Thiruvengaivasal is a well-known and
ancient place of worship. The name means the 'Sacred place of gate of the
Tiger', and refers to the story of the God Gokarnesvara (கோகர்ணேஸ்வரர்) of
Thirugokarnam (திருக்கோகர்ணம்) who here took the form of a tiger, to terrify
and finally grant salvation to a cow that daily brought the sacred water for
his ablution. (See:
Gokarnesvara Temple for the story)
The main shrine, which has been renovated, perhaps in the
thirteenth-fourteenth centuries, must have been originally an early Chozha
(9th - 10th century AD.) structure. The earliest inscription in the temple
is dated back to reign of Raja Raja Chozha I (முதலாம் ராஜராஜ சோழன்)
(1011AD). The present structure is of Pandya style of the 13th-14th
centuries. Thiruvengaivasal had both a Sabha (சபா), or Brahmin assembly, and
an Ur (ஊர்), or common village or town assembly, during the centuries of
Chozha and Pandya rules.
There are 15 inscriptions in this temple; six are Chozha inscriptions,
seven Pandya, one of the Vijayanagara period and one of the Pallava-rayar-s
(பல்லவராயர்).
Temple Architecture
The temple
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At the entrance to the temple is a mandapam with massive pillars
supporting carved lions. The base of the gopuram is of the late Pandya
style, but the upper part has been reconstructed in first half of 20th
century.
To the north of the antarala mandapam (அந்தரால மண்டபம்) is the shrine of
the Goddess Sri Brahadambal, which is a late Chozha or early Pandya
structure with square pilasters, simple idols, square palagai (பலகை) and tenoned corbels (போதிகை).
The southern part of this mandapam contains modern bronze idols now carried
in the temple-processions. The maha-mandapam (மஹாமண்டபம்), in which are kept
some old bronzes, is a Chozha structure with pilasters supporting large
palagai-s and corbels with tenors.
The vimanam
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The main shrine, which faces east, has lost its original Chozha features
having been renovated subsequently. The present structure is of the Pandya
style of the 13th-14th centuries. The pilasters are polygonal in section
with square bases having nagapadam-s (நாகபடம்); the padmam-s (பத்மம்) are
drawn out into idhazh-s (இதழ்), and the corbels are of the puspa-podigai (புஷ்ப
போதிகை) type with rudimentary buds.
Gnana Dakshina-moorthi
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The idol of Gnana Dakshina-moorthi (ஞான தக்ஷிணாமூர்த்தி) in the southern
prakaram has rare iconographic features. The figure is seated in the utkutikasana posture-a posture suitable for concentration. Within the
cloister in the southern prakaram, there is an old idol of Yoga
Dakshina-moorthi (யோக தக்ஷிணாமூர்த்தி).
 Murugan
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In the southern prakaram there is a shrine facing west containing an
interesting sculpture of Subrahmanya in bas-relief in the virasana pose; the
upper right hand holds a rosary, and the upper left a sakthivel or spear;
the lower right hand is in the abhaya-mudra and the lower left hand rests on
the thigh. Another old sculpture of Subrahmanya kept in this prakaram has
only two arms.
Near the southern entrance is a shrine built in the reign of Raja
Ramachandra Tondaiman (இராஜா ராமசந்திரத் தொண்டைமான்) in which is kept a
mutilated idol of the Amman. It is said that when a new idol was installed,
the old mutilated one was about to be thrown into the tank to the south of
the temple, and that the Amman appeared before the Raja in a dream and
directed him not to cast it away but to preserve it in a shrine, which the
pious Raja did.
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