Periyanayaki Amman Devikapuram

God

Kanaga Gireeswarar, Ponmalai Nadar in the nearby hill temple

Goddess

Periyanayaki Amman, facing east

Other Deities

Vinayaka, Muruga with consorts, Thirumal, Natarajar, Naalvar, Pradhama Vinayakar, Arunachaleswarar, Gaja Vinayaka, Durga, Bhairava, Suryan, Arumuga, Navagraha. Sanctum Niches – Ganesha, Dakshinamurthy, Lingotbavar, Brahma, Chandikeswara, Durga

Periyanayaki Amman Devikapuram is a large temple with 3 beautiful Prakarams situated below the Kanagiri Hill where Lord Shiva is enshrined as Kanaga Gireeswarar. The goddess here is his consort and the two temples are connected. The Rajagopuram is 7 tiered and the outer Prakaram is a very large and spacious one with the shrines of Lord Arumuga and Navagraha. The inner walls of the Rajagopuram entrance have some beautiful carvings. The Nandi is on an elevated Mantapam. The second Prakaram is entered through a 5 tiered Gopuram preceded by a large Maha Mantapam with about 36 beautifully carved pillars. This Prakaram has the shrines of Ganesha and Arunachaleswarar. The innermost Prakaram has a circumambulatory path where all the other shrines are located around the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Holy Water (Theertham) – Shiva Theertham

Sacred Tree (Sthala Vriksham) – Vilwam (Aegle marmelos)

History

Periyanayaki Amman Devikapuram was built up by The vijayanagar Kings. A lot of stone inscriptions are found here providing information about various contributions and development works.

Legend

The goddess at Periyanayaki Amman Devikapuram is the consort of Lord Kanaga Gireeswarar (also called Ponmalai Nadhar) whose temple is in the nearby Hill. Sage Bringi while worshiping the Lord at Mount Kailash neglected the goddess. Upset about this she requested the Lord to provide space in a part of his body to her. He told her to go to Kancheepuram and perform penance wherein he would marry her and grant the request. On the way, she is believed to have visited the Hill and performed penance. The goddess’s footprint where she did penance for 48 days (1 Mandala) on the Lord is found there. She is believed to have gone after that to Thiruvannamalai and merged with the Lord.

Directions

Periyanayaki Amman Devikapuram is about 13 kilometers from both Polur and Chetpet on the road connecting the two towns.

Stay and Food

Tea Shops are available locally. Closest for food would be Chetpet or Polur.

Other Temples

Periyanayaki Amman, Devikapuram