Meyyambiga Sametha Nethrotharaneswar Temple, Panyapuram

Amongst the 276 Thevara Paadal Sthalam the 20th place in Nadu Naadu is this temple, also called Panangatiswarar Tirukovil. This temple  is coded as NNT020 for easy identification  by devotees. Google Map Code: https://goo.gl/maps/CSkttPBktirgZ1wb8

This place, which was sung in praise  by Thiruganasambandhar, was called Puravar Panangatur in ancient times.

From the Chennai- Villupuram highway near Mundiyambakkam, take a left turn after Mundiyampakkam  and at roughly a km is this temple .  The  Agrahara roads are wide and  is a testimony to the epicenter of devotion this Sthala once was. This  treasure trove of enormous vintage is  a peaceful calm place filled with  beauty and divinity. (In this Kali Yuga, people prefer to invade concrete jungles of commercial temples even while a time capsule like this is simply ignored. God isn't the loser, we are)

The temple contains inscriptions  from the periods of Rajendra Chola, Rajaraja II and Kulothunga Cholas. It seems to have been reconstructed around 1045 AD, over an existing structure . The temple is said to be around 1400 plus  years old.

Though the temple is 1400 years old, no one knows the age of the self-manifested (Swayambhu) Shivalinga.

The beautiful  tall Prahara walls (two concentric praharas) , the magnificent, majestic Rajagopuram, and separate parallel shrines for Shiva and Parvathi is like Madurai temple. This is one of the five places where the palm tree (trees) is a native tree (sthala Vriksha).

According to the mythology of this  place, the sun lost his grace,  brightness and eyesight due to the sins of  participating in the Daksha Yagna and he regained that at this sthala. As a gesture of gratitude, the sun's rays fall  on  both Shiva lingam and Ambal during the first seven days of Chitrai month. 

It is reported that people with difficulties in eyesight benefit by praying at this Sthala.

This is also the place where Sibi Chakravarthy was granted Moksham by Ambal . The name of the place  Puravar Panangattoor is to honour  Sibi who is better known as the Donor of his own flesh for a bird. 

Sthala Vriksha (Palm) gets a separate enclosure and is beautifully maintained. 

A temple where divinity meets peace and beauty. Not frequented by devotees but they are the losers. As Variyar Swamy says "When in Trichy if you donot bathe in Cauvery, Cauvery is not the loser, you are" !

Even the residents of  Villupuram don't seem to visit this temple  much. The next time you are to travel in the Chennai Madurai  highway, don't miss this temple.