Harimukteesvarar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Siva located in Ariamangai of Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India

Location

This temple is situated at a distance of 10 km from

Chakkarapalli Chakkarapalli is a village in the Papanasam taluk of Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located in between Thanjavur - Kumbakonam highway. A more than thousand years old village having proof of Chakkaravageswarar Temple. Demographi ...

in Thanjavur-

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum) or Kudanthai is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headq ...

main road. From Chakkarappalli one road leads to Agaramangudi, in south direction. On this road another road is found in south. On this road the railway crosses. It is very difficult for the vehicles to cross the unmanned railway line. To reach the temple one has to walk to some distance.

Saptamagai sthalam

This temple is one of the seven shrines associated with ''

Saptamartrikas Matrikas (Sanskrit: मातृका (singular), IAST: mātṝkās, lit. "divine mothers") also called Matar or Matri, are a group of mother goddesses who are always depicted together in Hinduism. The Matrikas are often depicted in a group o ...

'' (seven female deities in

Siva Siva may refer to: Film and television * Siva (director), Indian cinematographer and director * ''Siva'' (1989 Tamil film), a film starring Rajinikanth as the title character * ''Siva'' (1989 Telugu film), an action film Music and dance * "Siv ...

temple).கடம்பூர் விஜயன், சப்தமங்கைத் தலங்கள், பகுதி 1, அரியமங்கை, தினமணி, 16 சூன் 2018
/ref> Matrikas are the different forms Adi Parashakti. Matrikas are the personified powers of different Devas. Brahmani emerged from Brahma, Vaishnavi from Vishnu, Maheshvari from Shiva, Indrani from

Indra Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...

, Kaumari from Skanda, Varahi from Varaha and

Chamunda Chamunda (Sanskrit: चामुण्डा, ISO-15919: Cāmuṇḍā), also known as Chamundeshwari, Chamundi or Charchika, is a fearsome form of Chandi, the Hindu Divine Mother Shakti and is one of the seven Matrikas (mother goddesses).W ...

from

Devi Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The conce ...

, and additionals are

Narasimhi Pratyangira (Sanskrit: प्रत्यङ्गिरा, ''Pratyaṅgirā)'', also called Atharvana Bhadrakali, Narasimhi, Simhamukhi, and Nikumbala, is a Hindu goddess associated with Shaktism. She is described to be the female energy and con ...

, Vinayaki. This is one of the Saptamangai sthalams, seven sacred places devoted to Devi. They are also called as Saptastanam of Chakkarappalli. Ayyampet N.Selvaraj, Study on the Saptastanam (Seven Sacred Places) of Chakkarappalli in Thanjavur District, Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum, New Delhi, May 2011 They are: * Chakkarappalli * Ariyamangai * Sulamangalam * Nallichery * Pasupathikovil * Thazhamangai * Pullamangai

Presiding deity

The presiding deity in the garbhagriha is represented by the '' lingam'' known as Harimukteesvarar. The Goddess is known as Gnanambikai Amman. The linga is of one metre high. On the right Vinayaka and left Subramania are found. The garbhagriha has a small vimana. On either side of the entrance dvarapalakas made of stucco are found. At the facade stucco figures from the history of the temple are found. The shrine of the Goddess is found in the left, facing east. As Vishnu worshipped the presiding deity, he is known as Harimukteesvarar, Hari means Vishnu.

Temple structure

The temple has a compound wall. The temple is in a raised position and has cement floor. The temple does not have regular structures. In front of the main shrine, bali pita and nandhi

mandapa A mandapa or mantapa () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture. Mandapas are described as "open" or "closed" depending on whether they have walls. In temples, ...

are found. The entrance is facing east. No gopura is found. In the north of the garbagriha, Saptamatas are found. Very near to them five of saptamatas belonging to 9th century CE are found. Even though no kosta like structure is found, in the south Dakshinamurthy of 13th century CE and in the north Durga are is found. On the right side of the main shrine, shrines of Vishnu and Ayurdevi are found. It seems that Ayurdevi is of recent addition set up by the locals. Ayurdevi is with twelve hands. Maheshvari, one of the saptamatas, worshipped the deity. Ganges is the temple tirtta of the temple.

References

{{coord missing, Tamil Nadu Shiva temples in Thanjavur district