Temples in Omampuliyur

Omampuliyur is a village on the banks of the Kollidam 24 km. south-west of Chidambaram and 6.5 km. west of Mannargudi in the Chidambaram taluk of the South Arcot district.

Pranava Vyaghrapurisvara (Vada-tali Udaiya Navanar) temple

There is a temple here called Pranava-Vyaghrapurisvara temple. A hunter in the face of an attack from a tiger climbed up a vilva tree and spent a whole night on it. He plucked the leaves bv way of passing the time and threw them down, and they by-chance fell on a linga. Siva was pleased with this ‘adoration’ by the hunter and granted him grace. This place is described as the home of scholars versed in the Vedas and the Vedangas. Both Appar and Sambandar^[1] have sung hymns on the Lord of the temple of this place “Omampuliyur Udaiya Vadatali”; and this Vada tali is said to lie east of the present temple which seems to be a foundation of Pallava Kopperunjinga.

There are three records, all belonging to Sakalabhuvana-chakravartin Kopperunjingadeva’s 14th year, on the west and south walls of the central shrine in this temple. Two of them relate to the same day and record transactions relating to the sale of certain jewels of the temple and the purchase of land with the money received from such sales; in one case the seller of the land makes further gifts of land for the worship of the deity, which in these and the other inscriptions is referred to as Vada-tali Udaiya-Nayanar. The donor in this case is Arasalvan Aravamudalvan; in another gift transaction, Tiruvalanjuli Udaiyar of Alisupakkam purchased some land from one Alappirandan Sani, a prominent lady from Perumarudur, in Ulagalandasola chaturvedimangalam, a brahmadeya in Merkkaa nadu.

We may hazard a guess that this temple (in its present form) must have come into existence in or before the 14th year of Kopperunjinga deva (a.d. 1257).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

“Karta-nal veda—angamararum-Karuttinar-ruttiyar-taniyum
urta pal–pugalar—Omampuliyur-Udaiyavar—vada-tali-aduvey”—
Sambandar’s Devaram