AliNiazOfficial: put up first place from scratch.

2025-10-15T16:26:49Z

put up first place from scratch.

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox temple
| name =
| image = Thiruvathigai (15).jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| map_type = India Tamil Nadu
| map_caption = Location in [[Tamil Nadu]]
| coordinates = {{coord|11.46|79.33|type:landmark_region:IN|display=inline,title}}
| other_names =
| native_name = வீரட்டானேசுவரர்
| country = [[India]]
| state = [[Tamil Nadu]]
| district = [[Cuddalore District|Cuddalore]]
| location = [[Panruti]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]]
| elevation_m =
| deity = Veerateswarar([[Shiva]])
| primary_deity_Godess =
| utsava_deity_God =
| utsava_deity_Godess=
| Direction_posture =
| Pushakarani =
| Vimanam =
| Poets =
| Prathyaksham =
| established = before 7th century CE
| festivals=
| architecture = [[Dravidian architecture]]
| temple_quantity =
| monument_quantity=
| inscriptions =
| year_completed =
| creator =
| website =
}}

'''Thiruvathigai Veerateswarar Temple''' (also '''Virattaneshwara Temple''', [[Tamil language|Tamil]]: வீரட்டானேசுவரர் ) is a [[Hindu]] temple dedicated to [[Shiva]]. It is situated in Thiruvathigai village which is about 2 kilometres east from the town of [[Panruti]] in the [[South India]]n state of [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]]. Shiva is worshiped as Veerattaaneswarar, and is represented by the ''[[lingam]]''. His consort [[Parvati]] is depicted as Thiripurasundari. The presiding deity is revered in the 7th-century-CE Tamil Saiva canonical work, the ''[[Tevaram]]'', written by Tamil saint poets known as the [[nayanars]] and classified as ''[[Paadal Petra Sthalam]]''.<ref>{{Cite web
|url= http://www.projectmadurai.org/pm_etexts/pdf/pm0192.pdf
|title=Appar Tevaram -2
|work=Projectmadurai.org
|access-date=16 July 2011|pages=14–6
}}</ref> The temple is considered the place where the Saiva saint poet [[Appar]] (Thirunavukkarasar) converted back to [[Saivism]], and attained final salvation.

The temple complex is one of the largest in the state and it houses two gateway towers known as ''[[gopurams]]''. The temple has numerous shrines, with those of Veerateeswarar and Mookambigai being the most prominent. The temple complex houses many halls and three precincts. The temple has six daily rituals at various times from [[5:30]] a.m. to 10 p.m., and twelve yearly festivals on its calendar. The temple is maintained and administered by [[Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam]], a South Indian monastic institution.

==Legend==
[[File:Thiruvathigai (17).jpg|250px|left|thumb|Legend of Shiva as Veerateeswarar ([[Tripurantaka]])]]
Legend holds that this temple is the place where Shiva destroyed three [[rakshasha]]s and the three cities created by them. Saranarayana Perumal, another name of [[Vishnu]], is the one who gave the arrow to Shiva for killing the demons, whose temple is also located in the town, little easterly.<ref name=R/> The ''[[Shiva Purana]]'' details the legend of destruction of the demon [[Tripurasura|Tripuran]], who was ruling [[Tripura (mythology)|Tripura]]. The destruction is detailed as a cosmic event, which most attribute to the destruction of stars, meteors and unexplained material bodies. Tripuran attacked all the celestial deities who sought the help of Shiva to protect them. Shiva after a fiery fight, destroyed Tripuran and attained the name [[Tripurantaka]]. Shiva ashed down the city Tripura and dipped his three fingers in the ashes, which signifies the three lines of ash which is worn by all shaivites on their forehead.

As per another variant, the three sons of Taraka obtained boons from [[Brahma]] and built an impregnable fortress on earth. On account of their atrocious activities, mother earth prayed to Shiva for rescue. Shiva burnt down the fort and was about to attack the trio, but they begged for mercy. He made two of them as [[Dvarapala]]s and one as his ''[[damaru]]'', which he sports in his right hand. The whole incident is believed to have taken place in Thiruvathigai on the banks of Kedilam.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Book of Demons|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VwhtAwAAQBAJ&q=thiruvathigai&pg=PT252|page=252|last=Krishna|first=Nanditha |isbn=9789351181446|year=2007|publisher=Penguin UK}}</ref> The original name of the place was called Tripura Dahanam, which went on to become Thiruvathigai.<ref name=C93>[[#Madhavan|Madhavan 2014]], p. 93</ref> During Tripurasamharam, the killing of Tripurantaka, Shiva forgot to worship Ganesha before setting out for the battle. He realized it and came back to worship Ganesha and went ahead to win the demon. The same legend is associated with [[Aksheeswaraswamy Temple, Acharapakkam]] and [[Tiruvirkolam|Thiruvirkolam Sri Tripuranthaka Swami temple]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Indian Encyclopaedia: La Behmen-Maheya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4LqRXZPJTUoC&q=acharapakkam+temple&pg=PA4467|page=4467|publisher=Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd|first=Subodh |last=Kapoor|isbn=9788177552713|year=2002}}</ref>

== History ==
The [[Pallava]] king [[Mahendravarman I]] converted from [[Jainism]] to [[Saivism]] under the influence of [[Appar]]. He is believed to have destroyed a Jain monastery and built a temple called Gunavareswaram close to the temple. Mahendra Pallava is believed to have attained the name Gunavareswara on account of the incident.<ref>{{cite book|title=Sivakamiyin Sabadham Book 1: Paranjyothi's Journey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XiOBCwAAQBAJ&q=thiruvathigai&pg=PT107|page=107|last=Krishnamurthy|first=Kalki R|publisher=Westland|year=2016|isbn=9789385724718}}</ref> A king called Kalinkaraya is believed to have endowed lot of treasures and built various structures in the temple as seen from the inscriptions in the temple.<ref name=R/> King [[Raja Raja Chola I]] is believed to have stayed in this temple for a long time to study the architecture before building [[Brihadeeswarar Temple]].<ref>{{cite news|title=A visit to unusual tourist spots|publisher=The New Indian Express|location=Chennai|date=11 February 2014|id={{ProQuest|1496781169}}}}</ref> The temple is believed to have been expanded by later [[Pandyas]]. During the period of [[Thanjavur Maratha kingdom|Thanjavur Marathas]] and British Colonization, the temple acted as a fort to the armies. The inscriptions indicate that the streets have to be cleaned before any temple procession with the likes of the streets in this village.<ref name=Saiva4>{{cite book|title=Saiva Encyclopaedia volume 4 - Thirumurai Thalangal|editor-last=Dr. R.|editor-first=Selvaganapathy|publisher=Saint Sekkizhaar Human Resource Development Charitable Trust|location=Chennai, India|year=2013|pages=13–16}}</ref>

==Architecture==
{{multiple image
|align=right
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| total_width = 350
|height=200
|image1=Thiruvathigai (3).jpg
|height1=3456
|width1=5184
|image2=Thiruvathigai (4).jpg
|footer=Paintings on the ceiling of the temple
|height2=3456
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}}

The temple is located in Thiruvathigai, a village 2 km from [[Panruti]] in [[Cuddalore district]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Cuddalore district|url=http://www.tamilnadutourism.org/places/citiestowns/Cuddalore.aspx?catid=C1&subcat1id=C1S1&subcat2id=C1S1S30&sm=C1S1S30|publisher=Department of Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu|access-date=16 July 2017}}</ref> The temple covers an area of {{convert|7|acre|ha|abbr=on}} with three precincts. The temple has a seven tiered gateway tower which has sculptures depicting 108 poses of [[Bharatanatyam]]. There is a sixteen pillared hall called Thiruneetru mandapam, which is believed to have constructed at the behest of Thilagavathiyar, the sister of [[Appar]] to commemorate his conversion to Shaivism. There is a temple tank named Chakrateertha kulam and a Vasantha mandapam on the northern portion of the tank. On the second precinct, there is a flag staff and a five tiered temple tower.

The sanctum is built on an elevated structure. There are shrines around the sanctum in the first precinct that has a shrine of Thilagavathiar and a pillared hall housing the sixty three [[Nayanars|Nayanar]] saints and the deities [[Shania Twain|Shani]] (Saniswarar), [[Durga]], [[Ganesha]] (Siddivinayagar), [[Kartikeya]] (Muruga), a set of [[Lingam]], [[Nataraja]] and [[Surya]]. The shrine of [[Parvati|Umayammai]], the consort of the presiding deity, is present. The shrine houses the image of Lingam which is believed to have worshiped by Vishnu. There is a south facing shrine in the hall before the sanctum where the image of Tripurasamharamurthy with sixteen hands is housed. Sanctum houses the image of Veerataneswarar in the form of [[lingam]]. There is an image of Ammayapar housed in the sanctum. The shrine over the sanctum has a pyramidal roof with stucco images all through the filial at the top.<ref>{{cite news|title=திரிபுரம் எரித்த திருவதிகை வீரட்டானேஸ்வரர் திருக்கோவில்|url=http://www.maalaimalar.com/Devotional/Temples/2017/06/08115534/1089646/thiruvathigai-veerattaneswarar-temple.vpf|publisher=Malaimalar|date= 8 June 2017|access-date=19 July 2017}}</ref>

==Worship and festivals==
[[File:Thiruvathigai (16).jpg|250px|thumb|left|Stucco images on the vimanam]]
The temple priests perform the ''[[puja (Hinduism)|pooja]]'' (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. Like other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the [[Shaivism|Shaivaite]] community, a Brahmin sub-caste. The temple rituals are performed six times a day; Ushathkalam at 6:00 a.m., Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 p.m., Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m., Irandamkalam at 8:00 p.m. and Ardha Jamam at 9:00 p.m. Each ritual comprises four steps: ''abhisheka'' (sacred bath), ''alangaram'' (decoration), ''neivethanam'' (food offering) and ''deepa aradanai'' (waving of lamps) for both Veerateeswarar and Thiripurasundari.<ref name=R/> There are weekly rituals like ''{{lang|te-Latn|somavaram}}'' and ''{{lang|te-Latn|sukravaram}}'', fortnightly rituals like ''[[pradosha]]m'' and monthly festivals like ''[[amavasya|amavasai]]'' (new moon day), ''kiruthigai'', ''[[pournami (festival)|pournami]]'' (full moon day) and ''sathurthi''.<ref name="dinamalar"/> The most prominent festival of the temple, Vasantha Utsavam, is celebrated for ten days during the [[Tamil calendar|Tamil]] month of ''Chittirai''.<ref name=R>{{cite book|title=An introduction to religion and Philosophy - Tévarám and Tivviyappirapantam|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.jZY9lup2kZl6TuXGlZQdjZY2lZpy.TVA_BOK_0006115|last=R.|first=Dr. Vijayalakshmi|publisher=International Institute of Tamil Studies| location=Chennai|year=2001|edition=1st|pages=108–110}}</ref><ref name="dinamalar"/> The festival deity of presiding deity and his consort [[Parikrama|circumambulate the temple]] and the streets in the village in different vehicles.<ref name=R/> Vaikasi Brahmotsavam during the Tamil month of ''Vaikasi'' (May - June) and the ten day Sadayam star festival associated with the day [[Appar]] got salvation are other important festivals of the temple.<ref name="dinamalar">{{cite web|title=Sri Veerattaneswarar temple|url=https://temple.dinamalar.com/en/new_en.php?id=853|publisher=Dinamalar|access-date=3 August 2014}}</ref>

==Religious significance==
{{multiple image
|align=right
|direction=
| total_width = 200
|height=200
|image1=Thiruvathigai (7).jpg
|caption1=Image of [[Appar]]
|height1=3456
|width1=1290
|image2=Thiruvathigai (8).jpg
|caption2=Sculpture representing a Hindu legend
|height2=3386
|width2=1079
}}

[[File:Thiruvathigai veerataneswarar temple buddhar.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Buddha]] in the temple]]
The temple is one of the [[Ashta Veeratta Stalam|Ashta Veeratanam]] temples that commemorate Shiva's eight acts of valour and fury where he became victorious over demons, heroes or divinities.<ref name=R/><ref>{{cite book|last=P.|first=Karthigayan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q4HDDAAAQBAJ&q=veerattam&pg=PT388|title=History of Medical and Spiritual Sciences of Siddhas of Tamil Nadu|publisher=Notion Press|year=2016|isbn=9789352065523|page=388}}</ref><ref name=C137>[[#Madhavan|Madhavan 2014]], p. 145</ref>

[[Thirunavukkarasar|Appar's]] sister Thilakavathiyar settled here during her later years and devoted her lifetime service to Shiva. Afflicted by a painful illness, Thirunavukkarasar, who was originally called Dharmasenar and was then a staunch follower of Jainism, prayed for relief at this temple where his sister Thilagavathiyar served. By the divine grace of Shiva, he was cured. He embraced Saivism from then and started canonizing various temples with his verses.<ref name=Meena>{{cite book|title=Temples in South India|last=V.|first=Meena|publisher=Harikumar Arts|location=Kanniyakumari|year=1974|edition=1st|page=44}}</ref> The ruling Pallava king namely Kadava punished Thirunavukarasar in various ways and finally dropped him in a lime kiln. He was subsequently cast on the waters of sea, where he started floating and was pushed ashore in Thirupathipuliyur. It is believed that some of his best songs were sung at this time in praise of the presiding deities at [[Pataleeswarar Temple, Cuddalore|Padaleeswarar temple]] and Veerateneeswarar temple. Thirunavukkarasar came back to Thiruvathigai from Thirupathripuliyur. Influenced by the greatness of the poet, the king himself converted to Shaivism from Hinduism.<ref>{{cite book|title=Appar : a sketch of his life and teachings|pages=18–20|publisher=Natesan & Co.|year=1918|jstor=saoa.crl.25894664|jstor-access=free}}</ref> [[Appar]] venerated Veerateeswarar in seventeen verses in ''Tevaram'', compiled as the ''Fourth Tirumurai'', ''Fifth Tirumurai'' and ''Sixth Tirumurai''. The Soolai Kinaru, a well in the temple is believed to be the limestone well where Appar was dropped by the Jains. Though the actual location was in Cuddalore, the well is maintained as an indicative example of the event. The water from the well is taken by people suffering from stomach related ailments.<ref name=Saiva4/>

[[Campantar|Tirugnana Sambandar]], a 7th-century Tamil ''Saivite'' poet and a contemporary of Appar, venerated Veerateeswarar in 46 verses in ''[[Tevaram]]'', compiled as the ''[[Tirumurai|First Tirumurai]]''. According to the Hindu legend Sambanthar had a vision of [[Nataraja|cosmic dance]] of [[Shiva]] at this place. As per another legend, [[Sundarar]], another saint poet, did not enter the temple as it was already praised by Appar. He was sleeping outside the temple where an old man stepped on his head. Sundarar avoided him and turned his head toward other direction, but the old man still stepped on his head. Sundarar wanted to know who the old man was when Shiva appeared in his true form in front of him. The temple called Siddapureeswarar near Panruti is associated with the legend.<ref name=R/> Sundarar also venerated Veerateeswarar in one verse in ''Tevaram'', compiled as the ''Seventh Tirumurai''. As the temple is revered in ''Tevaram'', it is classified as ''[[Paadal Petra Sthalam]]'', one of the 275 temples that find mention in the Saiva canon.<ref name=R/>

== See also ==
* [[The Buddha in Hinduism]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book|title=Vishnu temples of South India volume 4|last=Madhavan|first=Chithra|year=2007 |isbn=978-81-908445-3-6|publisher=Alpha Land Books Pvt. Ltd.|location=Chennai|ref=Madhavan}}

==External links==
{{Famous Shiva temples|state=collapsed}}
{{commons category|Thiruvathigai Veerateeswarar temple}}

[[Category:Padal Petra Stalam]]
[[Category:Ashta Veeratta Stalam]]
[[Category:Shiva temples in Cuddalore district]]

Veerateeswarar Temple, Thiruvathigai - Revision history

AliNiazOfficial: put up first place from scratch.