01Nandanar at the gate
Nandanar of Adanur, born among the farm labourers who were not allowed into the temple, longed all his life for darshan. The Periya Puranam tells that he came to Tiruppunkur and stood at the gate, and the great Nandi before the sanctum blocked his sight of the linga. Shiva told Nandi to move aside, and the stone Nandi shifted. It still sits off the axis of the shrine. Nandanar dug a tank for the temple in gratitude; it is shown beside it. He went on to Chidambaram, entered the sacred fire, and rose from it to merge with Nataraja, and he is counted among the sixty-three.
02Sundarar’s rain
Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar all sang Tiruppunkur. Sundarar’s hymn recalls the Lord’s mercies here, among them a time when the country was in drought and the king promised land to the temple if rain came; rain fell in torrents, and when it would not stop, the land was promised again for it to cease. The temple stands among paddy fields about five kilometres west of Vaitheeswaran Koil, and many pilgrims who come to that shrine walk on to see Nandanar’s Nandi.
About 5 km west of Vaitheeswaran Koil, on the road towards Mayiladuthurai.
