Sattainathar Temple, Sirkazhi

Sattainathar Temple
Gopuram of the temple
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
District	Mayiladuthurai
Deity	Sattainathar(Shiva), Bhramapureeswarar, Thoniappar Periyanayagi(Parvathi)
Location
Location	Sirkali
State	Tamil Nadu
Country	India
Location in Tamil Nadu
Geographic coordinates	11°14′N 79°44′E / 11.233°N 79.733°E / 11.233; 79.733
Architecture
Type	Dravidian architecture

Sattainathar temple, Sirkazhi (also called Brahmapureeswarar temple and Thoniappar temple) is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva located in Sirkali, Tamil Nadu, India.^[1] The temple is incarnated by the hymns of Thevaram and is classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam. It is an ancient temple complex with three different Shiva shrines in three stories.

The Bhramapureeswarar shrine is housed in the lower level. Brahmapureeswarar is accompanied by Ambal Sthira sundari/Thiripurasundari or Thirunilainayaki in Tamil. The second-level houses Periyanakar with Periyanayaki on a Thoni, hence the name Thoniappar. Sattainathar/Vatukanathar is also housed here. There are 22 water bodies associated with this shrine. Three different forms of Shiva are worshipped here, the Shivalingam (Bhrammapureeswarar), a colossal image of Uma Maheswarar (Toniappar) at the medium level, and Bhairavar (Sattanathar) at the upper level. The temple is associated with the legend of child Sambandar who is believed to have been fed by Parvathi on the banks of the temple tank. The child later went on to compose Tevaram, a Saiva canonic literature on Shiva and became one of the most revered Saiva poets in South India.