Sri Tiruvirkolanadhar temple is located at Korukkambedu village in Tiruvallur district, Tamilnadu. The main deity of this temple is Thiruvirkolanathar with his consort Thiripurasundari. Thiruvirkolanathar is an incarnation of Lord Shiva and he is facing East direction in this temple. Sri Chakra is installed in the shrine. There is an injury scar on the head of Shiva lingam. Here Lord Shiva is Swayambhu. The koneru here is named Agni theertham.
Devotees believe that worshipping the mother would break obstacles in the way of wedding proposals. It is also believed that any sort of misunderstanding between husband and wife can be resolved if they worship the lord here.
The unique feature of this temple is that Lord Shiva’s procession idol (Utsavar) can be seen holding a bow and arrow in his hands. Such an idol is very rare and cannot be seen anywhere else.
Traditional dress is allowed for darshan.
Korukkambedu Sri Tiruvirkolanadhar Temple Timings:
Morning: 5.00 AM to 12.00 Noon
Evening: 4.00 PM to 8.00 PM
Sri Tiruvirkolanadhar Temple Significance:
The Lord is believed to have killed Asuras using the meru mountain as a bow and hence the name of the place is Thiruvirkolam (vir or vil is bow, kolam is the appearance and pose). After performing his aggressive dance in Tiruvalangadu to subdue kali, the lord is believed to have performed his protecting dance to her here at Thiruvirkolam.
Tharka Madha:- At the request of sages Munjikesar and Karkodar, Lord Shiva played his oordhva thandavam a dance with fast and furious movements and won kali in the competition. Kali was too angry to accept her defeat. Lord Shiva told kali that he would be playing a pleasing dance Raksha dance in Thiruvirkolam when she can have his darshan and shed her anger. Kali had the pleasing darshan of the lord on the occasion and became merciful. Kali is gracing the devotees in the name of Tharka Madha in a separate shrine a little away from the temple. kali assumed the name of tharka madha as she contested against Lord Shiva in the dance competition. Tharka in Sanskrit means debate.
The Tale of Dharmaseelan:- In koovam, there lived a Brahmin called Dharmaseelan. He and his wife were staunch devotees of Lord Tripuranthaka and took immense pleasure in feeding the Shivacharyas who came to their doorstep. Over time, Dharmaseelan had spent all his earnings, feeding the Shivacharyas and had to resort to selling all that he had in order to continue to do so. At one point, he sold even his wife’s mangalsutra when he had nothing else worth selling. Once the money received out of the sale was spent, Dharmaseelan and his wife had absolutely nothing, to even feed themselves. For eight days, they did not have a morsel of food to eat. They still walked weakly to the temple to worship Lord Tripuranthaka and looked out for Shivacharyas. On the ninth day, a Sivacharya walked up to the doorstep of Dharmaseelan, asking for food. Dharmaseelan did not know what to do. He ran through the streets of Koovam, seeking alms and was able to get two measures of rice. He ran back home, asking his wife to make porridge with the rice. The Sivacharya drank the porridge to his heart’s content. After he left, Dharmaseelan and his wife sat down to drink the remaining porridge. At that moment, there was another Sivacharya at the door. Dharmaseelan stood up to receive the mendicant, but due to hunger and fatigue, fell down. His wife cried at his plight. Dharmaseelan soon dragged himself up and gave the remaining porridge to the visitor. At that moment, Lord Tripuranthaka appeared before them and told them that every day a pot full of rice will appear in his shrine for use by Dharmaseelan for his noble deeds.
Sri Tiruvirkolanadhar Temple History:
It is said that when Lord Shiva was performing penance here, the sound of frogs was a hindrance to penance, hence there are no frogs in the Agni theertham here. This temple was built in the 7th century A.D. by Chola Kings.
Sri Tiruvirkolanadhar Temple Address:
Sri Tripuranthakeswarar Temple,
koovam, Via,
Perambakkam,
Tiruvallur,
Tamil Nadu – 631402.
