Photos

all these drawings are my daughters

KutRAlam - Picture hall (chiththira sabai - chitra sabha)

The Chitra Sabhai or the hall of pictures is located in a picturesque locale away from the main temple.

Legends: Agastyar who at Shiva's request, proceded southward to stabilize the balance of the earth, and relieve it from the instability resulting from the presence of a multitude of entities at Shiva's and Parvati's wedding in the Himalayas, to wait for a glimpse of the divine couple, is said to have created the Shivalingam here by shrinking an image of Vishnu, hence the name Kutralam.

He visualized Lord Shiva’s wedding with Goddess Parvati at Mount Kailash. He touched the cranium of the Idols with his palm; surprisingly the idol of Lord Vishnu turned into a Linga with the mark of his fingers on it and Goddess Sri Devi and Boodevi into Goddess Kuzhalvaimozhiammai and Goddess Parasakthi respectively.

ThiruvAlaNkAdu - Gem hall (iraththinasabai - ratna sabha)

Legend has it that upon being requested by Narada, to save the earth from the rage of Kali, born out of her vanquishing the demons Sumban and Nisumban in the banyan forest in this region( each drop of the asura’s blood spilton the ground gave rise to many more asuras so Kali started drinking all the blood of the asuras hence she became intoxicated and enraged she started attacking all the people),Shiva agreed to a dance duel It was a fierce dance competition between the Lord Siva and Sri Bhadra Kali performed here which was witnessed by all the Devas, saints and other heavenly beings. The cosmic dancer Siva had to give a tough fight to his opponent who was equally versatile. At one stage, Siva raised his left leg up to his ear to fix up an ear-ring that had snapped and fallen. But Badra Kali, being a feminine deity of modesty, could not perform such an act before the audience and had to accept her defeat!

Karaikal ammiyar:
She was from a well to do family at Karaikal and her name was Punithavathy. She was married to a merchant on attaining the age by her parents. By nature Punithavathy was pious and a stanch devotee of the Lord Siva. She continued to pray him besides serving the saivaites who visited her household. Her married life however didn’t last long and her husband deserted her after he came to know of her spiritual powers. There upon she acquired an ugly form by her own will and came to be known as Sri Karaikal ammiyar. Even today a mango festival is celebrated in Karaikal in her memory.It seems once she prayed to the lord to save her as she had donated a mango brought by her husband to a Mendicant. when her husband asked for it she prayed to lord Shiva and got another one which was sweeter and tastier. When her husband came to know of the source of this mango he got scared and abandoned her!
When the ammiyar came to Tiruvalangadu, Lord Siva wanted to reveal her devotion to the world and appeared in the lingam form wherever she tried to step on the ground. She then realized the divine drama of the Lord and then started to ‘walk’ upside down with her head on the floor and reached the temple. Her intense devotion thus made her one of the sixty three nayanmars.
At the Rathna sabha, one can see the image of Sri Karaikal ammiyar at the foot of the Lord dancing in the Urthuva thandava kolam.