Nedungalanathar Temple, Thirunedungulam (#128)
நெடுங்களநாதர் திருக்கோயில், திருநெடுங்குளம்
Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam Thirunedungalam
The temple of Nedungalanathar at Thirunedungulam, just outside of Thiruchirapalli, is an ancient and celebrated Paadal Petra Sthalam. It is a small and compact Sivan temple, but is a very important one. Although it is of great antiquity, it has been built and rebuilt over the ages. Yet it retains much of its ancient character. It is located just east and outside of Thiruchirapalli. Nedungalam means a large field and that was the original name of the village. It is thus referred to by older sources. The place is now called Thirunedungulam, a modern variant of the ancient name. The Lord here is also known as Nithya Sundareswarar (the Eternally Handsome Lord). His consort here is Mangalanayaki (the Auspicious Lady) or Oppilanayaki (the Incomparable Lady).
The temple has many legends. It is believed that Sage Agasthiyar visited this temple during his southern sojourn. The Utsavamoorthy, which is an idol of Lord Sivan as Somaskander lacks the right thumb. The story is that the Lord himself appeared as a witness to protect a devotee who was wrongly accused. The Chola king of the time was annoyed and cut off Lord Sivan's thumb. In another instance, the Lord appeared in a resplendent form to an ancient Chola king and hence got the name Nithya Sundareswarar.
The temple has been in existence from the late 6th century at least and is mentioned in literary sources prior to the 7th century. The original temple was likely a brick structure that was converted to a granite one by early Chola kings like Aditya I in the 10th century. A later inscription from the 13th century claims Vijayalayan contributed to this temple, although there is no direct inscriptional evidence for this. There are a number of inscriptions around the temple. The various subsidiary shrines and mandapams bear inscriptions from the reigns of Rajarajan I and Rajarajan III, suggesting that these structures are from the original Chola era temple. The inscriptions on the walls of the sanctum are from the early 15th century during the Vijayanagar period, leading one to believe that the sanctum was rebuilt in that time. There is evidence of the influence of Chola, Hoysala, Pandya, Vijayanagar and Nayakkan patronage of this ancient gem of a temple.
At around 2 acres in area, it is a fairly small temple. It is an east-facing temple and is entered through a five tiered rajagopuram. There has been some confusion due to some sources claiming that it is a west-facing temple. This seems to be an error that has been inadvertently propagated by some sources. The temple is constructed in such a manner that the rays of the morning sun fall directly on the deity from the 7th to 12th day of the Tamil month of Aadi (late July). The rajagopuram seems to be of a later age, perhaps of Nayakkan origin. Then you cross a wide courtyard which has a kodimaram, balipeedam and nandi. The Amman shrine is to your right and is south-facing. Next, you enter through a second gopuram which looks Cholan. You then enter the temple proper. The Moolavar is a self-manifested suyambulingam. But the sanctum is also believed to enshrine the goddess Uma in an invisible (Aroopa) form on the Lord's left. Hence the sanctum has two vimanas. Very unique. The unity of the masculine and feminine forms of the Supreme Being as Sivan and Parvati is a central concept in Saivite Hinduism, and is commonly symbolised by the half-male/half-female idol, the Ardhanareeswarar form. Interestingly the west-facing, back, main koshta idol is an Ardhanareeswarar here and not a Lingodbavar or Lord Vishnu, as is usual. The south-facing koshta idol of Lord Dakshinamurthy, Lord Sivan as the eternal teacher or guru, is a Yoga Dakshinamurthy. It is a rare form where Lord Dakshinamurthy is in a Padmasanam posture, deep in thought with his eyes closed. The lower two hands bear the Chin Mudra and a container of sacred vibhuti. There is a Yoga Patti or Belt on his left leg. There is a covered verandah called the Thirunadaimaligai around the central shrine on three sides, likely built during the Vijayanagar period.
This is the 125th Paadal Petra Sthalam and the 8th on the south side of the Kaveri River. The pathigam was composed by Thirugnanasampanthar. Gnanasampanthar is the author of the first three Thirumurais of the Panniru Thirumurai, the twelve divine books of the Tamil Saivites. These three compilations are collectively known as the Thirukadaikaappu and contain 384 pathigams. Each one is believed to bring a special kind of boon to those who recite them often. The Thirunedungala Pathigam is called the Idar-Kalayum Pathigam (the pathigam that removes obstacles - இடர் களையும் பதிகம்). People recite it when they are in trouble and to ward off trouble to come. It is a popular hymn. Another Tamil Saivite saint Ayyadigal Kaadavarkon Nayanar (ஐயடிகள் காடவர்கோன் நாயனார்), a Pallava king turned Saivite saint, mentions the temple in his work the Shetra Venba. He was from an era preceding that of Sampanthar and Appar.
Thirugnasampanthar extols thus:
மறையுடையாய் தோலுடையாய் வார்சடைமேல் வளரும்
பிறையுடையாய் பிஞ்ஞகனே யென்றுனைப்பே சினல்லால்
குறையுடையார் குற்றம்ஓராய் கொள்கையினால் உயர்ந்த
நிறையுடையார் இடர்களையாய் நெடுங்களம்மே யவனே
Thevaram 1.052
(Oh you Lord, who possesses the Vedas, who wears the tiger's skin as clothing, has the growing crescent moon adorning your matted long hair and who is the destroyer - if people praise you, those who are in need, who are faultless and live replete with good principles - you will destroy their obstacles, my Lord who is here at Nedungalam)
The thalavirutcham is the Vilvam, although the Kasturi Arali (the highly poisonous - pink Nerium Oleander) is also revered here. There are at least two main theerthams, the Agastya Theertham and Sundara Theertham. There are many festivals throughout the year with special poojas on pradosham days twice a month. The main festival, the brahmotsavam falls on Vaikasi Visakam in the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May/June). The published open times are 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. and then 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. On Sundays the doors open 30 minutes later, at 6:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m, respectively.
The temple is located 22 km or 30 minutes by car east of Thiruchirapalli. It is 350 km or 6.5 hours southeast of Chennai. We visited in August 2026. We were based in Thiruchirapalli.
Sources:
S. R. Balasubrahmanyam, Middle Chola Temples: Rajaraja I to Kulottunga I, A.D. 985–1070 (Thomson Press [India], 1975), “Temples in Tirunedungalam”
Tamil Virtual Academy. “Thirunedungalam – Nedungalanathar Temple.” Government of Tamil Nadu. Accessed September 26, 2026.
Veludharan. “Sri Nedungalanathar Temple, Nedungalam, Trichy District, Tamil Nadu.” Veludharan’s Temples Visit, December 2020. https://veludharan.blogspot.com/2020/12/sri-nedungalanathar-temple-nedungala.html
The Hindu. “Chola-period inscriptions copied from Nedunkalanathar Temple.” The Hindu, 17 May 2022. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/chola-period-inscriptions-copied-from-nedunkalanathar-temple/article65426579.ece
Courtesy Google Maps
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