Sri Uchinatheswarar Temple at Thirunelvayil (Sivapuri), Chidambaram- A padal petra sthalam

Chidambaram is a very sacred town which houses many temples. The Natarajar temple is world famous and it is the first among the temples sung about by the nayanmars on the northern bank of the cauvery. There are 3 more padal petra sthalams in Chidambaram which are equally ancient but rarely visited as the Nataraja temple dwarfs the other temples by its uniqueness.

All four temples are within 2-3 kms radius in the southern direction from the Nataraja temple .

How to reach:

All four temples are within 2-3 kms radius in the southern direction from the Nataraja temple . Head towards the bus stand and ask for the Annamalai university . The road crosses the Coleroon river and here you take a right turn at the end of the bridge and in a KM you will see the Annamalai university .

Proceed straight for about 2 kms in the same road you will cross mariappan nagar on the right the road will curve right and  you enter Sivapuram there you can see the pond of the Thirunelvayil temple with the majestic temple behind. A half KM away is the Sri Palvanna nathar Siva temple on the same road

LEGENDS AND STORIES;

The temple has been visited by Gnana sambandar who has sung about the temple. the wedding party of this saint came from Sirkali and was proceeding towards Achalapuram near cuddalore . it was peak afternoon and the party rested here in this temple in the hot sun and were served food by the Lord himself in the afternoon in the guise of an old priest, hence he is called Sri Uchinatheswarar or also Madhyaneshwarar.

Sage Kanva and Agastya have prayed here to the lord Shiva 

Sri Arunagirinathar has sung songs on Murugan here As you enter you see Nandi and his consort on the left side he is called Adikara Nandi

The temple by itself is small but has many exquisite carvings and is patronised by the nagarthar Chettiars . It is well maintained.

The Nandi and Ambal sannidhi is seen below

                                    There is a single praharam with the majestic Shiva Lingam which is a Swayambhu one who manifested himself facing east. Behind the linga are sculptures of Siva and Parvathi seen in Kalyana kolam as seen by Agastya.

 The Ambal Kanagambikai graces us from the north side from her sannidhi facing south

The kosta vigrahas are Ganapathy,

Dakshinamurthy

Lingodhbhavar

Brahma

There are separate sannidhis for Vinayaka, Murugan

Shrine for Vinayaka

Shrine for Subrahmanya

Durga

.

The sthala vriksham is Vilvam

Kadambar Koil

The village itself is called Kadambar koil after the temple.

How to reach
This is around 15 kms from Uthiramerur on the Kanchipuram road.The temple can easily be missed. Before you come to the bridge accross the cheyyar look for the temple arch on the left and proceed for about 1 km via verdant greenery to reach the temple.The temple is midway between Kanchi and Uthiramerur
Legend:
The temple has been sung by Thirugnana Sambandar and so should be more than 1300 years old
This lord was prayed to by kashyapa muni when the yaga he was doing was disrupted by asuras Mahanan and Maagaral.  lord Shiva  then asked Kandan to proceed to help the rishi which kumaran did with the help of the magic vel.Since he worshipped his father here the lord is known as Kadambareshwarar as Kadamba is one of murugan’s names
The river Cheyyar flows west to east. At this place it flows north to south like the ganges and hence it is a moksha puri like Kasi.
Once a brahmin from Pandya kingdom  called Gunaseelan died, his son Budhisenan brought his ash to immerse it in Kasi. When he was having a bath here keeping the pot with ash in the bank the water happened to fall on the ashes and he was surprised to find that the bones got changed to flowers in the pot. At that time, a  voice was heard that this place is much holier than Kasi and so  the ashes can  be immersed here. He did the same in the river Cheyyar So this is a place where one can do the rituals for the forefathers like in Kasi and to worship for salvation.

The outer view of the temple

(View of the kodimaram from the main gate)

View of the nandhi
The main sanctum houses a small Sivalingam which is slanting to the left facing east. This is a swayumbhu lingam and there is a gajaprushti vimanam.
The main praharam also houses Avudai nayaki amman in the standing posture facing south
There is a small navagraha sannidhi outside in the praharam a later addition.
There is an adhikara nandi  and 63 nayanmarsin the outer praharam with the usual kosta vigrahams of ,Vinayaka, Lingodhbavar,Dakshinamurthy, Durga ,Chandikeshwarar and Bhairavar in their usual niches as in all Siva temples

A small and peaceful temple
Archakar Shri Kannan.T Cell:9655035503
I reached the temple at about 11:45 AM and it was closed but local people sumoned the very patient and affable archakar who re opened the temple and showed us around and answered all my queries in a soft way and made me  feel very blessed!
Hours from 7 AM to 11:30 and 4Pm to 7:30 PM