Karunellinathar temple
| Karunellinathar | |
|---|---|
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 Location in Tamil Nadu
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| Geography | |
| Coordinates | 9°28′51″N 77°48′39″E / 9.48083°N 77.81083°ECoordinates: 9°28′51″N 77°48′39″E / 9.48083°N 77.81083°E |
| Country | India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District | Virudhunagar |
| Location | Thiruthangal |
| Culture | |
| Sanctum |
Karunellinathar (Parvathi) |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural styles | Dravidian architecture |
Karunellinathar
(Shiva)
Karunellinathar temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, located in Thiruthangal, a town in the outskirts of Sivakasi, a in Tamil Nadu, India. Shiva is worshiped as Karunellinathar, and is represented by the lingam and his consort Parvati is depicted as Chokki Amman.
It is built on a hillock 100 ft (30 m) and houses a small gateway tower known as gopurams. The temple is a rock cut temple and has many shrines, with those of Karunellinathar and Chokki Amman being the most prominent. The temple is located on the other side of Ninra Narayana Perumal temple, a famous Vishnu temple and can be reached from that temple on the hillock. The temple is believed to have been built by Gurukalathirayan during the Pandyan regime in 1233 CE.
The temple has four daily rituals at various times from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and four yearly festivals on its calendar. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
As per a Hindu legend, Ranganatha (the reclining form of Vishnu) from Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple was enamoured by the devotion of Andal. He started a journey to Srivilliputhur Divya Desam to seek her hand for marriage. While reaching the place, it became dark and he decided to spend the night in the place. Since he stayed at this place, it came to be known as Thiruthangal and the hillock came to be known as Thalagiri. As per another legend, the Pandavas from Mahabharatha were living in exile and were roaming around the forest of Western Ghats. They could not get water for performing their daily pooja. As Sun was rising, Arjuna, one of the princes, prayed to Ganga to send water to the place and shot an arrow that split earth and brought forth a river. The river that originated is believed to be the Arjuna river in modern times. The place where the temple was located was believed to be housing two Amla trees (called nelli in Tamil) and hence got the name as Irunellinathar, which later went on to become Karunellinathar.
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Wikipedia