Jambukeswarar Temple, Thiruvanaikaval

Deity

Jambukeswarar (the element of water) and Akhilandeswari

Where

Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu · 10.85N 78.71E

Usual hours

6 am – 12.30 pm, 4 pm – 8.30 pm — hours change with festivals and the season; check before travelling. Were these right when you went?

Grahas

Chandran Sukran

Visited for

Appu, water: a spring wells under the linga all year. The Ubhaya Kaveri and the noon Ardhajama pooja, where the priest dresses as Akhilandeswari, are its marks; visited for marriage and for peace at home.

The sthala purana tells of two attendants of Sivan, cursed to be born on earth — one as a spider and one as an elephant. Both worshipped the linga that stood under a white jambu tree here. The elephant carried water from the Kaveri in its trunk and bathed the linga; the spider spun a canopy above it to keep the leaves off.

Each took the other’s work for an insult. The elephant tore down the web and the spider crawled into its trunk, and both died at the linga. The spider is said to have been reborn as Kochengat Chola, who is remembered in tradition as the builder of temples with steps too high for an elephant to climb.

Akhilandeswari is said to have done her penance here and to have been fierce in it. Adi Sankara is said to have set the tatankas — the ear ornaments she still wears — on her to settle that fierceness, and the Sri Chakra before her is attributed to him as well.

Thiruvanaikaval is a Tevaram Paadal Petra Sthalam and one of the five Pancha Bhoota Sthalams. Its outer enclosures are Nayak-period work; the outermost wall is known as the Vibhuti Prakaram.

Water is the point of the place and it is visible: a spring seeps under the linga in the sanctum and the floor there is wet all year, which is why the element here is appu.

Jambukeswarar’s shrine faces west and Akhilandeswari’s faces east, so the two look at one another across the enclosure rather than standing one behind the other. The white jambu tree stands over the sanctum.

There are five concentric prakarams and several gopurams, with the outer courts wide enough to hold the Panguni crowds.

The Ardhajama pooja at midday is the daily observance people come for: the priest puts on a saree and performs the worship of Jambukeswarar in the person of Akhilandeswari.

The Panguni Brahmotsavam and the Aadi and Thai Fridays at the Amman shrine are the busiest days. The Ubhaya Kaveri festival is kept when both branches of the river are in flood.

Also called

Jambukeswaram, Thiruvanaikoil, Appu Sthalam

Period

Chola period, with large Nayak-period enclosures

Reaching it

Thiruvanaikaval is about 2 km from Srirangam and roughly 8 km from Tiruchirappalli Junction. Srirangam is the nearest railway station, and the two temples are almost always taken together.

• Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam 2.5 km · Vaishnava
• Uchi Pillayar Temple, Rockfort 2.5 km · Ganapathi
• Purushothaman Perumal Temple, Uthamar Kovil 3.5 km · Vaishnava
• Samayapuram Mariamman Temple 9.5 km · Sakta (Amman)
• Vayalur Murugan Temple 12.5 km · Murugan
• Pundarikakshan Perumal Temple, Thiruvellarai 13 km · Vaishnava

Been to this temple? The things that change — whether the hours on this page were right, whether the sannidhi was open, how long the queue was on a Saturday — are exactly what no printed source keeps current, and what the next person travelling here needs.

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