About trip

About Temple: This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 43rd Shiva Sthalam on the Southern bank of the river Cauveri in Chozha Nadu (Thenkarai).
Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested).

• Moolavar:Sri Natrunaiappar, Sri Swarnapureeswarar
• Ambal:Sri Parvatharaja Puthiri, Sri Swarnambikai,Sri Malayan Madanthai
• Theertham (Holy water):Swarna Theertham
• Sthala Vriksham (Sacred Tree):Shenbagam, Pinnai
• Pathigam (Hymn) rendered by :Saint Thirugnanasambanthar-1,Saint Thirunavukarasar (Appar)-1, andSaint Sundaramurthy (Sundarar)-1.
• Location:Thiru Nanipalli (Punchai), Nagapattinam,Tamil Nadu.

History:

• This is one of the 44 Paadal petra sthalams where the “Moovar” (the three saints - Saint Thirugnanasambanthar, Saint Thirunavukarasar (Appar) and Saint Sundaramurthy (Sundarar) had rendered their Pathigams.
• This is the birth place of Bhagavathi Ammaiyar, mother of Saint Thirugnanasambanthar.
• This east facing temple has a single corridor and its main tower does not have any tiers. In place of the Gopuram, there are beautiful sculptures depicting the “Panchamurthy” (Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvathy, Vinayakar, Murugan and Chandikeswarar).
• The last consecration ceremony (Maha Kumbabishekam) took place on 14.09.1970.
• This temple is believed to have been built by Chola King Paranthagan-I. 
• There are 18 stone inscriptions in this temple, out of which 17 are related to the Chola periods (kings Kulothungan, Rajarajan, Rajendran and Vikraman) and one is from Vijayanagara (Krishna Devarayar) period.
• This place’s name “Nani Palli” might have been derived from the name of the person Nanni, who had originally built this temple. (‘Palli” means temple in Tamil).
• Other than the shrines of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy, shrines and idols of Vinakar, Murugan with his consorts, Natarajar, Nalvar, lingam, Suryan and Vinayakar (4) can be seen in the corridors.
• In the “koshtam” (place surrounding the sanctum sanctorum), idols of Vinayakar, Agasthiyar, Dakshinamurthy, Lingothbhavar, Brahma, Durgai and Chandikeswarar with his wife can be seen.
• The sanctum also houses the idols of Sri Kalyanasundareswarar and Goddess Parvathy.
• There are two shrines for Goddess Parvathy here - Sri Parvatharaja Puthri is on the right side of Lord Shiva’s shrine while Sri Malayan Madanthai is in the corridor.

Itinerary

Day 1 - Nagapattinam Sightseeing

Proceed towards Nagapattinam. Then transfer to Hotel. Hotel Check In. Then proceed to visit Dutch Fort. Kayarohanaswamy Temple. Sikkal Singaravelar Temple. Come back to Hotel. Overnight stay at Hotel.

Day 2 - Nagapattinam Sightseeing

Morning Breakfast at Hotel. Check out from Hotel. Then Proceed towards Sri Natrunaiappar Swamy Temple at Thiru Nanipalli (Punchai). Soundaryaraja Perumal Temple. Nellukadai Mariamman Temple. Finally drop at Railway Junction / Airport.