Temple Legend - The Pandya ruler Cholanthakan was a devout follower of God Shiva and he had the habit of eating only after completing his Shiva Puja. On one occasion, while venturing into the forest for a hunting expedition, the king became overwhelmed with exhaustion and collapsed in the midst of the dense woods. Worried about his well-being, his guards urged him to partake in a meal to alleviate his fatigue. But he firmly stated that he would not eat without performing Shiva Puja. A clever minister picked up a piece of wood from the forest and wedged it into the ground. He showed the wedged piece of wood to the king and said "O king. Here is a Swayambhu (Self manifested) Linga. You can worship it and then have your meal". The fatigued king, in his weariness, believed that the wedge was a sacred Swayambu Linga and offered his worship and consumed his meal. However, upon regaining his strength, he came to the realization that what he had revered was not a Shiva Linga but a mere wedge. He fervently prayed to god expressing his willingness to die if his previous acts of worship were in vain, and beseeched Him to come and bless him within that wedge. Moved by the king's unwavering devotion, God Shiva manifested Himself within the wedge and bestowed His blessings upon the king. Following this event, Shiva acquired the title of 'Appudayar', signifying his manifestation in a wedge ( ('Aappu'-wedge). Consequently, the location was named 'Appanur' and the temple was referred to as 'Appudayar' temple.
There was once a severe famine in the Pandya country that caused people to suffer from starvation. The priest of the Appudaiyar temple had cultivated a meagre crop for the purpose of Shiva Puja. The people questioned his action of offering nivedhana to the God during this time of desperation when people were starving. Disturbed by this outburst the priest prayed to Shiva, who instructed the priest to cook the sand from the river 'Vaigai' in a furnace, and assured him that it would transform into rice, which alleviated the hunger of the villagers, thus earning their gratitude. Hence the deity of this place came to be known as 'Annavinodhar'.
Temple Layout - The Shiva temple does not have a gopuram. We can see a depiction of 'Rishabarudar' (Shiva, Parvathi, Muruga and Vinayaka seated on a Rishaba) above the gateway. As we enter we can see the dwajasthambam, Balipeetam and Nandhi in the prakaram. The presiding deity Appudaiyar is in a east facing sannidhi and between the sannidhi of Apudaiyar and Sugandha kundhalambikai is the sannidhi for Subramanya. This kind of arrangement is known as 'Somaskanda'. 'Sthala Vruksham' Vanni is the circumambulating path of the prakaram.
There is a sannidhi for Vinayaka beneath the 'sthala vruksham' and a sannidhi for Muruga seated on a peacock accompanied by his consorts Valli and Deivanai. Natarja is with Shivakami in the Nataraja Sabha along with Nandhi playing a drum. The temple is renowned for its exquisite sculptures. There is a sannidhi for Navagrahas too.
The pathigam composed by Sambandar is in the first Thirumurai. In the second verse of this poem, he refers to the Goddess as 'Kuravangamazh Kuzhalal'.
Temple entrance
Nandi in front of Swamy Sannidhi
Mandapam in front of Swamy Sannidhi
Muruga with is two consorts
Prakaram
Sthala vruksham
sculpture on pillar
sculpture on pillar