The original temple was in Thiruvalampudhur . In about 1943 when the poondi reservoir was built it was to be submerged hence the temple was relocated to poondi town. It is a padal petra sthalam sung by Sri. Sundarar.
How to reach:
Poondi town can be reached either by Tiruvallur or from uthukottai periyapalayam. It is about 8-10 kms from Tiruvallur. The road to uthukottai from Tiruvallur is in front of the Collectorate and this road reaches Poondi after skirting the reservoir. The temple is right on the main road of Poondi 
Legend of the temple:
The legend of Sri Sundarar the nayanmar who was also known as Van thondar is very captivating. After breaking his promise to his wife he is rendered blind as he married again. In his wanderings he comes here depressed and Shiva taunts him with a boon of a walking stick when he asks for restoration of eyesight. As he is very depressed the ambal here steps out and gives him light and confidence by telling him not to lose faith in Shiva . The lord hence is known as Onndrateeshwarar one who gave the walking stick and the ambal as Minnal oli ambal one who gave light/ sight. It is a temple meant to increase self confidence of the depressed devotee.
The Devotee Sundarar is so mad that he throws the staff offered by shiva which breaks the horn of Nandi.There is a Statue of Sundarar next to the Nandi with the missing horn in front of the Main sannidhi
The temple is a very small one with tremendous peace as you enter. The main praharam has two sannidhis with Shiva facing east and the ambal facing south.
The Kosta vigrahas are unique. The Dakshinamurthy is shown as having the Chin mudra that is right hand showing the pinching action,The Lingothbavar and Kala Bhairavar are also powerful.
View of the inside of the temple
The outer praharam has sannidhis for Ganapathy, Murugan and
Mahalakshmi (seen below)
The priest Sri.Subramaniam was helpful
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Very nice description of the temple history.It was also told that Minnoli Nayaghi shows the path to Kancheepuram to Sundarar by creating lightning.
ReplyDeleteOne more information sir.There is a temple to Sri.Agneeswarar at Neyveli recently consecrated.It is believed that even now prayers are offered by the Nerur Siddhar here.It is just about 1.5 km from this Poondi junction on the main road towards right side while going from Tiruvallore to Uttukkottai.There is a Kallala tree under which the old Shiva lingham was found and still worshipped and new lingham installed in the main sanctoram.
Dear Mr Nathan
DeleteThanks for your input sir.I was in a hurry to reach Koovam today hence had to skip the neyveli temple but I will surely visit it shortly. I ws not sure of the route today.