Tirumeeyachur Mehanadhar Temple

Tirumeeyachur Mehanadhar Temple (திருமீயச்சூர் மேகநாதர் கோயில்) is a Hindu temple located at Thirumeeyachur in Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu, India.^[1] The presiding deity is Shiva. He is called as Meganathaswami. His consort is known as Lalithambika.^[2]

Mehanadhar Temple
Lalithambika temple
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
District	Thiruvarur
Deity	Mehanathar (Shiva) Lalithambika (Parvathi)
Location
Location	Tirumeichur
State	Tamil Nadu
Country	India
Location in Tamil Nadu
Geographic coordinates	10°57′46″N 79°38′50″E
Architecture
Type	Dravidian architecture

Significance

Image of Kshetra Puraneswarar

It is one of the shrines of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams - Shiva Sthalams glorified in the early medieval Tevaram poems by Tamil Saivite Nayanar Tirugnanasambandar.^[2] Tirumeeyachur Ilamkovil Sakalabhuvaneswarar Temple is also located on this temple's premises. This temple is where Sri Lalita Sahasranama was composed and Hayagriva taught it to Agastya maharishi. This temple is considered as the birth place of Garuda - The vahana of Vishnu and Aruna - The charioteer of Surya. As per the legend and Sthala purana, Vinata and Katru (wives of Kashyapa) worshipped shiva here and got blessed to get Garuda and Aruna as their Son. Aruna worshipped Shiva here and become charioteer of Surya.

Literary mention

Tirugnanasambandar describes the feature of the deity as:^[3]

நீல வடிவர் மிடறு நெடியர் நிகரில்லார்

கோல வடிவு தமதாங் கொள்கை யறிவொண்ணார்
காலர் கழலர் கரியி னுரியர் மழுவாளர்

மேலர் மதியர் விதியர் மீயச் சூராரே.

Gallery

• 
  Rajagopuram
• 
  Flagpost
• 
  Front mandapa
• 
  Vimana of the presiding deity
• 
  Mehanadhar vimana and Sakalabhuvanesvarar vimana
• 
  Vimana from north side