Madhyarjuneswarar Temple, Illuppur, Mayiladuthurai
Madhyarjuneswarar Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in Illuppur Village in Tharangambadi Taluk in Mayiladuthurai District of Tamil Nadu. Presiding Deity is called as Madhyarjuneswarar and Mother is called as Maragathavalli. The Temple is situated on the southern banks of Veerachozhan River.
Legends
Madhyarjuneswarar:
Arjunam indicates the Marudham Tree. Sthala Vriksham
should have been Marudha Tree for this temple. Hence, Lord Shiva came to be
called as Madhyarjuneswarar
Illupur:
As per legend, the place came to be called as Illupur
because of abundance presence of Iluppai Trees in this place.
The Temple
This Temple is facing towards east with an entrance
arch. The entrance arch has stucco images of Lord Shiva and Parvathy flanked by
Murugan & Vinayaga. This Temple is located on the western banks of big tank
and covers an area of about half acres. The Temple consists of sanctum, ardha
mandapam and mukha mandapam. The mukha mandapam connects the sanctum with the
entrance arch.
Sub shrines of Ganesha and Murugan can be seen at the
entrance of the sanctum. Presiding Deity is called as Madhyarjuneswarar and is
facing east. He is housed in the sanctum in the form of Lingam. Mother is
called as Maragathavalli. She is housed in a separate south facing shrine. Her
shrine is situated in mukha mandapam. Shrines of Vinayagar, Murugan,
Saneeswarar and Bhairavar can be found in the temple premises.
Sthala Vriksham should have been Marudha Tree for this temple.
The Temple might have been a huge complex in ancient times. Later, it might
have got dilapidated and shrunk to a much smaller temple at present. An Idol of
Bhairavar and an ancient Lingam belonged to the older temple can be found lying
outside the temple premises.
Connectivity
The Temple is located at about 3 Kms from Nalladai
Mukkuttu Bus Stop, 11 Kms from Tharangambadi, 18 Kms from Karaikal, 18 Kms from
Karaikal Railway Station, 23 Kms from Mayiladuthurai, 24 Kms from
Mayiladuthurai Junction Railway Station and 137 Kms from Trichy Airport. The
Temple is situated on Mayiladuthurai to Tharangampadi route.
