lalithambika sametha meganatha swamy temple
thirumeeyachur is 33 kilometres from kumbakonam and 18 kilometres from mayavaram. thirumeeyachur is 2 kilometres from peralam the nearest railway station.
meganatha swamy temple is an ancient temple sung in thevaram by the saints sambandhar and appar during the sixth century. thirumeeyachur is the place where the very renowned and famous lalitha sahasranamam was born.
thirumeeyachur temple houses to two distinct sannidhis. the main lord is meghanathar with consort lalitaambika and there is another sannidhi to the right side of meghnathaswami called sakala bhuvaneswar. minnu meghalayal sametha sakala bhuvaneswar temple.
it is sung by appar as a standalone thevar padal petra thalam.
the legend goes as follows ….
kashyapa rishi had two wives, karthru and vinata. since they were childless, both karthru and vinata prayed to shiva to be granted the boon. lord shiva gave them an egg each and told them to preserve their feminity in them and wait for them to hatch.
at the right time the egg given to vinatha hatched and garudan came out. looking at this karthru broke her egg hurriedly only to see a disfigured child in it. thus arunan, the child does not have lower body parts.
karthru understanding the consequences of her action prayed to shiva to restore her child. arunan was praying to shiva as well.
surya however was mocking arunan for his disfigurement and joked how he could reach the abode of shiva with such a condition. a determined arunan continued his penance and finally got the darshan of shiva. shiva granted arunans wishes and cursed surya to lose some of his brightness. so surya lost his brightness and worships shiva during the month of chaitra for a week.
shiva made aruna the charioteer of surya and made the first part of suryodayam called arunodayam.
lalitha sahasranamam
it is said that hayagriva taught sage agastya lalitha sahasranamam and when agastya asked hayagreeva the right place to chant, the latter send him to thirumeeyachur. agastya came with his wife lopamudra and chanted lalitha sahasranamam and got the blessings of mata lalithambika. hence this is the birthplace of lalitha sahasranamam.
thirumeeyachur is close to many other famous ancient temples. some of them or thirupampuram, thirumeignanam, thirukkodiyalur,thiruveezhimizhalai and chirukudi.