01The stone bull that grazed
Kochengat Chola, builder of many Shiva shrines, fell ill with a skin disease. A voice told him he would be cured where a stone bull eats grass. He went from temple to temple, and at Thandalai he came with a garland of arugam grass for the Lord; the Nandi facing the sanctum drew it in and ate it, and the king was healed. Sambandar sang one padigam here. In later centuries the poet Padikkasu Pulavar wrote the Thandalaiyar Satakam, a hundred verses on this Lord.
Visiting
About 4 km north of Thiruthuraipoondi on the Tiruvarur road, near the Thandalaicheri bus stop.
