01Agni’s shrine
There are two Tirukattupallis in the Tevaram. Keezhai, the eastern, is near Tiruvenkadu; this is Melai, the western, in the town where the Kudamurutti branches off the Kaveri. Agni, the temple says, came to Shiva grieving that all he touched was burnt, and the Lord made a tank for his worship, now a well, and freed him; so the place is Agneeswaram and the Lord Theeyadiyappar. The small swayambhu linga, under a five-hooded serpent, sits below ground level in a narrow sanctum and is seen from a little distance. Brahma has a shrine here, and Dakshinamurti appears as a Yoga Murti. Appar’s hymn, in the fifth Tirumurai, tells the soul to come to Kattupalli at least once before it leaves the body.
In Tirukattupalli town, about 18 km west of Tiruvaiyaru, with buses from Tiruvaiyaru, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli and Kallanai.
