CHENNAI: Thirupoovanur (Poovanur), a small village near Mannargudi, has a Siva temple wherein the Lingam is worshipped as Chaturanga Vallabhanathar. The Sthala Puranam or the traditional story associated with this temple states that a princess excelled in chess (chaturanga) and her father decided to give her in marriage only to a man who could defeat her in this game.
As no one could do so, Siva came in the guise of an old man, won the competition and married the princess who was an incarnation of Goddess Parvati. The presiding deity (Siva Lingam) in this temple is known as Chaturanga Vallabhanathar.
It is said that this village was full of flowering trees and plants and hence got the name Poovanur and Pushpavanam (poo in Tamil and pushpa in Samskrit is flower). Another name for the Lingam is Pushpavana Nathar. It is one of the Padal Petra Sthalams or temples which have been praised in the Tamil verses of the Nayanmars, important Siva devotees. Thirugnanasambandar, a famous Nayanmar, visited this temple in the 7th century.
This east-facing temple has a five-tier gopuram at the entrance which leads into a long mandapam. The main Siva Lingam is small-sized and is believed to be a Swayambhu (self-manifested). The inner prakaram (enclosure) around the principal sanctum has images of Vinayaka, Lakshminarayana, Kasi Viswanatha, Sage Agastya, Subramanya with consorts, Pasupatishwarar, Kala Bhairava and Surya in worship.
The outer prakaram has a shrine for Navagraha.There are sanctums for three Goddesses in this temple — Karpagavalli, Rajarajeshwari (consort of Pushpavaneshwarar) and Chamundeshwari. Rajarajeshwari is the Pandya princess who married Chaturanga Vallabanathar who came as a sanyasi and won the chess competition. Goddess Chamundeshwari is said to be the companion of Rajarajeshwari.
Several inscriptions belonging to the Pandya and Vijayanagara dynasties have been found on the walls of the central shrine and the mandapa of this temple. The Sthala Vriksham (sacred tree) of this temple is the Pala Maram (jackfruit tree).