01The peahen
Mayil is the peacock, and Mayiladuthurai the ford where the peahen danced. The temple’s katha says that at Daksha’s yajna Parvati, against Shiva’s word, went to her father’s house and was cursed to be born a peahen. She came to this bank of the Kaveri and worshipped the Lord in that form, and he came as a peacock and danced with her, and restored her. The Lord is Mayuranathar, and the Devi Abhayambikai, she who grants freedom from fear. Appar and Sambandar sang the shrine, and Arunagirinathar sang its Murugan in the Tiruppugazh. The town took the temple’s name; under the British it was Mayavaram.
02Tula snanam
Through the month of Aippasi, when the sun is in Tula, the Ganga and all the holy rivers are said to bathe in the Kaveri at Mayiladuthurai to shed the sins they carry, and pilgrims come to bathe with them at the Tula ghat, the Nandi kattam. A Tamil saying holds that a thousand other places do not equal Mayuram. The last day of Aippasi is the Kadai Muzhukku, the final dip, and the first day of Karthigai the Mudavan Muzhukku, kept for a lame devotee who arrived a day late and was still granted the merit. The temple is managed by the Tiruvavaduthurai Adheenam.
In the centre of Mayiladuthurai, about 1 km from the junction station. The Tula ghat is crowded on the last day of Aippasi (mid-November).
