01Killi Valavan and the jasmine
There are two Tirumullaivayils. The one in Tondai Nadu near Chennai is Vada, the northern; this one by the sea, on the north bank of the Uppanar, is Ten, the southern. The sthala purana tells of the Chola king Killi Valavan, who came to the shore to bathe for a skin disease. Mullai creepers caught his horse’s hooves, he cut them with his sword, and the hidden linga bled. In grief he would have died, but Shiva appeared on the bull and blessed him, and the sword mark is shown on the three-foot swayambhu linga still. Sambandar’s padigam on the shrine is in the Tevaram.
02Where Uma learned the five syllables
The temple holds that Uma received the Panchakshara mantra here from Shiva as Dakshinamurti, as a disciple from a guru, and so there is no palli-arai, the nightly bedchamber rite, in this temple. Chanting the five syllables here during an eclipse is held to bring great merit. The entrance is plain, without a gopuram, and a single prakaram holds Vinayaka, Shanmukha with Valli and Devasena, Dakshinamurti, Bhairava and Sambandar. Ganga is believed to dwell in the well at the north-west corner, and Chandra is said to have bathed in the Brahma Theertham to be freed of his affliction.
About 14 km from Sirkazhi by bus, near the coast; it closes earlier than town temples, so go in the morning or before sunset. Tirukkurukavur is about 8 km away via Vadakal.
