Spinx temple of Thirvathavoor, Near Madurai

Temple Name : Thiruvathavoor Shiva Temple

City, State and Location : Thiruvathavur, Madurai, Tamil Nadu

Prime Deities of the temple: Lord Thirumarainathar(Shiva) and Aranavalliammai Ambal (Goddess)

Antiquity / Historicity: Around 2000 Years.

Temple Highlights: Birth place of great Saiva Siddhanta Saint Sri Manickavasagar who wrote thiruvasagam. It is also the birth place of Tamil poet Kabilar.  

Those are suffering from any form of Sani (Saturn) effects, visit this temple and get all the problems solved.  

The temple tank has a unique spinx idol in the middle. It is called as Purusha Mirugam. This can be seen in very few temples. When there is a draught, special prayers are offered to this Purusha Mirugam for rains.

Temple Timings: 7 AM to 12 Afternoon and 4 PM to 8 PM

How to reach: a) Tiruvathavoor is approximately 25 KMs from Madurai Bus Stand and there are 

direct buses available from Madurai.  b) Bus services from Melur (9 KMs to Thiruvathavoor).  c) Bus from Madurai to Othakadai and then share auto-rickshaw to Thrivathavoor.
Mythology of Thiruvathavoor Temple: After defected by Asuras (Demons), Lord Vishnu protected all Devas.  Asuras went to Bruhu Rishi and Kavyamatha.  Lord Vishnu requested Kavyamatha to handover all Asuras to HIM, for that Kavyamatha did not oblige.  Lord Vishnu beheaded her using his Chakra.  Bruhu Rishi cursed Lord Vishu and said “You will have many incarnations in this world, and in one of the incarnations, you would suffer without your wife for some time”. To get the curse cured, Lord Vishnu came to Vedhapuri (now Thiruvathavoor) and worshipped Lord Shiva by reciting Shiva Panchatcharam.

Nearby Temples:

Rock-cut Narasimha temple at Yanamalai: According to the Sthala Puranam, known as Koodal Manmiyam, sage Romasa had installed the Narasimha idol in a cave in the hill.

Location: Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India