01Lalitha’s thousand names
The Lalitha Sahasranama comes in the Brahmanda Purana as the teaching of Bhagwan Hayagriva to Agastya. The temple holds that this teaching was given here, and that the Vagdevis, the goddesses of speech, first sang the thousand names before Lalithambigai at this place. The Devi sits in her own shrine in the rare seated form with one leg folded, in great beauty, and devotees chant the Sahasranama before her; on full-moon nights the chanting goes on in the mandapa. Agastya’s wife Lopamudra is also said to have worshipped here.
02Surya’s chariot
The Lord’s vimana is apsidal, rounded at the back like an elephant’s back, and the temple says Surya worshipped here to be freed of a curse; the katha also makes this the place where Vinata and Kadru prayed and were blessed with sons, Aruna and Garuda among them, and Aruna became Surya’s charioteer. Sambandar sang Meghanathar, the Lord of the clouds. Within the same compound is the Ilangoyil, a separate small shrine of Sakalabhuvaneswarar, itself counted among the Tevaram temples.
About 2 km from Peralam, between Mayiladuthurai and Tiruvarur.
