Jambukeshwarar Temple, Thiruvanaikaval

The Jambukeshwarar temple is located in Tiruchirupalli in Tamil Nadu. The Thiruvanaikal temple is one of the five panchambootham temples in the country. It represents water from the five elements the Panchambootham represent. Lord Shiva is the presiding deity in the divine form of Jambukeswarar with His consort Akhilandeswari Amman. The sanctum sanctorum of Jambukeswara Temple has an underground water stream. The water underneath the Jala Linga continuously flows and nobody knows from where it comes and flows.

It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, where all the four most revered Nayanars (Saivite Saints) have sung glories of the deity in this temple. The temple has inscriptions from the Chola period.

Legend
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According to legend, once the Goddess Parvati mocked Lord Shiva during his meditation. As a punishment the Lord commanded her to leave their heavenly abode Kailasam, and go to earth for penance. The Goddess Parvati went down to earth and settled in Tiruchiripalli. She made a lingam out of water from the Cauvery river under the Venn Naaval tree (the Venn Naaval tree on top of the saint Jambu) and commenced her worship. The lingam is known as Appu Lingam (Water Lingam). Siva at last gave darshan to Goddess Parvati and taught her Siva Gnana. The Goddess took Upadesa (lessons) facing East from Shiva, who stood facing west.

A second legend also exists for the temple. There were two Siva Ganas (Siva’s disciples who live in Kailash): ‘Malyavan’ and ‘Pushpadanta’. Though they were Siva Ganas they always quarrelled with each other and fought for one thing or another. In one fight ‘Malyavan’ cursed ‘Pushpadanta’ to become an elephant on earth and the latter cursed the former to become a spider on earth. The elephant and the spider came to Jambukeswaram and continued their Siva worship. The elephant would daily shower the lingam with water from the Cauvery. The spider would weave a web daily around the Shiva linga to protect it from dust and harm. The elephant however mistook the spider web as dust and tore it off. This continued for a number of days. The spider finally got frustated and crawled up the elephant’s trunk and killed it by biting the inside of the runk. In the process, it killed itself. The Lord however, was so pleased to see their devotion that he blessed them both and sent the elephant to heaven as he had completed his karma.

As an outcome of making sin by killing the elephant, in the next birth, the spider was born as the King Kochengot Chola and built 70 temples and this temple is the one among them. Remembering his enmity with the elephant in his previous birth, he built the temple entrance so small, that not even a baby elephant could enter. The entrance of the Jambureshwar temple is only 4 foot high and 2.5 foot wide.

POOJA RITUALS:

In the third enclosure, there is a coconut grove having a small tank where the festival image of Vaishnavite Srirangam temple used to be brought one day a year. As the Goddess Parvati worshipped to Lord Shiva everyday in this temple, even today, at noon, the head priest dresses up as a female and does the pooja. The pooja consists of praying to Lord Shiva and the Cow Mother or Ko Maatha. A special variety of black cow, called Karam Pasu is used for the occasion. Annabhishekam to lingam (ablution with cooked rice) is a daily ritual performed in the temple.

The temple is one of the hosts for the annual Natyanjali, a festival of classical Indian dance. The temple has also a school for training nadhaswaram, a classical pipe instrument in Tamil Nadu. One can also book online to perform the pooja in the temple. The pooja will be performed keeping in mind your name, star, rashi etc. The prasad will also be shipped to you.

Temple Timings: The temple is opened from 5.30am to 1.00pm and 3.00pm to 8.30pm.

Jambukeswarar Temple By Bus

Bus services are available from all major places in Tamil Nadu to Jambukeswarar Temple. Tiruchirappalli Bus Stand is 8km away from the Temple. Local buses are available to access the temple.

Jambukeswarar Temple By Train

Nearest railway station to Jambukeswarar Temple is Srirangam Railway Station which is 2km away. Bus and auto services are available to access the temple.

Jambukeswarar Temple By Flight

Nearest airport is Trichy Airport which is 12km away from Jambukeswarar Temple. Bus and Taxi services are available to reach the temple.

Jambukeswarar Temple, Thiruvanaikaval