01Parasara and the Devi from the sea
Maharshi Parasara, the temple says, came here on a round of tirthas and was blessed by Shiva, and he asked the Lord to stay for those who would come after. A carving in the prakaram shows him at worship, and those who study jyotisha, the science Parasara mastered, pray here. The Devi has her own katha: her image was caught in a fisherman’s net, and a merchant suffering from stomach pain found it, was healed, and installed it beside the swayambhu linga. So on the full moon of Masi it is the Devi, not Shiva, who is taken to the sea for the sacred bath. Sambandar’s padigam on Kalikkamur is in the Tevaram.
On the south bank of the Uppanar near Tiruvenkadu and Mangaimadam, about 16 km from Sirkazhi; Sirkazhi–Konaiyampattinam buses pass the village.
