01The tiger-footed sage
Vyaghrapada wanted to offer Nataraja of Chidambaram flowers that no bee had touched, so he climbed the trees before dawn. Shiva gave him tiger’s feet to grip the bark and tiger’s eyes to see in the dark, and he was called Pulikkal Munivar in Tamil. The shrines where he worshipped are the Puliyurs, and Perumpuliyur, the great Puliyur, is one of the five. Nataraja’s shrine here has Vyaghrapada on one side and Patanjali on the other, as at Chidambaram. The swayambhu linga rests on a lotus pedestal, and in the Navagraha shrine all eight planets face Surya. Sambandar’s hymn is in the second Tirumurai.
Visiting
About 5 km from Tiruvaiyaru and 4 km west of Tiruneithanam; easiest by auto or car from Tiruvaiyaru.
