The Temple in Stone and Words: New Research on the Sri Atmanathaswamy Temple in Avudaiyarkoil

​The Sri Atmanathaswamy Temple in Avudaiyarkoil, Pudukkottai District, is known for its connection to the poet-saint Manikkavacakar and for its exquisite paintings referring to his story. It also contains a number of rare sculptures hitherto not studied by scholars. Interestingly, despite its size and importance, Sri Atmanathaswamy does not seem to figure prominently in textual sources. 

In our presentation, we introduce the text of an unpublished, local māhātmya that claims to belong to the temple and we aim to see how the material form of the temple is represented, if at all, in the text. Already, preliminary research poses several questions, beginning with the doubt concerning the identification of the temple. Similarly, the presence and role of Manikkavacar demand closer insight. Referring to the previous, limited in number, research (for example, by Yocum and Sarma) as well as Sanskrit and Tamil sources, and implying a multidisciplinary approach, we would like to shed more light on this holy Śaiva spot.​

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