Temples of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry #105: Naganathaswamy Temple, Thirunageswaram

நாகநாதசுவாமி திருக்கோயில், திருநாகேசுவரம்

Thirunageswaram

Thirunageswaram

Thirunageswaram

Thirunageswaram

Thirunageswaram

Thirunageswaram

Thirunageswaram

Thirunageswaram

Thirunageswaram

Thirunageswaram

Thirunageswaram

Thirunageswaram

Thirunageswaram

Thirunageswaram

Another Navagraham Sthalam, this Sivan temple is associated with Lord Raahu. Raahu is the Ascending or Northern Lunar Node, the point where the moon's orbit intersects the solar ecliptic on its northern arc. Like the Southern Lunar Node, it is linked to the occurrence of eclipses. In ancient Hindu mythology an eclipse was described as a serpent swallowing the Moon or the Sun. As such these two points in space are associated with the divine serpents Raahu and Kethu respectively. Naagam means cobra and Lord Sivan, the presiding deity, is known as Naganathaswamy. It is a Paadal Petra Sthalam.

Legends abound. The eight holy serpents Vasuki, Ananthan, Padman, Mahapadman, Thathchakan, Karkodakan, Sankapalan. Kulikan as well as Adhiseshan are believed to have worshipped Lord Sivan here. It is a temple for people to relieve themselves of Raahu dosham. When the world came to an end in the great deluge of the Maha Pralayam at the end of the last yugam, and life on earth was in danger of extinction, Lord Brahma placed the seeds of future resurgence of life in the next yuga in a clay pot or Kumbham (Holy Pot) and added Amirtham the holy elixir of immortality. He then placed the Kumbham on top of Mount Meru. During the pralayam the kumbam floated around in the great oceans and came to rest at Kumbakonam. During that event the Amirtham splashed and 5 drops scattered around a five krosham distance of the centre of Kumbakonam or Kudanthai. A krosham is an ancient Indian unit of measurement of distance and is roughly around 1.3 miles or 2.08 kms. These five spots became the sites of five ancient temples around Kumbakonam known as the Pancha Krosha Sthalams of Kumbakonam. They are Thirunageswaram. Thiruvidaimaruthur, Darasuram, Swamimalai and Koranattu Karuppur. They are within 5 krosham distance in radius from the centre of Kumbakonam. Other sacred cities such as Ujjain and Pazhayarai also have Pancha Krosha Sthalams.

As a Paadal Petra Sthalam, it must have existed in some form in the early 7th century. In the mid 10th century, the deeply Saivite king Gandaraditya Cholan (CE 950 -957), son of Paranthakan I and husband of Sembiyan Mahadevi, converted this temple into a granite structure. An inscription from Gandaradiyan's time describes the renovation. There are 16 sets of inscriptions from the time of Gandaradiya Cholan, Rajarajan and Rajendran I. Sekkizhar, the author of the Periyapuranam, the hagiography of the Saivite saints, is associated with this temple. He was the prime minister of Kulothunga II and was a great Sivan devotee. He renovated this temple in the 12th century and in honour of this there are sculptures in this temple of him, his mother and brother. In the 17th century, Govinda Dikshitar an official in the Nayakkar court, did renovations at this temple and built a mandapam. An unknown king or chieftain by the name Sambumali is credited with the construction of the sacred tank, the Surya Pushkarani or Soola Theertham here. Arimalazham Annamalai Chettiar has carried out extensive renovations in 1929.

At 15 acres in area, it was a fairly large temple. Today, it measure 800 feet east-west and 630 feet north-south for an area of 12 acres due to modern day encroachments. Still a large temple. It is an east-facing temple. It has a 5 tier rajagopuram and the secondary rajagopuram has 4 tiers. There are entrances in all four directions with gopurams. Altogether there are 6 gopurams. There are three enclosed prakarams or circumambulatory precincts. The Lord manifests in the sanctum as a Sivalingam. The shrine for Lord Raahu is at the northeastern corner of the second precinct. There are two Amman Sannithis, the Piraiyaninuthalumai Sannithi and the Girigujambikai Sannithi. The Sthala Virutcham is the Shenbaga Tree. The Theertham is the Soola or Surya Theertham. The main festival or Brahmotsavam is held for 10 days in the Tamil month of Karthigai (November/December), when the processional deity takes to the streets in a chariot. The temple is administered by the HR and CE.

This is the 146th Paadal Petra Sthalam and the 29th on the southern bank of the Kaveri River. It has the special distinction of being celebrated in the Thevaram by all three of the Moovar, Sampanthar, Appar and Sundarar. One of only 44 temples with that recognition.

In Sundarar's words:

பிறையணி வாணுதலாள்

உமையாளவள் பேழ்கணிக்க

நிறையணி நெஞ்சனுங்க

நீலமால்விடம் உண்டதென்னே

குறையணி குல்லைமுல்லை

அளைந்துகுளிர் மாதவிமேல்

சிறையணி வண்டுகள்சேர்

திருநாகேச் சரத்தானே. 

(Uma the Goddess who wears the crescent on her beautiful forehead was frightened and her heart froze when you drank the blue poison. Why O Lord? You, who resides in the forest of Thirunageswaram where bees buzz around beautiful flowering creepers like the Kullai, Mullai and the Madhavi that flutter in the cool breeze)

It is very important that we do not confuse this temple with the nearby Nageswarar temple within the the town of Kumbakonam. It is easy to do so. That is also a Paadal Petra Sthalam of great antiquity and a marvel of early Chola architecture. That temple was built by Adityan I. More on it in a later post in the coming months..

This temple is located on the eastern outskirts of Kumbakonam, about 5 km from its centre. It is about 100 km or 1.5 hours east of Thiruchirapalli. It is about 150 km or 2.5 hours south of Pondicherry. We visited in June 2025. We were based in Kumbakonam.

Sources:

N. Chockalingam 1971, Census of India 1961. Volume IX. Part XI -D. Temples of Tamil Nadu Page 177-178

Shaivam.org - Thevaram

Courtesy Google Maps

Courtesy Google Maps