Temples of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry #106: Mahalingeswarar Temple, Thiruvidaimarudur

Sudharshan
2 hours ago
5 min read

மகாலிங்கேசுவரர் திருக்கோயில், திருவிடைமருதூர்

This massive, ancient, historic and beautiful Sivan temple near Kumbakonam is one of the most important Sivasthalams in the Tamil country. A Paadal Petra Sthalam, it is a temple well known to followers of Tamil Saivism but less so to the general public. Its importance stems from its great antiquity and its religious significance. It is one of the Panchakrosha Sthalams of Kumbakonam. It has been considered the central Sivan temple for all the Sivasthalams of the Chola region.

The Maruthu is a tree that is called the Arjuna tree in Sanskrit. There are 3 ancient Sivan temples that are named after the Maruthu or Arjuna tree. In the south, around Thirunelvely is the ancient temple of Thirupudaimaruthur. In the north is the much celebrated Malikarjuna temple at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh. Idai means middle and Thiruvidaimaruthur is the one in the middle. It is believed that during the deluge of the Mahapralayam at the end of the last yugam, Lord Brahma had placed the seeds of future life in the Mahakumbam, filled it with Amirtham and left it on top of Mount Meru. Displaced by the deluge, the kumbam came to rest at Kumbakonam after floating around in the great oceans. 5 drops of the holy potion splashed and came to rest within 5 krosham distance of the centre of Kumbakonam and became 5 great temples. Thiruvidaimarudur is one of them.

Once an ancient king, variously described as Varaguna Pandian or an unnamed Chola king, is believed to have accidentally killed someone, an old brahmin priest, when his chariot ran over the sleeping man. Gripped with remorse, the king became quite depressed and sought relief from the Lord himself who instructed him to go to Thiruvidaimaruthur. The ghost of the dead man, Brahmahathi could not enter the temple and stood guard outside the southern entrance. The Lord instructed the remorseful king to exit through one of the other entrances and thus he rid himself of the dosham of the killing. The ghost awaits at the southern entrance to this day and a bas-relief sculpture of it with dishevelled hair is seen there. It is customary for devotees to enter the temple through one entrance and exit through another to rid themselves of all negative influences.

It is believed that Goddess Uma once convinced the Lord to come here to give Dharshan to some sages. To the surprise of Parvati, the Lord himself worshipped the deity here in a display of great humility. There is a story that the Thanjavur Maratha king Pratap Singh Bhonsle (1739-1763), once fell in love with a local damsel, Ammuniammal He prayed to the Lord here and at the end of a successful courtship, the happy couple installed a statue of a woman holding a lamp, the Paavai Vilakku, to show their gratitude. It is still there today. The great Saivite ascetic poet Pattinathar taught the true meaning of renunciation to his disciple Badragiriyar here. There are many other stories and legends too numerous to list.

This vast temple has an area of about 22 acres. It is strikingly huge when you enter. The Lord manifests in the sanctum as the Mahalingam or great lingam. It is one of the largest Sivalingams in the Tamil country. The temple has three prakarams the outer ones are spacious and long. The innermost prakaram is called the Pranava Prakaram and its walls are adorned with colourful and exquisite sculptural art from the Nayakkan era. The middle prakaram is known as Kodumudi Prakaram and the outermost prakaram is the Asvamedha Prakaram. Doing multiple circumambulations of this prakaram is considered very pious. There are 4 rajagopurams in all four cardinal directions. The main eastern rajagopuram has 5 tiers. It is 668 feet in height. The western rajagopuram has 7 tiers. The Nandi is massive, imposing and beautiful. Everything about this temple is big. The temple has an east-west orientation and is in rectangular in shape. The Lord faces east. The shrine for the the consort, Goddess Brahatsundaragujambikai is an impressive, large subtemple just to the right of the moolavar. There is a separate shrine for the goddess as Devi Mookambikai, which curiously has a Nagara type vimanam which is usually only seen in northern states of India. It was likely built during the Maratha period. There are numerous shrines within the temple complex. There is a library that contains invaluable ancient Tamil Saivite palm leaf manuscripts. It is called the Saiva Siddhanta Library. The sthalavirutcham is the Marudhamaram. There are 32 theerthams associated with this temple including the large Karunyamitra Theertham and the Kaveri River itself. The main festival coincides with Thaipoosam and is a grand 10 day festival.

As a Paadal Petra Sthalam, the temple has ancient origins, It was already a great temple in the 7th century. The earliest of the existing masonry dates back to the Cholas in the 9th century. There 159 sets of inscriptions. They are from Chola, Hoysala, Vijayanagar and Nayakkar dynasties. One particular set of inscriptions describe the great contributions of Kulothunga Chola I (1070-1122). The inscription is dated to the 172nd day of the 26th year of his reign. An inscription from the 7th regnal year of Vikrama Cholan (1118-35) describes the practices, processions, dances and traditions of the festivals at the temple. One inscriptions describes the theatre inside the temple that was used to enact plays. In the 16th century, Govinda Dikshitar, a minister in the Thanjavur Nayakkan court, built the beautiful Pushyamantapa halls. In the 18th century, the Thanjavur Marathas made many contributions.

It is the 147th Paadal Petra Sthalam and the 30th on the south bank of the Kaveri River in Chola Naadu. It has been celebrated in the Thevaram by all three of the Moovar. Only 44 temples have that distinction.

ஓடே கலன்; உண்பதும் ஊர் இடு பிச்சை

காடே இடம் ஆவது; கல்லால் நிழல் கீழ்

வாடா முலை மங்கையும் தானும் மகிழ்ந்து,

ஈடா உறைகின்ற இடை மருது ஈதோ..

(The skull is his vessel. He eats the alms that the village gives him. The cremation ground is his favourite dwelling under the great banyan tree. But here he lives happily with goddess Uma. Is this that Idaimaruthur?)

Thevaram 1.032. Thirugnanasampanthar - Thirukadaikaappu

The temple belongs to the HR and CE department of the Tamil Nadu State Government like all other revenue generating temples in the state. But the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam plays an active role in the administration of the temple. The maintenance is wanting for such an important site. Areas of the premises are inaccessible to the general public due to lack of maintenance. Lack of funds is the obvious reason. A sorry state of affairs.

The temple is located about 10 km or 20 minutes east of Kumbakonam. It is about 100 km or 2 hours east of Thiruchirapalli and 30 km or 3 hours south of Pondicherry. We visited in June 2025. We were based in Kumbakonam.

Sources:

TN Temples Project - Mahalingeswarar, Thiruvidaimarudur, Thanjavur

Dinamalar Temples - Mahalingam Temple, Thiruvidaimaruthur

N. Chockalingam 1971, Census of India 1961. Volume IX. Part XI -D. Temples of Tamil Nadu Page 162-165

Shaivam.org - Thevaram

Sivaya.org - Thevaram with meaning (Tamil)