Sri Pandi Muneeswarar Temple (commonly known as Pandi Kovil) is a temple located in Melamadai area of Madurai city in Tamil Nadu, India. The main deity of the temple is Pandi Muneeswarar. It is believed that a Pandya king called Nedunchezhiyan is worshipped as Pandi Muneeswarar in this temple. [1] [2]
According to an old legend, two hundred years ago, a couple named Valliammal and Periyasamy were travelling from Karur to Madurai. As it got dark on the way to Madurai, they decided to stay at Melamadai near the present Mattuthavani and slept there. At night, a long-bearded sage appeared in Valliammal's dream and told him that he was Pandyan Nedunchezhiyan, the ruler of Madurai, and that he had been meditating in the same place, eight feet deep in the earth as a penance for the injustice he did for Kovalan, the husband of Kannagi by taking rebirth. He further added that, if they worship him, then he would protect and bless their family. A startled Valliammal told her husband what had happened and they unearthed the idol buried eight feet deep in the soil. After that, a temple was built on the site and the community of Valliammal continues to worship and maintain this temple till today. [1]
Karaikal is a town of the Indian Union Territory of Puducherry. Karaikal was sold to the French by the Rajah of Thanjavur and became a French Colony in 1739. The French held control, with occasional interruptions from the British, until 1954, when it was de facto incorporated into the Republic of India, along with Mahé, Yanaon, and Pondichéry.
Kannagi sometimes spelled Kannaki, is a legendary Tamil woman who forms the central character of the Tamil epic Cilappatikaram. Kannagi is described as the chaste woman who stays with her husband despite his unfaithfulness, their attempt to rebuild their marriage after her husband had lost everything but repented, how her husband is falsely framed then punished without the due checks and processes of justice. Kannagi proves and protests the injustice, then curses the king and city of Madurai leading to the death of the unjust Pandyan King of Madurai, who had wrongfully put her husband Kovalan to death. The society that had made her suffer, suffers in retribution as the city Madurai is burnt to the ground because of her curse. In Tamil folklore, Kannagi has been deified as the symbol – sometimes as goddess – of chastity, with sculptures or reliefs in Hindu temples iconographically reminding the visitor of her breaking her anklet or tearing her bleeding breast and throwing it at the city.
Cilappatikāram, also referred to as Silappathikaram or Silappatikaram, is the earliest Tamil epic. It is a poem of 5,730 lines in almost entirely akaval (aciriyam) meter. The epic is a tragic love story of an ordinary couple, Kannaki and her husband Kovalan. The Cilappathikaram has more ancient roots in the Tamil bardic tradition, as Kannaki and other characters of the story are mentioned or alluded to in the Sangam literature such as in the Naṟṟiṇai and later texts such as the Kovalam Katai. It is attributed to a prince-turned-monk Iḷaṅkõ Aṭikaḷ, and was probably composed in the 5th or 6th century CE.
Guruvayurappan also often rendered Guruvayoorappan, is a form of Vishnu worshipped mainly in Kerala. He is the presiding deity of the temple, who is worshipped as Krishna in his child form, also known as Guruvayur Unnikkannan. Even though the deity is that of chaturbahu Vishnu, the sankalpam (concept) of the people is that the deity is the infant form of Krishna Only. This form of lord Vishnu is very pleasant.
Madurai Veeran, also known as Veeran, is a Tamil folk deity popular in southern Tamil Nadu, India. His name literally means, "warrior of Madurai".
Renuka, also known as Yellamma, is a Hindu goddess worshipped predominantly in the South Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and western state of Maharashtra. She is also known as the mother of Parashurama, the sixth avatar of the god Vishnu. She acquired the status of a mother goddess before eventually being associated with the legend of Parashurama.
Cumbum, natively spelt as Kambam, is a town and municipality in Theni district, an Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Koodal Aḻagar Temple in Madurai, a city in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Alvar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Viyooga Sundarrajan, and his consort Lakshmi as Mathuravalli.
Kalaiyar Kovil is a historic temple in Sivaganga District, Tamil Nadu, India. Kalayarkoil is a town in Kalaiyarkoil Block in Sivaganga District of Tamil Nadu State, India. It comes It is located 18 KM towards East from District head quarters Sivaganga.466 KM from State capital Chennai.
Karuppu Samilit. 'black deity' is one of the regional Tamil male deities popular among the rural social groups of Tamil Nadu and parts of Kerala. He is one of the 21 associated folk-deities of Ayyanar, and is hence was one among the demigods or kaval deivams in the Dravidian folk religion. He is sometimes considered to be a form of Shiva among Shaivas.
Muneeswarar, or Muneeswaran, is a popular Hindu deity within Hinduism, and is worshipped by many, in countries such as India, Malaysia, Singapore and many more. He is sometimes referred to by different names, such as Muniyandi, Muniyappan, Muni Ayya, Ayya amongst many others. Muneeswarar is mostly considered a guardian deity or minor, but is in some cases hierarchically considered to be on par with Lord Shiva, one of the main deities in the Hindu trinity. Although not much is known on the exact origins and history of Muneeswarar, he is often regarded to be related to the Hindu Lord Shiva. His name is a combination of "Muni", and "Ishvara", an epithet or title of Shiva.
Pattikada Pattanama is a 1972 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film produced and directed by P. Madhavan and written by Bala Murugan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and Jayalalithaa. The film deals with Kalpana, an urban woman who marries a villager Mookaiyan. After marriage, differences of opinion arise between the couple as Mookaiyan raises objections about city culture, leading to their separation. The rest of the film is whether Kalpana reforms and the couple reunite or not.
Chithirai Festival, also known as Chithirai Thiruvizha, Meenakshi Kalyanam or Meenakshi Thirukalyanam, is an annual Tamil Hindu celebration in the city of Madurai during the month of April. The festival, celebrated during the Tamil month of Chithirai, is associated with the Meenakshi Temple, dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi, a form of Parvati and her consort Sundareshwar, a form of Shiva.
A. Vaidyanatha Iyer, also known as Madurai Vaidyanatha Iyer or Ayyar was an Indian activist, politician and freedom-fighter who spearheaded the temple entry movement in Madras Presidency in 1939.
Madurapuram is a small village in India that lies on the banks of the Vaigai River and on the National Highway 49 that connects Madurai with Rameshwaram. The village is situated 18 kilometres (11 mi) from Madurai. Though Madapuram is near Madurai it is within Sivagangai district. The famous Madurapuram Badhrakali amman and ayyanar temple is situated at this place. Today this temple is managed by HR & CE ministry of Government of Tamil Nadu.
Kannaki Amman is the deified form of Kannagi, the heroine of the Tamil epic Cilappatikāram. She is worshipped in parts of Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. As a goddess of chastity, she is venerated by Indian Tamils and Malayalis, Sri Lankan Tamil Shaivites, and also by the Sinhalese Buddhists as Pattini Amma. In regional Hindu tradition, her tale is interpreted as the story of Durga demanding justice after the death of her husband, Kovalan, who is identified as a form of Shiva.
The Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam is a collection of sixty-four 7th-century Shaivite devotional epic stories by the sage Paranjothi. They describe the actions of Shiva on earth in a number of disguises to test and help his devotees.
Ochayee is a 2010 Tamil language drama film directed by O. Aasaithambi. The film stars newcomers Dhaya and Thamarai, with Rajesh, Santhana Bharathi, Ganja Karuppu, Shakeela, O. Murugan and Thiravi Pandian playing supporting roles. The film, produced by Thiraviya Pandian, had musical score by Jeevaraja and was released on 15 October 2010.
Tenkasi Pandyas were the Pandya kings from Sadaavarman Parakrama Pandya to his successors who ruled with Tenkasi as their capital. With the invasion of the Sultanates, Vijayanagaras, and Nayakars from the fourteenth century onwards, the Pandyas lost their traditional capital of Madurai and shifted to cities like Tenkasi and Tirunelveli. Tenkasi was the last capital of the Pandyas. All the Pandyas from Sadaavarman Parakrama Pandya and his next generations were crowned in the Adheenam Mutt in Kasi Viswanathar temple. During the same period, some Pandyas ruled with Tirunelveli as their capital. Kayatharu, Vadakkuvalliyur, and Ukkirankottai are some of their major cities. Inscriptions on them are found in Tenkasi's Kasi Viswanathar temple, Brahmadesam, Cheranmadevi, Ambasamudram, Kalakkad and Pudukkottai. The last Pandyan king to be known in the history of the Pandyas was Kolakonda, who was also among the Tenkasi Pandyas.
Pulikkuthi Pandi is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language action drama television film produced, written and directed by M. Muthaiah. The film stars Lakshmi Menon, Vikram Prabhu and Singampuli, with Samuthrakani, R.K. Suresh, Vela Ramamoorthy and Sujatha Sivakumar in supporting roles. The music for the film is composed by N. R. Raghunanthan. It was released as a television premiere directly in Sun TV on 15 January 2021 coinciding with Pongal and Vikram Prabhu's birthday. This film received positive reviews from audience as well as critics, where Lakshmi Menon received particular praise for her performance and role by the audience.