Chandramouleeswar Temple

Getting there

• By train

  Villupuram is a major railway junction, and National Highway 45 passes through the town.

• By road

  The temple is about 20 km from Villupuram, in the Vanur taluk.

Why devotees come here

Chandramouleeswar Temple stands in Thiruvakkarai village, Viluppuram district, Tamil Nadu. Shiva is worshipped here as Chandramowleeswarar, with Parvathi as Amirthambigai. The temple is classed as a Paadal Petra Sthalam, and its gateway tower has seven tiers.

Thiruvakkarai is a village in the Vanur taluk of Viluppuram district. The name is also spelled Tiruvakkarai. The Tevaram, a 7th-century Tamil collection of hymns by the Nayanmar saint poets, honours the deity here. The temple is classed as a Paadal Petra Sthalam, one of the shrines the Tevaram praises. The legend of the name goes that Kali, known here as Vakrakali, slew the sister of Vakrasura, and the place took the name Thiruvakkarai.

The stone shrine in its present form was built under the Chola king Aditya I, who ruled from 870 to 907 CE. An inscription from the reign of Raja Raja Chola I says the temple was built by Sembiyar Mahadevi. It is also counted among the seventy Maadakovils built by Konchengannan.

A seven-tiered Rajagopuram, the gateway tower, pierces the wall that encloses all the shrines. The sanctum holds a lingam with three faces.

Festivals

• Panguni month, April to MayChitrapournami

  Celebrated at the temple during the Tamil month of Panguni.

• Thai monthKaanum Pongal

  Celebrated at the temple during the Tamil month of Thai.

Tips for your visit

• The National Fossil Wood Park lies about one km east of the village, where fossilised tree trunks sit in sandstone mounds.
• Auroville and the National Fossil Wood Park are both close to the temple, in Thiruvakkarai.

Questions people ask