Jupiter).&nbsp;The planets are believed to influence the horoscope computed based on time of one&#39;s birth and subsequently influence the course of life. Each of the planets are believed to move from a star to another during a predefined period and thus sway over an individual&#39;s fortunes.

The Navagrahas, as per Hindu customs, are believed to provide both good and bad effects for any individual and the bad effects are mitigated by prayers. As in other Navagraha temples, the common worship practises of the devotees include offering of cloth, grains, flowers and jewels specific to the planet deity. Lighting a set of lamps is also commonly followed in the temple.

As per contemporary Saivite belief, the energies distributed cyclically by Navagrahas can be channeled based on remedial measures. As per local legends, Shiva, the overlord of the nine planetary deities, allowed them to freely grant wishes based on devotion of the devotees.

Varnam

HISTORY OF APATSAHAYESVARAR TEMPLE IN ALANGUDI:

Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple&nbsp;is believed to have been constructed by an ardent devotee of&nbsp;Lord Shiva&nbsp;named&nbsp;Amuthokar&nbsp;whowas the minister of a King named&nbsp;Masukuntha Chakravarti. He was beheaded by the Kingas he refused to give up his merit of virtue in the king&rsquo;s name. However, the temple reverberated with the minister&rsquo;s name &ldquo;Amuthokar&rdquo; when he died. This scared the King, and he realized his mistake. So, he started worshipping&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tamilnadutourism.com/tour-packages/temple-tour/arupadai-veedu-tour.php">Lord Shiva</a>&nbsp;with ardent devotion for getting relieved from all his Doshas of killing a Shiva Devotee. Thus, he was relieved of all his Doshas.

LEGENDS OF APATSAHAYESVARAR&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tamilnadutourism.com/tour-packages/temple-tour/index.php">TEMPLE</a>&nbsp;IN ALANGUDI:&nbsp;Legend has it that when&nbsp;Devas&nbsp;and&nbsp;Asuras&nbsp;were churning the&nbsp;Paarkadal&nbsp;(Cosmic Ocean) for the&nbsp;Amrutha&nbsp;(the nectar of immortal life), a deadly poisonous fumes (Alakala Vesham) from the Serpent King,&nbsp;Vasuki&nbsp;disturbed them. Hence, the&nbsp;Devas&nbsp;and&nbsp;Asuras&nbsp;approached&nbsp;Lord Shiva&nbsp;for deliverance. Without further ado,&nbsp;Lord Shiva&nbsp;took the deadly poisoninto his throat and swallowed it. As per the myth, serpent&nbsp;Vasuki&rsquo;s&nbsp;poison has the power to kill anyone on earth, hell, or heaven if they come in touch. Since&nbsp;Lord Shiva&nbsp;took it himself to save the three worlds from the effect of the deadly poison,&nbsp;the Lord is known by the name &lsquo;Apatsahayesvarar&rsquo; which means &lsquo;rescuer&rsquo; in&nbsp;the<a href="https://www.tamilnadutourism.com/">&nbsp;Tamil&nbsp;</a>language. Also, the place came to known as&nbsp;Alangudi&nbsp;(Alam &ndash; Poison, Kudi &ndash; Drink).

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GREATNESS OF&nbsp;APATSAHAYESVARAR TEMPLE IN ALANGUDI:

Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple&nbsp;is the &ldquo;Guru Navagrahasthalam&rdquo; dedicated to&nbsp;planet Jupiter&nbsp;or&nbsp;Brihaspati&nbsp;who is known for his excellence in wisdom, education, and fine arts. Hence, devotees flock to&nbsp;Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple&nbsp;to offer their respects to the all-knowledgeable deity for long life, good education, prosperity, and valor in life. It is believed that those worshipping&nbsp;Guru Bhagavan&nbsp;here on&nbsp;Thursdays&nbsp;are blessed with all welfare in life. Also, those afflicted with snake planet aspects are said to get relief here.&nbsp; It is strongly believed that&nbsp;Guru Bhagavan&nbsp;graces His blessings to devotees if they light&nbsp;24 ghee lamps&nbsp;and do&nbsp;24 rounds&nbsp;of Pradakshina around the&nbsp;Shiva&nbsp;shrine. It is also considered auspicious to offer Chick Pea (Konda Kadalai), Yellow Cloth, Yellow Lentils and White Jasmine (Vella Mullai) to the&nbsp;Guru Bhagavan&nbsp;on&nbsp;Thursdays.&nbsp;Guru Peyarchi Festival&nbsp;is the main celebration of&nbsp;Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple&nbsp;which marks the day of the transition of&nbsp;planet Jupiter&nbsp;from one zodiac symbol&rsquo;s constellation to another&rsquo;s. Masi Maham, the Chariot Festival of&nbsp;Lord Dakshinamurthy, the ten days long Chaitra Pournami Festival, Chitthirai Purnima, Thai poosam, and Panguni Uthiram are the

other festivals celebrated here with much pomp and devotion. The rituals of&nbsp;Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple&nbsp;comprises four steps: the sacred bath &ndash;&nbsp;Abhisheka;&nbsp;bedecking &ndash;&nbsp;Alangaram;&nbsp;the Prasad offering &ndash;&nbsp;Naivethanam;&nbsp;and the Puja with lamps &ndash;&nbsp;&nbsp;Deepa Aradanai.

Highlights

<ul>
	<li>&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple&nbsp;is one of the 275&nbsp;Paadal Petra Sthalams&nbsp;which is praised by the&nbsp;Nayanmars&nbsp;(Thirugnanasambanthar and Appar) in the&nbsp;Tevaram Hymns.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>&nbsp;Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple&nbsp;is believed to have been constructed by an ardent devotee of&nbsp;Lord Shiva&nbsp;named&nbsp;Amuthokar&nbsp;whowas the minister of a Kingnamed&nbsp;Masukuntha Chakravarthy.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>One of the main speciality of&nbsp;Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple&nbsp;is its structure which reminds of the famous Philosophy &lsquo;Matha Pitha Guru&lsquo;. On entering this divine temple, one will first meet the&nbsp;Goddess Parvathi&nbsp;(Matha) followed by&nbsp;Lord Shiva&nbsp;(Pitha) and the&nbsp;Lord Dakshinamoorthy&nbsp;(Guru).</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>The presiding deity,&nbsp;Apatsahayesvarar&nbsp;of this temple is a&nbsp;Swayambulinga Murthy.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>As there is no direct shrine for&nbsp;planet Jupiter&nbsp;here,&nbsp;Lord Dakshinamurthy&nbsp;who is considered as the authority of the&nbsp;planet Jupiter&nbsp;is worshipped very devotionally here at&nbsp;Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple&nbsp;is said to be the only temple where the&nbsp;Chariot Festival&nbsp;of&nbsp;Lord Dakshinamurthy&nbsp;is celebrated.</li>
</ul>

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<ul>
	<li>Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple&nbsp;is considered as a &ldquo;Panch Aranya Sthalam&rdquo;&nbsp;which means the place covered by 5 forests.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>Three holy rivers namely, Cauvery, Kolidam, and Vennaru surround the&nbsp;Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple&nbsp;boasts of&nbsp;15 Theerthams&nbsp;(Holy Water) among which the&nbsp;Chakra Theertham,&nbsp;believed to have been created by&nbsp;Maha Vishnu&rsquo;s&nbsp;Chakra (Disc) and&nbsp;Amrita Pushkarani&nbsp;are the famous.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple&nbsp;comprises a 5-tier Rajagopuram which is encircled by two Prakarams.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>Poolai Shrub&nbsp;is regarded as the holy tree of&nbsp;Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple&nbsp;and it is an object of worship here.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>Another speciality of&nbsp;Alangudi Apatsahayesvarar Temple&nbsp;is that on the Idol of the&nbsp;Saint Sundarar, scars of measles are seen</li>
</ul>

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Sevas/Festivals

The temple priests perform the puja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. The temple rituals are performed six times a day; Kalasanthi at 6:00 a.m., Irandam Kalm at 9:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 a.m., Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m, Irandam Kalm at 7:30 p.m., and Arthajamam at 9:00 p.m.. Each ritual comprises four steps: abhisheka (sacred bath), alangaram (decoration), naivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for Apatsahayesvarar and Elavarkuzhali.

There are weekly rituals like somavaram (Monday) and sukravaram (Friday), fortnightly rituals like pradosham, and monthly festivals like amavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai, pournami (full moon day) and sathurthi.

Other festivals include Vinayaka Chaturthi, Aadi Pooram, Navaratri, Aippasi Pournami, Skanda Sashti, Kartikai Deepam, Arudra Darisanam, Thaipusam, Maasi Magam, Panguni Uththiram and Vaikasi Visakam. The major festival of the temple is the Brahmotsavam celebrated during the Tamil month of Chittirai (April&ndash;June), when special worship practises are followed and the festival image of the deity is taken around the streets of Alangudi.

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Image of the temple car

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The Northern temple tower

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Front mandapa

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The temple is counted as one of the&nbsp;Navagraha Temples&nbsp;for planet&nbsp;Guru&nbsp;(Jupiter).Tirugnana Sambandar, a 7th-century Tamil&nbsp;Saivite&nbsp;poet, venerated Apathsaheswarar in ten verses in&nbsp;Tevaram, compiled as the&nbsp;First Tirumurai.&nbsp;Appar, a contemporary of Sambandar, also venerated Annamalaiyar in 10 verses in&nbsp;Tevaram, compiled as the&nbsp;Fifth Tirumurai. As the temple is revered in&nbsp;Tevaram, it is classified as&nbsp;Paadal Petra Sthalam, one of the 275 temples that find mention in the Saiva canon. The temple is one of the most visited temples in the district.

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According to a Hindu legend,&nbsp;Mahalingaswamy at Thiruvidaimarudur&nbsp;is the centre of all Shiva temples in the region and the&nbsp;Saptha Vigraha moorthis&nbsp;(seven prime consorts in all&nbsp;Shiva&nbsp;temples) are located at seven cardinal points around the temple, located in various parts of the state.&nbsp;

The seven deities are&nbsp;Nataraja&nbsp;in&nbsp;Chidambaram Nataraja Temple&nbsp;at&nbsp;Chidambaram,&nbsp;Chandikeswarar temple at Tirucheingalur,&nbsp;Vinayagar&nbsp;in&nbsp;Vellai Vinayagar Temple&nbsp;at&nbsp;Thiruvalanchuzhi,&nbsp;Muruga&nbsp;in&nbsp;Swamimalai Murugan Temple&nbsp;at&nbsp;Swamimalai,&nbsp;Bhairava&nbsp;in&nbsp;Sattainathar Temple&nbsp;at&nbsp;Sirkali,&nbsp;Navagraha&nbsp;in&nbsp;Sooriyanar Temple&nbsp;at&nbsp;Suryanar Kovil&nbsp;and Dakshinamoorthy in Apatsahayesvarar Temple at&nbsp;Alangudi, Tiruvarur.

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