Bhaktajaneswarar Temple, Thirunavalur – History
Thirunavalur is situated in the erstwhile
Thirumunaippadi Nadu and is in between the rivers Gadilam and Pennai. The
temple is considered to be one of the oldest one and is said to have existed
here even before the 4 yugas. This temple was earlier called
“Thiruthondeecharam” and the place around it was called Thirunavalur and
Jambunathapuri. However, it is now called Thirunamanallur. Tirunavaleeswarar
is also known as Tiruttondeeswarar or Bhaktajaneswarar or Rajaditta
Eswaram Udaiyaar.
There was only a sanctum Sanatorium and no other
buildings for the temple. Later the temple was extended with more structures by
the Chera, Chola, Pandya and Pallava kings. The Sanskrit Jambunatheswarar was
later mentioned as Thirunavaleesan in Chaste Tamil by Sundarar. He also named
the place as Thirunamanallur. This is one of the oldest temples of Lord Shiva
and the Kings of Chera, Chola, Pallava and Pandyas were made abundance of
contributions to this temple.
Sundarar (8th Century CE) was borne here and he rendered
Thevaram Hymns for the lord here. About 56 stone inscriptions which have been
found here all belong to the Chola Era between 870 CE to 1140 CE approximately.
It is also said that Vijayanagara Kings contributed to the temple’s growth
later. Arunagirinathar (15th century CE) has mentioned the temple in his
Thirupugazh songs. The original structure is believed to be existent from time
immemorial, while the later additions are believed to have been built by Cholas, Pallavas, while the present masonry structure was built during
the 16th century.
As per the stone inscriptions available in this temple,
the Chola king Rajathithan, son of Paranthakan-I, renovated and expanded this
temple. There are inscriptions from later Chola emperors like Rajaraja
Chola I (985–1014), Kulothunga Chola I (1070–1120) and Rajendra Chola III (1246–1279). Rajaditya Chola, the son of Parantaka
Chola, was stationed as the commander of the Chola army at Mouli Gramam (known
as Gramam today) nearby; Thirunavalur was then known as Rajadityapuram, and the
Shiva temple was referred to as Rajadityeswaram.
Inscriptions here, refer to the existence of
Kalinareeswaram, a Shiva temple from the Pallava period, and a Vishnu temple
(Tiru Metrali Maha Vishnu temple) and the Agastyeswarar temple, none of which
exist now. The stone structure of the Thirunavalur temple came into being
during the time of Parantaka and Rajaditya. Krishna III, the Rashtrakuta
ruler, then took over this area (957-968 AD); it was then recaptured by the
Cholas during the time of Raja Raja Chola. This temple then enjoyed the
patronage of the Cholas; mention must be made of inscriptions relating to
endowments made to the Nataraja shrine here.
