Sathyagireeswarar Thirumeyyam

Saivite Temples, Pudhukottai District

God

Sathyagireeswarar, facing east

Goddess

Venuvaneswari, facing east

Other Deities

Ganesha, Dakshinamurthy, Lingotbavar, Gajalakshmi, Chandran, Surya, Umapatheeswarar, Rajarajeswari, Bhairava, Navagraha

Sathyagireeswarar Thirumeyyam is a cave temple with two large Dwarapalakas at the entrance to the sanctum of the main deity. The temple is entered through a 3 tiered Rajagopuram in the south. The temple is adjacent to the Vishnu Temple and both are together below the base of the hill on top which is a Fort built by Vijaya Raghunatha Sethupathi, the Raja of Ramnad in 1687.

Holy Water (Theertham) – Chandra Pushkarini

Sacred Tree (Sthala Vriksham) – Moongil (Bamboo, Bambusa sps)

History

Sathyagireeswarar Thirumeyyam was built by the Pandyas in the 7 – 8th Century CE and said to predate the adjacent Vishnu Temple. Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas, Vijayanagar Kings, Sethupathi Kings, Nayaks, Mutharaiyars, Nattukottai Nagarathars and more have done service to the development and maintainance of Sathyagireeswarar Thirumeyyam temple.

Legend

Sathyagireeswarar Thirumeyyam has been worshiped by sage Sathya. Dharmadevada was hiding in this area and is said to have been restored by the Lord.

Directions

Sathyagireeswarar Thirumeyyam is about 18 kilometers south of Pudukottai.

Stay and Food

None locally. Closest is Pudukottai.