 The
Tirunelveli temple
is a very popular
temple and has many
legends associated
with it. The name
Tirunelveli itself
has a legend saying
that Lord Siva himself
had come to fence
some paddy grains
from getting soaked
in the rain on the
prayers of his Brahmin
devotee. Thus the
literal meaning
of Tirunelveli is
beautiful paddy
fence.
The temple is large
in size and has
many beautiful Mandapams
and Teerthams. One
of the mandapams
has thousand pillars
where the marriage
festival of the
lord and the Devi
is conducted. The
other famous mandapams
are the mani mandapam
which gives out
musical sounds and
Vasanta Mandapam.
There is a Sivalingam
called Anvarata
Khan in a corner
of the prakaram.
This was named after
the legend that
a Muslim queen performed
some religious ceremonies
to get cured of
her fatal illness.
The queen was cured
of her illness and
also gave birth
to a child which
was named Anvarata.
Another legend says
that Sage Agastya,
who was sent to
the South for rectifying
the equilibrium
of the bharat varsa,
obtained the darsana
of Siva here. It
is also said that
Sriram in his mission
to recover Sita
worshipped Siva
in this place. Yet
another legend says
that Lord Siva had
come to Tirunelveli
in the form of a
lingam with the
four Vedas standing
around him as bamboo
trees. Hence this
place is also known
as Venu Vanam meaning
a bamboo forest.
The Tirunelveli
district has a railway
station and is well
connected by rail
and road from all
the major cities
of the South. There
are government and
private hotels for
the comfortable
stay of the pilgrims.
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