01The yazh player’s town
Tiruneelakanta Yazhpanar, one of the sixty-three, travelled with Sambandar and set his hymns to the yazh, the old Tamil harp; he and his wife Mathanga Choodamaniyar are shown together in the temple. The white erukku, the madar, is the sthala tree, and the place is one of the Puliyurs named for Vyaghrapada, the tiger-footed sage. The temple’s katha says Murugan, born on earth as the mute boy Rudrasarman under a curse, found his speech here, and so the Lord is Kumaresar. Sambandar sang one padigam on Erukkathampuliyur. Shri Mushnam, the Varaha temple, is close by.
Visiting
On the Vriddhachalam–Jayankondam highway, a short drive from Vriddhachalam; Shri Mushnam is nearby.
