01The crab in the linga
Karkadam is the crab, and the temple’s katha explains the name. A crab came every day to pluck lotuses from the moat and lay them on the linga. Indra, who had planted those lotuses for his own worship, struck at it with his blade; Shiva opened a hollow at the crown of the linga and drew the crab inside. Indra repented, and the place became Tiru-undu-devan-kudi, the village of the deva who repented. The linga still shows a cut and a small opening at its top, and a pillar carries a carving of a crab worshipping a linga. Water surrounds the walls on three sides. Two Devis have shrines in the front hall, and the abhishekam water of Arumarundhu Nayaki, she of the rare medicine, is taken home by the sick. Sambandar’s hymn is in the third Tirumurai.
In Nandankoil village, about 10 km from Kumbakonam and 2 km from Tiruvisanallur; buses run from Kumbakonam. Devotees born under Karka rashi come here in numbers.
