Sri Pushpavaneswarar temple

The temple is praised in the hymns of Saivite saints Tirugnanasambandar, Tirunavikkarasar, and Sundarar. One such song by saint Tirunavukkarasar in the melodious Thandagam meter describes the handsome Lord and his blessing qualities towards His devotees and the beauty of Tirupuvanam surrounded by fragrant gardens. This is the 11th temple in the Pandya region praised in the hymns.

Lord Shiva graces as a Swaymbumurthy. The 36th chapter in the epic Tiruvilayadal Puranam relates to this temple about the alchemy miracle.

The place is also known by other names as Pushpavanakasi, Pithurmokshapuram, Bhaskarapuram, Lakshmipuram, Brahmmapuram and Rasavadhapuram. Lord Pushpavaneswarar with His consort Soundaryanayaki had played many miracles. As this is a place with fragrant gardens, it is called Poovanam. Lord Pushpavaneswarar blesses his devotees relieving them of all hardships. The place is considered very sacred as this qualifies the three important standards of Murthy, Sthala, and Theertha according to our scriptures.

Devotees seek happy results in marriage talks, child boon, good education etc.

During the Puranic Age, one Darma Yagnan was carrying his father’s ashes – asthi to Rameswaram from Kasi-now Varanasi. He stayed in this place for a while to rest. His friend accompanying him opened the pot containing the asthi but was surprised to find flowers in the pot and not asthi. But he did not reveal the truth to his friend. Reaching Rameswaram, while opening the pot, they found only asthi and not the flower. Now, the friend told Darmayagna what he found earlier. They returned back with the pot to Tirupuvanam and found the flower when they opened the pot.

As what was simply asthi-ash in Kasi turned into a flower in Tirupuvanam, the place is considered 16 times holier than Kasi. The proverb here goes “it is a veesam more than Kasi” claiming a greater reputation than Kasi. Those unable to go to Kasi to immerse the ashes of the departed ones in River Ganga do it here in Vaigai River and light the Moksha Deepa.

When saint Tirugnanasambandar visited this place, he saw Shivalingas in every particle of river sand and could not walk on the banks to reach the other side of the river. He prayed to the Lord singing His praise from where he was. Nandhi, the bull vehicle of Lord Shiva was hiding the Lord from Gnanasambandar. Lord Shiva asked the Nandhi to move by the side to grant His darshan to the saint. We see Nandhi in the temple a little away on the side representing this event.

The entrance of the temple is with a five-tier tower-Gopura. Lord Shiva graces with a Rudraksha body. Shivalinga in the temple has a trident symbol. Mother Soundaryanayaki graces from the right of the Lord. There are five theerthas in the temple of which Manikarnikai is distinct from others. Sage Agasthya was able to consume the whole sea water as he consumed Manikarnika theertha first. This the place where king Nala, Brahma, Vishnu, Sage Gautama, Sun, Sri Mahalakshmi, Sage Agasthya, Goraka Siddha worshipped Lord Shiva, according to scriptures.

There lived in Tirupuvanam a dancer woman Ponnaiyal by name. As a staunch devotee, she spent all her earnings from the dancing programs in feeding Shiva devotees. She had the desire to sculpt Lord Poovananathar in pure gold. To fulfill her desire, Lord came in the guise of a Siddha and advised her to melt all the brass, lead, and copper articles in the house at night which will turn into gold. The dancer followed the advice of the Siddha and her joy knew no bounds to see adequate gold to make the idol of the Lord. With the gold she got through the alchemy miracle, the dancer made out a beautiful idol of the Lord and in her ecstasy, she embraced the idol and kissed it on the cheek. The nail symbol of Ponnaiyal is visible on the procession deity.