Agasteeswarar Purisai

Saivite Temples, Thiruvannamalai District

God

Agasteeswarar, facing west

Goddess

Akilandeswari, facing east

Other Deities

Ganesha, Muruga with consorts, Natarajar, Bhairava, Surya, Navagraha, Naalvar, Thiruneelakantar. Sanctum Niches – Durga Brahma Chandikeswara, Mahavishnu, Dakshinamurthy, Ganesha

Agasteeswarar Purisai is entered from the west through a 3 tiered gopuram. The single Prakaram is spacious and houses all the shrines and the sanctum sanctorum. A beautiful garden and temple tank is adjacent and south east of the temple. The great feature about this temple are the wonderful carvings of the salient aspects of the life of 63 Nayanmars on the walls of the Sanctum Sanctorum. This itself will demand a long time for visitors to go through and appreciate the details. The view of the temple from the temple pond, though obscured by the new compound wall, is still beautiful. The temple has been mentioned in the hymns of Sundarar and hence a Vaippu Sthalam. This village is also famous for Therukoothu (street dance, drama acts) which was brought to fame by the late Purisai Kannappa Sambandan. We understand his sons are taking forward the initiative these days and also run a school for teaching art of Therukoothu.

Holy Water (Theertham) – Temple Pond

Sacred Tree (Sthala Vriksham) – No information

History

Agasteeswarar Purisai is an ancient temple which has been mentioned in the hymns of Sundarar (8th Century CE, Thirunattu Thogai). A large number of inscriptions are found around the base of the Sanctum Sanctorum, the details of which are not available as of now.

Legend

Sage Agastya has worshiped the lord here at Agasteeswarar Purisai and hence the name of the temple.

Directions

Agasteeswarar Purisai is 8.5 kilometers north Vandavasi and off the Cheyyar Road.

Stay and Food

None locally. Closest for food would be Vandavasi or Cheyyar.

Saivite Temples

Agasteeswarar, Purisai