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Friday, October 21, 2022

Veera Vara Nathar Temple, Kinar – The Temple

Veera Vara Nathar Temple, Kinar – The Temple

This temple is facing towards east with a mandapa style entrance arch on the southern side. The entrance arch has stucco images of Rishabaroodar flanked by Murugan and Vinayaga. Deepa Sthamba, Balipeedam, Dhwaja Sthambam and Nandi can be found facing towards the sanctum through a window. The temple consists of sanctum, antarala, artha mandapam, maha mandapam and mukha mandapam.


Presiding deity is called as Veera Vara Nathar / Veeravaneswarar / Nethrapureeswarar and is facing east. He is housed in the sanctum in the form of Lingam. Lord is a Swayambhu Moorthy (self-manifested). The Lingam is said to be one of the biggest in Tamil Nadu. There is large sculpture of Somaskanda (Lord Shiva & Parvathy with Lord Murugan) flanked by Vishnu on the left side and Brahma & Chandikeswara on the right side on the wall behind the Lingam.


This representation is usually seen in the temples built by the Pallavas. Nardana Ganapathy, Dakshinamurthy, Vishnu, Brahma and Durga are the koshta idols located around the sanctum walls. Chandikeswarar shrine can be seen in his usual location. Indra can be seen between the Nandi and the presiding deity. He is seen sitting on his mount Airavata, white elephant. He is two armed holding his Vajrayudha and in worshipping posture. It is a unique feature nowhere to be seen.


Mother is called as Amba Nayagi / Kamba Nayagi. She is housed in a separate south facing shrine. Her shrine is situated to the right side of the Dhwaja Sthambam. She is about five feet tall. There is a shrine for Varadaraja Perumal along with his consorts Sridevi & Bhoodevi in the maha mandapam. There is a south facing shrine for Nataraja along with his consort Shivagami in the maha mandapam. There is a Navagraha shrine near to the mother shrine.


Navagrahas are depicted with their respective mounts in the shrine. Shrines of Karpaga Vinayaga, Bala Subramanya, Murugan with his consorts Valli & Devasena, Nalvar, Bhairava, Suryan, Chandran and Nagas can be found in the temple premises. There is a large temple tank situated in front of the temple. There is a large Peepal tree with Naga idols below it. Inscriptions dating back to the Pallavas and Vijayanagara Kingdom can be found in this temple.