Kailasanadar Then Thiruperai

God

Kailasanadar, facing east

Goddess

Azhagiya Ponnammai, facing east

Other Deities

Prakaram of main deity – Kanni Vinayaka, Subramanya with consorts, Saneeswara, Bhairava, Navagraha. Inside mandapam of main deity – Vinayaka, Balamuruga, Juradevar, Nataraja. Sanctum niches – Dakshinamurthy, Chandikeswara

Kailasanadar Then Thiruperai is an east-facing temple with an entrance gateway mandapam at the south. The sanctum and the goddess shrines are separate and both face east. Both of them have a Maha Mandapam and Ardha Mandapam before the sanctums. The large outer Prakaram runs around the sanctum and has the goddess shrine in it on the south side. The sanctum sanctorum is in the inner Prakaram with a wall around. Kailasanadar Then Thiruperai is the seventh of the Nava (9) Kailasha Temples where Lord Shiva represents one each of the Nine Planets. Here he represents Budhan – Mercury. The others are in Papanasam (Sun), Cheranmahadevi (Chandran – Moon), Kodaganallur (Mars), Kunnathur (Raaghu – shadow planet, North Lunar node of the moon) in Tirunelveli District and, Muruppanadu (Guru – Jupiter), Srivaikuntam (Sani – Saturn), Rajapathi (Ketu – shadow planet, South Lunar node of the moon) and Sernthapoomangalam (Sukran – Venus) in Thoothukudi District.

Holy Water (Theertham) – Tamiraparani River

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

History

Kailasanadar Then Thiruperai is an ancient temple as is evident from the many inscriptions found around the sanctum sanctorum and goddess shrine. The details of the inscriptions are not available as of now.

Legend

The seventh of a set of nine flowers floated by Sage Romasa, disciple of Sage Agastya, from upstream of Tamiraparani landed here and is thus considered the seventh Nava Kailasam Temple.

Directions

Kailasanadar Then Thiruperai is 35 Kilometers southeast of Tirunelveli in the Tiruchendur Road. There is a Nava Tirupati temple of Lord Mahavishnu, west of this temple.

Stay and Food

None locally. The closest is Tirunelveli (35 kms) and Tiruchendur (20 kms) depending on your travel plan.