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Monday, February 26, 2018

Ratnagiriswarar Temple, Mutharasanallur, Trichy

Ratnagiriswarar Temple, Mutharasanallur, Trichy
Ratnagiriswarar Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located at Mutharasanallur in Trichy District of Tamilnadu. There are three sanctums for Shiva and three sanctums for Goddess in this Temple.


Legends
As per the legend, a chieftain, Mutharasan by name, lived in this village. He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. There are three important temples of Shiva located near this village. They are Kadamba Vaneswarar of Kulithalai, Ratnagiriswarar of Ayyarmalai and Eengoinathar of Tiru Engoi Malai. He used to visit all these three temples every day without fail. In the morning, he would go to Kulithalai, in the noon to Ayyarmalai and in the evening to Engoi Malai. As he got older, he could not travel to all the places every day. Hence, he felt very sad and pleaded to Shiva to help him.

Shiva appeared in his dream and asked him to dig out the idols near the Vanni tree of the village. The other day morning, Mutharasan discovered three Shiva idols in that location and built a temple by installing them. He built his temple with Rathnagiriswarar as the main diety with the other two lords having separate temples in side. Hence visiting here ensures the Punya of visiting all the three temples. The place is named after him as Mutharasanallur.
History
Mutharasan is a King who governed the land and surrounding lands in early centuries. Hence, the village is called Mutharasanallur. The village has very old temples with steles which depicts the history of the old kings. The temples are protected by the Indian Archaeological Departments.

The Temple
The east facing temple does not have tower at the entrance or flagstaff inside the temple. The east facing sanctum enshrines Shiva Linga called as Ratnagiriswarar. The Goddess Arala Kesari is found in a separate south facing shrine. Bali peetha and Nandi are found facing towards the direction of the sanctum. Dhakshinamoorthi, Lingothbavar and Durga are found as the Koshta deities. Durga's idol is not original, but new. The old beautiful idol of Chandikeswara is also found in this temple.


In the prakara, the other two Shiva Lingas and their consorts are also found. The shrines of Eengoinathar and Marakathavalli are found in one corner of the prakara. The shrines of Kadamba Vaneswarar and Bala Kujambikai are found in another corner of the prakara. Thus, there are three Shiva Lingas and Ambikas in this temple. Shrines of Ganesha and Lord Murugan with his consorts Valli and Devasena can be found in the prakaram.


The idols of Surya, Bhairava and Saneeswara are found facing towards the direction of the sanctum. Navagrahas are also found. Sthala Vriksham is Vanni tree. The temple does not appear to be very ancient. It must have been built during the Nayaka or later period. Near this temple, a Grama Devta temple with interesting idols is located.


Contact
Ratnagiriswarar Temple,
Mutharasanallur, Trichy District
Mobile: +91 9843424289
Connectivity
The Temple is situated in Trichy – Karur route. The Temple is located at about 1.2 Kms from Mutharasanallur Bus Stand, 400 meters from Mutharasanallur Railway Station, 300 meters from Mutharasanallur, 2 Kms from Pazhur Navagraha Temple, 8 Kms from Woraiyur, 14 Kms from Trichy and 19 Kms from Trichy Airport. Nearest Railway Station is located at Mutharasanallur and Nearest Airport is located at Trichy.