Sivakozhundeeswarar Temple, Shakthimutram

01The embrace

Mata Parvati came down to earth and did tapas to be one with the Lord for ever. To test her, the temple says, Shiva stood before her as a blazing pillar of fire, and she ran forward and embraced it, and the fire grew soft in her arms; so he is Thazhuvakuzhaintha Nathar, the Lord who melted in the embrace, and the place is Shakthi-mutram, where Shakti kissed him. Beside the sanctum entrance a shrine shows the Devi standing on one foot, her other foot on the pedestal, clasping the linga in both arms. People pray here for marriages and for couples kept apart. Flame-like marks show on the linga when the lamps are waved.

02Appar’s prayer

Appar stayed here serving the temple and begged the Lord to place his lotus feet on his head. The answer, the Periya Puranam says, was “Come to Nallur,” and at Tirunallur the grace was given; Appar’s hymn on Shakthimutram is the prayer. The old brick shrine was rebuilt in granite by Sembiyan Mahadevi, the Chola queen who renewed so many temples, and renovated again under Rajaraja I. Inscriptions of Rajaraja I, Kulottunga III and the Vijayanagara kings are on the walls. A tall, life-sized Bhairava stands in the prakaram, and Arunagirinathar sang the six-faced Murugan.