Nellaiappar Temple
More than 1000 years old, Nellaiappar temple is the central point of the spiritual life of the city of Tirunelveli. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and his wife Parvathi. Shiva is represented in the Lingam form and Parvathi in the form of Kanthimathi Amman.
The City of Tirunelveli is blessed with the Tamiraparani river and the temple is located on the northern bank of the river.The Temple was originally built by Pandya Kings and renovated by Madurai Nayaks later. Earlier the two temples of Shiva and Parvathi were separate and they were linked later. Hence there is a long walk within the temple for devotees to go between. The temple is spread over 14 acres as per Wikipedia.
Within the temple premises near the sanctum sanctorium, there is a shrine dedicated to Lord Vishnu (Nellai Govindan) where his idol can be seem in a lying posture. It was built on a belief that Lord Vishnu had visited Thirunelveli to solemnize the divine marriage of Shiva and Parvathi. The temple is one of the five sacred places in Saiva religion, worth seeing for its beautiful sculptures, musical pillars, valuable jewels, a golden lily tank and a thousand pillared mandapa.
As per the website Golden Chariot Procession takes place everyday in the temple at 7 pm. Participating this is chargeable. Rs.2000 as of (June 2017).
Significance of the Temple
- One can see Shiva in a dancing form on a stage (ambalam) made out of Copper. There are only 5 places where Shiva is displayed in dancing form.
- The Temple car is the driven and motorized and is the 3rd biggest in the State of Tamil Nadu
Major Festivals
- Navaratri
- Tirukkalyanam
- Arudra Darisanam
Daily Rituals performed 3 times a day
- Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m.
- Uchikalam at 12:00 a.m.
- Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m
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