Moolavar: Sri Thiru Koolishwarar
Amman: Sri Tripurasundari Ambal
A beautiful Chola period temple built by Thondai mandala Chola king in remembrance of lord shiva who graced an old lady in Pandya kingdom by working for her for a handful of Puttu (A rice delicacy) referred in Thiruvilaiyadal purana of Shiva – ie pittukku man sumantha padalam.
It so happened in the Pandya kingdom once when the river Vaigai was flooded it breached the banks, So the Pandya king ordered, every house should send one person from each house to stop the breach. An old lady who sells puttu does not have children. So She prayed to Shiva. Shiva came and asked what, if he goes as a representative, She can offer as kooli or remuneration.The old lady replied that she would give puttu. Agreed Shiva, went to the spot, without doing anything was sleeping under a tree. On seeing this, the King beats lord Shiva with a stick. On receiving the beatings, Shiva vanished and the breach also stopped. The beating by the king was realized by everybody on their back. The Pandya King realized that the representative who came for the old lady was none other than Shiva. The King prayed to Shiva to forgive him. Shiva pardoned the Pandya King and blessed him.
Because shiva himself worked as a coolie, in his remembrance this temple was built here by the chola king and gave the name Koolishwarar.
The temple’s Mukha mandapam was added during the Vijayanagara period. The dilapidated temple stones which include pranala ( Yazhi) /komukha, and ceiling stones are used for the Kondangi lake overflow/weir point today.
Another point of views exists tht the Vijayanagara King Veerasingarayan's representative Ramalinga Ayyan, inscription ( 1506 CE ), records that the Taxes of Neerkuli - Neerkooli to the Pattaviruthi land was collected here.
In 1537 CE, The Vijayanagara King's representative Thimmappa Nayaka's period inscription records the gift of land for the continuation of worship at this temple. (ARE 1934-35, Nos 53 & 54 ).
The Inscription at Nellikuppam Vendavarasi Amman Temple records that Kathiri Nayakkan a representative of the King, collected the taxes and given to this Kondangi Thirukuzhieswaramudayar temple to burn Lamp in memory of his parents. Also, he made an agreement with merchants for the supply of required oil
Maha Vishnu vigraham was obtained from the Kondangi Lake, during the process of cleaning/desilting. You can see many old broken vigrahams around along with many stone inscriptions.
Contact: The temple person Sri Anand can be reached at 9962265006
Location: Sri Thiru Koolishwarar Temple, Kondangi, Chengalpattu
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