Chokkanadar Aruppukottai

Chokkanadar, Aruppukottai

Saivite Temples - Virudhunagar

God

Chokkanadar, facing east

Goddess

Meenakshi Amman, facing east

Other Deities

Ganesha, Aadanaiyappar, Sapthamadhar, Vilwavananadar, Vallasidhdhar, Saraswati, Sankaranarayanar, Vallavasidhar, Mahalakshmi, Kasiviswanadar, Visalakshi, Muruga with consorts, Navagraha, Kalabairava, Chandran with consorts Karthikai and Rohini. Sanctum Niches – Ganesha, Dakshinamurthy, Lingotbavar, Brahma, Durga, Chandikeswara

Chokkanadar Aruppukottai is an east-facing temple with a 5 tiered Rajagopuram at the entrance in the east. There is a large courtyard and performance stage in the front. The Temple has a single spacious Prakaram. The Sanctum and Shrines are in a separate enclosure inside. There is a Somaskanda shrine in the middle of the shrines of Lord Shiva and goddess Meenakshi. The lord is also present here as Shankara Narayanar, an amalgamation of Shiva and Vishnu. The mandapams have several beautiful carved pillars. There are several special features here at Chokkanadar Aruppukottai including Nataraja and Sivakami carved out of a single stone, Sages Pathanjali and Vyagrapadar idols in front of Nataraja, Subramanya and his consorts carved out of one stone, and more. There is a large temple tank on the south side of the temple across the main road. The area was a Vilwa forest in the olden days.

Holy Water (Theertham) – Surya Pushkarini

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

History

Chokkanadar Aruppukottai is believed to have been in existence before the 12th Century CE. Inscriptions are available only after that period. Chokkanadar Aruppukottai has been expanded and built up well by several kings including Maravarman Sundarapandian II (regnal years 1239 – 1251 CE), Arulalan, and Cholagangan (minor kings or family members of the Pandya Dynasty – to be confirmed). Various other prominent members of the public have contributed to the growth of the temple. As per another inscription, the temple tank was excavated in the year 1193 by Arulala Perumal son of Thiruvala Udayan Cholangan.

Legend

Sundara Pandyan was ecstatic over his victory in a battle and was enjoying with his wife when his Guru came to see him. He did not bother to pay him respects and the curse of his Guru started giving him problems in life. Realizing his folly he met the Guru and was advised to build a temple for Lord Shiva in Vilwa Tree forest. He went on to fin an already existing old temple and rebuilt it as Chokkanadar Aruppukottai.

Directions

Chokkanadar Aruppukottai is on the eastern side of Aruppukottai Town. Aruppukottai is 17 kilometers east of Virudhunagar and 45 kilometers south of Madurai.

Stay and Food

Aruppukottai has a few restaurants for food and a couple of small hotels for stay.

Saivite Temples

Tamilnadu Temples