Adi Ratneswarar Temple, Tiruvadanai

01Goat and elephant

The temple’s katha tells of Varuni, son of Varuna, who mocked the sage Durvasa and was cursed to have an elephant’s body with a goat’s head. He wandered until he came to this bilva forest and worshipped Shiva, and was made whole. Adu is the goat, anai the elephant, and so the town is Tiru-adanai. Surya is said to have worshipped the Lord in the form of a blue ratna, a gem, hence Adi Ratneswarar; on special days the blue gem linga is shown to devotees. Sambandar’s padigam on Tiruvadanai is in the Tevaram.

02Near the coast

Tiruvadanai lies near the Palk Bay coast of Ramanathapuram, on the way to Rameswaram from Thanjavur and Pudukkottai, and pilgrims bound for Rameswaram often stop here. The Devi, Snehavalli, the creeper of love, has her own shrine. The temple has a tall gopuram and long corridors in the style of the Ramnad country, and its Vaikasi Visakam festival is the year’s main utsavam.