Avudaiyarkoyil (Tirupperunturai)
Historical background
This temple, also known as Tirupperunturai temple, is intimately connected with the life of Manikkavachakar, the 9th century Shaiva saint who, according to the local tradition, was responsible for building it. It is said that the saint, then known as Tiruvadavurar, was at the service of the Pandya king, Varagunavarman II, also known as Arimarttana Pandya, and had been given substantial funds to purchase some horses which were due to arrive at a nearby coastal town. Once Tiruvadavurar arrived at Tirupperunturai, he met Shiva, in the guise of a guru, preaching to some disciples. He was so struck by the guru’s personality that he requested to be initiated. His name was from then on Manikkavachakar (‘He whose utterances are jewels/rubies’). He then spent the king’s money in building the temple at Tirupperunturai, and in other benefactions.
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Predictably, this was reported to the king who was impatiently waiting for the horses to arrive. Manikkavachakar was imprisoned and tortured. Shiva, however, came to his rescue. The miraculous interventions of the deity on more than one occasion deeply moved the King. He begged forgiveness of Manikkavachakar and tried to persuade him to resume his post as minister. The saint refused, and embraced the life of a wandering ascetic. He had an eventful life, composed a sizeable number of hymns in praise of Shiva and, eventually, he settled in Chidambaram where, it is said, he merged into the god.
In the course of the centuries, the temple has been restructured. The inscriptions engraved on its walls do not pre-date the period of the Arantangi Tondaimans who ruled in this area from the 15th to the 18th centuries. The large detached mandapa opposite the entrance gopura dates probably of the late 17th or early 18th century, and the paintings decorating its ceiling date of the 19th centuries. Particularly noteworthy is the 18th century set illustrating the 275 Shaiva holy sites, probably the only one surviving. It is laid out on the ceiling of the pillared hall in front of the Nandishvara Manikkavachakar shrine. The murals on the walls of the corridor around the above mentioned shrine, although in a parlous condition, may date of the late 17th or early 18th century. Their present dilapidated state makes it very difficult to establish an approximate date. A further set of paintings, probably of the same period, is adorns the ceiling of the Panchatchara mandapa, in the outermost enclosure of the temple.
The murals on the walls of the Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine illustrate in great detail the life of Manikkavachakar. Those on the walls of the prakara surrounding it depict the most important aspects of Shiva as well as the lives of the Shaiva saints as related in the Periya Puranam. Both series date probably of the late 19th or early 20th century and are particularly interesting as they clearly reveal the growing influence of Western painting.
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Third row: A conversation between Arimarttana Pandya (Varagunavarman II) and Manikkavachakar.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Third row: View of Madurai; On the left the Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple and the Potramarai tank.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine,south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Third row: A groom reports to Arimarttana Pandya (Varagunavarman II) that the horses in the stables are either old or sick.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Fourth row: The king orders to give Manikkavachakar a substantial amount of money to purchase horses. He will travel to a coastal town, Tirupperunturai, where the animals are expected to arrive.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Fourth row: Manikkavachakar and his retinue travel to Tirupperunturai in order to purchase the horses.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Fourth row: Manikkavachakar’s retinue rest on their way to Tirupperunturai.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south wall
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Fourth row; On his way to Tirupperunturai Manikkavachakar visits the Minakshi Temple, bathes in the Potramarai tank and a brahmin gives him some sacred ash to rub on his forehead.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Fifth row: A guru (Shiva), seated under a tree, preaches to his disciples at Tirupperunturai.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Fifth row; On arrival at Tirupperunturai Manikkavachakar goes to the Shiva temple to take a bath, and his eyes fall on the guru preaching beneath a tree nearby.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Fifth row; Manikkavachakar sends his retinue back to Madurai to inform the king that the horses would arrive at a later date.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Fifth row; Manikkavachakar and his retinue travel towards Tirupperunturai.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Sixth row: A pool in a grove.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Sixth row; Manikkavachakar spends the king’s money building a temple. On the extreme left, a messenger hands a letter of the king to Manikkavachakar, in which he recalls him to Madurai.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Sixth row: Manikkavachakar spends the king’s money making charitable donations to the ascetics.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Sixth row: Manikkavachakar and his retinue on the way to Madurai.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Sixth row: Manikkavachakar tells the king Arimarttana Pandya (Varagunavarman II) that the horses have been bought and are on their way to Madurai.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudayarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: South west corner of the Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, general view.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, south west corner
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Top row: Manikkavachakar informes Arimarttana Pandya (Varagunavarman II) that the horses have been purchased, thereupon the king gives him the title of Turangapati (Master of the horses); He then goes to the Minakshi temple and bathes in the Potramarai tank.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, west face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Top row: Some Shaiva devotees blame Manikkavachakar for jeopardising his careeer and their future; Manikkavachakar, however remains firm in his resolve; The next day he is summoned at Arimarttana’s (Varagunavarman II) presence because the horses have not yet arrived.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, west face
Date: Paintings: late 19th, early 20th century
Description: Top row: Arimarttana Pandya (Varagunavarman II) waits a couple of days; then he orders Manikkavachakar to return all the funds he had taken from the treasury; He orders to place a heavy block of granite on his head, he is made to carry a huge stone on his back and finally he is imprisoned.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Atmanatha Temple;Avudaiyarkoyil
Positioning: Sivananda Manikkavachakar shrine, west face
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