Innambur Sri Ezhuthari Natheswarar Temple, Thanjavur

Address

Innambur Sri Ezhuthari Natheswarar Temple, Innambur Post, Thiruppurambiam-Via, Kumbakonam Taluk, Thanjavur District Tamil Nadu – 612 303. Tele: +91 435-2000157, 2459519.

Diety

Ezhuthtarinathar Amman: Suganda kundalambigai

Introduction

Innambur Ezhutharinathar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, located in Innambur, a village in the outskirts of Kumbakonam, in Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu, India. Shiva is worshipped as Ezhutharinathar and his consort Parvati as Nithya Kalyani. Ona Kantheeswarar is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the Nayanars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam, the 276 temples revered in the canon. Theertham (Holy water): Iravatha Theertham Sthala Vriksham (Sacred Tree): Jack fruit tree and Shenbagam

Puranic Significance

This ancient temple is located on the banks of Kollidam river. There are two stone inscriptions in this temple which date back to the periods of Chola king Rajakesari Varman and Vijayanagara king Veera Kampanna Udayar. This temple is under the administrative control of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of Government of Tamil Nadu (HR&CE). It is believed that Suryan, Chandran, Iravatham and Sage Agasthiyar have worshiped the lord here. It is believed that Iravatham (Indra’s white elephant) after taking a dip in this temple’s holy water, worshiped Lord Shiva here and was relieved of his sin. Since the entrance was small, he was unable to enter the sanctum. Iravatham prayed to Lord Shiva that he be allowed to enter and complete his prayers. In order to allow him to enter, Lord Shiva then made the sanctum and its entrance very wide. The lord is praised as Sri Iravatheswarar and the holy tank is called Iravatha Theertham. Another legend is that once Suryan, the Sun God, lost his grace and power due to a curse. He consulted with some Maharishis to find a solution. They advised him to visit this temple. Suryan came to this temple and tried to worship Lord Shiva but he couldn’t do so as the Nandhi and Vinayakar in front of the lord were blocking him. He pleaded to them that they let him worship Lord Shiva. On his request both Nandhi and Vinayakar moved a bit to the side. Suryan then worshiped Lord Shiva and was relieved from the curse. This place’s name “Innambur” is derived from “Inan Nambia Oor” (“Inan means Suryan, “Nambia” means trusted and “Oor” means a village in Tamil). Other legends As per the Sthala Puranam, Sage Agasthiyar is believed to have worshiped the lord here and was taught the intricacies of Tamil grammar by Lord Shiva. Hence the lord is also praised here as “Sri Atcharapureeswarar”.It is believed that this temple’s accountant Suthasman, a Shiva devotee, used to submit the temple’s accounts regularly to the Chola King who ruled that area. Once the king had a doubt about the account and called him for clarifications. Afraid that he might have made some mistake, the accountant prayed to Lord Shiva for help. The lord is believed to have come in the guise of the accountant and submitted a fresh account and clarified the king’s doubts. When Suthasman went to the king for clarification, the king asked him why he had come again after already giving the clarifications. Then the accountant realised that it is none other than Lord Shiva who had done the work for him. He informed the king about this miracle. The king also apologised for doubting the accountant. As Lord Shiva himself wrote the accounts of this temple, he is praised here as “Sri Ezhutharinathar”.

Beliefs

Since the lord here is praised as Sri Ezhutharinathar, devotees conduct the ceremony of “Vidhyapyasam” (beginning their child’s education) in this temple. This is done in the hope that their child excels in the field of education. Devotees bring their kids who are facing speech impairment here and perform certain poojas. The priest starts the pooja by writing on the kid’s tongue with a grain of paddy. It is believed that once they complete the specified rituals, the kids will be cured of their speech problems. Devotees believe that by worshiping Goddess Nithya Kalyani here, obstacles from their marriage proposals will be removed. For this, special poojas are also performed on full moon days. Devotees also believe that by worshiping the lord here they will be absolved of the sins accrued from their previous birth.

Special Features

This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 45th Shiva Sthalam on the northern bank of the river Cauvery in Chozha Nadu (Vadakarai). Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested). This east facing temple has two corridors and its main tower (Rajagopuram) has 5-tiers. There is no flag post (“dwajasthambam”) here. The vimanam (roof tower) of the sanctum sanctorum has been constructed according to the Gaja Brishtam style of architecture. This is a very big vimanam. The last consecration ceremony (Maha Kumbabishekam) took place on 16.09.2013 and prior to that on 21.06.2000. Other than the shrines of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy, shrines and idols of Vinayakar, Balasubramaniyar, Sage Agasthiyar, Narthana Vinayakar, Suryan, Chandran, Bairavar, Kala Bairavar, Nalvar, few lingams, Kasi Viswanathar with Visalakshi, Then Kayilaya lingam, Mahalingam, Natarajar with Sivakami (stone), Mahalakshmi, Vishnu Durgai, Jyesta Devi and Navagraham can be seen in the hall and the corridors. There are two shrines for Goddess Parvathy here, one in the name of Sri Nithya Kalyani which is on the right side of Lord Shiva’s shrine and the other in the name of Sri Sugantha Kunthalambigai which is in the outer corridor. In the “koshtam” (place surrounding the sanctum sanctorum), idols of Vinayakar, Pithandavar, Dakshinamurthy, Arthanareeswarar, Brahma, Katchi Kodutha Nathar, Durgai and Chandikeswarar can be seen.

Festivals

Vinayakar Chaturthi in the Tamil month of Aavani (Aug-Sept), Navarathri in the Tamil month of Purattasi (Sept-Oct), Annabishekam in the Tamil month of Aippasi (Oct–Nov