Tiruchotruturai Sri Odhanavaneswarar Temple, Thanjavur

Diety: Sri Othanavaneswarar, Sri Tholaiyach Chelvar, Sri Chotruthurai Nathar, Amman: Sri Annapoorani
Temple Address: Tiruchotruturai Sri Odhanavaneswarar Temple, Thiruchotruthurai Post, Kandiyur Via, Thiruvaiyaru Taluk, Tanjore District, Tamil Nadu – 613202.PH:9943884377
Open between: 06:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 04:00 AM to 08:30 AM

Introduction

Odhanavaneswarar Temple, Tiruchotruturai (also called Oppillaselvar Temple) is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva located in the village of Tiruchotruthurai, Tamil Nadu, India The Five Rivers are Vadavaru, Vennaaru, Vettaaru, Kudamuruttiyaaru and Kaaviriyaaru. Shiva is worshiped as Odhanavaneswarar, and is represented by the lingam and his consort Parvati is depicted as Annapoorani. The presiding deity is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil poet saints known as the nayanars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam. This temple is known as Dakshina Kailasham(Kailash of the South). This is the place where Nandi(the divine bull of lord Shiva) was born and became the mount for Shiva. The divine wedding of Nandi and Suyasayambikai was held at Thirumazhapadi Vaidyanathaswamy temple in Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu. This is celebrated as Saptha Stanam festival which includes seven Shiva temples of the region. Theertham (Holy water) Surya Theertham, River Cauvery Sthala Vriksham (Sacred Tree) Panneer flower tree

Puranic Significance

This ancient temple is situated on the southern bank of the river Kudamurutti. There are some stone inscriptions which date back to the periods of many Chola kings like Adhithan-I, Paranthakan, Rajarajan, Rajakesari Varman, Konerinmai Kondan and Kulothungan. In these inscriptions, the name of the lord is mentioned as Tholaiyachelvar and Thiru Chotruthurai Nathar. From these inscriptions, it is known that this temple was renovated by Chola King Adhitha Chola-I. This temple is under the administrative control of the HinduReligious and Charitable Endowments Department of Government of Tamil Nadu (HR&CE). As per Sthala Puranam, during a time of drought, Lord Shiva gave a bowl (“Akshaya Pathiram”) to a devotee couple, Arulalar and his wife, when they pleaded for food. It is believed that the Akshaya Pathiram never ran out of food. The couple fed all the people in their village using food from that bowl. Hence this lord here is praised as “Sri Tholaiyachelvar”, “Sri Chotruthurai Nathar” and “Sri Chorudaiyan. The goddess is praised as “Sri Annapoorani”. This place gets the name “Chotruthurai”. “Choru” and “annam” both mean food in Tamil. This place is also known as “Annam Vatra sthalam” (“annam” means food, “vatra” means something that never finishes and “sthalam” means place in Tamil). It is believed that this is the second temple where Lord Shiva gave away the “Akshaya Pathiram” to his devotees. The first one being Kasi (Banaras). It is also believed that Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy gave rice from the surrounding paddy fields to a large a number of devotees. Hence these paddy fields are also called “Annam Padaitha Vayal”. “Choru” not only refers to food but also to the process of obtaining salvation and reaching the abode of Lord Shiva. The lord here is not only providing food to satisfy one’s hunger but also blessing them with salvation. Hence the lord here is also praised as Sri Chotruthurai Nathar (“Sri Othanavaneswarar” in Sanskrit). It is believed that Sage Gautama, one of the seven rishis (“Saptha Rishis”), stayed here and worshiped Lord Shiva. He attained salvation here and hence this place also gets the name Gautama Ashram. It is believed that lords Brahma, Mahavishnu, Indra, Suryan, Rishi Gautama, Saints Thirugnanasambanthar, Thirunavukkarasar and Sundarar have worshiped the lord here

Beliefs

Devotees believe that by worshiping the lord here, obstacles from their marriage proposals will be removed. Devotees also believe that by worshiping Lord Shiva here, they will never face starvation and will be blessed with prosperity.

Special Features

This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 13th Shiva Sthalam on the Southern bank of the river Cauvery in Chozha Nadu (Thenkarai). Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested). This is one of the Saptha Sthana temples of Thiruvaiyaru. This is one of the 44 Paadal petra sthalams where the “Moovar” (the three saints – Saint Thirugnanasambanthar, Saint Thirunavukarasar (Appar) and Saint Sundaramurthy (Sundarar) had rendered their Pathigams. This east facing temple has no main tower (Rajagopuram). In place of the Gopuram, there is a beautiful sculpture depicting Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy seated on a bull. There is a 3-tiered tower at the second entrance. The temple has two corridors.

Festivals

Sapthasthanam (“ezhur”) festival is celebrated in a grand manner. Some of the other important festivals celebrated in this temple are – Vinayakar Chaturthi in the Tamil month of Aavani (Aug-Sept), Navarathri in the Tamil month of Purattasi (Sept-Oct), Skanda Shashti and Annabishekam in the Tamil month of Aippasi (Oct–Nov), Thiru Karthikai in the Tamil month of Karthikai (Nov-Dec), Makara Sankranthi in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan-Feb) andShivrathri in the Tamil month of Masi (Feb-Mar).Pradosham is also observed regularly.