maruntheeswarar temple,thiruvanmiyur,pic 21--25

The Primary deity, The Marundeeswarar Lingam is said to be naturally formed and not sculpted by anyone. This formation is known as svayambhu or Idumbu in Tamil. In the Mahamandapam where The deity resides, there are 108 lingams, and the replicas of the five lingams of the five elements. The divine cow Kamadhenu is believed to deliver milk to the lingam daily and hence the lingam is white. Another name for the lingam is 'Paalvannanathar' (in Tamil, 'Paal' means milk, 'Vanna' means colour). And hence, Paalvannanathar means 'one whose colour is that of milk'. Other names of the Lord here are Oushadheeswarar, Marundheesar, Vedapureeswarar.in the goshta there are statues of durga ,brahma sri maha vishnu ,dakshinamurty, ganesha.one unique feature of this temple is the presence of 2 chanigeswaras ,some say the 2nd statue may represent appaya dikshitar who visited this temple. The Goddess or ambal is known as Thirupurasundari, Chokkanayagi and Sundaranayagi.there is paaliarai,shrine for sukravara amman etc in the devi shrine

carvings in pillars

in the thegaraya mandapam there are carvings of valmiki ,kannapa,palani andavar,hanuman , kamadhenu etc in the shiva shrine the are sculpturing of swastic etc .In the outer prahar of the devi shrine there are carvings of dakshinamurthy,shanmuga sitting on a elephant,sarabadeva,nrisma,vishnu,kamakshi tapas avtars of vishnu etc.in the inner prhar there are sculpturs of hanuman duga etc