77 Friday Temple Visit
29th July 2022
வாரம் ஒரு கோவில் தரிசனம்
by S. Subramaniam
Shri Airavateshwarar Temple, Maruthuvakudi, Aduthirai, Tamil Nadu.
Location
The Temple is situated on the southern banks of River Veera Chozhan in village Mel Maruthavakudi (or simply Maruthavakudi) and lies about 2 Kms from Adhuthurai, 4 Kms from Thiruvidaimarudhur and 13 Kms from Kumbakonam.
Salient features
The Presiding Deity is called as Airavateshwarar and Devi Parvati is called Abhirami Amman. The Holy tree (Sthala Vriksham) of the temple is the Vilvam. As many as eight Sthala theerthams (Holy Temple tanks) are associated with the temple and they are named after Lord Brahma, Chandra, Yama, Agni, Sage Agastya, Sage Kashyapa, Sage Gowthama and Adi Seshan.
Uniqueness
Nandi, the Bull God of the temple, is referred to as Bana Nandi and one can see lot of pores (holes) in his body which are as a result of injuries suffered by him during the battle of Lord Shiva with demon Maruthavasura, when Nandi was hit by a lot of arrows (Bana).
Lord Vinayaka in this temple has his trunk resembling a Viruchika (Scorpion) .
Name of the place and the Deity
The place Maruthuvakudi is (unusually) named after a demon by name Maruthuvasura who was annihilated by Lord Shiva in a battle. It is generally believed that it was his death wish and was granted by the Lord. Lord is known by the name *Airavateshwarar* after the name of the white elephant of divine God Indira. It is believed that both Indira and Airavata worshipped Lord Shiva here to get relief from the curse of sage Durvasa.
History
The temple is a very ancient one and is more than 2000 years old. However, the present structure was constructed by the Chozha queen Sembiyan Madevi wife of Gandaraditya Chozhan (949-955 CE) and mother of Uttama Chozhan (970-985 CE).
Legends
Legend 1 of 4 - Relating to Indira and his white elephant Airavata
Lord Indra, King of Heaven and his white elephant Airavata were once cursed by Sage Durvasa for throwing a garland given to them by Lord Brahma through Sage Durvasa. Indra lost his Kingdom and Airavata turned black. Indra and Airavata worshipped Lord Shiva here and got relieved from the curse.
Legend 2 of 4 - curse of Moon God Chandra
Once Chandra, the Moon God was cursed by Daksha Prajapathi and lost his brightness. He came to this place, created a pond called Chandra Theertham and worshiped Lord Vinayaka of this Temple. Pleased with his prayers, Vinayaka relieved him from the curse. This is believed to have occurred on the day containing the Anuradha star which falls in the Vrischika Rasi (Zodiac sign). Hence, the temple is considered as Parihara Sthalam for Vrischika Rasi.
Legend 3 of 4 - Relating to demon Maruthuvasura
This is the place where Lord Shiva slew the demon Marutthuvasura. It is believed that when Marutthuvasura fought with Lord Shiva, Nandi came in between him and Lord Shiva and faced the arrows of Marutthuvasura. The arrows made pores (holes) in Nandi's body. Hence, Nandi came to be called as Bana Nandi (Banam in Sanskrit means arrow).
Legend 4 of 4 - relating to the Temple garden - Nandavanam
There is a story behind the temple garden called Nandavanam. Once a learned Brahmin was bestowed with enormous powers due to his devotion to the Lord. Unfortunately, he misused the powers and started demanding donations and became very greedy. He incurred a lot of sin and his body started becoming black.
He realized his mistake, did severe penance for twelve years and got back both - his complexion as well his super powers.
The never ending greed once again made him misbehave and became very arrogant. This time Lord Shiva sent Agoramurthy to punish the Brahmin and to take him into custody. When he was brought before the Lord, the Brahmin realized his mistakes and pleaded for mercy. The Lord pardoned him and to change his mind set, made him in charge of the Nandavanam.deitie
Other deities
Apart from the main shrines of Airavateshwarar and Abhirami amman, the next most important shrine is that of *Vrischika Vinayaka*. It is located in the South West corner of the premises. In addition to the Vrischika Vinayaka there are two more Vinayaka shrines giving the temple the name Mummoorthy Vinayaka temple. One idol is situated at the entrance near Nandi and the other idol is situated below Vanni tree along with Naga Idols in the prakaram.
There is a Navagraha (the nine planets) Shrine on the North East corner of the temple. The unique thing is all the planets are present with their respective spouses. There is a separate shrine for Lord Murugan with his consorts Valli & Devasena.
Literary mentions
The temple does not form part of the elite group of Padal Petra Sthalam or the temple on which a Thevara pathigam (hymn) has been sung. However, ThiruNavukku Arasar has mentioned about this temple in one of his Pathigam and that entitles the temple of being called Thevara Vaipu Sthalam.
Arunagiri Nathar has sung hymns in praise of Lord Muruga of the this temple in jis works called Thiruppugazh.
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