| Krupapureeswarar Temple | |
|---|---|
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| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| District | Villupuram |
| Deity | Kripapureeswarar(Shiva)Mangalambigai(Parvathi) |
| Location | |
| Location | Thiruvennainallur |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| Country | India |
  Location inTamil Nadu | |
| Coordinates | 11°51′37″N79°21′59″E / 11.86028°N 79.36639°E /11.86028; 79.36639 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Dravidian architecture |
Kripapureeswarar Temple (கிருபாபுரீஸ்வரர் கோயில்)[1] (also calledArutkondanathar orThiruvennainallur temple) inThiruvennainallur, a panchayat town inVillupuram district in the South Indian state ofTamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu godShiva. The presiding deity is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, theTevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as theNayanmars and classified asPaadal Petra Sthalam. The temple is closely associated withSundarar, the saivite saint of the 8th century, who started composing hisTirumurai starting with "Pitha Piraisudi" verse in this temple.
Constructed in theDravidian style of architecture, the present structure of the temple is believed to have been built during theCholas period in the 10th century. The temple has received gracious endowments from the Chola queenSembiyan Mahadevi. Shiva is worshipped as Kripapureeswarar and his consortParvathi as Mangalambigai. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines. The temple has a five-tiered rajagopuram, the gateway tower.
The temple is open from 6am - 11 am and 4-8:00 pm on all days except during festival days when it is open the full day. Four daily rituals and many yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the Aadi star day celebrated during theTamil month ofAaadi (June - July) forSundarar and Panguni Uthiram festival duringPanguni (March - April) with a float festival being the most prominent.
The temple is maintained and administered by theHindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of theGovernment of Tamil Nadu.
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As per Hindu legend, the sages in Tharukavanam were very proud of their achievements and started doing a penance to destroyShiva. Shiva absorbed all the evils from the penance and realising their mistake, the sages started their worship to Shiva. Shiva blessed them with their wishes and came to be known as Krupapureeswarar, the "God who would bestow wishes of the devotees".[2]
As per another legend,Sundarar, the famous Saivite saint andNayanmar, was stopped by an old man from marrying at Thirukovilur.[3] He showed a document indicating Sundarar was indebted to the old man for serving him for a lifetime. Sundarar called himPitha, a lunatic. The village elders after analysing the document, asked Sundarar to follow the old man. Sundarar followed the old mand and served him in his household. It was later revealed to him that Shiva appeared as the old man to test his servitude.[2][4] Sundarar felt guilty of accusing Shiva, but Shiva revealed to him in a divine voice that he enjoyed the verse and requested him to sing verses starting with "Pitha".Sundarar started singing hisTirumurai with "Pitha Piraisudi" verse in this temple and later would go on to become one of the four most venerated saints of Saiva literature.[2]
The exact year of building could not be ascertained from the inscriptions, but the inscriptions found in the Visalur temple indicate benevolent gifts to the temple fromRaja Raja Chola I (984-1015 CE) and his successors.[5] Based on the inscriptions, researchers point out that the temple had gardens, which were supposed to have both floral plants and fruit bearing trees.[6] The temple has received gracious endowments from the Chola queenSembiyan Mahadevi and is believed to have established various sculptures.[7]
Kripapureeswar temple is located inThiruvennainallur, a village located 19 km (12 mi) fromVillupuram on thePanruti-Thirukovilur road.[8] The temple has a seven-tieredrajagopuram, the gateway tower that pierces the rectangular wall that houses all the shrines. The sanctum houses the image of Kripapureeswarar in the form ofLingam, an iconic form of Shiva. There is an ArdhaMandap and a Mukha mandap, pillared halls leading to the sanctum. The first precinct has the images ofVinayakar,Murugan,Durga,Dakshinamurthy andChandikeswara. The hall where the case was fought between the old man and Sundarar is believed to be the Panchyat Mandap located on the right side of the entrance.
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The temple follows Saivite tradition. The temple priests perform thepooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. The temple rituals are performed four times a day:Kalasanthi at 6:00 a.m.,Uchikalam at 11:00 a.m.,Sayarakshai at 5:00 p.m., andSayarakshai between 7:45 - 8:00 p.m. Each ritual has three steps:alangaram (decoration),neivethanam (food offering) anddeepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Kripapureeswarar and Mangalambigai. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple. The temple is open from 6am - 12 pm and 4-8:30 pm.[2]
Aadi star day celebrated during theTamil month ofAaadi (June - July) asSundarar's birthday and Panguni Uthiram festival duringPanguni (March - April) with a float festival being the most prominent festivals. There are other common festivals likeShivaratri,Vinayaga Chaturthi,Vijayadasami and Karthigai Deepam celebrated in the temple.[2]
Sundarar, an 8th-century TamilSaivite poet, venerated Kripapureeswarar in ten verses inTevaram, compiled as theSeventh Tirumurai. As the temple is revered inTevaram, it is classified asPaadal Petra Sthalam, one of the 275 temples that find mention in the Saiva canon.[9]Appar is believed to have visited the temple during the series of visits from Thingalur toThirukovilur andPennadam.[10] In modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of theGovernment of Tamil Nadu.
