The temple is praised in the
hymns of Saivite saints Tirugnanasambandar, Tirunavikkarasar and Sundarar.One
such song by saint Tirunavukkarasar in the melodious Thandagam metre describes
the handsome Lord and his blessing qualities towards His devotees and the
beauty of Tirupuvanam surrounded fragrant gardens.This is the 11th temple in
the Pandya region praised in the hymns.
Lord Shiva graces as a
Swaymbumurthy. The 36th chapter in the epic Tiruvilayadal Puranam relates to
this temple about the alchemy miracle(Rasavada play).
The place is also known by other
names as Pushpavanakasi, Pithurmokshapuram, Bhaskarapuram, Lakshmipuram,
Brahmmapuram and Rasavadhapuram. Lord Pushpavaneswarar with His consort
Soundaryanayaki had played many miracles. As this is a place with fragrant
gardens, it is called Poovanam. Lord Pushpavaneswarar blesses his
devotees relieving them of all hardships. The place is considered very
sacred as this qualifies the three important standards of Murthy, Sthala and
Theertha according to our scriptures.
During the Puranic Age, one Darma
Yagnan was carrying his fathers ashes asthi to Rameswaram from Kasi now
Varanasi. He stayed in this place for a while for rest. His friend
accompanying him opened the pot containing the asthi but was surprised to find
flowers in the pot and not asthi. But he did not reveal the truth to his
friend. Reaching Rameswaram, while opening the pot, they found only asthi
and not the flower. Now, the friend told Darmayagna what he found
earlier. They returned back with the pot to Tirupuvanam and found the
flower when they opened the pot. As what was simply asthi(ash) in Kasi turned into a flower in Tirupuvanam, the
place is considered 16 times holier than Kasi. The proverb here goes it
is a veesam more than Kasi claiming greater reputation than Kasi. Those unable to go to Kasi to immerse the ashes of the departed ones in River
Ganga do it here in Vaigai River and light the Moksha Deepa. When saint Tirugnanasambandar visited this place, he saw Shivalingas in every
particle of river sand and could not walk on the banks to reach the other side
of the river. He prayed to the Lord singing His praise from where he
was. Nandhi, the bull vehicle of Lord Shiva was hiding the Lord from
Gnanasambandar. Lord Shiva asked the Nandhi to move by the side to grant
His darshan to the saint. We see Nandhi in the temple a little away on
the side representing this event.
The entrance of the temple is with a five tier tower Gopura. Lord Shiva
graces with a Rudraksha body. Shivalinga in the temple has a trident
symbol. Mother Soundaryanayaki graces from the right of the
Lord. There are five theerthas in the temple of which Manikarnikai
is distinct from others. Sage Agasthya was able to consume the whole sea
water as he consumed Manikarnika theertha first. This the place where
king Nala, Brahmma, Vishnu, Sage Gautama, Sun, Sri Mahalakshmi, Sage Agasthya,
Goraka Siddha worshipped Lord Shiva, according to scriptures.
There lived in Tirupuvanam a
dancer woman Ponnaiyal by name. As a staunch devotee, she spent all her
earnings from the dancing programmes in feeding Shiva devotees. She had a
desire to sculpt Lord Poovananathar in pure gold. To fulfill her desire,
Lord came in the guise of a siddha and advised her to melt all the brass, lead
and copper articles in the house at night which will turn into gold. The
dancer followed the advice of the Siddha and her joy knew no bounds to see
adequate gold to make the idol of the Lord. With the gold she got through
the alchemy miracle, the dancer made out a beautiful idol of the Lord and in
her ecstasy, she embraced the idol and kissed it on the cheek. The nail
symbol of Ponnaiyal is visible on the procession deity.
When Sambandar reached the north bank of river Vaigai with the
intention to visit Tirupuvanam and worship Poovananathar, the sands of river
Vaigai appreared to him as thousands of Sivalingams. Samabandar decided not to
set his foot on the sands of river Vaigai and wanted to worship Lord
Poovananathar whose temple was on the other side of the river. Lord Shiva
ordered Nandhi to move aside a little so that Sambandar could have a view of
the Lord from the other bank of the river. The Nandhi is not in a straight line
facing the Lord Shiva in this sivasthalam.
According to the legend, Lord
vishnu and His consort Tirumagal, Lord Brahma, Lord Shivas consort Umadevi,
Sage Agasthiyar, Sage Markandeyar, Sage Vasishtar, Indiran, Sooriyan are said
to have worshipped Lord Poovananathar at this Shivasthalam. Tirupuvanam is
associated with an episode narrated in the Thiruvilayadal Puranam. This episode narrates
the life of Ponnanaiyal, an ardent devotee of Lord Poovananathar, who lived in
Tirupurvanam. She used to take her bath in the river Vaigai everyday in the
morning and offered garland to the Lord and danced before Him daily. She had a
desire in her mind to carve out an idol of the Lord in Gold. Lord Shiva,
pleased with her devotion to Him, appeared before her in disguise as a Siddhar
and told her that He could covert any piece of metal into gold. Ponnanaiyal
handed over to Him all the vessels she had in the house. The Siddhar Lord Shiva
in disguise sprinkled sacred ash on the vessels and told Ponnanaiyal that they
would turn into gold on the next day morning. When Ponnanaiyal found the gold
next day morning, she gave the gold to a goldsmith and made an idol of Lord
Poovananathar in gold as she had always desired. The idol was so beautiful and
thrilled by the beauty of it, Ponnanaiyal pinched the deitys cheek leaving a
permanent mark there. This idol of somaskandar alias Azhagiya Nayagar bears the
pinch mark on His cheek even now.
Moolavar: Poovananathar, Pushpavaneswarar, Mangalanathar, Pithru Muktheeswarar
Amman / Thayar: Soundaryanayaki, Minnanayal
Thala Virutcham: Jack tree
Theertham: Vaigai, Manikarnikai
Agamam / Pooja: Pujas are performed six times a day in the
temple. Aaru Kala Puja.
Pathigam:Sambandar
Old year: 1000-2000 years old
Historical Name: Tirupoovanam
This temple is
well connected by road and train services from Madurai and is situated 20 Kmsto the southeast of Madurai. There is a railway station at Tirupuvanam on the
Madurai Manamadurai section of Southern Railway. It is situated about 18 km from Madurai on the
route between Madurai and Rameswaram.
This temple is
situated at Tirupuvanam on the southern bank of river Vaigai. This sivasthalam
is considered as holy as Varanasi (Benares) as the river Vaigai takes a turn
towards the north here and then flows towards east. The temple at Tirupuvanam
is rather big with a 5 tier gopuram at the main entrance and a small gopuram at
the entrance to the presiding female deity's shrine. This temple got the royal
patronage of the Pandiya kings and later on by Nayak kings who ruled from
Madurai.
The main deity
is Shiva called Sri Pushpavaneswarer (also called Tirupuvanathar). The temple
has a rajagopuram that leads you to the mahamandapam that houses the sanctum
sanctorum of Shiva. There is one inner prakaram inside the mahamandapam
and one outer prakaram outside mahamandapam. There is a separate temple with a
separate entrance with a small tower for Shivas consort called Sri
Soundaranayaki to the left side of the mahamandapam.
Vaikasi Visakam in (May-June)
Aadi
Mulaikottu in (July-August)
Navarathri in (September-October)
Aipasi Kolattam in
(October-November
Great Deepa in Karthikai (November-December)
Margazhi Arudra
Darshan in (December-January)
Masi Shivrathri in (February-March)
10 day Panguni
Utsav in (March-April) are the festivals celebrated in the temple.
Devotees seek happy results in
marriage talks, child boon, good education etc.
Devotees perform abishek to Lord
and Mother and offer vastras.
The temple is open from 6.00 a.m.
to 11.00 a.m. and from 4.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.
Sri Poovananathar Temple,
Tirupuvanam ? 623 611. Sivaganga district. Contact Number +91 4575 265 082, 265
084, 94435 01761
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.