Aakkoor Thanthondreeswarar Temple - Legends
Story behind the place name Aakkoor:
King
Kochenganan was suffering from ulcer in the stomach. A voice said
that he could be cured if he built in a temple at a place that had three sthala
vrikshas-sacred trees. He saw Kondrai, Pakku and Vilwa trees here
and began building the temple. During the construction, the wall
built the previous day would fall the next day. He begged Lord Shiva
for the solution. He was advised to feed 1000 Brahmins for 48
days. He found that one Brahmin short each day. He again
fell at the feet of the Lord to help him.
On the
final day - 48th day-all the seats were full with 1000 Brahmins
present. The king politely asked the old 1000th guest to which
place he belonged to. The old man replied “Yarukku Oor” meaning
“place! to whom?” The security with the king was angry as the old man
questioned back the king. The guest ran from there and disappeared in an
anthill. When opened, a Swayambulinga was found in the anthill with
an injury caused by the hit of the crowbar used to demolish the
anthill. It is still visible on the Linga.
Vinayaka advising King for selecting the place for
Temple:
This is
a place that enjoys a higher importance than Kasi. Sri Vinayaka behind
the temple is praised as Lord Poyya Vinayaka. He came in the
disguise of a Brahmin to a king wandering around the place and enquired of his
problem. The king replied that he was searching for a location to
build a temple. Lord Vinayaka advised the king to stay at the bottom
of the tank for some three and half hours (Nazhigai) to get the
reply. The king stood confused. Lord Vinayaka said that
the place was more holy than Kasi and what was left in Kasi could be recovered
from this tank. The king obeyed the advice of the Brahmin and came
out with the sanctum sanctorum. He was happy and built this temple.
Shiva came himself to a Chola King Annadhanam:
A Chola
king used to feed 1000 members daily and one day the Lord Himself came as one
of them (Aayirathil Oruvar) with a stick in his hand and took food. We can see
this sculpture in the temple.