Ezhutharinathar temple is located at the Innambur village, in Thanjavur district of TamilNadu. The main deity of this temple is Ezhutharinathar (Lord Shiva) and his two consorts Nithya Kalyani and Sugandha Kundhalambigai. Apart from Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesha, Murugan, Lord Sun, Lord Moon, Bairavar, Natarajar and Dakshinamoorthy are sub-deities of this temple. Ezhutharinathar temple is nearly 1500 years old.

About the Temple:

It is believed that the Lord of the temple is a swayambumurthy. Iravatham and Agasthyar worshipped the Lord Shiva here. Since Sun god or Innan worshipped the lord here, this place is called as Innan navambur or Innambur. On specific days of Panguni, Avani and Puratasi a natural anointing of the Sun on Moolavar can be seen.

The temple passage is decorated with five layered Rajagopuram and two prakarams. The crown of the sanctum has Gajaprishta vimaanam and 5 kalasaams. Shivalingam and passageway are colossal. There is a separate temple for Sugandha Kundalambal while NityaKalyani stands beside Lord Shiva. The temple wall has engravings from the Chola and Vijaynagar periods.

Since Lord Shiva blessed Sage Agasthyar with the tenets of Tamil Grammar, he was known as Ezhutharinathar. Before joining any educational institution, worshiping here will assure smooth learning process without any hindrances. Children with slurred speech and speech impairment are brought here and a puja is offered to the Lord for the cure.

History:

Long ago, the King ruling this place asked his accountant to present the temple accounts. Since the books were not updated the accountant was reluctant to appear before the King. Next day, the King called the accountant and praised him, saying that of the temple accounts maintained so far, this was the perfect and well prepared. The accountant came to know that it was Lord’s grace and he himself submitted the account books. As Lord wrote and submitted his own temple accounts, he is praised as Ezhutharinathar. The king asked his accountant, to bring all the temple accounts by next morning. As it was a tedious process, the accountant got worried thinking about the punishment. He prayed the lord and the lord came to save his devotee. Disguised in his form, the lord himself submitted the accounts to the king. The king was very happy with the result. In the next morning the accountant went to the palace with fear. On seeing him, king happily hugged him and appreciated his work. The accountant got confused and came back to his house with lots of rewards. At the same night, the Lord appeared in his dream and said that he himself submitted the accounts. (Ezhuthurai=one who writes) in Tamil.

Another legend has it that once Sun lost his power due to a curse. He went to saints to know how to get relief from this curse. The saint advised him to visit this temple which was worshiped by Iravatham. Sun worshiped swayambhu idol of Lord Shiva at this temple and got rid of his curse.

Festivals and Celebrations:

A ten day Purattasi Navarathri festival is celebrated on the grand scale. During Mahashivratri, a huge crowd of devotees and pilgrims visits this temple.

Apart from this, Chithirai Kodabishekam, Aipasi Annabishekam, Margazhi Tiruvadhirai are the festivals celebrated in the temple. During Shivratri huge crowd of devotees and pilgrims gather.

Poornima vilakku puja is conducted on every Purnima day in this temple. The special pujas according to Vedic practices are offered during Pongal, Deepavali, Durgaashtami and Amavasya.

It is believed that performing pujas and rituals omit the bad luck.

How to reach:

By Road: Innambur is 2 km far north of Puliancheri on the Kumbakonam-Swamimalai road. Town buses are available from Kumbakonam.

By Train: Kumbakonam is the nearest railway station.

By Air: Tiruchirapalli International Airport is located at 59.6 km.