Kailasanathar, Tirumoolasthanam, Cuddalore

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Kailasanathar	Ambal / Thayar:	Kamakshi, Karpagambal
Deity:	Siva	Historical name:
Vriksham:		Teertham:
Agamam:		Age (years):	1000-2000
Timing:	10 to 11 & 6 to 7	Parikaram:
Temple group:		–
Sung by:		Temple set:
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Tirumoolasthanam	District:	Cuddalore
Maps from (click):	Current location	Mayiladuthurai (26 km)	Kumbakonam (50 km)
	Tiruvarur (69 km)	Ariyalur (70 km)

Location

Sthala puranam and temple information

When all the devas attended the wedding of Siva and Parvati, the entire world titled towards Kailasam. At the Lord’s request, sage Agastyar went down south to balance the world, established Siva Lingams in several places, and at each of those places, he was blessed with the divine vision of the celestial wedding. This is also one such place, and the original Lingam is said to have been consecrated by the sage.

Goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati are said to have worshipped Siva as Kailasanathar and prayed for the end of all troubles for the world, at this temple.

Tirumoolasthanam is named for Tirumoolar – the Saiva saint and composer of Tirumandiram – who visited this place and worshipped at the nearby Siva temple for Tirumoolanathar (which temple predates this Kailasanathar temple).

The temple is from the 8^th century in the time of Nusa Chola, an early Chola feudatory of the Pallavas, who ruled this region at that time. In fact, inscriptions indicate that the temple was built in 710 CE. Other inscriptions here in the Grantha script (more evidence of Pallava influence here) talk about various donations and endowments made by the king. Today the temple stands in utter ruin, as one can see in the pictures.

There is no raja gopuram here; instead, there is a dilapidated welcome arch. Unlike other temples of its period which are usually of granite or rock, this entire temple is a brick temple, including the vavval-nethi mandapam, the Amman shrine, and the garbhagriham.

There is no dhwajasthambam, but a long corridor with vaulted arches on either side brings us to the bali peetham and Nandi. This leads straight to the antarala and garbhagriham, where the moolavar is present as a fairly large Lingam. On the right is the shrine for Kamakshi Amman. Dakshinamurti (a beautiful, later period vigraham) is the only deity in the koshtam, indicating this is likely to have been a very old temple, with even the Dakshinamurti vigraham being a later addition.

The unkempt prakaram has shrines for Vinayakar, Murugan with his consorts Valli and Deivanai, Gajalakshmi, Chandikeswarar, Sani, Suryan and Chandran. In the niche on the northeast is also a separate, large vigraham of sage Agastyar, who worshipped at this temple. There is no Navagraham shrine.

While official puja takes place (or is required to take place) twice a day – between 10-11 am and 6-7 pm – there are barely any visitors. The temple’s priest also takes care of the nearby Tirumoolasthanam Tirumoolanathar temple. However, the temple is often kept open through the day. Otherwise, those living in nearby houses will be able to either open the temple for visitors, or point to the gurukkal’s place.

Nearby Kuppankuzhi used to be called Chaturveda Mangalam and is a brahmadeyam – land given for exclusive use by brahmins (those learned in the four Vedas, and hence Chatur-veda). This is the avatara sthalam of the Vaishnavite Acharya Nathamuni, who compiled the Divya Prabandham, and his grandson Yamunacharyar (Alavandar).