Thirukurukkai Veeretteshwarar temple-A padal petra sthalam–A Veerattanam

This is the most elusive and neglected temples of the 8 veerattanam temples of Shiva, Here Lord Shiva annihilated Manmatha the God of Love and bowing to Rathi’s wishes he resurrected him in Devaloka in physical form.
This temple is unique that even when you plan and visit seldom can you have a darshan of the lord as Shiva is in Yoga nidra (Deep meditation) and only if you are blessed you will be able to see the lord. The day I finally visitedf after many many obstacles that too after planning for more than 6months I was not fortunate to see the lord as the priest's mother had died and the main sannidhi was closed.The substitute priest visiting hours were not known. It is a huge temple but in dire need of attention.
How to reach:
This in itself was an obstacle race.There are two ways to reach and I would recommend that you travel from Mayavaram to Nidur to Korukkai. The road is narrow but buses ply on this trail and it can be navigated.This is the route I came back in. It is easier .
I made the first mistake of travelling from Kumbakonam via the Kallanai,to Poompuhar road going via Suriyanar koil. The ride of 37 kms in my Mobilio was surely an endurance drive on narrow roads where we encountered Sugarcane laden lorries and Buses too in essentially 5 feet good asphalted/cemented roads most drive at breakneck speeds and do not respect rules and are unwilling to give way there were many off road experiences scary and also tension filed but made it with adrenal pumping and shaken legs.


Legends and stories of the temple:
There was a sage called Deerga bahu (Long Arms) who used to invoke aakashaganga and do puja to Lord shiva, Here his arms got shortened and the sage was shocked. He prayed to Vinayaga here and not getting a reply started banging his head soon Vinayaka’s arm shot out and blessed the sage here Hence there is a sannidhi here for him Kurunkai vinayakar.Shortened arms- Kurukai in Tamil=Korkai now.
Lord Shiva was in deep meditation here which caused heavy heat troubling all the jeeva rashis. The devas initially asked murugan to intercede but he refused to oblige as he was scared of his father’s anger. The devas then asked Manmatha who readily agreed to cut short the meditation through love arrows. He  visited many areas nearby in preparation like Kanganam Puthur  the place where he decided to disturb the penance of Lord Shiva and tied the vow thread in his hand.  He drank the milk at Palakudi.  Took his bow at Villinur.  Aimed at the Lord at Kavalamedu.   Those who followed him at Ivanallur suggested action from here.  As the place was not suitable, Manmatha came to Mettu Korkai and tried directions.  Finally, he applied the arrow on Lord from a corner. The instant it hit Shiva he opened his third eye and Burnt Manmatha. At Metu korkai there is a pit filled with ashes .Rathi Manmathas wife at once fell at the Lord’s feet and cried the Lord mercifully restored both to devaloka in Physical form
The huge lake in front of the temple

There is only one praharam now the nandi in front of the praharaam

The main sannidhi of Shiva which was closed during my visit
The Kosta vigrahas were all reversed as the lord is west facing

Nandi in front of the Lord

Durga

There was a Gaja prushti vimanam with Lingodhbhavar at the eastern side

I found a Snake in the precincts of the deserted temple

Exquisite Dakshinamurthy


Narthana ganapathy with the Figure of Deerga Bahu on the left

Korukkai vinayakar sannidhi


Ambal Gnambikai sannidhi

The ambience  is very peaceful
I did not get to see the Shivalingam itself .it is supposed to be  self manifested based on a Lotus shaped pedestal .
I also did not see the Yogeshwara who is in deep meditation with abhaya hastha, left foot hanging and right foot folded .
The ambal was also not seen by me this time
hopefully I shall be blessed enough in future to have a darshan and shall update this post

Thiruvirkudi Veeratteshwarar temple-a padal petra sthalam -Veeratanam

This ancient temple is having a very interesting history. It is the place where Shiva killed Jalandhara the asura king son of Sagara. It is also the place where Tulsi came into being and a place where Vishnu( Kamalanayanan) worshipped Shiva to get the Discus.
The place is close to Tiruvarur about 5 kms before tiruvarur on the Nagoor Tiruvarur road.
When you come from Mayavaram or Kumbakonam after crossing Koothanur and nannilam towards Tiruvarur just 5 kms before tiruvarur take a left towards Nagoor, the temple is on the second left road here

History and Legends:
The story of Jalandhara is found in the mahabharatha as well as the Padmapurana. Once indra who was bloated after victory over asuras entered Kailasa without greeting Nandi and the Shiva ganas,Shiva took the form of a hermit and when Indra could not find anybody in Kailasa arrogantly asked the aged hermit where Shiva was.Getting no response he threw the vajrayudha on him.The asthra broke into pieces and in that fraction Indra realised it was Shiva himself in the form of a hermit and at once begged for mercy Shiva being Ashutosh the easily pleased forgave him but the heat of the moment extracted a few drops of sweat from his brow which he cast into the ocean,Tis turned into a child which was brought up by Sagara the ocean who took the child to Brahma for getting a name the child yanked Brahma’s beard so hard that Brahma cried and a few drops of tears fell on the child so brahma called this child born out of of Shiva's sweat, Samudra’s waters and Brahma’s tears as Jalandhara or one who produced tears(Jala) in a stream from brahma. As he grew up this child developed asura gunas and aligned with the asuras and soon was crowned a king for his prowess.He married Brinda a pious Vishnu bhakta daughter of the Asura Kalanemi .Jalandhara did penance to Brahma for a boon of immortality. since he did not get it he had so much faith in his wife's chastity that he asked he would live till his wife remained chaste in thought and mind too.Armed with this boon he soon went on a rampage torturing all devas. In alarm they all came to Shiva who enlisted Vishnu’s help in killing the asura.When Jalandhara came to Kailasa searching for Indira he found the same old man who told him to  fight with him first.He first drew a chakra on the sand and asked Jalandhara to lift it up.At that moment Vishnu went in the guise of Jalandhara to Brinda who mistook him for her husband and in that second Shiva killed the asura with the discus he had made .The story here is the same at Tirumalpur Shiva temple near Kanchi where Vishnu got Shiva’s Chakra(Click here to see my blog on this temple) Brinda realised she was fooled by Vishnu and immolated herself in the outer courtyard of the temple here .Vishnu was very upset as he had caused so much grief to his bhakta Brinda he went into sadness. Shiva planted a seed into the ashes of Brinda which grew into a Thulasi plant Shiva himself made a garland of thulasi and adorned Vishnu and helped Vishnu feel better.Vishnu prayed to Shiva here with mahalakshmi and obtained the Sudharshana Chakra as a gift. This is the only Shiva temple where the lord is worshipped with Tulasi leaves not Bhilva.
As you enter there is a rajagopuram
It is a small temple with single praharam
with west facing Shiva in the garbagruha (Pic from Dinamalar.com)
The Ambal Elavar Kuzhali, Parimala Nayaki has a sannidhi on the left facing North

The praharam has a Sannidhi of Jalandhara hatheeshwara on the left facing North (Pic from Dinamalar.com)
The Kosta vigrahas are Ganesha Dakshinamurthy brahma Vishnu an Durgai, there is a Mahlakshmi, Murugan and Bhairavar sannidhi
The temple history

Thirupariyalur Veeretteshwarar-a Padal petra sthalam

This is one of the ashta veerattanams  where Shiva kills his Father In Law  Daksha for going against law and also gives him rebirth with a goats head. It is the place where Daksha composes the Chamakam part of Rudram. Daksha is the Eldest son of Brahma and the father in law of Chandran also.
How to reach:

It is about 10 kms from Mayavaram on the  road to thirukadaiyur turn right at the sembanar koil turning in about 7 kms from mayavaram in 3 kms after sembanar koil crossing  take a left turn  thirupariyalur  is slightly off the main road   .

Legends and Stories:
The priest here is very knowledgeable young man who kept me engrossed for an hour with the greatness of this temple. Lord Shiva dances the Rudra Thandava here and kills Daksha who has humiliated Dakshayini and also gives back hiss life on the prayers of Daksha’s wife Veda.Daksha was the son of Brahma and father-in-law of Chandra and Shiva, He was angry with Shiva as Shiva had killed Brahma at Thirukandiyur, Shiva had also given protection from Daksha to Chandra the other son in law whom Shiva had in his locks,He proceeded to start the yagna at the insistence of Narada his younger brother without inviting Shiva and respecting him but Dakshayini's death tears apart shiva who dances the rudra thandava and sets loose Veerabhadra the fiery manifestation of his anger to behead Daksha. He also gives Mangalya pitchai to Daksha’s wife and in gratitude Daksha composes the Chamakam a list of things to ask the lord in all humility.
The beautiful Veerabhadra Idol is  really a feast for the eye.both in size and in detail. The Yanthra behind the idol is very special
As you enter the Rajagopuram you see the Nandi and the Kodi maram
It is a small temple with a single praharam. The Shiva lingam inside Dakshapureeshwarar is facing west
Main Shiva .Image click to see from http://www.southdreamz.com/temple/sri-veeratteswarar-temple-thiruparial


The Ambal Balambikai (Ilamkombanayal) is a 16 year old here and is graceful. Image from http://www.southdreamz.com/temple/sri-veeratteswarar-temple-thiruparial/
The Dakshahattheshwarar (Veerabhadra)is next to the ambal between the Shivan sannidhi and ambal  both are  facing North

Clickhere for Image from http://www.southdreamz.com/temple/sri-veeratteswarar-temple-thiruparial/

The Koshta vigrahas are unique here with Kasi viswanathar,bhairavar, Sangu nidhi next to Dakshinamurthy sannidhi and Padmanidhi next to Vinayaka.There are sannidhis for Mahalakshmi, the Lingodhbhavar has brahma and Vishnu in attendence. There is also a fresco of Daksha performing  yagna
A small temple made fascinating by the priests storytelling