thirumaanikuri is 5 km away from the famous vaishnava thalam thiruvaheenthra puram and 12 kms from cuddalore on cuddalore – panruti road. kedilam river flows to the north of the temple.
maani means brahmachari. in vamana avathara, lord vishnu comes as a bramachari and kills mahabali. the third stride of vaamana sent mahabali into a hole , kuri in tamir. though the act is divine, the method wasnt hailed as one. vamana came and worshipped lord shiva here and was relieved. that’s why this place is called as maani kuri and the lord shiva here is called as vamanapureewarar.
also this lord helped and saved a merchant by name athri from the robbers. so he is called uthavi nayagar.
the temple welcomes us with a 5 tiered raja gopuram and many sannadhis. on the way to moolasthanam, there are beautiful sculptures depicting the story of vamana avathara.
moolavar is always closed by a screen in which bhima rudrar’s picture was drawn. there is a belief that the moolavar is with ambal. another belief is that he is being worshipped by kuberan.
all the poojas are for the bhima rudrar only. the screen will be opened only for deepa aaradhana for a brief time. also because of this belief, there is no arthajama pooja in this temple.
there is also a separate temple for ambal on the right side.
this sthalam is sung in thevaram and is more than 1400 years old.
sung by: sambandar, arunagiri nadhar, vallalar
festivals: all the poojas and festivals are properly celebrated in this temple. one speciality is – they are celebrating karthigai deepa dharisanam on rohini nakshatra on a hillock opposite to the temple.
pariharam: those who are seeking child boon will pray ambikai ambujakshi.
other names of swami: vamanapureeshwarar, udavi nayagar, maanikkavaradar
ambal: ambujakshi, udavi nayagi, maanikkavalli
temple timings: morning – 6.00a.m. to 11.00 a.m. & evening – 4.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.
phone: +91-4142-224328