Neelayadakshi Kayarohaneshwarar temple Nagapattinam- A padal petra sthalam and Shakthi peetam

There is no dearth of Shiva temples in Nagapattinam district and this is one such ancient temple which has been sung about by Appar, Sundarar and Thirugnanasambandar. Though it is a siva temple it is more famous as neelayadakshi temple.
How to reach:
It is very easy to find in Nagapattinam as all roads go around this temple only.It is close to the sea.
Legends:
The lord is present here as a maragadha lingam kept here by Mujukundha chakravarthy a ruler who assisted Indra to defeat the devas and obtained a boon for this idol. The Lord also is present as Thyagaraja in the sanctum.
Pundarika maharishi did penance to the lord to attain salvation with his physical body and was embraced by the lord here hence he is also called kayarohaneshwarar
The naga king used to worship the lord here. He had a daughter born with three breasts. As per blessings the third breast fell off when her suitor king Shalisuhan appeared in the court.

There are various interesting facts associated with this temple. Goraka siddar was connected to this temple and many miracles are attributed to him. Infact the Gorakhpur peetam in UP of with Yogi Adhityanath is the head was also established by Sri Goraka siddar 

A peculiar practice exists here  for the fishermen community. Normaly when a death occurs near the temple it is closed for the day and purification rites commenced. But here the temple is kept open and the body is placed in front of the temple and draped / adorned with the garland and dhoti adorned by Shiva in the sanctum. The temple is not purified. It is believed that one of the Nayanmars Sivapathar who was from the fishermen community lived here and was immersed in worship here so as mark of affection of the lord towards this nayanmar his community is honoured on their last journey by the lord of this temple.

As you enter you see the Ganapathy at the gate the Vishwaroopa vinayakar
Here to the left we find the statue of Pundarika maharishi
Entrance to the second praharam
The dwajastambam and sivan sannidhi behind



The inner praharam around the main sannidhi  


The entrance to the ambal sannidhi

The ambal is very enthraling with blue eyes hence called Neelayadakshi. She has a separate sannidhi facing south and a Nandi guarding the entrance. The nandi is so exquisite with one eye on the Shivan and another eye on the Goddess.

Nandi asked for a boon to be seeing Shiva always  so Shiva commanded that the nandi in front of Neelayadakshi  can have his darshan at all times by turning his face 
It is a very ancient and peaceful temple