01Oil for the poison
At the churning of the ocean, the halahala rose first, and Shiva drank it to save the worlds; Parvati held His throat so it went no further, and He became Neelakantha. Here, the temple says, She soothed Him with oil. The abhishekam of gingelly oil is the heart of worship: tin after tin is poured on the small, rough-surfaced linga, and by morning it looks dry. Devotees take a little of the oil home as medicine. Appar’s hymn on this temple, beginning Kallinodu, recalls how he was bound to a stone and cast into the sea, and floated. Markandeya, Kamadhenu and Brahma are also named among those who worshipped here.
About 3 km from Aduthurai and 13 km from Kumbakonam, beside the Kumbakonam–Karaikal road. There is no rajagopuram; the Chithirai festival is the main celebration.
