Pamani Naganathar Temple – The Temple
The east facing temple has 2 Prakarams, a 3 tier
Rajagopuram and a temple tank opposite located in Banks of Pamani River. Lord
Shiva of the temple is a Swayambumurthy. Presiding Deity is called as Sarpapureeswarar
/ Naganathar. Mother is called as Amirtha Nayagi. Sthala Vriksham is Mango
Tree. Theertham of this Temple are Naga Theertham, Pasu Theertham, Thenu Theertham
and Rudra Theertham. Historically this place is called as Tiru Padaleswaram. Ganapathy
and Nagar are located outside the temple in a small shed.
As entering inside from the main gate, 16 pillar
mandapam can be seen on the right side. Dwajasthambam is seen in front
with Pradosha Nandi in front of it facing Lord Siva. Dwara Ganapathy and Dwara
Subramanyar are located to either side of the temple entrance near
Dwajasthambam. Mother Amirtha Nayaki shrine is at the right of the first
entrance of the temple. Passing through the inner tower entrance, the
devotee will have the darshan of presiding lord. Moolavar is of putru and
having three parts and Dhanajaya Munivar can be seen on left side. There
are imprints of snake on Siva lingam.
Narthana Ganapathy, Guru Bhagavan, Annamalaiyar, Brahma
and Durgai are Koshta Moorthys located around sanctum. There are shrines for
Lords Moola Vinayaka, Muruga, Nagaraja, Mumoothys, Kaalingeeswarar, Sastha, Pancha
Lingeswarar, Naalvar, Durgai, Kala Bhairava, Sun, Moon, Sani Baghwan,
Navagrahas the nine planets, Lakshmi, Gana Saraswathi, Sage Durvasa, and Mother
Gajalakshmi in the prakara.
Dakshinamurthy is a form taken by lord Siva for teaching
purposes and Thursday is the day of worship for lord Dakshinamurthy. Jupiter is
represented as Dakshinamurthy as Dakshinamurthy can be seen on 4 lions here in
Lion’s Mandapam Pillar. Naga Theertham is facing the Temple. Dhenutheertham is
located to the south of the temple, Rudratheertham is located to the north of
the temple and Niladwaja Theertham is located to the west of the temple.
Normally in Shiva temples the Navagrahas are located
after crossing the Goddess Shrine, here it is before. Vilva tree with nine
leaves can be seen in the temple, which is a rare species Nattukkottai
Chettiyar’s have done Thirupani to this temple. Sri Lakshmanan Chettiyar and
his wife sculpture are located in the front mandapam. Tamil Inscriptions
belonging to Rajaraja Chozha Period can be seen.
