Tiruvadanai or Thiruvadanai is a town and a taluk headquarters of the

Ramanathapuram district Ramanathapuram District, also known as Ramnad District, is one of the 38 districts an administrative districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The old Ramanathapuram District consists of Present day Virudhunagar Virudhunagar is a c ...

, in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The town is known for the Adhi Ratneswarar Temple and is mentioned in the

Thevaram Thevaram is a town in Theni district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thevaram is located in Tamil Nadu near on border of Kerala at the Eastern side foot-hill of the Western Ghats. It is connected with State Highway SH100. Farming is main o ...

hymns. It is situated about 70 km away from

Ramanathapuram Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a town and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) in ...

and can be reached from

Karaikudi Karaikudi is a Greater municipality in Sivaganga district, Sivagangai district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 21st largest urban agglomeration of Tamil Nadu based on 2011 census data. It is part of t ...

via

Devakottai Devakottai is a first-grade municipality in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Located in the Sivaganga district, the town is situated close to the Karaikudi, near Rameswaram National Highway Road (NH-210). It is one of the major cities comes und ...

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

via

Sivagangai Sivaganga () is a city and headquarters of the Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sivaganga is a rani velunachiyar kingdom of Tamil Nadu. It is an important city in this district for official and commercial purposes. Its ni ...

."Unbelievable Temple ".

Etymology

Thiruvadanai is one of the many temple towns in the state which is named after the grooves, clusters or forests dominated by a particular variety of a tree or shrub and the same variety of tree or shrub sheltering the presiding deity. The region is believed to have been covered with Vilva forest and hence called Vilvavanam. The name Tiruvadanai or Thiruvadanai is believed to have originated from an ancient myth associated with the town. Legend has it that Vaaruni, the son of

Varuna Varuna (; sa, वरुण, , Malay: ''Baruna'') is a Vedic deity associated initially with the sky, later also with the seas as well as Ṛta (justice) and Satya (truth). He is found in the oldest layer of Vedic literature of Hinduism, such ...

, the God of rain who was cursed by a Sage to have an elephant's body and a goat's head, regained his normal form after worshiping

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

at this temple. The name of the town is believed to have been derived from this mythological incident(Thiru- sacred; Adu- goat; Aanai- elephant; Thiru Adanai- the sacred place, where the goat-headed-elephant regained his original form).

Adhi Ratneswarar Temple

The Adhi Ratneswarar Temple situated in Tiruvadanai, is one of the 14 temples in Paandiya Naadu praised in the Thevaram hymns. Sages

Agasthya Agastya ( kn, ಅಗಸ್ತ್ಯ, ta, அகத்தியர், sa, अगस्त्य, te, అగస్త్యుడు, ml, അഗസ്ത്യൻ, hi, अगस्त्य) was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the I ...

Markandeya Bhargava Markandeya ( sa, मार्कण्‍डेय ) is an ancient rishi (sage) born in the clan of Bhrigu Rishi (Bhargava Brahmins Community). The Markandeya Purana especially, comprises a dialogue between Markandeya and a sage cal ...

and the holy cow Kamadenu were believed to have worshiped

Lord Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

at this temple. The temple is also mentioned in the Thirupugal and Thevara Pathigam works of Tamil poets

Arunagirinathar Arunagirinaadhar (Aruna-giri-naadhar, ', ) was a Tamil Saiva saint-poet who lived during the 15th century in Tamil Nadu, India. In his treatise ''A History of Indian Literature'' (1974), Czech Indologist Kamil Zvelebil places Arunagirinathar's ...

and

Sambandar Sambandar (Tamil: சம்பந்தர்), also referred to as Tirugnana Sambandar (lit. ''Holy Sage Sambandar''), Tirujnanasambanda, Campantar or Jñāṉacampantar, was a Shaiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu who lived sometime in the 7th cen ...

respectively.

Transportation

The town is well connected by means of road. The nearest railway station is situated at the Devakottai Road train station and the nearest airport is at

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Ramanathapuram district