Kundala Karaneswarar Temple

Vimana of Kundala Karaneswarar shrine

After Lord Rama vanquished Ravana in the battle of Ramayana, he returned to Ayodhya to be crowned King. Ravana, although a personification of evil, had acquired his immense powers through years of penance and devotion to Lord Shiva Hence while Lord Rama vanquished the evil that Ravana represented, he had at the same time also vanquished a devout Bhakt of Lord Shiva. To atone for killing a devotee of Lord Shiva, regardless of the justification, Lord Rama was advised to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva at Rameshwaram in South Tamil Nadu, within 2 days of the victory. His devotee Lord Hanuman was assigned the task of finding a linga suitable for the atonement-rituals. He was to be accompanied by Jatayu in his search.

Lord Hanuman and Jatayu searched high and low before finding one in Northern India, near present-day Kashi. However they found it difficult to get their hands onto the lingam as it was guarded by Lord Kala Bhairava, another incarnation of Lord Shiva. A battle ensued between Lord Hanuman and Lord Kala Bhairavar with the former finally prevailing.

Back in Rameshwaram, time was running out. With no sign of Lord Hanuman or Jatayu, Lord Rama advised his consort Lord Sita to prepare a lingam out of the sea sand nearby. She did so, and this was used for the atonement rituals.

As the rituals were coming to a close, Lord Hanuman was sighted with the lingam in hand.

However, on noticing that the rituals were completed without his presence, he was extremely disappointed. He tried prevailing on Lord Rama to use the lingam procured by him, for the rituals, instead of the one constructed by Lord Sita. In a bid to appease him Lord Rama suggested that if that were to be done, Lord Hanuman would have to move aside the lingam constructed by Lord Sita and place the lingam brought by him, in its place.

As hard as Lord Hanuman tried, he could not move the lingam. Finally he tried to wrap his tail around it and yank it off the ground. The force he applied was so great that the lingam did get uprooted, but landed a few miles away from Rameshwaram in a place called Hanuman Pallam (pit created by Lord Hanuman). In the process, his tail got separated from his body.

Lord Hanuman realized his folly. It was pre-ordained that the lingam prepared by Lord Sita was to be used for the rituals and sought forgiveness from Lord Rama and Sita to regrow his tail.

Lord Rama suggested to Lord Hanuman that he seek forgiveness from Lord Shiva instead and suggested that Lord Hanuman visit Thirukurungaval and worship Lord Shiva there to get back his tail. Hence the place has acquired its name, Tirukurunkaval (Place where Lord Shiva was worshipped by a monkey-faced God) The testimony to this story is that it is one of the few Lord Shiva temples in the world, with a shrine to Lord Hanuman facing Lord Shiva.

Finally Lord Hanuman Understood that lord Shiva is great devotee of lord Rama [3]

Kuntaleswarar temple is located near the well known Vaideeswaran Koyil. The village is accessible by road from Vaitheeswaran Koil and is about 7 km from the temple.[4]A tributary of Cauvery, Ganapathy Theertham runs alongside this temple.

Kuntaleswarar temple is considered to be the 28th in the series of the Tevara Padal Petra Stalams located in Chola Nadu, north of the river Kaveri.[5] This temple is located close to the Karuppariyalur temple, another Padal petra sthalam which shares the same legend.[6] Hanuman worshipped Shiva seeking pardon for the offence of having tried to uproot the Shivalingam at Rameswaram. Shiva (Aparadha Kshameswarar) is said to have blessed Hanuman at Karuppariyalur, and Hanuman is believed to have built a temple for Shiva at Kurakkukka nearby. Lord Hanuman is said to have offered his Kundalams (ear rings) to Lord Shiva here, hence goes the name of the deity, Kundalakaraneshwarar. It is said that even to this day, a pack of monkeys enter the sanctum in the summer months of Chittirai and Vaikasi making offerings of flowers or Blilva leaves to the deity.[7]

This is also one of the five Kaavus, though much less visited today: The other four are – Thirukkodikkaa in Thirukkodikaaval, Thirukkolakkaa (Osai Kodutta Nayaki temple, Sirkazhi), Thirunellikkaa (near Thiruvarur) and Thiruvaanaikkaa (Trichy).[8]

The temple has a shrine to Lord Kundalakaraneshwarar (Lord Shiva), his consort, the Ambal Kuntalalambika or Sri Elasowndari Ambal or Bala Tripura Sundari, and Lord Anjaneya. Lord Anjaneya's shrine faces that of Lord Shiva. It is one of the two places in the world (the other being Rameshwaram) where Lord Anjaneya, typically known as devotee of Lord Rama, is shown worshipping Lord Shiva. The temple also has a shrine to Lord Gajalakshmi, Lord Chandikeshwarar, Lord Dakshinamurthy, Goddess Durga and others.