Tirunelveli Sri Nellaiappar Temple

Tirunelveli Sri Nellaiappar Temple

Thirunelveli/Pancha Sabha Kshetram/Venu Vanam is one of the 275 Thevara Shivasthalam of Lord Shiva located on the river banks of Tamraparani at the heart of Tirunelveli, Madurai, Tamil Nadu.  This is one of the prominent temples of Lord Shiva built by the Pandya Kings date back to 17th century.  This temple occupies 14 acres of acres massive land with majestic Rajapouram, stunning Maha Mandapams, Tamra Sabha (celestial cosmic dance hall) with exquisite paintings and murals.

Presiding deity – Sri Nellaiappar/Venuvananathar/Veimathanathar/Nelvelinathar/Salivatheswar/Venuvaneswarar/Venuvana Mahalingeswarar/Tamra Sabhapathy/ Swayambhu Moorthy with his consort Goddess Sri Kanthimathi Ammai/Vadivudaiammai

Mangalasasanam – Thiru Gnana Sambandhar.  Saint Arunagirinathar sung praising the glories of Lord Subramanya in this temple.

Theertham – Potramarai Theertham, Karumari Theertham, Sindhupoonthurai Theertham, Tamrabharani

Sthalavruksham – Moongil ( Bamboo)

Worshipped by – Sage Agastya

Sannidhis –Lord Ganesha, Lord Nandikeshwara, Lord Subramanya with his consorts Sri Valli & Deivayanai, Lord Vishnu as Nellai Govindan, Santhana Sabapathi, Lord Nataraja,

There are three wide circumambulatory paths located in this temple.  In the First Praharam there are sannidhis of Lord Dakshinamurthy, Lord Brahma, Goddess Durga, Lord Chandikeswara, Goddess Mahishasura Mardhini, Lord Bhairava and  Lord Govinda.

In the Second Praharam there are astonishing pillars which produces Sapthaswaras (Sa,Ri,Ga,Ma,Pa,Da,Ni) and Tamra Sabha of Lord Shiva positioned here.  In addition to this, there are idols of 63 Nayanmars, Goddess Ashtalakshmi, Lord Shaneeswara and Sahasra Linga.

In the Third Praharam there is a sannidhis of Lord Subramanya with Goddess Sri Valli & Deivayanai. 

Festivals – Maha Shivaratri, Navaratri, Arudra Darisanam, Iyypasi Kalyanostavam, Brahmostavam, Karthikai, Thaipoosam, Ani Car Festival,

There are several interesting myths associated with this temple.  There was a righteous Brahmin Veda Sarma; he was a zealous devotee of Lord Shiva.  He was meticulously followed the rituals of a Brahmin prescribed in the Veda and sacred scriptures.  He made his livings by Vedic chants in this means he receive alms from the villagers.  It was his daily practice to offer Lord with whatever received as alms.  As any other day, he received harvested rice but not yet processed as alms and kept it for parched. He went to have a holy dip in the pond.  Suddenly, the sky turned cloudy and started raining heavily with thunder storms.   Veda Sarma was hysterical at this sight, thought of his alms were roughly washed off with the down pour.  He dashed to the place where he had kept the grains to dry, he earnestly prayed Lord to save the grains.  He was surprised to see the heavy down pour washed off the rest of the places, eaving behind the place where grains kept for drying.    His grains were remained untouched and dried out on the bright sunlight when the remaining land was flooded with water.  Veda Sarma hurried to the palace of King Rama Pandya and informed the miraculous incident.  King and his men scurried to the spot to witness the spectacular event.  Thus the presiding deity of this temple has got the name Nelvelinathar.

Another legend has that there was Brahmin used to bring Milk to the Palace on daily basis.  One day while he was on his way to Palace stumbled upon a stone and dispensed the whole milk on the stone.  This incident repeated continuously for few days.  The poor Brahmin was worried of these bizarre happenings and informed the King.  King and his men arrived on the spot and started the excavation process.  While the work was in progress, the spear strongly hit on the stone and blood oozed out.  The people gathered were shocked to witness the incident, instantaneously there heard a divine voice and a Linga appeared with abrasion on it.    In this temple the presiding deity – self manifested Linga can been seen with a cut mark on it.