Thandeswarar Temple, Kozhumam
– Legends
Thandeswarar:
The king wanted to have Nataraja
(Cosmic Dancer), as the procession deity in this Temple. The sculptor failed
twice in making the idol. The angry king ordered capital punishment to the sculptor
if he failed in making the idol perfect in the third attempt. The broken
sculptor begged the Lord to end his life himself instead of by the executors of
the king. The Lord, in all sympathy, offered the sculptor his darshan and set
himself beautifully as an idol. This Idol was named as Thandeswarar, the
processional deity of the Temple. The Temple was also named after the
processional deity.
Chozheeswarar:
Once, King
Veera Chola of Kongu Chola branch, was suffering from the adverse effect of
planet Sun. The region lost its luster and fertility. Scared king approached
his Guru for a solution. As advised by him, he built this Shiva temple clearing
the jungle area dense with Vilwa trees. Hence, the temple was built by Veera
Chola, Lord came to be called as Chozheeswarar.
Then Chidambaram (Chidambaram of South):
Lord Nataraja (Thandeswarar) appears
here too with one leg upward as in Chidambaram temple. Hence, the shrine is
known as Then Chidambaram (Chidambaram of the South).
Then Thanjai:
Kozhumam popularly called as
Then Thanjai (Thanjavur of the south is noted for hoary past, rich antiquity, history
and tradition.
Kozhumam:
It was earlier known as Kumanan
Nagar as King Kumanan of Sangam Era was ruling this place. Later, a group (Kuzhu)
of merchants were here doing trade, the place came to be known as Kuzhumur.
Later, got corrupted to Kozhumam.
