Anbil Aalanthurai Satyavageeswarar Temple

Anbil, situated near Lalgudi town within the Tamil Nadu state of India, is a village with a close proximity of approximately 8 kilometers from Lalgudi. In this village, the locality known as Keezh Anbil holds a significant temple devoted to Lord Shiva, named Aalanthurai. This temple holds the distinguished position of being the 57th among the Devara Paadal Petra Sthalams, a collection of 276 highly important Lord Shiva temples, situated in the Chola region to the north of the Cauvery River.

Highlights:

• The temple is venerated by Appar and Sambandhar in their Devaram verses.
• God - Satyavageeswarar, also known as Brahmapureeswarar or Aalanthuraiyar.
• Goddess - Soundara Nayaki
• Teerth (Holy water) - Chandra Teerth
• Sthala Vruksha (Holy tree) - Banyan
• Considered as one of the Devara Paadal Petra Sthalams.
• Shiva Linga has square Aavudai (base).
• Ganesha with an inclined ear, as if listening intently.

Legend:

According to legend, Lord Brahma worshipped the Shiva Linga at this temple, leading to the name Brahmapureeswarar for Lord Shiva here. Additionally, the saint Vageesar also sought the blessings of Lord Shiva at this site, resulting in the name Satyavageeswarar.

When Sambandhar visited the temple, he couldn't cross the flooded Kollidam river. Nevertheless, he had a vision of the temple tower from the opposite bank and sang hymns praising the deity of the Anbil temple. The Ganesha icon in the temple, positioned in such a way that it seemed to lean forward, as if to hear Sambandhar's songs clearly, earned the name "Chevi Saiththa Vinayakar" in Tamil, connecting it to this legend.

History:

Originally believed to be a Maada Kovil (temple on a raised platform), the temple was reconstructed by Chola King Parantaka I in the 10th century CE. It's said that he brought Jaimini Brahmins of Sama Veda into the village. Notably, the Ganesha icon named Chevi Saiththa Vinayakar in this temple is also referred to as Sama Veda Vinayaka. Inscriptions from both the Chola and Hoysala dynasties are present within the temple.

Aniruddha Brahmarayar, the prominent prime minister of Sundara Chola (10th century CE), has connections to this temple through inscriptions. The copper plates from the reign of Sundara Chola, including the Anbil copper plates, are valuable historical sources related to the Chola dynasty.

Temple Layout:

Entrance:

The temple, facing east, boasts a five-tiered tower at the entrance. Notably, two finely sculpted stone Nandi images grace both sides of the entrance. The tower features captivating stucco images.

An inner entrance adorned with stucco images related to Shiva and his family leads to an open space with trees and plants between the two entrances.

Presiding Deity:

The east-facing sanctum houses the significant Shiv Linga known as Satyavaageeswarar. It has an unconventional square base (Aavudai) rather than the usual circular one. The Goddess of the temple, Soundara Nayaki, also resides in an adjacent east-facing shrine.The east facing sanctum has big Shiv Linga called as 

Both Shiva and Ambal have separate Nandi in front of them. The entrance of Ardha Mandapa has a small image of Ganesha.

The flag staff, bali peetha and Nandi are found facing towards the direction of the sanctum. Dwarapalas are big and attractive.

Koshta Murtis:

Dakshinamurti, Vishnu and Brahma are found as the Koshta murtis. There is no Ganesha or Durga found as the niche images. Chandikeshwara is found in his usual location near Brahma. All these four Murtis belong to the Chola period.

Prakara:

The temple encompasses two prakaras. The inner prakara houses sub-shrines for Chevi Saiththa Vinayaka, Arumugam-Valli-Devasena on a peacock, Vishwanatha Linga-Vishalakshi, Lingodbhava, and Bhikshatanar.  It should be noted that Lingodbhava is not found as the Koshta Murti but as a separate Murti in the prakara. Both Lingodbhava and Bhikshatanar appear to be ancient icons.

 The second prakara is an open space with trees and plants.

Other Features:

The pillars in the front side mandapa has many interesting sculptures of various mystic animals, two coiled serpents worshiping Linga, Subramanya praying Linga, the snake with head on one side of the pillar and tail on the other side of the pillar and so on. Unfortunately, in the name of renovation, they are all painted and do not look very attractive anymore.

The exterior walls of the main shrine in the first prakara have few relief images depicting many sub-deities worshiping Shiv Linga. This include Vishnu, Brahma, Parvati, Agni, Surya, Chandra and few saints.

An old icon of Bhairava, Shaneeswara, Navagraha with Surya in the middle and the other planets facing towards him and a few neglected ancient sculptures are also found in this temple.

Happy travelling.