Apatsahayesvarar Temple, Alangudi (Guru / Jupiter)

The shrine of Guru the guide, where Shiva teaches in silence as Dakshinamurti.

At Alangudi near Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu, the Apatsahayesvarar temple is the Navagraha Sthala sacred to Guru, the planet Jupiter — Brihaspati, preceptor of the gods and the giver of wisdom, fortune, and grace. Shiva is worshipped here in his Dakshinamurti form, the silent teacher, and the temple is a Paadal Petra Sthalam of ancient fame.

Devotees throng especially during the Guru Peyarchi, when Jupiter changes signs, and on Thursdays, to seek the blessings of the great benefic among the planets. Alangudi is the shrine of Guru among the nine.

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Part of a sacred circuit

The Navagraha (Tamil Nadu)

Around the town of Kumbakonam in the Kaveri delta lie nine temples, each linked to one of the Navagraha — the nine celestial powers that tradition holds to shape the courses of life: the Sun and Moon, the five planets, and the two lunar nodes Rahu and Ketu.

Suryanar Kovil (Surya / Sun)

Thirumangalakudi, Tamil Nadu

The Navagraha shrine where Surya himself presides, ringed by the nine grahas.

Kailasanathar Temple, Thingalur (Chandra / Moon)

Thingalur, Tamil Nadu

The Navagraha shrine of the Moon, freed here from the curse of Daksha.

Vaitheeswaran Koil (Angaraka / Mars)

Vaitheeswaran Koil, Tamil Nadu

Shiva as the divine physician, the Navagraha shrine where Mars was healed.

Each thumbnail is Creative Commons–licensed via Wikimedia Commons and credited on that temple's own page.