Thiruvanai Kaval Margamudaya Ayyanar

Thiruvanai Kaval Margamudaya   Ayyanar

Compiled by

P.R.Ramachander

    During the time of King Kari Kala Chozhan , the paddy crops  from Trichy to Tanjore used to dry in season of lean rain and used to drown in water   when the rainfall was in excess. So the king raised both the banks of Cauvery river and on the northern shore in Thiruvanalkaval  consecrated an Ayyanar temple. And prayed him to show the way to solve the problem. He suddenly got an idea of Building Kallanai  (stone dam)  and took  the water stored there using canals to the paddy fields . When this solved their problems  , people believed that  Ayyanar was the cause of it and so called “Margamudaya Ayyanar.(Ayyanar who has the path  to solve problems) .”   From then on thousands of people in living very large number of villages started worshipping him as their God. Apart from them large number of people   of all religions and caste  visit this temple and  worship this God and get   their problems solved. People believe that many Sidhas have come and lived in this temple which is many hundred years old. The temple faces the east and besides it in a Mandap  are the temples of Maurai veeran, SAraswathi, Mahalakshmi, Durga, Kamakshi, Ganesa  Subramanya with his consorts Valli and Deivanai , Dashinamurthy etc.. On the northern side of the temple is the makizha tree   which is the  temple tree , Pavadai Chami , Uchimalai Karuppu , Changili Karuppu  , Karaikkal Ammayar , Chandana Karuppu , Manapparai Mamundi, Pechi amman, Agjora Vera BHadrar, Irulappan , Chappani Karuppu , Periya  Karuppu , Malayal;a Karuppu   and Periyanna Chami.

     In the sanctutm sanctorum, Ayyanar   sits  with a pleasant smile. Near to him is the temple of  Panayadi aandavan. There is a very peculiar story about this God. It seems that with  one of the Chozha lkings who was ruling in Urayur  , Adhi Raghava Pillai    was working as an accountant. He had seven sons and a very pretty daughter called Rajathi. The king wanted to posses Rajathi. Raghava Pillai and his family members ran from Urayur to protect Rajathi. The king chased the, Rajathi jumped in a maize pond (chola kuzhi)  and committed Suicide , giving her red cloth to one of her brothers. Raghava Pillai     and brothers jumped in the river Cauvery and started swimming. Six brothers and Raghava Pillai   reached different places on the other shore. But one remaining son who was named as Pandyan could not  swim properly. He prayed  Goddess Kamashy and suddenly a palm tree   came floating in the river. He tied himself to it with the red cloth and reached the other shore near Tiruvanaikaval.  There he and his father buried the red cloth given by his sister  on the earth and prayed  Margamudaya Ayyanar. All brothers got united. Later the brother Pandyan was called as Panayadi Andavar and people started   worshipping him too. Opposit the temple of Ayyanar are   huge  statues of Elephant and horses., The first day of month of Margazhi, Shiva Rathri, Eighteenth day of the month of Adi are festival days in the temple On Sivarathri day from 8 Am to 8.30 Pm, continuous free feast is held at the tempe. People celebrate their 60^th, seventieth and eightieth birthday   in the temple . It is believed that this Ayyanar cures all those people affected by black magic. People believe  that the Pechiyamman God of this temple is extremely  powerful.  Young girls who do not attain puberty come and worship Prechiamman and  attain puberty soon . The Palm tree in this temple is full of flowers and  bears fruits throughout the year. People come and anoint this palm tree with milk and pray that it should protect them similar to the way it saved Panayadiyar. This temple is one km away from Thiruvanai Kaval temple on the Kallanai road.