Tirukkurukkai

Shiva as Veerateeswarar

lingam

Shaiva temple

thumb|left|250px|Legend of Shiva turning Kamadeva into ashes for disturbing his sacrifice As per Hindu legend, Kamadeva, the cupid, was married to Ratī. One of the principal myths regarding Kama is that of his incineration by Shiva, the Kama Dahana. It occurs in its most developed form in the Matsya Purana (verses 227–255) but is also repeated with variants in the Shaiva Purana and other Puranas.Indra and the gods were suffering at the hands of the demon Tarakasura. Tarakasura obtained superior powers from Brahma from his severe penance. He could not be defeated by anyone except by Shiva's son. Brahma advised the celestial deities that Parvati should get an offspring from lord Shiva who would be able to defeat Taraka. Indra requested Kamadeva to break Shiva's penance. To create a congenial atmosphere, Kamadeva (Madana) created an untimely spring (akāla-vasanta). After he awoke Shiva with a flower arrow, Shiva, furious, opened his third eye, which incinerated Madana instantaneously and he is turned into ash. Lord Shiva agreed with Parvati's proposal and their pooja resulted the birth of lord karthikeya who defeated Taraka. Rati prayed to Indra, who along with celestial deities prayed to Shiva that it was under their request that Kama disturbed his penance. Shiva gave a boon that Kama would be reborn in Treta Yuga in the womb of Krishna's wife Rukmini as Pradyumna and marry Rati. As per another legend, a sage named Theerthapahu, unaware of the power of Soola Theertham, the water body of the temple, prayed to bring water of river Ganga for his worship. His hands were shortened during the worship and after realising the mistake, he punished himself by hitting his head against a rock. Shiva was pleased by his devotion and cured his hand. He came to be known as Kurungai Munivar (meaning a sage with short hands in Tamil) and the place came to be known as Kurungai, which eventually became Korukkai. The place has other names like Kamadahanapuram, Kampakapuram and Yogeesapuram. It is believed that Vishnu, Lakshmi, Brahma and Muruga worshipped the Shiva at this place.

Architecture

Dravidian

First attested

7th century

Details are compiled from Wikimedia projects and published temple sources. Send a correction if something is wrong.

• Wikipedia, Paadal Petra Sthalam
• Wikipedia, Veerateeswarar Temple, Korukkai

More links

• HRCE Tamil Nadu
• English Wikipedia
• Google Maps