Country India Location Innambur Architectural styles Dravidian architecture Architectural style Dravidian architecture | State Tamil Nadu Primary deity Ezhutharinathar(Shiva) District Thanjavur district | |
 | ||
Consort Nithya Kalyani(Parvathi) Similar Ona Kantheeswarar Temple, Sathyanatheswarar temple, Chakravageswarar Temple, Thenkurangaduthurai Temple, Panchavarnaswamy Temple | ||
Innambur Ezhutharinathar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, located in Innambur, a village in the outskirts of Kumbakonam, in Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu, India. Shiva is worshipped as Ezhutharinathar and his consort Parvathi as Nithya Kalyani. Ona Kantheeswarar is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the Nayanmars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam, the 275 temples revered in the canon.
Contents
The temple has a five-tiered rajagopuram, the entrance tower and all the shrines are enclosed in rectangular walls. The temple has four daily rituals at various times from 6:00 a.m. to 8 p.m., and three yearly festivals on its calendar, namely Margazhi Tiruvathirai during the Tamil month of Margazhi (December - January), Kodabisheakam during Chittirai (April - May) and Aipassi Annabishekam during Aippassi (October - November) being the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Legend
As per Hindu legend, once an accountant of the temple was asked to submit the accounts of the temple to the king. The accountant was an ardent worshipper of Shiva and he did not have the correct accounts during the time. He prayed to Shiva to relieve him off a possible punishment by the king for not albe to submit accounts on time. Shiva is believed to have appeared in the form the accountant and submitted the correct accounts. The king was pleased and praised the accountant who was amused at the events. He later realised that it was on account of divine intervention that it was possible. Since Shiva came down and submitted the accounts, he came to be known as Ezhutharinathar. As per another legend, the presiding deity was worshipped by an elephant. There is also a belief that sage Agasthya attained knowledge about grammar after worshipping Ezhutharinathar.
Architecture
The temple is located 10 km (6.2 mi) north-west of Kumbakonam on the Kumbakonam - Thirupurambiyam road. Ezhutharinathar temple has a rectangular plan with two prakarams (outer courtyard) covering an area of 1 acre (0.40 ha) and a five-tiered rajagopuram (gateway tower) facing East. The central shrine faces east and houses the image of Ezhutharinathar (Shiva) in the form of lingam made of granite and is believed to be a swayambumoorthy (self manifested). There is a separate shrine for Vinayagar and Murugan on both sides of the entrance to the sanctum. The granite images of Nandi (the bull and vehicle of Shiva), a tall flag staff and a Balipeeta, the place of offering, axial to the sanctum. As in other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the first precinct or the walls around the sanctum of Ona Kantheeswarar has images of Dakshinamurthy (Shiva as the Teacher), Durga (warrior-goddess) and Chandikeswarar (a saint and devotee of Shiva). The temple precinct is surrounded by granite walls. Following the legend of the elephant, the roof over the sanctum is in the form of an elephant, called Gajaprashta Vimana.
Worship and religious practises
The temple priests perform the puja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. The temple rituals are performed four times a day; Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 11:30 a.m., Sayarakshai at 6:30 p.m and Arthajamam at 8:00 p.m.. Each ritual comprises four steps: abhisheka (sacred bath), alangaram (decoration), naivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for Ezhutharinathar and Nithya Kalyani. There are weekly rituals like somavaram (Monday) and sukravaram (Friday), fortnightly rituals like pradosham, and monthly festivals like amavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai, pournami (full moon day) and sathurthi. Margazhi Tiruvathirai during the Tamil month of Margazhi (December - January), Kodabisheakam during Chittirai (April - May) and Aipassi Annabishekam during Aippassi (October - November) are the three festivals celebrated in the temple.
Religious significance
It is one of the shrines of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams - Shiva Sthalams glorified in the early medieval Tevaram poems by Tamil Saivite Nayanars Tirugnanasambandar and Tirunavukkarasar. Tirugnanasambandar describes the feature of the deity as:
Tirunavukkarasar describes the feature of the deity as: