Vazhutheeswarar Eravadi

Saivite Temples, Tirunelveli District

God

Vazhutheeswarar, facing east

Goddess

Periyanayaki Ambal, facing east

Other Deities

Adhikara Nandi, Suryan, Acharya Vinayaka, Shakthi Vinayaka, Kannimoola Vinayakar, Muruga with consorts, Saneeswara, Juradevar, Kasi Viswanathar, Visalakshi, Chandran. Sanctum niches – Dakshinamurthy, Chandikeswara

Vazhutheeswarar Eravadi is a large east-facing temple with 2 Prakarams. An entrance gateway with a Mantapam leads inside an enclosed space where an ancient large incomplete stone Rajagopuram leads into the spacious outer Prakaram. In the outer prakaram are shrines for Bhoganathar and Sastha with Purna Pushkala. An outer Mantapam with Balipeedam, flagstaff, and Nandi precedes the inner Prakaram. The sanctum of the east-facing goddess comes before that of the main deity. The inner Prakaram is covered on top and has cloistered Mantapams all around. The sanctum of the main deity is entered from the Maha Mantapam through an Ardha Mantapam. There are some brilliant sculptures here including that of Anjaneya carrying Rama, realistic monkeys, and beautiful pillars. The incomplete gopuram also has some wonderful carvings all around. The processional deity and the main deity are said to be alike here at Vazhutheeswarar Eravadi. The temple car has some intricate carvings and is kept outside with a raised platform to carry the deities up to it. As per Tamiraparani Mahatmayam (to be clarified) this is considered as one of the Pancha (five) Aasana Sthalams, the others being Sathyavageeswarar (Kalakkad), Nageswarar (Nanguneri), Manonmaneeswarar (Vijayaranyam), and Ramalingeswarar (Shenbagaramanallur).

Holy Water (Theertham) – Nambi Aar (River)

Sacred Tree (Sthala Vriksham) – Vanni (Prosopis cineraria)

History

Vazhutheeswarar Eravadi goes back to the Pandya Era as is evident from the Fish symbol carved on the roof of the Mantapam. As per inscriptions the ancient name of this place was ‘Veera Ravi Varma Chaturvedi Mangalam’ probably referring to the Kulasekhara Dynasty of present-day Kerala. This village and the temple were centers of the Vedas and Upanishads in the ancient past.

Legend

The original temple of Vazhutheeswarar Eravadi is believed to have existed before Navagraha worship came into practice as they are not found here.

Directions

Vazhutheeswarar Eravadi is about 9 kilometers southwest of Nanguneri in the road to Thirukurungudi.

Stay and Food

None locally. The closest for food and stay is Tirunelveli.

Saivite Temples

Vazhutheeswarar, Eravadi