- Thirunelveli; Nellaiappar temple.
One of 275 Devara sthalam
The place is about 145 kms from Madurai on the banks of River Thamirabarani.
Main deity is swayambu Lingam known as Nelliappar, Venuvaneswarar, and his consort Kanthimathi ammai.
The whole town was of bamboo trees and the place is known as Venuvanam. Bamboo is the sthala vruksham of the temple. There are four pushkarani within the temple premises.
Purana says Vedas are in the form of Bamboo tree, and Lord Siva is linga form under the tree as per their request.
Thirumal, Brahma, Sri Rama and Agastiyar worshipped Lord Siva of this place and were blessed.
Agastiyar had the darshan of Lord Siva’s marriage in this place.
Nataraja Sabha of this place is known as “Thamira sabha”. Sambandhar sang hymns on Lord Siva of this place.
There is a separate temple for Kanthimathi ammai . Both the temples are connected by a mandapam known as Sangili mandapam which was constructed by Rama pandayan and later developed by seer Nedumaran in 7th century AD.
Stone inscriptions in the temple are to Chola, Pandaya and Nayakar period.
Purana says Ramakonar used to supply milk for palace passing through the Venuvanam,(bamboo)
Many times when he was passing though the Venuvanam the bamboo used to obstruct and he used to drop the pot of milk. One day he tried to cut the bamboo tree with axe and the blood started oozing out. He was stunned and reported to king.
The King visited the place and thought this was one of the leela which lord has performed, he prayed to lord Siva to reveal himself. Lord Siva appeared in Linga form and later the temple was constructed by the king.
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