Apatsahayesvarar Temple, Alangudi
Alangudi, Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu, India
Also known as: Guru Sthalam · Tiru Irum Poolai
- Deities
- Apatsahayesvarar (Shiva), Elavarkuzhali (Parvati), Brihaspati/Guru (Jupiter)
- Traditions
- shaiva
- Worship status
- active
- Coordinates
- 10.83, 79.41028
- Darshan hours
- Varies by temple and season; consult the temple's own trust/devasthanam for the current daily schedule before visiting.
- Best time to visit
- October to March for cooler weather; Thursdays, associated with Jupiter, and the Brahmotsavam festival are considered especially significant.
- How to reach
- Alangudi is about 16 km from Kumbakonam and 56 km from Thanjavur, in Valangaiman taluk of Tiruvarur district; well connected by road, with Kumbakonam the nearest railhead.
- Festivals
- Brahmotsavam (April/May/June)
Location
Open in Google MapsApatsahayesvarar Temple in Alangudi, in Tiruvarur district’s Valangaiman taluk, is the Navagraha shrine for Brihaspati, or Jupiter (Guru), maintained as a subsidiary sanctum within a Shiva temple whose own name reflects one of Shaivism’s most enduring images: Apatsahayesvarar means, roughly, “the Lord who comes to the rescue in adversity,” an epithet devotional tradition explains through a local retelling of the Samudra Manthan legend, in which Shiva swallowed the deadly poison churned up from the cosmic ocean to protect creation from its effects. Shiva is worshipped here alongside his consort Elavarkuzhali, and the temple’s standing as a Paadal Petra Sthalam places its origins in devotional memory well before the 7th century, when it was hymned in the Tevaram canon by the Nayanar saints.
As with several other temples in the Navagraha circuit, the surviving stone structure is credited to Chola-era builders and was substantially rebuilt during the Nayak period in the 16th century. Spread across roughly two acres within two prakarams behind a five-tiered rajagopuram, the temple draws devotees particularly on Thursdays, the day traditionally associated with Jupiter, and during its annual Brahmotsavam, with worshippers seeking Guru’s blessing for wisdom, prosperity, and favorable planetary influence in their horoscopes.
Sources
- scripture: Tevaram — A Paadal Petra Sthalam among the 275 temples of the 7th-century Tamil Shaiva canon.
- oral tradition: The temple's name and the deity's epithet 'Apatsahayesvarar' ('savior in adversity') are explained by a legend that Shiva consumed a deadly poison at this location, a local telling that echoes the wider Puranic Samudra Manthan/Neelakantha narrative of Shiva swallowing poison to save creation; this is devotional tradition rather than dated history.
- historical record: Cross-checked against Wikipedia's account of Apatsahayesvarar Temple, Alangudi: confirms an original Chola-era complex with the present masonry structure dated to a Nayak-period rebuilding in the 16th century; Shiva worshipped as Apathsahyesvarar with consort Elavarkuzhali; a subsidiary shrine to Brihaspati (Guru/Jupiter) that makes this one of Tamil Nadu's nine Navagraha temples; a 2-acre complex with a five-tiered rajagopuram and two prakarams in Dravidian style; location in Alangudi village, Valangaiman taluk, Tiruvarur district, 16 km from Kumbakonam and 56 km from Thanjavur on the Thanjavur-Thiruvarur road; and its Paadal Petra Sthalam status from the 7th-century Tevaram canon.
- historical record: Re-verification pass (2026): re-fetched Wikipedia's Apatsahayesvarar Temple, Alangudi article specifically for coordinates, which were not previously recorded in this entry; infobox gives 10°49'48"N 79°24'37"E (10.83000N, 79.41028E). No street address is given in the article beyond the village/taluk/district detail already recorded.