Bruhathsundhara Gujambiga sametha Mahalinga Swamy, Thiruvidaimaruthur

a very big temple with 5 prakarams. in old days there used to be a phrase ‘thiruvidaimaruthur theru azhagu’ meaning the most beautiful streets can be found in thiruvidaimaruthur.

it is one of the 6 temples said to be at par with kaasi. the temples are 

• thiruvidaimaruthur
• thiruvaiyaru
• mayavaram
• thiruvenkadu
• chayavanam 
• srivanjiyam

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marudhu tree in tamir is known as arjunam in sanskrit. it is also known as madhyarjunam , meaning the middle temple whereas the first one is sri sailam in andhra pradesh and the last one is thiruppudaimarudhur near thirunelveli.

it is where a hand came out of the shiva lingam to proclaim to aadhi shankara that advaitha is the sathyam.

it is where king varaguna pandiyan got rid of his bramma hathi dosham.

thiruvidaimarudhur mahalinga swamy is so important  that he is praised as shiva of shivas. the temple is situated in such a way that the mahalinga swamy serves as the shiva linga where the other deities are laid around in the district just as sannidhis are laid out in a shiva temple. 

to elucidate 

• thiruvalanjuzhi vinayagar is to the southwest
• swamimalai murugan to the northwest
• saeignalur chandikeswarar to the north
• navagrahams in sooriyanar koil to the near north east
• sirkaari bhairavar to the northeast 
• chidambaram natarajar to the northeast
• thiruvavaduthurai nandhi to the east
• thiruvarur somaskandar to the near south east
• aalangudi dakshinamurthy to the south

form the parivara sthalangal to this mighty temple. 

sung by all 3 saints that sung the thevaram.