Margabandeswarar Temple

The Margabandheswarar Temple is located in Virinchipuram and is dedicated to God Margabandeswarar. There was a contest between Vishnu and Brahma to see who would find the head and foot of God Shiva. Brahma lied that he saw Shiva's head. Thaazhampoo provided false witness to Brahma's lie. Along with Brahma, the flower was also punished. So, the flower is not to be used for any Shiva Pooja. Shiva cursed Brahma that there wouldn't be a temple for him. The Goddess of the temple is known as Maragadambal. Both the deity and His consort face east and have separate flags. It is believed that the temple was built by Sambuvaraya - the representative of Chola king in 1239 AD. It is located at a distance of around 10 kms from Vellore city. Virinchipuram has the architecturally beautiful Margabandeswarar temple. Margabandeswarar temple is around 1300 years old and is very rich in extraordinary sculptures and artistic pillars. Simha tank aka Simha teerth, the tank with the lion faced sculpture in the entrance which is located inside the temple is very popular. Every Karthigai (Tamil calendar month) last Saturdays, thousands of female devotees take bath in this tank and sleep in the temple mandaps with wet clothes. It is believed that if God appears in their dreams, their wish come true.The temple has a beautiful tower in the east direction. In addition to that there are other towers facing the other directions. The highlight of the temple is two Kalyana Mandaps (halls) located on either side of the outer prakara (corridor). Both the mandaps are full of artistically beautiful pillars and sculptures. You can find the various forms of Shakthi, Shiva, Vishnu and other Gods in the form of beautiful sculptures in the pillars of these mandaps. Narasimha coming out of pillar, Narasimha killing Hiranya, Vishnu with musical instruments, and other such rare sculptures are carved in these mandaps. As per the legend, Brahma and Vishnu competed among themselves to find the head and foot of God Shiva respectively. Vishnu admitted that he failed in his attempt. However, Brahma lied as if he saw the head of God Shiva. Hence, he was cursed and was born as Shiva Sarma in a Brahmin family in Virinjipuram. Shiva Sarma's father died when he was five years old. His relatives tried to get the rights of doing temple Poojas by deceiving Shiva Sarma. The God appeared in Shiva Sarma's mother's dream and on the next day he appeared as an old man. The old man performed upanayan for the boy. The boy did all the required poojas in the temple properly. However, he couldn't do abhishek to the tall Shiv Linga. Hence, the Shiv Linga tilted slightly towards the boy. You can still find the Shiv Linga idol tilted. The Goddess of the temple is Maragadambal. Both the God and Goddess are east facing and both have separate flag staff. It appears that the temple should have been built or renovated by Sambuvarayan, the representative of Chola king in 1239 AD. Bomma Nayakkars, who built the Vellore Jalagandeswarar temple, should have built the beautiful kalyana mandaps of the temple.