 Description:
This is a Shivastalam located at a distance of 3 km from Vaitheeswaran
Koyil. It is regarded as the 17th in the series of Tevara
Stalams located to the North of the river Kaveri in the Chola Kingdom.
Kannaar Koyil is also referred to by the names Kurumaanakkudi and
Kannaayiranaar Koyil.Legend has it that the Devas prayed to Shiva to
rid Indra their King of the curse of Gowtama Rishi who had cursed his body to be covered
with a multitude of eyes, on account of his having deceived Ahalya - here. Vamanar
(Vishnu) obtained the blessings of Shiva prior to his setting out to Mahabali's court and
hence the name Kurumaanikkudi.
 The Temple: has been designed in such a way that the Vimanam and the
presiding deity can be viewed simultaneously from a vantage point. There
is no Rajagopuram and there are images of Shiva seated on the Vrishabha
mount, flanked by Ganesha and Skanda on either side.
The main shrine enshrines Shiva in
the form of a Lingam with cavities symbolic of the sahasra netra (aayiram
kann) that constitute the name of the presiding deity. The niches are
adorned with images of Narthana Vinayaka, Dakshinamurthy, Lingodbhava,
Bhrahma and Durga. There are shrines to Ganesha in bas relief and to
Skanda on either side of a mandapam enshrining the deity. There aer
subsidiary shrines to Gajalakshmi, Subramanya, Bhairava, Saneeswara and
Chandra. Outside of the shrine to the consort of Shiva - Sugandha
kundalaambaal are images personifying the 12 zodiac signs.
Processional images of Chandrasekhara, Nataraja, Somaskanda and other
deities are enshrined here. The Indra Theertham
tank is located across from the temple.Inscriptions from the time of Raja Raja Chola I
refer to this temple as Kuruvaaniyakkudi. Sambandar is said to have visited Kannaar Koyil
after visiting Sirkazhi.
Festivals: Five worship services are offered each day. Festivities are
observed in the month of Kaartikai where processions are part of the
temple festivities on Sundays. |
