CHENNAI: Anbil, close to Tiruchirapalli, is home to two ancient temples, one for Vishnu and another for Siva. The SundararajaPerumal (Vishnu) temple is a DivyaDesam (places important to Vishnu praised in the Tamil hymns of the Azhvars of famous Vishnu devotees). The Satyavakeeshwarar temple is a Padal Petra Sthalam which are the Siva temples praised in the Tamil poems of the Nayanmars (important devotees of Siva). It is the 57th Padal Petra Sthalam on the north bank of River Kaveri in erstwhile Chola Nadu. Two Nayanmars, Appar and Thirugananasambandar of the 7th century AD have sung in praise of Satyavakeeshwarar.
It is said that Thirugananasambandar, wanted to visit this temple, but could not since the Kaveri was in spate. He therefore, sang in praise of this deity from the other bank of the river, but could not be heard in the temple premises. God Vinayaka is said to have turned His ear in the direction of the hymns and enjoyed listening to them. The lovely image of this deity, worshipped as SeviSaithaVinayaka (in connection with this incident), is in a seated posture and wide open ears. This place, now called Anbil, was once known as AnbilAlanturai, as mentioned in the Thevaram hymns of Appar and Thirugananasambandar. Siva here, was also known as the Premapurishwarar since Anbil was once called Premapuri.
The principal deity, worshipped as Satyavakeeshwarar, is a Swayambhu (self-manifested) Lingam and faces east. He is also worshipped as Brahmapurishwarar as Brahma once worshipped this Lingam. There is a tall five-tier Rajagopuram at the entrance of this temple which has two enclosures (prakarams). Goddess Parvati, worshipped as Soundarya Nayaki is in a separate sanctum, facing east.
Many inscriptions have been discovered here, belonging to the Chola, Pandya and Vijayanagara times. The Chola epigraphs mention the name of this deity as Thiruvalandurai UdaiyaNayanar. Inscriptions of the Hoysala kings whose capital was Dwarasamudra (present-day Halebid in Karnataka) and who ruled over a part of north Tamil Nadu in the 13th century, are also to be seen in this temple.
Sacred tree
The Sthala Vriksham is the banyan
Inscriptions
Epigraphs of the Cholas, Pandyas, Hoysalas and Vijayanagara times have been found here