Sunday, January 22, 2017

Madhyarjuneswarar Temple, Illuppur, Mayiladuthurai

Madhyarjuneswarar Temple, Illuppur, Mayiladuthurai

Madhyarjuneswarar Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in Illuppur Village in Tharangambadi Taluk in Mayiladuthurai District of Tamil Nadu. Presiding Deity is called as Madhyarjuneswarar and Mother is called as Maragathavalli. The Temple is situated on the southern banks of Veerachozhan  River.

Legends

Madhyarjuneswarar:

Arjunam indicates the Marudham Tree. Sthala Vriksham should have been Marudha Tree for this temple. Hence, Lord Shiva came to be called as Madhyarjuneswarar

Illupur:

As per legend, the place came to be called as Illupur because of abundance presence of Iluppai Trees in this place.

The Temple

This Temple is facing towards east with an entrance arch. The entrance arch has stucco images of Lord Shiva and Parvathy flanked by Murugan & Vinayaga. This Temple is located on the western banks of big tank and covers an area of about half acres. The Temple consists of sanctum, ardha mandapam and mukha mandapam. The mukha mandapam connects the sanctum with the entrance arch.

Sub shrines of Ganesha and Murugan can be seen at the entrance of the sanctum. Presiding Deity is called as Madhyarjuneswarar and is facing east. He is housed in the sanctum in the form of Lingam. Mother is called as Maragathavalli. She is housed in a separate south facing shrine. Her shrine is situated in mukha mandapam. Shrines of Vinayagar, Murugan, Saneeswarar and Bhairavar can be found in the temple premises.

Sthala Vriksham should have been Marudha Tree for this temple. The Temple might have been a huge complex in ancient times. Later, it might have got dilapidated and shrunk to a much smaller temple at present. An Idol of Bhairavar and an ancient Lingam belonged to the older temple can be found lying outside the temple premises.

Connectivity

The Temple is located at about 3 Kms from Nalladai Mukkuttu Bus Stop, 11 Kms from Tharangambadi, 18 Kms from Karaikal, 18 Kms from Karaikal Railway Station, 23 Kms from Mayiladuthurai, 24 Kms from Mayiladuthurai Junction Railway Station and 137 Kms from Trichy Airport. The Temple is situated on Mayiladuthurai to Tharangampadi route.

Location