Thiruvenkatanadar Sulur

Vaishnavite Temples, Coimbatore District

God

Thiruvenkatanadar, facing east

Goddess

Sreedevi and Bhoodevi with main deity

Other Deities

Garuda, Anjaneya, Ganesha

Thiruvenkatanadar Sulur is an ancient temple and occupied a large area of land which today is reduced to only a little more than the shrine area. A Ganesha shrine is outside under a Peepal tree. An ancient lamp mast is seen with the carvings of Hanuman and Garuda on it. Thiruvenkatanadar Sulur is connected with the nearby Vaidyanadar temple and could share similar history.

Holy Water (Theertham) – No information

Sacred Tree (Sthala Vriksham) – No information

History

This place was called Suralur Ariyapiratti Nalloor in the 9th Century CE and Thiruvenkatanadar Sulur was built, developed and contributed to by Kings including Kadiraditya Chozha, Sundara Pandyan, Ko Kandan Veera Narayanan amongst others. Sural, a form of grass, used to grow in profusion here and hence the place was named as Suralur which later became Sulur. Another version for the name is the whirlwind kind of breeze (Sural, Suzhal) that forms here frequently. Dasa Palanjika Chettiars who hailed from Mysore built both this and nearby Vaidyanadar Temple in their present forms.

Mythology

This place was in the trade route between Palakkad and Thanjavur and nearby traders used to congregate for rest. An old man with stomach ailment asked the resting traders for a few peppercorns which was rebuked in anger by one of the traders, instead giving him a black gram. To his surprise the trader found in the morning that all the sacks had turned into black gram. Realizing his mistake he searched out the old man and apologized. He was assured that the cheaper black gram will still fetch the same price as the pepper which it did. In a gesture of thanks the trader is believed to have started the construction of this temple. Pepper is still an offering to the Lord in this temple. Cows are believed to have assisted in the construction and attended to by the lord when tired and hungry. As a thanking gesture, Nandi sat in front of him and is seen today as a statue, a unique feature at this temple.

Directions

Sulur is about 18 kilometers east of Coimbatore on the road to Palladam. Thiruvenkatanadar Sulur is about 500 meters north from the bus stop and near the Sulur Lake and Taluk office.

Stay and Food

None locally. Closest is Coimbatore

Vaishnavite Temples

Tamilnadu Temples