Azhagiya Koothar Temple (Veera Pandiswarar Temple),
Kattarimangalam – Legends
There was a king by name Singa Varman who ruled
Uthiradhesam. Singa Varman was tyrant ruler and his people suffered a lot.
Later he changed to be a good-hearted man and decided to go to forest for doing
meditation (Thavam). He saw the sages Pathanjali Munivar and Vyakarapadhar.
Lord Shiva gave them darshan and the King also had witnessed it. The sages
asked the kind to build Lord Nataraja temple in Chidambaram. The King asked the
Sculptors to make a Natarajar statue made of Copper and they created a
beautiful Nataraja statue. The statue in copper metal itself was so captivating
that the king wondered how beautiful it will be to make similar statue of
Natarajar in Gold.
The King ordered the head sculptor Namasivaya Muthu to
create Natarajar statue in Gold. The statue was made in Gold but seems every
night Lord Shiva would drop a copper coin over it secretly to change the golden
statue in to copper statue. The king was shocked to see this and ordered to
keep the head sculptors in the fort Jail. The sculptor pleaded the King to
prove his innocence but in vain. That night Lord Shiva as Natarajar appeared in
Dream to the king and said, “I don’t wish to be in Gold, I wish to be in
Copper”. So, the King released the sculptor.
Lord Shiva also asked the King to do this. The copper
Nataraja must be carried by the sculptor – Namasivaya. The place where the
copper statue weighs too much that they can’t proceed further, that will become
the residence of the Copper Nataraja and the Temple must be built there. Thus,
when the sculptor Namasivaya came towards south, carrying the Nataraja statue
over his head on the banks of river Thamirabarani, it weighed so much that he
could not move ahead. So, the statue was placed there. Copper in Tamil is
Cheppu. Hence the lord got the name Chepparai Natarajar.
Ramapandian, a local king built the temple there and
installed Nellaiyappar with Mother Gandhimadhi and also built a shrine for Lord
Nataraja, the Cosmic Dancer. Veerapandian, a chieftain under king Ramapandian
happened to see a Nataraja idol in Chepparai. He told a sculptor that he wanted
two such idols closely similar to Chepparai Nataraja. After completion,
Veerapandian installed one in Kattarimangalam temple and the other at
Karisuzhndha Mangalam. He was so happy to see the beauty of the idols.
The king thought that no one should have such beautiful
Nataraja idol and called his men and ordered them to kill the sculptor so that
he could not make idols further. The merciful men spared the sculptor
after cutting off his hands. The chief king Ramapandian, on hearing this
gruesome act ordered cutting off the hands of Veerapandian. The
Sthapathy-sculptor was treated with an artificial hand. The
art-hungry sculptor established his skill by making the third idol too with his
wooden hand. It was a wonderful idol than the earlier two. The
excited sculptor touched hard the cheeks of the idol and his hard touch made a
scar on the cheeks of the Idol. This was installed in Karuvelankulam.