Koorathangudi Kalasamhareshwara Temple

Koorathangudi Village, Nagapattinam District, Tamil Nadu, India (Coordinates: Koorathangudi Temple @10.690769,79.700221)

The very thought of the place evokes pleasant memories despite the short time spent there. I'm referring to a small hamlet called Koorathangudi; home to all of 350 people. Koorathangudi is located in Nagapattinam District of Tamil Nadu, in deep Southern India. Part of the famed rice belt before the Thanjavur district as the area was then known was split to make way for the Nagapattinam District. Don't try looking up the Google Maps yet...

We were there to gather help in getting our Centuries Old Temple which lay in ruins due to age. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva at his tempestuous best as the Slayer of Yama. Legend has it that Markandeya; the son of Sage Mrikandu was born after severe penance. The condition was that the sage was to choose between a long lived dunce or a shortlived brilliant child. The sage chose the second and thus Markandeya was born with an assured life span of 16 years.

Markandeya grew up to be a devotee of Lord Shiva and worshipped the lord every day with great devotion and unconditional love.

16 years hence; on his tryst with death; he continued to worship the lord Shiva as usual; when the messenger of death Lord Yama and his messengers came up to take Markandeya's life. Lord Yama according to the legend; threw his noose (pāśa) around Markandeya's neck. By virtue of the fact that Markandeya was close to Lord Shiva; the pāśa looped around the Shiva Linga as well. This angers Lord Shiva who in all his fury; emerges and kicks Lord Yama and kills him. As a result Lord Shiva is also called "Kalasamhareshwara" or "Yamasamhareshwara"

This act of slaying the Lord of Death causes all Life on Earth to live in perpetuity creating severe problems of over population and strain on the resources. As a result; the Earth Goddess (Bhoomadevi) and other gods reached out to Lord Shiva and request him to reverse the punishment meted out to Lord Yama and revive him so the cycle of Life could continue as usual.

The Lord revives Yama on the condition that Markandeya would be spared death and that Yama would build temples for Lord Shiva at several places. The Lord himself would emerge at one of the temples built by Yama and release him from the punishment meted out earlier. Yama built several temples dedicated to Lord Shiva; one of them being the temple at Koorathangudi.

It is said that the act of absolving Yama happened at Koorathangudi; while the Shiva Lingam which was consecreated at this place by Yama was later carried by Yama himself to Srivanjiyam where it is to this day. All traces of Koorathangudi as a significant place vanished with time while Srivanjiyam and Tirukkadayur gained prominence.

The temple at Koorathangudi is dedicated to Lord Shiva (Yamasamhareshwara) and his consort Kumkumavalli. Shrines for Lord Vigneshwara (Ganapathy/ Vinayaka), Lord Murugan (Subramanya/ Karthikeya) were built later. The oldtimers in the village say that those who worship at the Lord at this temple are freed from the fear of death (Lord Yama)

Lord Vishnu; had a separate temple to the South West of this temple; this temple was lost to the nature's fury and it was only as recently as two decades ago that the idol was found in the nearby pond and resurrected. The idol is currently housed in the shrine of Goddess Kumkumavalli.

Similarly stone images of Nagaraja (Snake God) housed below the Pipal tree(Arasa Maram) which was also uprooted in a storm are also housed in the temple. Under the renovation programme; it is proposed that separate shrines be built for Goddess Durga, Lord Vishnu and the Navagrahas (Surya, Chandra, Mangal, Budha, Brihaspathi, Shukra, Shani, Rahu and Ketu)

The temple renovation has commenced and the Kumbhabhishekam/ Consecration of the temple is expected to be performed in an year’s time. Support in any form is welcome and would help with the renovation process.

Folks interested in lending a hand can send a mail to my id available on my profile. We will get in touch with you and provide the necessary information to answer any questions you may have.

As I write this blog, the idols of the gods have been relocated in order to commence work after completion of the ground breaking ceremony which took place on 23rd May 2010.

The Village can be reached by bus or by Taxi. The nearest town being Tiruvarur. Tiruvarur town is the capital of Tiruvarur district and is approximately 33o km from Chennai city and is accessible by Rail/ Road. From Tiruvarur, one can take a bus towards Nagaloor. From Nagaloor, Koorathangudi is 2.5km further to the east. (There are no bus services to the village)