Koshtiappar Urkad

Saivite Temples, Tirunelveli District

God

Koshtiappar, facing east

Goddess

Sivakami Ambal, facing south

Other Deities

63 Nayanmar, Kala Bhairava, Dakshinamurthy, Saneeswara, Chandran, Suryan, Adhikara Nandi, Navagraham, Mahanandi, Vinayaka, Chikkanadar, Meenakshi, Subramanian

Koshtiappar Urkad is a large temple with 2 Prakarams. The outer Prakaram has the theertham pond in the north and the shrine for Chokkanadar and Meenakshi. The inner Prakaram is covered and has a large Maha Mantapam followed by Ardha Mantapam. The pillars inside are huge and have exquisite carvings of Yaalis, ornamental patterns, and sculptures. The Lingam is a large one. The Nataraja here has a Stag in his hands instead of the regular fire. The Bhairava here has a Lion Mount and is one of the Ashta Bhairavas. The Saneeswara idol here has a Lotus flower in his hand. The temple theertham tank inside has a good inflow and even when the surrounding area dries up, water is available in this tank. There is another temple tank outside the walls in the west with a beautiful Mantapam in the middle. The temple has an entrance gateway in the east which is kept closed mostly. The entrance is through a smaller gateway in the south side outside which is the house of the priest.

Holy Water (Theertham) – Muni Theertham, Thiruvalanchuzhi Theertham

Sacred Tree (Sthala Vriksham) – No information

History

Koshtiappar Urkad is an ancient temple as is evident from the construction, carvings, and inscriptions found here. Though we were told that it originated in the 7th century CE, historical information is not available as of now.

Legend

The Lingam at Koshtiappar Urkad is believed to have been created by Sage Agastya with mud and given an armor cover to protect it.

Directions

Koshtiappar Urkad is 2 kilometers west of Ambasamudram and can be reached that continues past the Navaneeta Krishna temple and Veera Marthandeswara Temple. Ambasamudram is about 40 kilometers west of Tirunelveli.

Stay and Food

There are many restaurants and a few hotels to stay in Ambasamudram. The food at Gowri Shankar is decent and so are the rooms.

Saivite Temples

Koshtiappar, Urkad