Sivalokanathar, Keeranur, Tiruvarur

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Sivalokanathar	Ambal / Thayar:	Ksheerambigai
Deity:	Siva	Historical name:
Vriksham:		Teertham:
Agamam:		Age (years):
Timing:	to & to	Parikaram:
Temple group:		–
Sung by:		Temple set:
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Keeranur	District:	Tiruvarur
Maps from (click):	Current location	Mayiladuthurai (14 km)	Tiruvarur (32 km)
	Kumbakonam (38 km)	Nagapattinam (42 km)

Location

Sthala puranam and temple information

This place used to be called Keeraikadu. The king of Thanjavur of the time, was riding his horse, which tripped on a hard object, and stopped galloping. When the king and his entourage got down to check what happened, they were met with the sight of a Lingam, bleeding profusely. Just then, a cow came over and poured its milk on the wound, and the bleeding stopped. Even as the king and his troops stood astounded at what they had witnessed, the cow turned into Parvati, while Siva manifested from the Lingam, and they blessed all those who were present. The king had already made up his mind to build a temple here, which he did soon after.

It is said that the Siva Lingam here continues to have a scar on it, which is covered with a sheet of silver to prevent further damage. Amman is named Ksheerambigai, as she poured milk over the wound, to stop it from bleeding (in Sanskrit, Ksheeram refers to milk). Ksheerambigai Amman is worshipped by couples who wish to have children.

This temple is connected to the Tiruparasalur Veeratteswarar temple, and Daksha’s yagam. For having been a key participant at Daksha’s yagam, Agni was punished by Siva by being transformed into a parrot. In order to repent for his mistake, the parrot flew to various Siva temples, and finally came here, where it dug up a small tank, bathed in it, and worshipped Siva here, upon which Agni regained his original form. He then further enlarged the temple tank, which is today called the Agni Teertham, after him.

Arunagirinathar has sung about Murugan in this temple, in his Tiruppugazh. There is a separate shrine for Murugan in the prakaram, where Murugan is depicted with one face (and not the usual 6) and two arms, and is present with his consorts Valli and Deivanai.

There are several interesting bas relief sculptures in the temple, including those of Natarajar, Anjaneyar, Ardhanareeswarar, and Durga as Ashtabhuja Durgai with eight arms. Connected with the sthala puranam, Agni here is depicted on the walls of the temple, riding his vehicle, the goat.

The structural temple is from the Chola period, estimated to be about 1000 years old. The temple does not have a raja gopuram, but has a mottai gopuram instead. There are also several inscriptions in the temple, but we were told that these were not yet formally published, so there is no record of the content of these inscriptions, as of now.

Other Information for your visit

The temple’s official opening times are for very short periods – 1 hour each in the morning and evening. However, locals can be seen gathered near the temple, and often, they are able to reach the temple priest, who can come over and open the temple for visitors.

There are very few visitors to this temple, and as a result, the priest is unable to spend more time here, taking care of other temples. It will be extremely beneficial for all, if there can be more visitors to this temple.