Thenupureeswarar Temple, Patteeswaram

01The pearl canopy

Patti, the calf of Kamadhenu, worshipped Shiva here, the temple says, and so the Lord is Thenupureeswarar and the village Patteeswaram. When the child Sambandar walked here in the summer heat, Shiva sent a canopy of pearls to shade him, and the Muthu Pandal festival keeps the day each year. So that the Lord could see Sambandar coming, the Nandis before the sanctum moved aside, and they sit off the axis still. Sambandar sang the shrine in the Tevaram.

02Durga of the Cholas

Patteeswaram lies beside Pazhaiyarai, the old Chola capital where the kings kept their palace before and after Thanjavur. The Durga in the temple’s north court, eight-armed and standing on the buffalo head, is held to have been the guardian deity of the Chola kings, and her shrine is now the busiest in the temple; Rahu kalam on Sundays and Tuesdays brings long queues of women with lime-shell lamps. Brahmotsavam is held in Chittirai.