the Ultimate Web on Indian Gods & Temples

 by Padmani,

Abodes of Shiva

The lord of this temple is praised as Sri Thrinethra Nathar (in Sanskrit) and Sri Mukkan Nathar (in Tamil). But over a period of time, Mukkan Nathar is changed to Mukkona Nathar. As per legend, Jatayu, the unforgettable character in the Ramayana epic who laid down his life in the service of Lord Ram, visited this place and performed penance. He prayed to Lord Shiva requesting him that he be given the opportunity to take bath simultaneously in Kasi and Rameswaram in order to attain salvation. Pleased with his prayers, the lord gave darshan to him and advised him that he should protect Seeta when Ravana comes to abduct her. The lord also informed him that during that process his wings will be chopped off by Ravana and thereafter his life will come to an end at Lord Rama’s feet. Jatayu then pleaded to the lord to fulfil his desire of taking dips in Kasi (Banaras), Allahabad and Rameswaram before his life ends. Lord Shiva arranged all the three Theerthams to come to this temple’s tank and advised Jatayu to take a dip in it. The lord further told him that taking a dip in this tank is equivalent to taking bath in the 16 Sethu Samudra Snana ghats (16 bathing places in the sea) in Rameswaram. Hence this tank is known as Mukkoodal Theertham and Shodasa Sethu (Shodasa means 16 in Tamil). It is also believed that this tank was dug by Lord Vinayaka for Sage Birungi Maharshi. It is believed that Lord Ram worshiped Lord Shiva here and then performed the rituals for his father, King Dhasaratha like he had also done in Gaya (Bihar). Hence this place gets the name Ganges Karai which is now changed to Kekkarai (Karai means riverbank in Tamil). As per Thiruvarur sthala puranam, there was a Chola King who always used to worship Lord Shiva before taking his meals. One day he reached this place late and found that the temple was closed. Since his assistants knew that the king would not eat before worshiping the lord, they decided to trick him. They decorated a bag containing horse-feed and made it look like a Shiva lingam. They placed it in front of the king. The king was happy to see the lingam and worshipped it before taking his dinner. He came to know about this deception on the next day and he tried to lift the bag. However, he was unable to do so because the bag had actually transformed into a lingam. The king then had this lingam placed inside the temple. As per another Thiruvarur sthala puranam, there was a queen called Thapovadhani who prayed to the Goddess of this temple seeking child boon. Goddess Parvathi herself is believed to have appeared in the form of a child floating on a lotus in this temple’s tank. The queen noticed the child and raised her as her own daughter. It is believed that Lord Shiva married her at a later date. It is believed that Lord Ram, Jatayu, Sage Moorkka and Saint Thirunavukkarasar have worshiped the lord here.

This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 86th Shiva Sthalam on the Southern bank of the river Cauveri in Chozha Nadu (Thenkarai).Lord Shiva in this temple is a Swayambumurthi (self-manifested). This east facing temple does not have a main tower (Gopuram), instead there is an arch at the entrance. It has one corridor (Prakaram). This temple has no flag post Dwajasthambam. The main Shivalingam of this temple looks very elegant. Similar to Allahabads Thiriveni Sangam, this temples tank (Mukkoodal Theertham) is believed to be the meeting point of the three holy rivers – Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswathi. As this place was associated with Jatayu and Lord Ram, it gets the name Kuruvi Rameswaram (Kuruvi means a bird in Tamil). It is believed that Lord Suryan (Sun) worships Lord Shiva of this temple by directing his rays on the lingam every year on the Masi month Shivratri day (Feb-March). In this temple, Nandi is facing the sanctum, but his head is turned slightly to one side. It looks as if he is listening to your prayers. The idols of Vinayakar, Murugan, Brahma and Mahalakshmi in the corridor are incredibly beautiful. It is believed that there are 12 wells inside this temple’s tank and devotees who take a dip in it will get the benefit of taking bath in the Maha Maham tank in Kumbakonam. It is also believed that those seeking Santhana Prapthi (child boon) can take a dip in this temple’s theertham and pray to the lord.

Some of the important festivals celebrated in this temple are – Aadi Pooram in the Tamil month of Aadi (July-Aug), 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), Makara Sankranthi in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan-Feb) and Shivrathri in the Tamil month of Masi (Feb-Mar). Pradosham is also observed regularly.