Thirunindriyur Sri Mahalakshmishwarar Temple – A Must Visit Temple for Anusham Nakshathira !!

The temple that is meant for those who are born on Anusham Nakshathira is Sri Ulaganayaki Sametha Mahalakshmishwarar Temple located in a place named Thirunindriyur in Nagapattinam Dist. The main deity of the temple is Lord Shiva and He graces His devotees as Suyambu Moorthy.

The ruling deity of the Anusham star is Mitra. Mitra means Friendship and Loyalty. It is also represented by a Lotus. So it means that the star is associated with purity, knowledge, and enlightenment. People who are born on this Nakshathira have greater respect among their relatives and friends. They will also be honored at higher positions in the workplace. They love traveling and they will be frank while speaking to others.  Anusham starers are advised to visit this temple at least once in a year or on their birth star days to overcome all the difficulties in their life.

As per the Sthala Purana, once there was a Chola King who used to worship Lord Shiva in the Chidambaram Nataraja Temple. During the travel of the king to Chidambaram, when he crossed a particular place, the wick of one of the lamp got extinguished. Even after trying to light the lamp, again and again, it resulted in vain.  This incident happened almost every day. The king was very much surprised and he enquired the local people whether any strange thing happened in this place. A shepherd told him that there was a Shiva Linga in this place that pours milk. When the king saw that Shiva Linga, he wanted to raise a temple for Lord Shiva. But he wanted to build the temple in another place. When he tried to take the Linga out of the place, it started to bleed. Hence the Chola King built the temple in the same place. This incident happened on an Anusham Nakshathira Day.  Since the Wick of lamp stopped burning, this place is called Thirinindriyur (Tiri means Wick ). It is also said that the Goddess Mahalakshmi worshiped Lord Shiva here and so this place is also called Thirunindriyur (Thiru means Mahalakshmi).

It is also said that the Sage Jamadagni and his son Sage Parasuram had worshiped the Lord in this temple. Once Renuka Devi, the wife of the Sage Jamdagni admired the looks of a Gandharva by seeing him in shadow in the water. The sage could not excuse this act of his wife and so he ordered his son, Parasurama to chop off her head. The Sage Parasurama obeyed his father’s orders immediately. He then asked for a boon from his father and got his mother back to life. Then both father and son came to this temple and worshiped Lord Shiva for getting relief from their sins of killing Renuka Devi. The Lord appeared before them and cleaned them off their sins. There is an Axe cut on one of the Shivalinga in the temple. It is said that this Parasurama Linga is the one that was worshiped by the Sage Parasuram. There are two other significant Shiva Lingas namely Lord Jamadagneeshwarar and Lord Parikeshwarar.

Another significance of the temple is the structure of the Navagrahas. In this temple, the Sun and the Moon are facing each other. This is very different from all the other temples. So people pray and offer special poojas on the New Moon day (Amavasya) for the salvation of their ancestors.

This temple has been praised by the Saints Sambandar and Appar.  They have mentioned about the holy tank of the temple as ‘Neela Malar Poigai’ (Blue Flower Tank).They have also mentioned about the Wick incident in their hymns. It is said that those who pray the Lord here will get rid of all the sins and fear.  It is strongly believed that by doing special pooja to Lord Shiva by covering Him with the Sandal Paste and decorating Him with Pomegranate fruit pearls, they get rid of all the problems and have a happy future.