Tirupullamangai or Thirupullamangai is a Hindu temple

Hindu temple

A Mandir, Devalayam, Devasthanam, or a Hindu temple is a place of worship for followers of Hinduism...

 dedicated to Lord Siva located in Pasupathikoil

Pasupathikoil

Pasupathikoil is a village in the Papanasam taluk of Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India. This village has an early chola temple of Brahmapurisvarar called Tirupullamangai.- Demographics :...

, Papanasam taluk

Papanasam taluk

Papanasam taluk is a taluk of Thanjavur district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The headquarters of the taluk is the town of Papanasam.- Population :...

 of Thanjavur district

Thanjavur District

Thanjavur District is one of the 32 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur.-Geography:...

, Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The temple is incarnated by the hymns of Thevaram

Thevaram

Thevaram is a panchayat town in Theni district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.Thevaram located in the border of Kerala separated by western ghats-Demographics:...

, the 7th century Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

 literature and is classifed as Paadal Petra Sthalam.

Brahmapurisvarar Temple

This temple is one of the 7 shrines associated with Saptamartrikas(seven female deities in Siva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

 temple). The lord of this temple Shiva as Brahamapurisvarar is also known as Alandurai Mahadevar. The temple has been reverred by the verses of Sundarar, one of the Nayanmars.

The shrine of Lord Siva faces east; the temple is entered through a small gopuram

Gopuram

A Gopuram or Gopura, is a monumental tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of any temple, especially in Southern India. This forms a prominent feature of Koils, Hindu temples of the Dravidian style. They are topped by the kalasam, a bulbous stone finial...

(entrance tower) on the eastern side of the enclosing wall. Both of these, along with the hall, directly in front of the entrance, are of recent date, as are various subsidiary buildings on either sides of the gopuram and the goddess shrine in the north of the hall. The original parivara (attendant deities) have disappeared.

History

The temple should have existed as a brick structure from 7th Century. The stone temple should have been built during the reign of Parantaka Chola I , which is evident from the inscriptions found in the temple. There are also inscriptions from the period of Sundara Chola, Adiya Karikalan and Raja Raja Chola I.
The garbhagriha(sanctum) and the arthamandapa(secluded hall) of the temple belong to the earlier structure, while there have been newer structures added to it lately. All the parivara(consort) shrines of the earlier period have not survived and few newer shrines have come up.
The sculptures of this temple is highly acclaimed for its beauty. Apart from the lovely devakoshta(divine) images of Dakshinamurthy

Dakshinamurthy

Dakshinamurthy or Jnana Dakshinamurti Dakshinamurthy or Jnana Dakshinamurti Dakshinamurthy or Jnana Dakshinamurti(Tamil: தட்சிணாமூர்த்தி, Sanskrit: is an aspect of Shiva as a guru (teacher) of all type of knowledge, particularly the jnana. This aspect of Shiva is his personification as the...

, Lingodhbhavar, Brahma

Brahma

Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...

 and Durga

Durga

For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...

, the vimana

Vimana

Vimāna is a word with several meanings ranging from temple or palace to mythological flying machines described in Sanskrit epics.-Etymology and usage:Sanskrit vi-māna literally means "measuring out, traversing" or "having been measured out"...

(shrine) too houses exquisite images of Vishnu

Vishnu

Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....

, Narashima, Tripurantaka

Tripurantaka

Tripurantaka is a manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva. In this aspect, Shiva is depicted with four arms wielding a bow and arrow, but different from the Pinakapani murti. He holds an axe and a deer on the upper pair of his arms. In the lower pair of the arms, he holds a bow and an arrow...

. The temple has series of miniature panels depicting scenes from Ramayana

Ramayana

The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

. The sculpting in this temple is of high class and speaks volume of Chola artistry.