Madhuvaneswarar Temple

Getting there

• By air

  The nearest international airport is Tiruchirappalli, about 110 km from Thiruvarur town and roughly two and a half hours by road.

• By train

  Thiruvarur railway junction is a four-way junction with lines to Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam and Thiruthuraipoondi.

• By road

  Nannilam is 30 km east of Kumbakonam and 30 km west of Karaikal. Thiruvarur is linked by NH 45A to Villupuram and NH 67 to Coimbatore.

Rules to know

• The Tamil Nadu government's Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department runs the temple.

Why devotees come here

Madhuvaneswarar Temple is an old Shiva temple in the centre of Nannilam town, Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu. The poet saint Appar praised it in the Tevaram, which is why it is one of the Paadal Petra Sthalams.

Madhuvaneswarar Temple is a Shiva temple in the centre of Nannilam town. Legend says the region was once covered with a Madhu forest, and that is how it got the name Madhuvanam. The 7th-century Tamil saint poet Appar praised the temple in his Tevaram verses, so it is counted among the Paadal Petra Sthalams.

The temple is believed to have been built by the Early Chola king Kocengannan. It is also counted among the temples built on the banks of the River Kaveri. The gopura, the tall gateway tower, is 30 feet high and faces east. The temple covers an area of 270 by 130 square feet.

Inside the complex are shrines to Ganesha, Murugan, Bhairava, Surya and the Navagrahas, the group of nine planetary deities.

Festivals

• MonthlyAmavasai, Kiruthigai, Pournami and Sathurthi

  Monthly festivals on the new moon (amavasai) and full moon (pournami), with kiruthigai and sathurthi also named.

Tips for your visit

• Weekly rituals are held on Mondays (somavaram) and Fridays (sukravaram), so plan around them if you want to see them.
• All of these shrines are inside the temple complex, so one visit covers them.

Questions people ask