01Agni’s penance
Agni had sat at Daksha’s yagna, which slighted Shiva, and Veerabhadra’s curse shut him out of every sacrifice. With no fire, the yagnas stopped and the rains failed. The temple’s katha says Agni came here, set up a linga, dug the Agni tirtham and worshipped with vanni leaves until he was freed; he asked that those who bathe here and worship be cured of illnesses of heat. The Devi, born as the daughter of the sage Katyayana, did tapas here before her wedding at nearby Tiruveezhimizhalai, and the unmarried come to pray. Bas-reliefs on the sanctum walls show Appar, Agni, Kamadhenu and Rishabharudar. Appar’s padigam is in the fifth Tirumurai.
About 4 km east of Vadamattam, reached from S. Puthur on the Kumbakonam–Karaikal road; there is a Tiruvanniyur on the north bank too (Ponnur), so ask for the southern one.
