Tiruppattur Brahmapureeswarar Temple - A rare temple for Lord Brahma

Site Name: Brahmapureeswarar Temple

Site Type: Hindu temple

Location:  Tiruppattur, near Trichy, Tamil Nadu state, India

Highlights: Considered to be a rare temple for Lord Brahma; the samadhi (tomb) of Yogi Patanjali is located within the temple

Nearest Railway Station: Trichy

Nearest Airport: Trichy

How to reach: Well connected by road from Trichy 

Hotel: Go to Trichy where there are a lot of options 

Restaurants: Go to Trichy where there are a lot of options

Tiruppattur is a village located near Trichy city in South India. The place is famous due to Brahma temple. As it is very rare to find a temple for Lord Brahma, this place has become very popular.

Highlights:

• Considered to be the temple of Lord Brahma.
• There are totally 12 Shiv Lingams in this temple; all of them are believed to have been installed by Lord Brahma.
• The samadhi of the saint Patanjali (the founder of Yoga) is found within the temple complex. The samadhi of Vyagrapada (the saint with tiger's feet) is found in a nearby temple called Kasi Vishwanath temple.
• God - Brahmapureeswarar
• Goddess - Brahma Nayaki aka Brahma Sampath Gauri
• Teerth - Brahma Teerth
• Sthala Vruksha (holy tree) - Magila tree

Legend:

As per the legend, Lord Brahma was overwhelmingly proud and started thinking himself as more powerful than Lord Shiva. Due to this, Lord Shiva cut his fifth head and cursed him to lose his power of creation. Brahma, in order to get rid of his problem, started visiting various temples of Shiva. He visited Tiruppattur and worshiped Shiva Linga under the Magizha tree. He also installed 12 Shiv Lingas in this place. Shiva along with his consort appeared before Brahma and made him to resume creation. Hence, the God is named as Brahmapureeswarar and the Goddess is named as Brahma Sampath Gauri.

Temple Layout:

The temple has five-tiered tower. After the tower comes the mandapa where the usual stuff such as flag post, bali peetha and Nandi idol are found. 

There are seven entrances which need to be passed through one after the other to reach the sanctum sanctorum where the large Shiv Linga idol is found.

The inner prakara has the popular Brahma idol which is around 6 feet high seated on a lotus. The idol is always found to be covered in turmeric powder. It is because of this idol, the temple although dedicated to Shiva, is considered as Brahma temple. Brahma is usually seen as a small bas relief image in the temple wall. It is rare to find such a huge idol of Brahma and hence this temple has become very popular.

Opposite to Brahma's idol, the samadhi (tomb) of Patanjali - the founder of yoga art - is found. A Shiv Linga idol named Pazhamai Nathar is found near this samadhi. The shrines of Karpaga Vinayak, Subramanya with his consorts, Bhairavar and Gaja Lakshmi are found in the inner prakara. The idols of Sapta Matas, Kanda Pureeswarar (Shiv Linga), Gaja Lakshmi, Ganesha and Surya are also found in the inner prakara. The wall surrounding the main shrine has the idols of Nardana Vinayaka, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma and Durga. Chandikeshwarar is found near Durga. Near Chandikeshwarar shrine, there is a separate shrine for Shiv Linga named Paatala Eeswarar.

Brahma Nayaki, the Goddess is found in a separate shrine facing the east direction. It has its own prakara. Thayumanavar, a Shiv Linga idol, is also found near this shrine.

There is a big garden located adjacent to the Goddess shrine. This garden has Brahma Teerth - the pond created by Brahma and seven shrines of Lord Shiva. Each shrine has a Shiv Linga and Nandi idol facing the Linga. The names of Shiv Linga - Manduga Nathar, Ekambareswarar, Arunachaleswarar, Kailasanathar, Jambukeshwarar, Kalathinathar and Saptagiriswarar. Out of these shrines, the Kailasanathar shrine is a notable one. It resembles the popular Kanchi Kailasanathar temple in terms of its architectural style, sculptural beauty and grandeur. The temple structure, Nandi idol, the dwarapalas and the bas-relief images in the temple wall, everything looks so awesome and similar to that of Kanchi temple. 

The temple also houses a shrine of big Nataraj-Sivakami. In addition, the usual Navagraha shrine and Sudharaneswarar (Shiv Linga) idol are found in the temple.

The temple is a must visit for its architectural grandeur, sculptural beauty and also for devotional purpose.

Happy travelling.

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