Deivanayaka Easwarar Temple (Arambeshwarar Temple), Ilambaiyangkottur – The Temple

Deivanayaka Easwarar Temple (Arambeshwarar Temple), Ilambaiyangkottur – The Temple

This temple is considered to be significant for its three important attributes – Murthy, Sthalam and Theertham - glory of Lord, sacredness of the land and the auspicious temple tank. This is an east facing temple and it has two corridors. Instead of a main tower (Rajagopuram), there is an arch type entrance from west. The Dwajasthambam is standing separately without kavasam. Nandhi and Palipeedam are at the ground level under a small mandapam. Bali peetha, flag post and Nandi idol are found facing the main shrine.

Presiding Deity is called as Arambeshwarar / Chandrasekharar / Deivanayakeswarar. Mother is called as Kanaka Kujambikai / Kodenthu Mulaiyammai. The Swayambu lingam here is mixture of white and red colours and is covered most of the times by a metal sheet (Kavacham). It is said that every year from April 2 to 7 and from September 5 to 11, sun rays fall directly on the lingam in this temple. During that time, it is believed that the Sun God (Suryan) is worshiping Lord Shiva. This lingam is not touched by human hands, not even by the priests, as it is “Theendathirumeni”.

Lord Shiva appears so soft here as the petals of Kondrai flower. Cow Puja (Gopuja) is performed daily in the temple. Clothes and flowers are being offered with the help of a stick. Nirudha Ganapati, Dakshina Murti, Vishnu, Durga, Brahma and Chandikeswarar are found as the koshta deities on the wall around the main shrine. Dakshina Murti is very popular; he is found in a different posture with 'chin mudra'. He is called as 'Yoga Dakshina Murti'; the site is also considered as one of Guru Sthalams.

Mother Kanakakujambigai is facing south on the Sri Chakra Peeta and she is slightly bigger idol found in a separate sub-shrine in the prakaram. Rice is offered as Nivedhana. There are two Ambal Sannadhi one is in the inner prakaram and other is outer prakaram. The Arambeshwarar with his sixteen sides is found to the South East of the temple, waiting to grant the sixteen boons of prosperity to his devotees.

Another speciality of the temple is the Yoga Dakshinamurthy found at the Goshtam. With his eyes closed and right hands forming the Chin Mudra, and placed on the Brahma knot of the Yagnopaveetham, holding a Trishul and Akka Maalai in the top hands, he is found in a very unique posture. On special days, like Guru Peyarchi, several hundreds of devotees come here to pray to Yoga Dakshinamurthy.

There are two prakaras in this temple. The outer prakara has two sub-shrines - Ganesha and Subramanya with his consorts. The inner prakara too has two sub - shrines - Ganesha and Subramanya. Shrines and idols of Lords Vinayakar, Hanuman, Mahavishnu, Suryan, Chandran, Brahma, Bairavar, Durgai and Chandikeswarar can be seen in the corridor. Theertham associated with this temple are Chandra Theertham and Malligai Theertham. The sacred tank south of the temple is referred to as Chandra Theertham.  Sthala Vriksham is Mara Malligai.

There is a Vedha Paata Shala inside the temple but didn’t seem like it was being used. In the year 1983, there is said to have been heavy rains where lightning struck on the village. The Lord took it upon himself and other than his vimana, nothing else was damaged in the village. The villagers say, but for the grace of the Lord, major damage would have been caused by the magnitude of the lightning. The temple which was built by the Cholas and later renovated by the Pandyas lost its heritage value completely; the current structure is an entirely renovated one during the modern days.

An inscription belonging to the time of Chola king Rajadhiraja II - 1175 AD mentions that this temple was converted from a brick temple to a stone temple by Pandari Sivacharanaalayan alias Sivapadhasekara Muvendavelan. An inscription from the time of Kulothunga III refers to Ilambaiyangkottur as Cholavichchadira Chadurvedi Mangalam in Kanrur Nadu. An inscription of Vijayagandagopaladeva states that he gave the village of Kaliyanallur in Tiruvelurnadu, as gift to the temple. There are also inscriptions of the Pandya king Konerinmaikondan about grants given to the temple. These inscriptions have been recorded but unfortunately are not found in the modernized temple today.