Dakshinamurthy Temple, Pattamangalam – The Temple

Dakshinamurthy Temple, Pattamangalam – The Temple

This temple is facing towards east with five tiered rajagopuram. Dwaja Sthambam, Balipeedam and Nandi can be found immediately after the rajagopuram facing towards the sanctum. The sanctum sanctorum consists of sanctum, ardha mandapam, maha mandapam and mukha mandapam. Presiding deity is called as Sundareswarar and is facing east. He is housed in the sanctum in the form of Lingam.

Vinayaga, Dakshinamoorthy, Lingodbhava, Brahma and Durga are the koshta idols located around the sanctum walls. Chandikeswarar shrine can be seen in his usual location. Mother is called as Meenakshi. She is housed in a separate south facing shrine in maha mandapam. There is an east facing shrine for Shanmuga Nathar in the temple premises. He appears with five heads accompanied by his consorts Valli & Devasena.

He represents Shiva aspect in this temple as Lord Shiva has five faces. Shrines of Ganesha, Suryan, Chandran, Karthigai maidens, Maha Lakshmi, Bhairavar and Navagrahas in the temple premises. Generally, Lord Dakshinamoorthy can be seen in the koshta of the Shiva temples facing towards south. However, in this temple in addition to the koshta, he is present in a separate east facing shrine.

This is the only temple where Dakshinamoorthy is facing towards east. This shrine abuts the Sundareswarar shrine on the north. Lord Dakshinamurthy is shown sitting in a Veerasana posture. He is four armed. He holds Agni in the upper right hand, Gnana Mudra in the lower right hand, a serpent in the left upper hand and placing the lower left hand on his thigh.

Lord Vishnu is depicted as Varaha and Lord Brahma as a swan at the feet of the Dakshinamoorthy. He is shown wearing a crown of Kondrai flowers. There is a huge sacred banyan tree (Sthala Vriksham) at the back of this shrine. Idols of six Karthigai maidens can be seen below the tree. Theertham associated with this temple is Potramarai Kulam.

This temple tank is situated to the west of the temple with a mandapam in the middle. There is a shrine for Ashtama Siddhi Subramanya / Thayumanavar outside the main temple. Thiruvilaiyadal Garden and Pathinettam Padi (18 steps) Karuppar shrine can be found to the east of the temple. There is a separate shrine for Navayadi Kali at a few hundred meters from the main temple.