Thiruvathivaimangalam Shivalokanatha Shiva Temple, Thiruvarur

Address

Thiruvathivaimangalam, Thiruvarur circle,

Thiruvarur District,

Tamil Nadu 611105

Moolavar

Shivalokanatha

Amman

Sankaranayaki

Introduction

Thiruvathivaimangalam Shivalokanatha Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, located in the Thiruvathivaimangalam village, Thiruvarur circle, Thiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu. Thiruvathivaimangalam is a small sub-village, and one can reach this place on the banks of the Vetta River at a distance of 1 km south from Tiruvarur-Nagur road. This temple is located on the banks of a large pond in front of the village. The present temple, which was built on the condition that the old temple was completely removed, has been completely modified without the resemblance of the old one. Here the Primary deity is called as Shivalokanatha and Mother is called as Sankaranayaki.

Puranic Significance

The temple entrance gate with semicircular arch, circular wall on all four sides, Lord Shivalokanath is in circular shape and has east facing sanctum, Goddess Sankaranayaki has south facing sanctum. A raised front hall connects the two sanctums, outside of which is the Nandi altar. In the main hall there is Vinayagar on the left and Valli/Theivanaisametha Murugan on the right side. In the sanctum sanctorum there is Dakshinamurthy in the south and Navagraga sannithi in the north-east.

Since the temple is not in the middle of the town, it is isolated from the people who come and go for many years. The temple were overgrown. Having seen this many times, Radhakrishnan, an 82-year-old Shivanati from this town, told his son about his intention to restore the temple, and the family got involved in the temple work. 2013-2016 was revised and consecrated. While excavating the earth for the restoration of this temple, idol of Nataraja and Shiva lingam were found. These were to confirm the period of the later Cholas.

The inscriptions were also found and while the entire parts of the inscription are not available, one of the found inscriptions refers to the place as ‘Thiruvathiraimangalam’ and the goddess as ‘Sankaranayaki’. This inscription is believed to be around 1000 years old. It has been confirmed that Vinayagar, Sivalokanathar, Sankara Nayaki, Chandikeshuvarar located in this temple belong to the later Chola period. So it can be said that the temple was here earlier as the brick slab of the Cholas. The earlier temple was a fine example of the artistic style of the later Cholas.