01Bhikshatana and the proud sages
The sages of the Daruka forest grew proud of their rites and thought they had no need of the Lord. Shiva came among them as Bhikshatana, the wandering mendicant. They raised a tiger from their fire against him, and he wore its skin; a deer, and he held it in his left hand; serpents, and he made them his ornaments. At last they knew him and bowed. The temple keeps this leela in its name and has Bhikshatana both in the sanctum’s festival images and in the prakaram. The place is named for the parai tree, the toothbrush tree, and a parai behind the sanctum is watered by those praying for healing. Lion-based pillars carry the halls, and the Devi’s mandapam has carvings of Urdhva Tandava and of Kali.
02The first dip of Aippasi
Here the Kaveri runs very wide, and it is called Akhanda Kaveri. Through the month of Aippasi, when the Kaveri is held to carry the Ganga, people bathe in the river at its tirthas. Tradition opens the season at Tirupparaithurai on the first of Aippasi, the Muthal Muzhukku, when the deities come in procession to the bank, and closes it downstream at Mayiladuthurai on the last day, the Kadai Muzhukku. Appar and Sambandar each sang a hymn on the temple, and Arunagirinathar a Tiruppugazh on its Murugan, seated on his peacock.
Beside the Tiruchirappalli–Karur road about 16 km from Chatram bus stand, Tiruchirappalli; the Tirupparaithurai bus stop is close. There are few eateries on this stretch.
