page_title: Thenupuriswarar Temple, Patteeswaram
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Thenupuriswarar Temple, Patteeswaram / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: Patteeswaram
context_page_description: Thenupuriswarar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Shiva located in the holy village of Patteeswaram, Tamil Nadu, India. Shiva is worshiped as Thenupuriswarar, and is represented by the lingam. His consort Parvati is depicted as Nyanambikai. The presiding deity is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the Nayanars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam. The temple is associated with the legend of Sambandar to whose view Nandi moved to have a direct view of the presiding deity. Muthupandal festival celebrated in the temple in associated with the legend.
  The temple complex covers around four acres and entered through a seven tiered gopuram, the main gateway. The temple has a number of shrines, with those of Thenupuriswarar, his consort Somakamalambigai and Durga, being the most prominent. All the shrines of the temple are enclosed in large concentric rectangular granite walls.
  The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and four yearly festivals on its calendar. The Brahmotsavam festival is celebrated during the month of the Chittirai is the most prominent festival.
context_section_description: The temple is located 6 km away from Kumbakonam on the Kumbakonam- Aavoor road.  The temple is 3 km away from Darasuram.  The best mode is taking town buses from Kumbakonam or mini buses from Darasuram.  The Darasuram railway station is also close by to the temple.  The temple is surrounded by vast streets on all the four sides. The temple is one of the most visited temples in the district.
  The temple of Patteeswarar presents a magnificent sight with five gopurams and three prakarams.  It measures 650 feet (200 m) east to west and 295 feet (90 m) south to north.  Pattisvara, the presiding form of Shiva manifests himself in the form of Linga, in the central mandapa of the first prakaram.  Subsidiary deities like Sapthamatha, Mahalakshmi, Renuka, Navagraha, Surya, Chandra and Bhairava are housed in the inner parts of the temple. Ganesha is represented at three different places in three different forms - Anugai Pillayar, Madhavarna Pillayar and Swarna Vinayagar.  In the northern part of the first prakaram, the consort goddess Gnanambigai (Parvati) lies in a separate shrine. A sculpture of Parvati doing penance is also found inside the temple.
  The temple is located at Patteswaram, 8 km (5.0 mi) from Kumbakonam in Kumbakonam - Aavoor road, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The temple has four  five-tiered Gopurams (gateway tower) and one seven-tiered tower, which is the principal gateway tower facing East. There are three rectangular precincts, each of which has granite walls of incremental dimensions. The sanctum is approached through the gateway tower, the flag staff, Nandi, Mukha Mandapam and Artha mandapam. Unlike other temples, the shrine of Nandi or the flagstaff are not axial to the sanctum and are located on the side providing a direct view of the sanctum from the gateway tower. From the gateway tower, the shrine of Durga is located on the northern side in the third precinct, which also has a gateway tower axial to the shrine of Durga. There is a gopuram on the southern side, which also houses a temple tank called Pushkarani and the shrine of Mathavarana Pillayar. The sanctum houses the image of Shiva in the form of Lingam (an iconic representation of Shiva). There is a shrine of Somaskanda parallel to the shrine where the metal image of Somaskanda is housed. The precinct around they sanctum houses the image of Dakshinamoorthy, Lingothbhava, Durga and Navagrahas. Unlike other temples, eight of the Navagrahas, the planetary deities are set facing the Sun at the centre. The shrine of Amman is located in the second precinct and has sculpted yali images of different poses. The shrine also houses a scrollwork in the ceiling that also has chains made of stone. The images of Govinda Dikshitar and his wife are housed in the shrine of Amman. There are various sculpted pillars in different parts of the temple indicating various legends associated with the temple and Hindu mythology. During the 1970s, there were three metal images of Nataraja, Somaskanda and Lakshmi were found out from the caves inside the temple - these are housed in Thanjavur Art Gallery. There are six water bodies associated with the temple. Gnavavi is a temple tank located in the third precinct closer to the southern gateway. Koditheertham is the well in the first precinct and Thapas keni is the one opposite to the Amman shrine. Thirumalai rajan river, tank outside the eastern gateway and Gayathri Kulam located on the eastern side of eastern gateway are the other waterbodies.
caption: Shrine of Durga in the temple
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