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The Vriddhagiriswarar Temple is a Hindu temple in the town of Vriddhachalam, Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, India. The presiding deity Vriddhagiriswarar is revered in Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the nayanmars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam. The temple gives its name to the town of Vriddhachalam.
It is the faith of the devotees that salvation is surety if he/she is born in the place, or live in the place, or pray the Lord here, or even thinking of him even while elsewhere and die in this place. One of the above five criteria will free him/her from the cycle of births and deaths. When the world was destroyed by pralaya floods, it is said that this holy place - Virudhachalam stood unaffected and fully alive. Of the 1008 Shiva shrines of the country considered in high esteem, four lead this divine list of which Virudhachalam is one.
- Architecture
The ancient Chola temple of Vriddhagiriswarar was commissioned by Sembiyan Mahadevi, among the most powerful queens of the Chola empire and an ardent worshipper of Lord Siva. The temple is surrounded by high walls and five gopurams. The mandapam is carved like a chariot. The chains of the temple car were donated by Charles Hyde, the District Collector of the then South Arcot district in 1813. The place was originally called Thirumudukundram, the place of holy mountain. Similar architecture of halls (Mandapas) simulating a chariot drawn by elephant or horses is found in Sarangapani temple at Kumbakonam, Mela Kadambur Amirthakadeswarar Temple, Sikharagiriswara Temple, Kudumiyamalai, Nageswaraswamy Temple, Kumbakonam, and Thyagaraja Temple, Tiruvarur.
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