Kottaiyur Sri Koteeswarar Temple, Thanjavur

Address

Kottaiyur Sri Koteeswarar Temple, Kottaiyur, Melakkaveri Post, Kumbakonam Taluk, Tanjure District, Tamil Nadu-612 002. Tele: +91 0435 2450595, 94866 70043.

Diety

Kodeeswarar Amman: Kandhu kreedambal

Introduction

Kottaiyur Kodeeswarar Temple dedicated to Shiva, located in Kottaiyur, a village in the outskirts of Kumbakonam, in Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu, India. Shiva is worshipped as Koteeswarar and his consort Parvathi as Pandhadu Nayaki. Koteeswarar is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the Nayanmars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam, the 276 temples revered in the canon. Theertham (Holy water): River Cauveri, Kodi Theertham (Amutha well) Sthala Vriksham (Sacred Tree): Castor oil plant

Puranic Significance

According to Hindu mythology, at the end of every “yuga”, there is a huge flood that leads to the destruction of all living beings in the earth. This is called the “Pralayam”. Lord Shiva, through Lord Brahma, arranged for the seeds of all living organisms and four Vedas and Puranas to be put in a pot (“Amutha Kalas” or Kumbham or Kudam in Tamil) filled with nectar (“amirtham”). This was decorated with flowers and cloth and a string was tied to it. This was kept on top of the Mount Kailash. When the Maha Pralayam started, it destroyed all living creatures on the earth. The Amutha Kalas also got displaced and started floating on the seas for years. Eventually when the Pralayam stopped, the Kalas settled in Kumbakonam. Then Lord Shiva took the form of a hunter (Kiratha Murthy) and split open the pot with his arrow. The life on earth started flourishing again. It is believed that when Lord Shiva opened the pot with his arrow, the pot broke and the decorative items on it fell in various places across the earth. Each of these pieces became Shivalingams. In Kottaiyur Sri Koteeswarar temple, it is believed that some drops of the nectar fell in a well. This well is known as “Amutha well”. Another legend is that Lord Shiva (in the form of a Shivalingam) appeared here in the midst of castor plants. The fruits of castor plant are called “kottai” in Tamil and because of this, the place gets the name Kottaiyur. The main Shivalingam in this temple looks as it is formed out of the fruits of a caster plant. In other words, its texture resembles a jack fruit. Hence the lord here is praised as “Sri Koteeswarar”. Another important feature of this lingam is that water droplets can be seen coming out of its top. This symbolises the legend that the Ganges resides in Lord Shiva’s head. Another legend associated with this place is that of Heranda (Athreyar) Maharishi. Herandam” means Castor plant. The sage gets his name because he had performed penance under the castor plants in this place. There is a separate shrine for Heranda Maharishi in the front hall where he is seen in a meditative posture. The legend is that once in Thiruvalanchuzhi, Aadhiseshan came out from the “Padhala logam” (underworld) on a Shivarathri day to worship Lord Shiva. A huge hole (“phila dwaram”) formed at the place where Aadhisheshan came out. Since river Cauvery was flowing through this place, she entered this hole and fell into the underworld. The Chola king who ruled from Kumbakonam, Harithuvajan got worried about this and prayed to Lord Shiva. It is believed that at this point the lord’s divine voice was heard saying that a king or a sage has to sacrifice his life by entering into the hole so that the river can come back to earth. The king also sought the advice of Sage Heranda Maharishi who was performing penance in this place. The sage confirmed the divine voice. When the king decided to get into the hole for the welfare of the people, the sage stopped him and he himself entered into the hole and brought Cauvery back to earth. The place where the river came back to earth is called “Mela Cauvery”, near Kumbakonam. Although he entered into the underworld at Thiruvalanchuzhi, it is believed that he came back to the earth in Thiruvalampuram. He worshiped the lord there for some time and attained salvation. Other legends It is believed that Sage Pathrayogi, in order to regain his spiritual power, visited many Shiva temples. When he reached this temple, Lord Shiva was pleased with his devotion and blessed him by appearing in the form of one crore (“kodi” in Tamil) images of himself, along with one crore images each of Vinayakar, Goddess Parvathy, Murugan and Chandikeswarar. This was done as a way to bless him with the benefit of visiting one crore Shiva temples. Hence the lord here is praised as Sri Koteeswarar and the place gets the name Koteecharam. It is believed that any good deed (Punniyam) or bad deed (Pavam) done here will be multiplied one crore times. Surusi, a prince from Thirihartha kingdom (a kingdom in the north), son of king Sathyathi, was cursed by Sage Pathrayogi to become a devil. This was because he had disrespected the sage and disturbed his penance in the Himalayas. As advised by Sage Vyasa, the king brought his son to this place to worship Lord Shiva. The prince took a dip in the temple’s Theerthams and worshiped the lord. It is believed that he was absolved of his sins. It is believed that the king stayed here for some time, renovated this temple and made some endowments for the temple’s maintenance. It is believed that Lord Ram, Brahma, Indra, Sage Naradar and Sage Markandeya have worshiped the lord here.

Beliefs

It is believed that those who worship the lord here will get the benefit of worshiping the lord in one crore Shiva temples. It is believed that any good deed (“Punniyam”) or bad deed (“Pavam”) done here will be multiplied one crore times. Devotees sprinkle water from this temple’s Theertham on their head and worship the lord here to stay healthy and young. They believe that doing so will also keep away the evil spirits.

Special Features

This is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams and 44th 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. The last consecration ceremony (Maha Kumbabishekam) took place on 26.10.2015 and prior to that on 09.02.1992. Other than the shrines of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy, shrines and idols of Kodi Vinayakar, Kodi Murugan, Gajalakshmi, Natarajar, Somaskandar, Mahalakshmi, Navagraham, Bairavar, Jurakeswarar, Saneeswarar, Suryan Chandran, lingam, Maha Sastha, Nalvar, Pancha lingam and Athreya Maharishi (Herandar) can be seen in the main hall and corridors. In the “koshtam” (place surrounding the sanctum sanctorum), idols of Narthana Vinayakar, Dakshinamurthy, lingothbavar, Brahma, Durgai and Chandikeswarar can be seen.

Festivals

Three yearly festivals on its calendar, namely Margazhi Tiruvathirai during the Tamil month of Margazhi (December–January), Shivaratri in February–March, Panguni Uthiram during Panguni (March–April)