01Shuka’s tapas
The temple’s katha says Shuka, overhearing the secret Shiva was telling Parvati on Kailasa, was told he must be born again, and worshipped here to be freed. Agastya installed a linga of his own, and in the Somaskanda image here a child Vinayaka sits between Shiva and the Devi in place of Skanda. Inscriptions record gifts under Rajaraja I, Kulothunga I and Rajendra III, the Pandyas Maravarman Sundara Pandya and Vikrama Pandya, and the Vijayanagara kings Achyuta Raya and Sadasiva Raya. Sundarar’s padigam on Tiruvidaiyaru is in the Seventh Tirumurai.
Visiting
On the Tirukkoyilur–Tiruvennainallur road (SH 68), on the south bank of the Thenpennai.
