| Description:
This Shivastalamis located on the banks of the Kollidam, 12 km away from Tiruchi
enroute to Salem. Uthamar Kovil is about 5km away from here. Paachil was the name of the
region. Tiruvaasiramam became Tiruvaasi. It is considered to be the
62nd in the series of Tevara Stalams in the Chola kingdom
located north of the river Kaveri. The Temple: A 5 tiered
Rajagopuram and 2 prakarams adorn this temple. The Ambal shrine is in the 2nd prakaram.
There is a vast mandapam in between the 2 prakarams. In the first prakaram are shrines to
Natarajar, Vinayakar Somaskanthar and others. Niche images of Dakshinamurthy,
Ardhanareeswarar and Durga adorn the sanctum wall. The demon Muyalakan is not seen under
Natarajar's foot here, instead there is an image of a snake.
Sambandar is said to have relieved the daughter of a devotee (Kolli Mazhavan) of the
Muyalakan disease, hence this feature in Nataraja's shrine. Shiva is said to have blessed
with Sundarar with a thousand copper coins upon hearing 8 of his hymns, and upon hearing
another four, is said to have caused Vishnu to turn them into gold. The Tapana
mandapam is where Shiva is said to have blessed Sundarar with gold.
Parantaka Cholan, Rajaraja I, Krishna Deva Rayar and others have made several
endowments to this temple. Raja Raja's inscription in the temple refers to the entrance of
the Ardha Mandapam as 'Keezhi Koduttaruliya Tiruvayil'. The name 'Maatrarivaradar' comes
from a dialog between Shiva and Sundarar where Sundarar had compared the tamarind fruits
that had turned to gold at Eengoimalai, with the
gold received here, and Shiva is said to have asked of him 'Maatru
Kuraiavillaye'. |
