Brahma Sira Kandeeswarar Temple, Tirukkandiyur

01Brahma’s fifth head

The Shiva Purana tells that Brahma once had five heads, and the fifth spoke in pride before Shiva. Shiva sent forth Bhairava, who nipped off that head with his nail; the skull clung to his hand as the kapala, and he wandered as a mendicant until it fell away. Tirukkandiyur is counted the Veerattanam of this deed. Brahma, humbled, worshipped Shiva here with Saraswati, and their images are in the temple. Across the road, at the Vaishnava Divya Desam of Hara Shaapa Vimochana Perumal, the katha says the skull at last fell from Shiva’s hand. So the two temples are visited together.

02On the Saptasthanam

Appar and Sambandar sang Tirukkandiyur. It is one of the seven shrines of the Tiruvaiyaru Saptasthanam, which the deities of Tiruvaiyaru visit in their glass palanquin every Chittirai. Its walls carry inscriptions of the Cholas, the Thanjavur Nayakas and the Marathas. The temple has three prakarams, and the shrine of Mangalanayaki stands within them.