Pasupatheeswarar Temple, Karur
Karur, Tamil Nadu, India
Also known as: Aanilaiappar Temple
- Deities
- Pasupatheeswarar / Aanilaiappar (Shiva), Sundaravalli (Parvati), Alankaravalli (Parvati)
- Traditions
- shaiva
- Worship status
- active
- Coordinates
- 10.9606, 78.0785
- Darshan hours
- Varies by season and festival calendar; consult the temple's own trust/devasthanam for the current daily schedule before visiting.
- Best time to visit
- The annual Brahmotsavam in the Tamil month of Panguni (March/April) is the temple's principal festival; on three days each Panguni, sunlight is said to fall directly on the sanctum lingam.
- How to reach
- Karur, headquarters of Karur district, has its own railway junction and is well connected by road to Trichy, Coimbatore, and Erode.
- Festivals
- Brahmotsavam (Panguni) (March/April), Eripaththa Nayanar utsavam (varies)
- Associated saints
- Sundarar (Nayanar), Eripatha Nayanar
Location
Open in Google MapsThe Pasupatheeswarar Temple at Karur is a Paadal Petra Sthalam where the Nayanar saint Sundarar composed a Tevaram hymn cycle in praise of the presiding deity, worshipped here as Pasupatheeswarar and also as Aanilaiappar. Unusually, the temple maintains two separate forms of the goddess as consort, Sundaravalli and Alankaravalli, alongside a swayambu, or self-manifested, lingam in the main sanctum. Documented royal patronage under the Chola emperor Rajendra Chola I in the first half of the 11th century included a grant of land to the temple.
Fronted by a 120-foot gopuram and centered on a hundred-pillar mandapam, the temple also houses the samadhi of Karuvurar, a Shaiva saint-poet associated with the town. A notable solar alignment is observed each year during the Panguni Brahmotsavam, when for three days sunlight is said to fall directly upon the sanctum lingam.
Sources
- scripture: Tevaram โ Composed at this temple by the Nayanar saint Sundarar, giving it Paadal Petra Sthalam status among the 275 shrines of the canon.
- historical record: Cross-checked against Wikipedia's Pasupateeswarar Temple, Karur article: confirms the presiding deity, worshipped as Pasupatheeswarar (also Aanilaiappar), with two forms of the goddess present as Sundaravalli and Alankaravalli; documented royal patronage under the Chola king Rajendra Chola I (1012-1054 CE), who granted land to the temple; a swayambu lingam in the main shrine; a 120-foot front gopuram; a hundred-pillar mandapam; and the samadhi of Karuvurar, a Shaiva saint-poet, within the temple precincts.