 |
| Sri Erumbeeswarar temple in Thiruverumbur near Tiruchi. thehindu.com |
 |
| Sri Erumbeeswarar temple in Thiruverumbur, TN .tripadvisor.in |
 |
| damaged temple due to Delhi sultanate raid Malai Kovil near Trichy firstpost.com |
 |
| Erumbeeswarar Temple in Thiruverumburen.wikipedia.org |
 |
| Erumbeeswarar Temple in Thiruverumbur en.wikipedia.or |
In Trichy district, Tamil Nadu there are many temples dedicated to God Shiva , but little is known about Erumbeeswarar Temple near Thiruverumbur, a suburb of Trichy city.
Located close to the popular Tiruchi-Thanjavur expressway, Erumbeeswarar Temple (Malai kovil), atop a hill (60 ft tall) in Thiruverumbur, near Tiruchirappalli city, is quite visible from far of distance and no person can miss it with its tall boundary walls that are similar to a fort. A Hindu temple, dedicated to God Shiva, it can only be accessed by a series of carved stone steps. The temple's main shrines and its two prakarams (outer courtyards) are on top of the hill, whereas a hall and the temple tank are at the foothills.
Erumbeeswarar temple is a Paadal Petra Sthalam. glorified by Tamil saint poets known as Nayanmars in the 7th-century Tamil devotional canonical work (on Shiva) ''the Tevaram''. There are several stone inscriptions from the Chola Empire and also from the Pandya dynasty dating back to the 9th to 10th century and it is said to be one among a series built by Aditya Chola (871-907 CE) along the banks of the river Cauvery to commemorate his victory in an important war. Though a classified historical protected monument, neither ASI nor the HR & CE does not show any interest in maintaining this old temple well. The place needs proper upkeep and periodic repairs. It is a Chola-built rock-cut temple built on the oldest rock terrain and needs periodic care. Although the Tourism Department and the City Corporation, took up the beautification work several years ago, all along the tank and girivalam path at an estimate of Rs. 45 lakh this monument appears to remain neglected.
|
| Erumbeeswarar Temple in Thiruverumbur en.wikipedia.or |
This temple also known as "Kailash of South India" is being visited by lots of devotees. The annual Brahmotsavam is a major event that attracts lots of devotees from far and near. The TN state govt. agency HR & CE - the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board manages the temple presently
 |
| Malai Kovil near Tiruchirappalli firstpost.com |
An interesting fact is every full moon in the last decade girivalam (just like the tradition at Thiruvannamalai) has become popular worship ritual in which thousands of pilgrims worship Erumbeeswarar by going round (circumambulating) the hill (giri) barefoot. In June 2011 under supervision of Thiruverumbur Town Panchayat authorities, removal of encroachments around Sri Erumbeeswarar Temple near along the Tiruchi-Thanjavur National Highway was carried out with the primary purpose to retrieve enough space for strengthening the ‘Girivalam' pathway. A cement road measuring 20 feet wide (originally planned width was 33 ft with) three feet spacing on either side was to be laid strengthening a length of 900 metres around the temple,
The temple built on a big rock outcrop which is geologically 3 to 3.5 billion years old. The rocks were formed after the planet earth came into being. Called Precambrian rocks, the Indian Shield complex is just like huge Canadian Shield, a part of North American Craton containing mostly Pre-Cambrian rocks- both igneous and metamorphic rocks
The ‘kumbabishekam’ of the temple was performed last about 15 years ago, according to sources
Tit_bits:
Recent stone inscription, alai Kovil, Trichy:
 |
| Erumbeeswarar temple, Thiruverumbur. en. thehindu.com |
|
| Erumbeeswarar Temple, Thiruverumburen.wikipedia.or |
| thehindu.com |
Above image: In June 2018 Research scholars from the local institutions discovered additional inscriptions at Sri Erumbeeswarar Temple. According to them though the temple dates back to 6 to 7th century C.E., the present temple to 10th century C. E. Credit goes to one Chembiyan Vedivelan, a philanthropist who lived in the early Chola period and who converted it into a stone cut temple. Inscriptions studied here earlier included Chola, Pandya and Vijayanagar period. The 2018 research work included the ''fragmentary inscriptions - about 40'' belonged to the Chola period scattered all around the outer prakara walls of the temple. The continuity of the inscriptions is lost possibly due to improper handling of stones carrying inscriptions when temple renovation (Kumbhabhishekam) was done last several years ago. According to one Dr. Kalaikkovan, Director, Centre for Historical Research, one of the inscriptions mentions that nearly 24 ‘veli’(a measure) of land was gifted to a mutt named after Thirunavukkarasar, who glorified this temple during the 30th regnal year of Rajaraja Chola III. A royal order provided 10 veli of tax-free land to another Saivite mutt named after Sambandar that functioned on the temple quarters. From the inscription , we standstand the temple had financial strain due to dough conditions centuries ago and teaching was imparted by the literate residents of the nearby villages by singing to the learners.......................
https://en.wikipedia.og/wiki/Erumbeeswarar_Temple
.
