Tiru Nangur Annan Koil, Tirunangur.1, Nagapattinam District

There are about 11 ancient temple in Tirunangur near Seerkazhi which are referred to as Tirunangur Divyadesams . These temples are among the 108 Tirupatis of Vishnu and they are situated close by but accessing each temple becomes easier  if one hires a guide and I was fortunate enough to engage Mr. Subramani , a gentleman who is thoroughly aware of the timings and route of reaching these temples.

 For first timers it would be difficult to access all temples as it would take time meandering through the narrow village roads and  there are no sign boards showing  direction .

He  maintains good relationship with priests here and makes necessary arrangements to make the visits fruitful. It is possible to visit these temples in  3-4 hours. 

This temple draws crowd only during festival season and some of the temples remain open only depending on the availability of priests.

I will share his phone number at the end of the post so it would be easy to reach him.

He is only a navigator and don't expect any temple history, legend  from him.

It is believed that Tirumangai Azhwar. One of the 12 Azhwars  sang hymns praising  Lord Vishnu in these temples.  As per Lord Shiva's wish Lord Vishnu appeared here in 11 forms and these came to be collectively called as Tirunangur divyadesams .

As there are 11 temples I would share one by one as I have to upload pictures of the temples too.

The first one I visited was Annan Kovil at Tiruvellakulam village.

This temple is located in a calm and serene environment away form the dust and din of the city. The surroundings are enveloped by greenery and peace prevails here literally.

The Lord in the temple was addressed by Thirumangai Azhwar first in his hymns  as Annan ( elder brother).  Lord here is known as  Srivasan  and  His consort    Alarmel Mangai as in Tirupati, hence those place is also known as Then Tirupati.

There is a small shrine for Aanjeneya at the entrance and Garuda's shrine is facing the Lord here. 

Kumuda Vali Nachiyar , wife of Tirumangai Alwar has a separte shrine here. She was a celestial maiden and used to come to this place to pluck Kumuda flowers. Once she lost power to reach back to heaven and Neelan commander of Tirumangai approached her for her hand. She laid many conditions and he was able to win her hand with the help of Perumal. Lord elevated him to the status of Azhwar and he worshipped Lord with his sweet hymns.
Mr. Subrami's Phone contact- 9159706875

Temple timing- 8 Am-11.30 Am

5.30 pm -8.30 pm

Tiruvidaimaradhur, Mahalingaswamy temple Near Kubakonam, Tamilnadu

Tamil Nadu is famous for its ancient temples, its grandeur  cannot be contained in a few words ,each one is a an architectural marvel and they are scattered all over the State.

This time, I am taking you  to a temple in Tiruvidaimarudhur which  is considered to be  as sacred as Varanasi  near Kumbakonam  where the presiding deity is Siva. This temple, I would say is huge and is spread over 20 acres. I was very happy to visit this as this was on my wish list for long. It is easy to locate this temple if one plans as it is just 7-8 Kms from Kumbaonam city and no one would miss the majestic multi tiered Gopuram of this temple from a long distance.

The temple precincts are also huge it takes about 10 minutes to walk from one side of the Gopuram to the other.The grandeur of the tall gopurams on all 4 sides the ornate Mandapas makes one wonder about the skillful architecture of the artisans during  the Chola period.

The Lord here is known as Mahalingaswamy , a huge Lingam believed to be a self manifestation.

Every temple will have a main deity and subshrines ; Parivara devatas surrounding the Lord around the temple but the Siva temple here forms the focal point for the other grand temples in the vicinity i.e Tiruvalanchuzhi , Swetha Vinaygar, Murugan temple in Swami Malai, Somaskandar at Tiruvarur,Tiruvavduthurai with Nandi, Seerkazhi  for Bhairavar,Tiruseingalur for Chandikeshwarar, Suryanar Koil with Navgrahas, Alangudi for Dakshinamoorthy,Tirukkadayur for Ambal,Tirunallar for Saneeshwaran, Pateeshwaram for Durgai and Natarajar for Chidambaram.

The Ambal sannidhi here is one among the Saktipeetas. Consort here is known as Bruhusundara gujambigai. Goddess Mookambigai is yet another important shrine here and considered as holy as Kollur Moogambigai temple in Karnataka. Mahameru Srichakram is installed in this shrine.

Sacred tree here is maruda tree. This is  one of the three temples having a Marudha tree, other two are in Srisailam Andhrapradesh and third one in Ambasamudram In Tamil Nadu itself.

Do include this temple in your list when you plan Kumbakonam trip

Temple timings:- 6 Am -12 noon 

5pm-8pm

phone number 91 435 2460660

Nearest city is Kumbakonam which 8Kms away 

Kumbakonam has good hotels suiting to one's budget.