Ootiyani Naganath Temple, Thiruvarur

Address

Ootiyani, Needamangalam circle,

Thiruvarur District,

Tamil Nadu 610206

Moolavar

Naganath

Introduction

Ootiyani Naganath Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, located in the Ootiyani village, Needamangalam circle, Thiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu. This area is known as Ootiyani because it is the place where Lord Shiva first grew paddy for life and sent it to the world. Ootu + Anai mean Ootiyani. Utu means to feed, Anai means Airavatham, the name is because Airavatham is worshipped.

There are two Lord Shiva temples in this town. The first temple is Iravadeswarar. The second temple is the Naganath temple. This temple is a small east facing temple. Here the Primary deity is called as Naganath. There are other shrines in the temple, such as Nagaparashakti Amman, Kotta karuppannasamy and Gathambamalai. Pujas are performed by the priests, and there are various forms of divination and cultivation. In the middle of the small temple towards the east, there are idols of Lord sitting posture and below is small Shiva lingam; there are the shrines of Thenmugan and Vinayagar Murugan Lakshmi. The Temple is believed to be 800 years old.