திருவாப்பனூர் அல்லது திவாப்புடையார் திருக்கோயில் மதுரை
This little known temple is situated in the Sellur neighbourhood of Madurai and is a lovely small Sivan temple. It lies across the river from the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple and is considered its sub-temple. Small but elegant it still retains its Pandian origins. Originally built by Pandian kings it was later renovated by the Nayakkar and the Sethupathy kings of Pudukottai. It does not have a rajagopuram. As it is a Paadal Petra Sthalam it must have existed in some form in the early 7th century.
Aappu (ஆப்பு) means wedge in Tamil. The legend is that an ancient king was tired at the end of the day's hunt and was looking for a lingam to do his evening Siva Pooja. A woodcutter lent his wedge as a makeshift lingam and then it would not move and a temple had to be built around it.
It is the 246th Paadal Petra Sthalam and the 2nd one in the Pandian country. Sampanthar composed the Pathikam.
We visited in August 2019.
Credits: Google Maps
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