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Poets   :   Tirujnanasampanthar, Appar, Sundarar pongunool maarpineer puthappataiyeer poonkangai thankucen cataiyineer caamavetham othineer enkum ezhilaa maraiyorkal muraiyaal eththa itaimaruthil mankultoy koile koilaaka makizhntheere. Tirujnanasampanthar This is the 30th holy place in the southern banks of Kaveri consecrated by Thevaram.

There are four Vinayaka temples in the corners of the four streets where Temple Car is pulled. At the theradi (the Car Station) is the Vinayaka temple, in the East Street the Viswanatha temple, in the West Street is the Rishipureeswarar temple, in the South Street Aatmanaatha temple and in the North Street is the Chocknaatha temple. Lord Mahalingeswarar sits in the middle amidst these temples. Hence, this holy place is identified as panchalinga sthalam. The Vinayakar of this place is known as Aanta Ganapati.

Mookambigai   :   The Thiruvitaimaruthur Mookambigai of this place is as famous and great like the Karnataka Kollur Mookambigai. In India, only in Kollur and Thiruvitaimaruthur, Mookambigai shrines are seen; it is not found anywhere else. Only here a separate sanctum could be seen. In this temple, the Mookambigai sanctum is on the southern side of Ambals sanctum. The inner sanctum of this temple is constructed like the North Indian temple structure. In this sanctum, the most powerful Maha Meru Srichakram is installed.

Moola Linga Sthalam   :   According to the rules of temple structure, Lord Mahalinga Swamy remains as the central Prime Deity in this temple, amidst the temples and surrounded by deities. They are Tiruvalanchuzhi-Vinayakar, Swamimalai-Murugan, Sejnalur-Chandeswarar, Sooriyanarkoil-Sooriyan and other nine planets, Chidambaram-Natarajar, Sirkaali-Bhairavar, and Thiruvavaduthurai-Tirunandhi. This is a very significant feature.

Aswamedha pratakshinam   :   Reaching the temple and circling the inner way of the first wall, to worship the Lord Marudapperumaan is known as Aswamedha pratakshinam. Those who do this will receive all benefits. Before beginning this sacred exercise, one should worship Lord Muruga. One has to limit his prayer duration as one, half and quarter mandalams. The going around also must be stipulated as one hundred and eight, twenty-four, twelve and seven circles. It is believed that the devotees who circle around on the Thirukarthigai Deepam day and during the Thai month festival will receive immense benefits. Next to this is the Kodumudi prakaaram. To go around this prakaraam is equal to going round the Mount Kailas and receive benediction.

Pattinathaar and Badragiriyaar   :  The life-history of Pattinathaar and this Thiruvidaimaruthur temple has close connection. Pattinathaar has sung many songs on the Lord Maruthavaanar of this temple. His disciple is Badragiriyaar, who was a King once upon a time, renounced everything and became the disciple of Pattinathaar. Both the guru and the disciple went on pilgrimage to all the Siva temples, came and stayed at Thiruvidaimaruthur. Pattinathaar never kept even a begging bowl. On the other hand, the disciple had a begging bowl and also a dog. Once the Lord disguised as a Siva-devotee came and asked alms to Pattinathaar who told Him I am a beggar. I do not have anything to give. There?s a family man near the west tower of this temple.The Lord went to that place and begged Badragiriyaar, who realized and felt sad that the begging bowl and the dog had made him a family man. Thinking so, he threw the bowl on the dog. The begging bowl broke and the dog also died. The Lord then appeared before him and granted moksa to Badragiriyaar and also to the dog. That place could be seen even today. It is called the Naayatiyaar Koil in the East Maada Street. One can see this site in this sacred place.

The Sacred Place where Lord Mahalinga worshipped Himself This holy place is situated between Mallikaarjunam Sri Sailam in the North and Thiruputaimaruthur (Putaarjunam) of the Tirunelveli District in the South, and is called Itaimaruthu (Madhyarjunam). The Sanskrit word, Arjunam means maruda tree. The sacred tree in all these three places is the maruda tree. Lords Saturn and Moon have worshipped here. To the sage Kasyapa, the Lord of Itaimaruthu, Lord Marudavaanar has appeared as child Krishna. There are about 32 theerthams (holy water) like Kaarunayaamirtha Theertham and Kavirippoosa Theertham. For the 27 stars, there are 27 lingams.

On the four sides are temples for Viswanaathar, Aathmanaathar, Rishipureeswarar and Chockanaathar and so this place is called Panchalingasthalam. Varaguna Pandiyan came to this sacred place and got relieved of his brahmahatthi dosha. Since Pattinathaar, Badragiriyaar, Varaguna Pandiyan, Arunagirinaathar and Karuvoor Thevar have worshipped the Lord here, this place has become quite well-known. Here Badragiriyaar and his disciple attained mukti.

Pattinathaar has sung many songs celebrating this place. The four Nayanmaar, Appar, Tirujnanasambandar, Sundarar and Manickvaasagar have composed ?Thevaram? songs consecrating this temple. Arunagirinaatar have celebrated this place in his Tiruppugazh. Those with Anusha star can be relieved of their afflictions in this place.

Sage Agasthya, along with the other sages came to Itaimaruthur and performed tapasya meditating on Goddess Umadevi. Goddess Uma also appeared before the sage. The sages accordingly worshipped the Goddess and requested that they would like to see the Lord also. Umadevi, for the sake of the sages, went in Sivatapasya. The Lord granted Her wish and appeared before Her and the sages. After appearing before them, the Lord began worshipping the Jothi Lingam. The surprised Umadevi asked the Lord O Lord!  It is the practice that Brahman and other deities worship thee. But, thou art worshipping thine own self! The Lord replied Uma Devi!  We are the Ultimate who worship and accept worship. It is because these sages have forgotten to worship us, we are worshipping ourselves. That is why I?m worshipping myself. The Legend says that from that day onwards the sages performed worship according to the Kaamika Law and received great benefits.

Moolavar: Mahalingam

Amman / Thayar: Perumulaiyaal

Thala Virutcham: Marutha tree

Theertham: Kaarunyamirtham

Old year: 1000-2000 years old

This famous sivasthalam is located 9 Kmsfrom Kumbakonam en route to Mayiladuthurai. Town bus facilities are available from Kumbakonam. There is also a railway station at Tiruvidaimarudur on the Kumbakonam - Mayiladuturai section of the Southern Railway.

The Shivasthalam at Tiruvidaimarudur on the banks of river Cauvery is one of the 6 most sacred places on par with Varanasi (Benares). The other 5 sivasthalams are 1. Tiruvenkaadu, 2. Mayiladuthurai, 3. Tiruvaiyaru, 4. Tiruchaaikkadu (Chaayaavanam), and 5. Tiruvanchiam.

This Shiva temple at Tiruvidaimarudur is about 1200 years old and is a big temple with lofty gopurams and lengthy corridors. This sivasthalam is popularly known as Madhyaarjunam. The term Madhyaarjunam tranlates into Idaimarudhu in Tamil language. Arjunam refers to Marudhamaram, the sthalavriksham of this temple. The temple has 3 prakarams ( corridors) and according to many legends associated with the temple, it is considered highly auspicious to do a pradakshinam (a circumambulatory walk through the corridors) on these 3 corridors.

Aswamedha praharam: This prakaram or corridor is the outermost prakaram and doing pradhakshinam in this praharam will give the effect of doing Ashwamedha yagam.

Kodumudi praharam: This is the middle corridor and doing pradakshinam in this prakaram will give the effect of visiting Mount Kailash - the Abode of Lord Shiva.

Pranava praharam: This the innermost corridor and doing pradakshinam in this prakaram will give mokshaa (salavation).

This temple is also known as Panchalinga Sthalam as the main deity is surrounded on four corners by temples dedicated to Vishwanathar, Aatmanathar, Rishipureeshwarar and Chokkanathar.

Because of the glory and importance of the temple at Tiruvidaimarudur, some nearby temples in the vicinity of Tiruvadiamarudur are referred as Parivara Devatha shrines. They are

Tiruvalanchuzi - Vinayakar
Swamimalai - Murugar (one of the 6 Abodes of Lord Muruguar)
Tiruvarur - Somaskandar
Chidambaram - Natarajar
Alangudi - Dhakshinamoorthy
Tiruvavaduthurai - Nandhikeshwarar
Tiruchaignallur - Chandikeshwarar
Srikazhi - Bhairavar
Sooriyanar Koil - Navagrahams

Significance: This temple is associated with the life of King Varaguna Pandian of Pandiya Naadu. The king was once returning to his capital after a hunting trip to nearyby forests. It was after sunset and the king was riding on a horse. He unwittingly killed a brahmin riding over him. Thus he was afflicted with Brahmahathi dosham (the sin of killing a brahmin) and further was possessed by the spirit of the dead brahmin. The king was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and offered prayers to the God to free him from the Brahmahathi Dosham. One day Lord Somasundarar of Madurai appeared in his dreams and advised him to visit Tiruvidaimarudur. Accordingly the king Varaguna Pandian visited Tiruvidaimarudur and when he entered the temple, the spirit of the dead brahmin did not have the courage to enter the sanctum of Lord Shiva and stayed behind hoping to catch the king once again when he came out of the temple. But the king was directed by Lord Shiva to exit through the west gate of the temple and was thus relieved from the Brahmahathi dosham. Even today the practice of entering the temple through the main entrance and exiting through the west gate is followed by all the visitors and devotees to the temple.

Lord Shiva gave darshan and appeared in the form of Arthanareeswarar to sage Markandeyar as desired by the sage at this sivasthalam. A separate shrine for Mookambikai, situated to the south of the shrine for presiding female deity, is of special importance at this temple. It is to be noted that shrines for Goddess Mookambikai are only at two places in India, one at Tiruvidaimarudur and the other one second at Kollur in Karnakata state.

Great Saints like Agasthyar, Adi Shankaracharya, Pattinathar, Sridhara Venkatesa Ayyaval, Bodhendra Saraswathi (59th Peedathipathi of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam), Badragiriar, Arunagirirnathar had visited this shrine and worshipped the lord. It is believed that when Adi Shakara worshipped, the Lord Mahalingeshwarar uttered Sathyam Advaitham three times. It is also believed that Sridhara Ayyaval a great Shiva bhatka has merged with the Lord as a joyti (light). Sri Bodhendra Saraswathis jeeva samadhi is also situated in Govindapuram near Tiruvidaimaruthur.

The Lord of this holy place graces us as swayambu moorthi. The Thiruvitaimaruthur Mookambigai of this place is as famous and great like the Karnataka Kollur Mookambigai. In India, only in Kollur and Thiruvitaimaruthur, Mookambigai shrines are seen.

In the month of Thai Thaipoosam 10 days festival Brahmotsavam. Everyday there will be the procession of the Lord, both in the morning and evening, in different carriers. On the 10th day, the festival gets completed with the theerthavaari. In the Vaikaasi month the grand Vasanthotsavam festival for 10 days Tirukkalyaanam festival, Ambaal tapasu, Ambaal thannai thaane prayer festivals are conducted with fanfare. In this holy place, Thiruvaathirai, Aaadipooram and Karthigai are celebrated in a significant manner. On the monthly, pratosha days, the devotees in large number throng the temple. On the important festivity days like Deepavali, Pongal, Tamil or English New Year Days, special poojas and abhishekams are performed.

Devotees in large numbers come and worship the Mookambigai shrine, since it is considered to be powerful. The married couples worship intensely that they should conceive without any problems and beget babies. Likewise, women pray for safe delivery. This kind of worship significantly prevails in this shrine.

Devotees who circle methodically the big prakaaram and then worship the Prime Deity are surely relieved of mental aberration, psychic depression, madness and like sicknesses. That they enjoy great relief and happiness could be seen even today. By worshipping the Prime Deity, Lord Mahalinga Swamy, ones sorrow and unhappiness are alleviated. Those who wish for good marriage and those who long for offspring can perform prayers here. They will get mental peace.

Moreover, one can pray for job attainment, enhancement in business and promotion in the job. The Lord definitely grants their wishes.

Abhishekam can be performed to the Lord with ingredients like milk, curd, panchamirtham, rice flour, honey, rosewater, soft coconut water, sandal paste, vibhuthi, rice powder and tamarind powder. We can also don the Lord with new dhoti, Ambal with new sari and offer food to the devotees who come to the temple.. We can offer ?naivedyam? to the Lord and distribute it to the devotees. We can also participate in the regular pooja, abhisheka performances. Those who can afford can donate to the temple renovation.

The temple is open from 6.00 am to 11.00 am and from 5.00pm to 8.00 pm.

Arulmigu Jothi Mahalinga Swami Tirukkoil, Thiruvitaimaruthur - 612 104, Thanjavur District. Contact Number +91435 2460660.

Do:

Do pray your Ishta Devata before pilgrimage to Temple.
Do contact Temple Devasthanam information centre for enquiry, temple information and for Pooja details etc.
Do reserve your travel and accommodation at Temple well in advance.
Do bath and wear clean clothes before you enter the temple.
Do concentrate on God and Goddess inside the temple.
Do maintain silence and recite Om Namahsivaya or your Istamantram to yourself inside the temple.
Do observe ancient custom and traditions while in Temple.
Do respect religious sentiments at Temple.
Do deposit your offerings in the hundi only.

Don't s:

Do not come to Temple for any purpose other than worshipping of God and Goddess.
Do not smoke at Temple.
Do not consume alcoholic drinks at Temple.
Do not eat non-vegetarian food in the Kshetram.
Do not approach mediators for quick Darshanam. It may cause inconvenient to others.
Do not carry any weapon inside the temple.
Do not wear any head guards like helmets, caps, turbans and hats inside the temple premises.
Do not perform Sastanga Pranama inside the Sanctum Sanctorum.
Do not take much time while performing Sparsa Darshanam to God in Garbhagriha.
Do not buy spurious prasadams from street vendors.
Do not encourage beggars at Temple.
Do not spit or create nuisance in the premises of the temple.