हिंदीOn this day
Standing

Kutralanathar Temple and the Chitra Sabha, Courtallam

The Chitra Sabha, hall of pictures, among the five sabhas of Nataraja, stands a short walk from the Kutralanathar temple at the foot of the Courtallam falls; its walls are covered with painted scenes from the Puranas and Itihasa.

Built: Sung by Sambandar (7th century); built up by the Pandyas, Cholas and later TravancoreWhere: Tamil Nadu (Tenkasi district)Deity: Bhagwan Shiva as Kutralanathar (Kurumpalaveesar) with Kuzhalvaimozhi; Nataraja in the Chitra Sabha8.93° N, 77.27° E
  1. 7th century
Photo: User:Raji.srinivas · Public domain

01Agastya at Kutralam

When all the worlds gathered at Kailash for the wedding of Shiva and Parvati, the earth tilted north, and Shiva sent Agastya south to bring it level. The Kutralam sthala purana tells that Agastya, grieving that he would miss the wedding, worshipped here, and Shiva and Parvati gave him and Lopamudra darshan in their wedding dress. The temple also tells that the shrine was once of Vishnu, and that Agastya, by his tapas, made the image into a Shiva linga; the marks of his fingers are shown on it. Sambandar sang the Lord as Kurumpalaveesar, after the jackfruit tree of the temple.

02The hall of pictures

Chidambaram’s hall is of gold, Madurai’s of silver, Tiruvalangadu’s of gems, Tirunelveli’s of copper. Kutralam’s is of pictures. The Chitra Sabha stands apart from the main temple, a copper-roofed hall whose inner walls and ceiling are painted with hundreds of scenes of the gods, the Puranas and the Itihasa. Nataraja is brought here from the main temple for the festivals, and on Arudra Darshanam in Margazhi the Tandava Deepa Aradhanai, the lamp worship of the dance, is held in this hall. Thirikooda Rasappa Kavirayar’s Kutrala Kuravanji, a much-loved Tamil dance-drama, sings this Lord.

The life of this place

  1. 7th centurySambandar sings the Lord of Kutralam in the Tevaram.
Visiting

Courtallam is 5 km from Tenkasi; the temple stands beside the Main Falls. The falls are full from June to September, the season most pilgrims choose.

Nearby

VasudevanallurDestroyed
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Vasudevanallur

A town at the foot of the Western Ghats whose fort was one of Puli Thevar’s strongholds in his twelve-year war against the Nawab of Arcot and the Company. Little of the fort survives.

Sankaranarayanar Temple, SankarankovilStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Sankaranarayanar Temple, Sankarankovil

The temple where Devi Gomathi did tapas to see Shiva and Vishnu as one, and was shown Sankaranarayana, half Shiva and half Vishnu. Its Aadi Thabasu festival recalls that darshan every July–August.

NerkattumsevalRuined
Company rule and the war of 1857

Nerkattumseval

The seat of Puli Thevar, the palaiyakkarar who from 1755 refused tribute to the Nawab of Arcot and the East India Company and was among the first in the south to fight them. His mud-and-stone fort fell to Yusuf Khan’s guns in 1761.

Tirunelveli and the Nellaiappar TempleStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Tirunelveli and the Nellaiappar Temple

The old city on the Thamirabarani, centred on the twin temple of Nellaiappar and Kanthimathi. Its country was the ground of the palaiyakkarar wars of Puli Thevar and Kattabomman, and of the 1908 rising after VOC’s arrest.