Dharma Sastha as Linga in this great Sasatha temple of Tamil Nadu

Dharma Sastha  as Linga  in this great  Sasatha temple of Tamil Nadu 

Peruvembudayar  Sastha temple

Compiled by

P.R.Ramachander

( This is the rarest temple of Dharma Sastha  and is very special. People believe   that this Sastha  and his consorts answer all your prayers.Many of my friends  belonging to Thirunelveli district  of Tamil Nadu, may have   this Sastha  as their Kula Deivam. I request them to add more information about this temple)

     This is  the most important Sastha temple in Thirunelveli district. It is located in a village called  Rajakalmangalam   which is  situated in the high way between  Valliyoor  and Nanguneri . This Sastha temple is different fromm all other   Sastha temples, because Sastha   and his consorts Poorna and Pushkala    are in the form of  Linga in this temple.

     The story of Sastha   is slightly different as per the stala puranam.  It seems an Asura   threw Goddess  Mahalakshmi in to the  ocean. Lord Vishnu took the Koorma avathara   to save her. But this Asura was not killed and he started  troubling all devas .Lord Shiva then created Lord Sastha and ordered him to kill the Asura.  Lord Sastha   successfully   managed to do that   and later Lord Shiva gave Lord Sastha and his consorts   the form of Linga and consecrated them  on the Koormagiri  Hill near   this village .Lord Vishnu  in his Avathara   as Koorma is supposed to have   visited   this village  and  worshipped Lord Shiva inthis place.  It seems the poojari  who resided in the village   daily used to climb the hill to worship God Sastha. Once he fell down while climbing and broke his feet. It seems immediately Lord Sastha   came and told him that he did not want to cause further problem to his devotee and asked the Poojari to consecrate him   in the   village itself. He said his idols in the LInga form are already present in the village below a  big neem tree  and the priest could recognize  the spot  by watching for red and white ants dragging flowers to worship him. The villagers recovered the idols and bult a big temple for him. Since  big neem tree is called  “ Peru Vembu” in Tamil   the deity was named as  Peruvembudayar Sastha and the Sthala Vruksha of the temple is a neem tree People believe that it was this Sastha who was born as Lord Ayyappan and killed the ogress   called Mahishi.Records show the Pandya,, chola and Chera kings as well as many Sidhas have visited thie temple.

 Devotees who are not able to go to Sabari Mala visit this temple and complete their vow

 Arrangements for the stay of pilgrims and Annadhanam to them is made  by the   temple trust. This Sastha is the Kula deivm  of large number of people belonging to Thirunelveli district.

Temple address

Arulmigu Sri Peruvembudayar Sastha Annadana Trust
Vagaikulam, Sasthapuram, Rajakalmangalam. Perumazhinji.
Tel No: 09003799344, 09363346436