Karaikandeswarar Poondi

Karaikandeswarar, Poondi

Saivite Temples, Thiruvannamalai District

God

Karaikandeswarar, facing east

Goddess

Brahanayaki Amman, facing east

Other Deities

Ganesha, Muruga with Consorts, Venugopala with Rukmini, Bhairava, Navagraha, Balasubramanyaswamy, Natarajar. Sanctum Niches – Balavinayaka, Dakshinamurthy, Lingothbavar, Brahma, Durga, Chandikeswara

Karaikandeswarar Poondi is a small east facing temple with two Prakarams. The entrance is from the south through a gateway. The vimaanams have been painted up in gold color recently. The original stone structures have been reinforced with concrete structures. This is the sixth of the Saptha Karaikandeswarar Sthalams (7 temples) located on the north banks of the Cheyyar River. As the Cheyyar River runs northwards at this spot it is considered to be as holy as Varanasi. Near this temple is a small Agasteeswarar Temple, the deity of which is to be worshiped before worshiping at Karaikandeswarar Poondi. The temples in the order of proceeding north from Kanji along Cheyyar River are Kanji, Kadaladi, Mambakkam, Thenmathimangalam, Elathur, Poondi and Kuruvimalai.

Holy Water (Theertham) – Cheyyar River

Sacred Tree (Sthala Vriksham) – No information

History

Karaikandeswarar Poondi would be as old as the other 6 temples in this series, all over 1000 years. Historical information is not available as of now.

Legend

Lord Muruga is believed to have built the Saptha Karaikandeswarar temples in the northern banks of Cheyyar River to counter the sin of killing seven Sages (Puthirandan, Puruhudan, Pandurangan, Bodhavan, Bodhan, Koman and Vaman) performing penance in the hills in the region with his spear (Vel). Karaikandeswarar Poondi is said to be the sixth in this series. This event happened in a quest to create a Theertham for his Mother Parvati to perform ablutions for the Shiva Lingam she created out of earth at Vazhapandal. Another version is that to counter the sin of killing the asura Surapadman, Lord Muruga was advised by his mother to throw his spear and install and worship a shiva lingam where it lands. According to the same legend Muruga is also believed to have created seven temples in the southern banks of the river Cheyyar which are called Saptha Kailasha Sthalams and worshiped Lord Shiva there. The River Cheyyar is believed to be the Theertham created by him – Sei (child) representing the young Muruga and Aar meaning river in Tamil.

Directions

Karaikandeswarar Poondi is about 15 kilometers from Kadaladi in the Polur Road. Take a right after Elathur and drive for about 2.5 kilometers to reach the temple. Karaikandeswarar Poondi is 12 kilometers southwest of Polur via Kuruvimalai.

Stay and Food

None locally. Closest for food would be Kalasapakkam or Polur.

Saivite Temples

Tamilnadu Temples