Thiruvarangulam
God
Sri Haratheertheswarar (Arangulanadar), facing east
Goddess
Periyanayaki (Brahathambal), facing south
Other Deities
Naalvar, Saptamadar, 63 Nayanmar, Vinayaka, Kannimoolaganapathi, Muruga with consorts, Saraswathi, Jeshtadevi, Gajalakshmi, Subramanya, Bhairava, Sirimbala Udayar, Chandran, Surya, Selva vinayaka, Naagar. Sanctum niches – Dakshinamurthy, Lingotbavar, Brahma, Durga, Chandikeswara, Chandikeswari (Goddess Sanctum)
Thiruvarangulam is an old temple with a beautiful 5 tiered Rajagopuram in the east. There is an outer Prakaram and an inner Prakaram around the main sanctum sanctorum. The outer prakaram is filled with trees. The main deity is a small lingam and is said to be a self occuring one (Suyambu). The goddess is a large 6 feet tall idol. The goddess shrine is situated in the front, outside the main sanctum, with a seperate corridor around. The Dakshinamurthy idol here is seen with a Veena in the hand. There is a 100 pillar Mantapa here. There is a large temple pond behind the temple on the west side. There is a carving of a soldier on a horse who is said to have lived here. The 12 zodiac signs are painted with herbal colors on the ceiling in the Vasantha Mantapa.
Holy Water – Temple Pond
Holy Tree – Porpanai (a species of Palmyra)
History
Thiruvarangulam is an old temple with several inscriptions, the details of which are not available as of now. The Rajagopuram goes back to the Pandya Period.
Legend
A staunch lady devotee called Periyanayaki is believed to have merged with the lord here and the local Nagarathar community raised a shrine for her here in later times. In the ancient days this area was a forest and a hunter’s wife lost her way. She was taken to her husband by a sage. Seeing their frugal life he created a golden palm tree without their knowledge and went away. The tree yielded a fruit a day which was sold by the hunter to a local trader who gave him a small amount for the priceless fruit. He thus sold 4420 fruits over time. Upon realising this when the hunter asked the trader for more money which was refused. The matter was taken to the King who surprised by the story sent his men to check out. They found only a Shiva Lingam there. The trader who realised his folly sold 1420 of the golden fruits to build this temple. The balance 3000 fruits are believed to be buried here somewhere.
Directions
Thiruvarangulam is about 10 kilometers east of Pudukottai on the road going to Alangudi.
Food and Stay
None locally except tea shops. The closest place for food and stay would be Pudukottai.