Airavateeswarar Temple

Overview

The Sri Airavatheswarar Temple is located in Tirukkottaaru in Tiruvarur. This is one of the 275 Thevara Shivasthalam of Lord Shiva located in Nedungadu, Thiruvarur District, Tamil Nadu. This temple is located at Tirukkottaru, 12 Kms from Karaikal. It is about 5 Kms from Tirunallaru and is about 2 Kms. to the north-east of Ambar Kaakaalam.

About the Temple

Sage Subhaga was a passionate devotee of Lord Shiva. He worshipped Lord Shiva in this temple on daily basis for several years. Once he was late to arrive and found that the temple doors were remaining closed. He took the form of a bee, entered into the sanctum and worshipped Lord at his heart’s content. It is believed that Sage Subhaga continuing austerities in the form of bee, in this temple a bee hive in front of the sanctum can be seen permanently. Sannidhis – Lord Ganesha, Lord Subramanya with his consorts Goddesses Sri Valli & Deivayanai, Lord Nandikeshwara, Sundarar with Paravai Nacchiyar, Kailasanathar, Sage Shubhaka, Ardhanareeswara, Lord Dakshinamurthi, Lord Chandeswara, Lord Surya, Lord Chandra, Bhairava, Lord Nataraja & Goddess Sivakami, Kumara Bhuvaneswarar, Goshtamurtham – Lord Dakshinamurthi, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Goddess Sri Durga.

About the Deity

The Presiding deity – Airavatheswarar with his consort Goddess Sri Vandarpoomkuzhali Ammai.

Legend and Stories

Legend goes that Sage Durvassa sanctified a Linga and worshipped Lord Shiva at Kasi/Varanasi. Immediately after the worship of Linga with an attractive garland of Lotus flowers, Sage Durvassa offered this to Lord Indra, who was merrily going round and round on his celestial vehicle Airavatha. Lord Indra was received the garland disrespectfully with a single hand from Sage Durvassa and carelessly placed it on the Airavatha. Before long, Airavatha tossed the garland in the sky with its trunk and thrashed it with its leg. Sage Durvassa was furious at the arrogance of Lord Indra and Airavatha and both of them were cursed by him. Airavatha turned out wild and wandered on the Earth, worshipped Lord Shiva in many of the sacred places on Earth to get rid of the curse. In the meantime Airavatha arrived on this sacred land and created a torrential rain by piercing the sky with its trunk, underwent severe austerities worshipping Lord Shiva. Hence, this place has got its name Thirukkottaru.

Festivals

Maha Shivaratri, Masi Makam, Panguni Uthiram, Thiru Karthikai, Arudra Darisanam, Aippasi Annabhishekam, Markazhi Utsavam,

Accessibility

Thiruvarur is situated about 24 km from Nagapattinam and about 56 km from Thanjavur, the nearest airport to Thiruvaruris at Tiruchirapalli, which lies at around 65kms from Thanjavur. Thiruvarur is connected by the Southern Railway with Chennai, a junction where the Mayavaram-Karaikudi and the Tanjore-Nagapattinam branch lines cut each other. Trains going via Thiruvarurare mostly express trains. The nearest railway station to Thiruvaruris at Nagapattinam, which is well-connected with all major south Indian destinations via, Chennai, Trichirappalli, Thanjavur and Kollam. Thiruvarur is aided by a good network of roads, which connects it to neighboring districts and other major cities of Tamil Nadu.

Temple Address

Sri Airavatheswarar Temple,
Thirukkottaru (Thirukottaram ),
Thiruvarur,
Tamil Nadu.