Lord Shiva graces as a Swaymbumurthy. The 36th chapter in the epic
Tiruvilayadal Puranam relates to this temple about the alchemy miracle.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 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.
Temple Timings:
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.
Temple Festivals:
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.
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.
During the Puranic Age, one Darma Yagnan was carrying his father?s 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.
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.
Do's:
- Do pray Your Ishta Devata before Pilgrimage to temple
- Do Contact Temple Devasthanam information center for inquiry ,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 your Istamantram to yourself inside the temple.
- Do observe ancient custom and traditions while in Temple.
- Do deposit your offerings in the hundi only
Don't s:
- Do not come to Temple for any Purpose other than worshiping 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 Dharshanam. 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