Tirunelveli Nellaiyappar and Kanthimathi Temple Structure - Part 6

Read: Tirunelveli Nellaiyappar and Kanthimathi Temple Structure Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.

I have written five posts about the structure of the famous Nellaiyappar and Kanthimathi temple in the ancient city of Tirunelveli in South India. This is the last post on the design, where I am writing about the main shrine of Nellaiyappar and the corridor surrounding the shrine. I would request you to go through my previous posts on the temple structure to better understand this post, as this is a continuation of those posts.

I wrote about the famous music pillar hall in my previous post. After you cross the gallery, you can enter the main shrine of Nellaiyappar. Nellaiyappar is also called Venuvananathar in this temple. As we saw in the temple legend, the icon of Shiv linga in the main shrine has a cut on the left side. You can also find the images of Lord Ganesha and Murugan at the entrance of the main shrine. On the other side of the Nellaiyappar shrine is a separate shrine for Lord Nellai Govindan - which is Lord Vishnu in the reclining posture.

Nellaiyappar Temple Tower

The inner corridor of Nellaiyappar has the icons of Dakshinamurti, Bhikshatana Murti, and Chandikeswarar. There is a small shrine for Shiva in the name of TiruMoola Nathar, which is believed to be present on the site even before the main shrine. The corridor also houses the utsav idols of Nellaiyappar and Kanthimathi, Durga, Bhairav, Sapta Kanni, Sapta Rishis, 63 nayanmars, and Polla Pillayar (Ganesha). There is a shrine that depicts Raavana lifting Kailasha. On the upper floor, the shrine of Somaskanda is found. There is Tamara Sabha located in the corridor, where the dancing ceremony of Lord Nataraja takes place in this temple. There is a separate shrine for Lord Nataraja in the form of a Sandal icon - called Sandana Sabapathi.

The corridor also houses the icons of Ashta Lakshmi - Lakshmi in eight different forms and Shaneeswar. There is a shrine for Sahasra Linga , Kubera Linga and Nataraja. You can also find the Sthala Vruksham - Moongil and the icon of Rama Kone, who was the main reason for this temple to be built in the corridor.

Nellaiyappar Temple Corridor

If you come out of Nellaiyappar shrine, diagonally opposite Navagraha shrine, there is a prominent shrine for Lord Nataraja with his consort Sivakami. This is the Tamara Sabha Nataraja - one of the five most important icons of Lord Nataraja. The icon is located here, whereas the Tamara Sabha - one of the five adobes is situated in the inner corridor of Nellaiyappar.

With this, my posts on Nellaiyappar and Kanthimathi temple are completed.

Happy travelling.

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