Brahmapureeswarar Temple, Tirukkolili (Thirukkuvalai)

01Sundarar’s paddy

Kundaiyur Kizhar, a landholder of Kundaiyur close by, supplied Sundarar’s household with paddy. In a lean year, the Periya Puranam says, Shiva filled Kundaiyur with paddy for him, more than any cart could move. Sundarar came to Tirukkolili and sang his padigam asking the Lord to send it on, and that night the bhuta ganas carried the grain to Paravai’s house at Tiruvarur. The Nel Atti festival re-enacts the carrying. Kol is a graha and ili means without fault: the nine grahas are said to have been cleansed here, which is why they stand in a single row.

02Avani Vidangar and the inscriptions

Tirukkolili is one of the seven Saptha Vidanga shrines. Its Thyagaraja is Avani Vidangar, whose processional dance is the bhringa natanam, the dance of a bee over a flower. The linga is swayambhu, of anthill earth, and the temple’s katha says Brahma worshipped it. Nineteen inscriptions are recorded in the temple; they name the Lord Tirukkolili Udaiya Nayanar and record gifts in the time of Jatavarman Sundara Pandya I among others. The temple is under the HR&CE Department.