Ilamaiyakkinar Chidambaram
Saivite Temples, Cuddalore District
God
Youvaneswarar – Ilamayakkinar(sivan), facing east
Goddess
Thirupurasundari, facing south
Other Deities
Ganesha, Dakshinamurthy, Lingotbavar, Brahma, Durga, Chandikeswara around sanctum sanctorum. Kanambulla Nayanar, Thiruneelakanta Nayanar, Nalvar, Pathanjali, Kannimoolai Ganapathy, Mahaganapathy, Meenakshi Sundareswarar, Muruga with consorts, Ekambareswarar, Annamaleswarar, Sree Moolanadar, Gajalakshmi, Navagraha, Bairavar, Chandra, Surya, Vyagrapadar
Ilamaiyakkinar Chidambaram is an old east facing temple with a 5 tier Rajagopuram and large temple tank. Santhana Kuravargal (Meikandar, Arulnandisivam, Maraignanasambandar and Umapathisivam) have sannidhis here which is rare.
Holy Water – Temple Tank
Holy Tree – No information
History
Ilamaiyakkinar Chidambaram is an ancient temple. Historical information is not available as on date.
Legend
Thiruneelakandar, one of the 63 Nayanmars, had sworn that he will not touch any lady including his wife after his wife came to know that he had a relationship with a whore. He and his wife were returned to youth (Ilamai in tamil) after a test by the lord here at Ilamaiyakkinar Chidambaram and hence the name. Sage Vyagrapadar is believed to have worshiped here. Kanambulla Nayanar is said to have lit himself as a lamp and merged with Lord Shiva here at Ilamaiyakkinar Chidambaram.
Directions
Ilamaiyakkinar Chidambaram is inside Chidambaram Town. Take the bazaar street right behind Nataraja Temple (west side) and go straight down to reach this temple in a street on your left.
Stay and Food
Chidambaram has a lot of places for good food.
