குற்றாலம் திருக்குற்றாலநாதர் கோயில்Courtallam Kutralanathar Temple

Sthala Mahātmyam

Kutralam, set amid the waterfalls of the Western Ghats, enshrines the Chitra Sabhai, the Hall of Pictures, fifth of the Pancha Sabhai, where Shiva is said to have danced the Tripura Tandava. Unlike the other halls, the Chitra Sabhai stands apart from the main temple and its walls are covered with hundreds of murals drawn from the epics and Puranas, painted in natural herbal dyes; the artwork was commissioned by a Pandya patron in the fifteenth century. The presiding Lord is Kutralanathar and his consort is Kuzhalvaimozhi Ammai (Parasakthi). The sthala legend recalls sage Agastya, sent south by Shiva to balance the earth at the time of the celestial wedding at Kailasa: unable to witness the marriage, he came here, and Shiva granted him darshan of the divine couple. Agastya is also said to have pressed a Vishnu image that shrank into the Kutralanathar lingam. The shrine of Parasakthi is counted among the Shakti Peethams. Its chief festival is the Arudra Darisanam with the Thaandava Deepa ritual, alongside the spring Vasanta Utsavam and Navaratri.