Pettavaithalai Madhyarjuneshwar Temple, Trichy

Address

Pettavaithalai,

Trichy District,

Tamil Nadu 639112

Moolavar

Madhyarjuneshwar

Amman

Balambika

Introduction

Madhyarjuneshwar Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva located at Pettavaithalai in Trichy District of Tamilnadu. Presiding Deity is called as Madhyarjuneshwar and Mother is called as Balambika. This ancient Chola period temple is architecturally beautiful and has many wonderful sculptures. The temple was built by 3rd Kulothunga Chola.

The temple is located at about 1 Km inside from the Trichy – Kulithalai main road. Passenger and Express trains from Trichy to Karur and Coimbatore stops at Pettavaithalai. Nearest Railway Station is located at Pettavaithalai and Nearest Airport is located at Trichy

Puranic Significance

The temple is believed to have been built by Kulothunga Chola III in the beginning of the 13th century CE. Kulothunga Chozhan had built 64 Shiva temples to get rid of his Brahmahatti Dosham. This was one among those. Another inscription from Rani Mangammal of Nayaka dynasty dated 1685 CE is also found in the temple complex.

Pottralam Poovai Siddhar: It is believed that Pottralam Poovai Siddhar attained Jeeva Samadhi in this temple. He was one of the Siddhas, whose specialty was in producing herbs and medicines for women specific ailments.

Parihara Sthalam for Brahma Hatya Dosha: Historically, the temple was built by Kulothunga Chola III. As per the legend, he got Brahma Hatya Dosha (Brahma hatya dosh is the sin caused due to killing Brahmins). To get absolved from the sin, he built many temples for Lord Shiva. This is one among those temples.

Special Features

The Temple is east facing with five tiered Rajagopuram. The idol of Ganesha and Vishnu-Sri Devi-Bhoo Devi along with Garuda are located at the temple entrance. These ancient idols were excavated from a field in this town. They do not belong to this temple. Along with these idols, an idol of a Jain deity was also excavated. However, that idol is currently not found here. It is said that the idol was moved to some other temple or museum.

The east facing sanctum with a beautiful Vimana enshrines a big Shiva Linga named as Madhyarjuneshwar. The entrance of the sanctum has two medium sized beautiful sculptures of Dwarapalas. In the Maha Mandapam, Nandi is found facing towards Shiva. Nardana Ganapati, Dakshina Murti, Lingodhbava, Brahma and Durga are found as the Koshta Murtis on the outer walls of the sanctum.

Nardana Ganapati has his head turned towards his true right side, which is not usual. Dhakshinamoorthi’s right arm is in Abhaya mudra, which is unique. The idols of Lingodhbava and Brahma do not appear to be original. They must have been sculpted very recently. Brahma is found in the sitting posture, which is again an unusual posture for a Koshta Brahma.

The Goddess of the temple, Balambika, is found in a separate south facing shrine. The tall wooden flag staff, bali peetha and Nandi are found in the courtyard. Surya and Chandra are found on either sides of Nandi and they face towards the sanctum. In a sub-shrine in Ardha mandapam, all bronze idols of the temple such as Ganesh, Subramanya with his consorts, Uma and Chandrashekhar and others are located. In the Maha Mandapam, the sub-shrine enshrining the small bronze idols of Nataraja and Sivakami is located. There were 2 huge panels of ancient epitaphs in Ardha Mandapam recently discovered by the archeologists from nearby town, Bhavani. The placement of Naalvar sculptures was so perfect in front of a low window in the ardha mandapam. It looked like a halo behind them. In the front-side mandapam, there are many sculptures found in the pillars. Two sculptures among them are notable. One is the sculpture of Brahma hatya dosh. Another is the sculpture of Pottralam Poovai Siddhar was an ancient medic who found several medicines especially for women’s health issues. Till date, it is believed that a sincere prayer to him would cure women’s health issues like menstrual problems, menopause problems, and pregnancy related issues. The Jeeva samadhi of Potralam Poovai Siddhar is present here.

Shrines of Ganesha, Surya, Chandra, Subramanya-Valli-Devasena, Gaja Lakshmi, Bitchadanar, Mahalakshmi, Chandikeswara and Navagraha can be seen in the inner prakaram. An ancient Bhikshatana idol is found along with the idols of Linga and Saraswathi in the temple. A six feet tall ancient idol of Vishnu is located at the entrance of the shrine of Gaja Lakshmi. It does not belong originally to the temple. It is also excavated from somewhere in this town. On the way to this temple from the High Way, a local temple with a tall stucco idol of Hanuman is found.

Belief

All types of ladies specific problems are said to be cured by worshipping Shiva at this place. Worshipping Shiva in this place is recommended to get rid of Brahmahatti Dosha.