Tiruvaleeswarar, Koovathur, Chengalpattu

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Tiruvaleeswarar	Ambal / Thayar:	Tripurasundari
Deity:	Siva	Historical name:
Vriksham:	Pavazhamalli	Teertham:	Vaali Teertham
Agamam:		Age (years):
Timing:	8 to 11.30 & 5 to 7.30	Parikaram:
Temple group:		–
Sung by:		Temple set:
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Koovathur	District:	Chengalpattu
Maps from (click):	Current location	Kanchipuram (77 km)	Chennai (89 km)
	Tiruvallur (99 km)	Cuddalore (108 km)

Location

Sthala puranam and temple information

Koovathur gets its name from “koovam”, the Tamil for the Sanskrit “koopam”, meaning a well (of water). The 9 sacred rivers of Bharatam are said to have come together here, taking the form of wells, which has given the place its name. The waters of these rivers are believed to be enshrined together in the temple’s Teertham.

In the Ramayanam, Sugreeva’s brother Vali killed the demon Mayavi. However, as a result of this, Vali was affected with brahmahatya dosham. To be rid of this sin, he bathed at the temple tank here, as it was the essence of all the nine sacred rivers, and worshipped Siva at this place. The temple’s Teertham (Vaali Teertham) and moolavar are named for Vaali, after this story.

While the core temple here is said to be over 2000 years old, the structural temple is largely from the time of the Vijayanagara Dynasty, in the 15^th or 16^th century. The moolavar Lingam is 16-sided – such polygonal Lingams are usually seen in Pallava temples, which may give some indication to the age of the original temple here.

This temple is located near the banks of the Palar river in Koovathur. The temple was recently renovated and kumbhabhishekam done in the last 2-3 years, and presents a fresh, clean look, which is far more than can be said of the neighbouring Chidambareswarar temple.

Other information for your visit

As an aside: Koovathur was briefly famous in in 2016/2017 after the demise of the former chief minister of TN, when a faction of the ruling party used a resort nearby to isolate its MLAs in order to ensure their loyalty to the faction.