the Ultimate Web on Indian Gods & Temples

 by Padmani,

Abodes of Shiva

As per legend, on a hot summer day, a pregnant woman and her husband were passing through this place. As she was plagued by extreme thirst and fatigue, her husband set out in search of some water for her. However, she fainted before her husband could return. As she had been praying to Lord Shiva asking for his help, the Lord came to her rescue. The Lord made a coconut tree bend and arranged some tender coconuts to quench the thirst of the woman. When her husband returned, she told him what had happened, but he did not believe her. At this point, Lord Shiva along with Goddess Parvathy gave their darshan to this couple. Hence, the lord here is praised as Sri Kulai Vanangeesar (Kulai means a bunch of coconuts in Tamil). The idol of this woman known as a Chetti pen can be seen in this temple’s hall. (Chetti refers to the chettiyar caste and pen means girl in Tamil). Another legend is that Vaali’s tail got cut in the Ramayana war and it is believed that he visited this place and worshiped Lord Shiva. The lord blessed him, and his tail was restored. Hence the lord here is praised as Sri Vaali Nathar. Another legend associated with this place is that a bird (Chittukuruvi) worshiped Lord Shiva here. The Lord was pleased by the worship and blessed the bird with salvation. Hence the lord here is also praised as Sri Chittilingeswarar. As per the Sthalapuranam, Hanuman prayed to Lord Shiva at five different temples in order to seek absolution for Shiva Aparatham (a grave sin). This temple is one among them.

This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 49th Shiva Sthalam on the Northern bank of the river Cauvery in Chozha Nadu (Vadakarai). Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested). This east facing temple has two corridors and its main tower (Rajagopuram) has 5-tiers. This temple has no flag post (Dwajasthambam). This ancient temple is believed to have been built about 1300 years ago. There are some stone inscriptions here which date back to the periods of Chola Kings - Koppara Kesari Varman, Pandian Thalaikonda Koppara Kesari Varman, Raja Rajan-I, Rajendran-I, Kulothungan-III and Pandiya King Vikrama Pandiya Devan. There are two places by the name of Kurangaduthurai. At these two places, Lord Shiva is believed to have been worshiped by two monkeys (kurangu in Tamil) from Ramayana – Sugreev and Vaali. This place is called as Vada Kurangaduthurai as it is located on the northern side of the river Cauvery and Vaali is believed to have worshiped Lord Shiva here. The other Kurangaduthurai is called Then Kurangaduthurai since it is located on the southern side of the river Cauvery and Sukreevan is believed to have worshiped the Lord Shiva there. This place (Vada Kurangaduthurai) is now also known as Aaduthurai Perumal Koil. This temple is one of the 88 temples controlled by Tanjore Palace Devasthanam and it is also under the purview of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of Government of Tamil Nadu (HR&CE).Lord Natarajar is normally seen in the form of procession idol in most of Shiva temples. However, he is present here with Goddess Sivakami in stone sculpture. This shrine is named as Aadhi Chidambaram. The idol of goddess Vishnu Durgai with 8 hands is very special here. The uniqueness of this temple is that during abhishekam, the milk offered on this Durgai changes its colour to blue. There is a beautiful idol here of Lord Dakshinamurthy and his 8 disciples with a banyan tree behind him. Pregnant women pray to Goddess Parvathy here for safe childbirth. It is believed that those seeking Santhana Prapthi (child boon) can pray to the lord here. Devotees believe that by worshiping the lord here, obstacles from their marriage proposals will be removed.

Some of the important festivals celebrated in this temple are – Vinayakar Chaturthi in the Tamil month of Aavani (Aug-Sept), Navarathri in the Tamil month of Purattasi (Sept-Oct), Skanda Shashti and Annabishekam in the Tamil month of Aippasi (Oct–Nov), Thiru Karthikai in the Tamil month of Karthikai (Nov-Dec), Shivrathri in the Tamil month of Masi (Feb-Mar) and Somavaram in the Tamil month of Karthikai (Nov-Dec). Pradosham is also observed regularly.