கிருபாபுரீசுவரர் அல்லது அருட்கொண்டநாதர் திருக்கோயில் திருவெண்ணெய்நல்லூர்
This is a very special Sivan temple for Saivite Hindus. It lies west of Pondicherry, close to Vilupuram in Tamil Nadu. It is on the banks of the Thenpennai River.
Sundarar or Sundaramoorthy Nayanar, the 8th century poet saint was born close to here in Thirunavalur. When Sundarar was a young man and was about to get married, an old man interrupted the marriage ceremonies and declared that Sundarar was his slave. An angry Sundarar called the old man a piththa (பித்தா) or madman. The old man claimed that he had documents to prove that Sundarar indeed was his slave and they were in Thiruvennainallur. So Sundarar and the marriage entourage followed the old man from Thirunavalur to Thiruvennainallur where the old man produced the documents at this temple. A group of elders examined the documents and found them to be authentic. At this moment, the old man walked into the sanctum and disappeared. Realizing that the old man was none other than Lord Siva himself in disguise, the repentant and inconsolable Sundarar entreated with the Lord to show him a way to make amends. Siva commanded him to sing and when Sundarar asked him what he should sing about, the Lord asked to sing about the madman, piththa (பித்தா). Thus the young Sundarar came to sing his very first pathikam, the well known Thevaram - "Piththa pirai soodi…..
பித்தாபிறை சூடீபெரு
மானேயரு ளாளா
எத்தான்மற வாதேநினைக்
கின்றேன்மனத் துன்னை
வைத்தாய்பெண்ணைத் தென்பால்வெண்ணெய்
நல்லூரருட் டுறையுள்
அத்தாஉனக் காளாய்இனி
அல்லேனென லாமே.
The temple was extensively renovated by the Chola kings starting from Paranthakan I in the 10th century. The great Chola queen Chempiyan Mahadevi also contributed immensely to the building works. Given the importance of the temple, many later dynasties like the Pandians and the Nayakkans have also contributed. The beautiful tall rajagopuram is from this later era.
Although under the control of the HR and CE, the temple is decently maintained.
It is situated about 62 km or 90 minutes west of Pondicherry. We visited in May 2023. We were based in Pondicherry
Credits: Google Maps.
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