Thiruvidaimaruthur

Thiruvidaimaruthur - Sri Mahalinga Swamy Temple

Mahalingeswaraswamy Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Shiva, located in Tiruvidaimaruthur, a village in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Temple Name History: Marudur is derived from the name of the holy tree, namely Maruda. The Sthala Vriksha (temple tree) is Maruda.

Name	Temple	Location
Thalai Maruthu (Head)	Mallikarjuna swamy temple	Srisailam
Idai Maruthu (Center)	Mahalingeswarar Temple	Thiruvidaimarudur
Kadai Maruthu (Lower)	Tirupudaimaruthur temple	Ambasamudram, Tirunelveli Dt.

Since Shiva raised out as a flame to the sages, the presiding deity is also referred as Jyothirmaya Mahalingam. Since the place is full of Maruda tree, Shiva is also referred as Marudavanan. The Sanskrit meaning of the word Maruda is Archunam, deriving the Tamil name of Idaimaruthu against Mathiarchunam.

Thiruvidaimaruthur - Sri Mahalinga Swamy Temple
Main Deity	Lord Shiva
Name	Sri Mahalingeswara swamy
Goddess Name	Sri Perunalamamulaiy Amman & Mookambika
Location	Thiruvidaimaruthur
Significance	Kaverikarai Sivasthalam, Devara padal petra stalam, Swayambumurthi , Panchakrosha Sthalas,
Ancient	1000 - 2000 years old
Travel Base	Kumbakonam

Significances of Thiruvidaimarudur Temple :-

Generally in all Shiva temples, the main deity will have a specific name but here it is called Mahalingam (Big lingam) since legend says that Lord Shiva worshipped Himself here in the process of teaching and demonstrating the Saivite worship procedures to the seven great sages.

The Shiva Lingam here is a swayambhu (self manifested) facing east. This is referred to as Madhyarjuna Kshetram and is said to be on par with Varanasi (Kasi). The main deity is called Mahalingeswarar or Madhyarjunar. The pooja is first performed to Mahalingaswamy in this temple and then only to Vinayakar. Here Vinayagar Himself is worshipping Shiva.

The Ambal Shrine is one of the Sakthi Peetams and is on the right side of the Swami shrine, that is on southern side as a KALYANA KOLAM . Chakara Maha Meru is installed here.

There is a separate shrine for Mookambika in the posture of doing penance built in the North Indian style. She is mentioned as Pidari Parameeswari in inscripitions. The main Mookambika temple is in Karnataka on the banks of the river Chowparnika and this one on the banks of the river Cauvery.

The temple has 27 lingas dedicated to each birth stats (nakshatrams).

Note: Thiruvotriyur (North Chennai) temple also has 27 lingam for each birth star.

Deities - Uma, Vinayaka Muruga, Thirumal, Lakshimi, Saraswati, Kaali

Saints - Vashista, Agasthya, Pattinathar, Badragiriyar, Romarishi, Kapila, Markandiya rishi, Sivavakiya (Siddhar);

Kings - Varagunadeva, Sukeerthi, Veerasena, Chitrakeerthi, Uvanasuvan, Maandada, Vasuman, Anjatthuvasan

Brahmin – Nandagan, Vedas, Airawatha (Elephant vehicle of Indra) and others were bestowed with grace by the Lord.

Lord Shiva blessed Markandeyan by appearing before him in the form of Ardhanareeswarar. The saints Appar, Sundarar, Manikkavasakar and Sambandar visited and praised the Lord. Also Pattinathar and Karuvoor Thevar Sung Psalms about the Deity.

Temple has three famous praharams	Going around this will give
Aswamedha pradhakshina praharam	the effect of doing Ashwamedha yaga
Kodumudi praharam	the effect of going to Mount Kailash
Pranava praharam	getting moksha

According to legend, the Saptha Vigraha moorthis (seven prime consorts in all Siva Temples) and the specialty temples are as under:

Deity	Temple	Location
Nataraja	Chidambaram Nataraja Temple	Chidambaram
Chandikeswarar	Tirucheingalur Temple	Thiruseingalur (Senganoor)
Vinayagar	Vellai Vinayagar Temple	Tiruvalanchuzi
Muruga	Swamimalai Murugan Temple	Swamimalai
Bhairava	Sattainathar Temple	Sirkali
Navagraha	Sooriyanar Temple	Suryanar Kovil
Dakshinamoorthy	Apatsahayesvarar Temple	Alangudi (Near kumbakonam)

The deity of the temple, Mahalingeswara swamy, acts as the focal point for the seven consorts. The additional consorts of temple are also mentioned as under:

Deity	Temple	Location
Durga	Thenupuriswarar Temple	Patteswaram
Somaskanda	Thyagaraja Temple	Tiruvarur
Nandi	Tiruvavaduthurai Temple	Thiruvaduthurai

Temples is classified under

v Thevara Paadal Petra Sthalam (275 Shiva Temples),

v One of the Pancha krosha Sthalas,

v Ammbal Shrine is one of the Sakthi Peetas (Sakthi Peedam)

v Madhya Arjunam

Brahma hathi Dhosham -  Once Varaguna Pandiya’s horse accidentally trampled upon a Brahmin and killed him. The sin due to this, Brahma hathi (Hathi- sin caused by murder) followed him wherever he went. The King prayed to Somasundarar at Madurai seeking relief from this sin.  Lord Somasundarar appeared in the King’s dream and directed him to pray Him at Thiruvidaimarudhur for relief.  Thiruvidaimarudhur was under Chola rule and they were bitter enemies of the Pandyas.  There was a war between the two in which the Cholas were defeated.  The King then visited the temple at Thiruvidaimarudhur as per the Divine guidance and prayed to Lord Mahalingeswarar. He entered the temple through the Eastern entrance and the Brahmahatti and the ghost could not enter the temple and waited outside the temple for the King to return.  As advised by Mahalingaswamy, the King left by the Western Gopuram (Tower) and hence got rid of the Brahmatti dosham and the Brahmin’s ghost. The Brahmahathi is waiting outside still in the south ornamental entrance (south thorana vayil) with head disheveled and face immersed betwixt the knees. The king was relieved of his malady.

How to Reach: Mahalingeswarar Temple is located around 8 km north of Kumbakonam city on the road to Mayiladuthurai. All the buses pass via this route with a stop closer to the temple at Thiruvidaimarudur. 

Temple Info By Dinamalar Article :