Chettikulam Ekambareswarar Temple

The first thing you see, long before you arrive, is the rajagopuram: about 100 feet tall and visible from roughly ten miles across the plain. In the sanctum Shiva is Ekambareswarar, a swayambu lingam also called the Jyothi Lingam because he appeared out of a blaze of light. The goddess Kamakshi has her own temple to his left, in the northern Kubera corner, with Mahalakshmi and Saraswathi in the niches of her shrine. The festival image is Somaskandar.

The temple legend goes like this. The land was once a thick kadamba forest, and a travelling merchant had to spend a night in it. At midnight a tower of fire rose in front of him, and inside it stood a Shiva lingam with devas and sages worshipping around it. Shaken, he ran to tell the Chola king. Kulasekhara Pandiyan, a guest at the Chola court at the time, came along. In the forest an old man shuffled up to them, leaning on a red sugarcane for a stick. He pointed out the spot where the lingam lay hidden, then turned into light and was gone. Looking east, the way the light had gone, the kings saw Murugan standing on a hill as Dhandayuthapani. They built a temple here for Ekambareswarar and another on the hill for Dhandayuthapani, and the two are still registered together as the Ekambareswarar and Dhandayuthapani Swami Temple. On that hill, about 2.5 km away and reachable by road to the top, Murugan holds a sugarcane instead of his vel and faces west towards Ekambareswarar, while Kamakshi down below is shown without the sugarcane she usually carries.

What made the temple famous is its Kuberas. Twelve carvings of the god of wealth, one for each rasi, sit on the pillars of the front halls of the Shiva and Kamakshi shrines and in the niches of the Shiva sanctum. Each rides a fish, his vehicle, and each in a different pose. Add the Maha Kubera on the rajagopuram and the temple holds thirteen. A separate Kubera shrine went up inside the compound in 2012.

There is plenty for anyone who likes stonework. Ten pillars in the inner hall each ring with a different note when tapped with a dry sandalwood stick. Behind the northern guardian pillar of the sthapana mandapam is a trick carving: one head that reads as an elephant from one side and a bull from the other. Varaguna Ganapathy, under a five-headed serpent, is in the front hall; his name means the one who grants good character. In the western corridor Subramaniar rides his peacock with Valli and Deivanai, framed by an arch shaped like a vel. The 63 Nayanmars, Kasi Viswanathar, the Navagrahas, Bhairavar and Surya are also in the corridors. Every year on the mornings of Panguni 19, 20 and 21 the sun's rays fall straight on the lingam. The sacred tree is the vilvam and the tank is the Brahma Theertham.

The temple's beginnings are known only through the legend above, and the Kulasekhara Pandiyan of that story is still tied to its name. The standing building clearly shows Pandya work: the seven-tier rajagopuram is theirs, and the pillars of the maha mandapam carry Pandya-period sculpture. The temple also has a large hall full of carved pillars. The temple is sometimes credited to Parantaka Chola (c. 907 to 955 CE), though the Chola and Pandya kings of the legend do not fit that date. In 2012 a family from Chettikulam built a separate Kubera shrine inside the compound. The temple is run today by the Tamil Nadu HR&CE department.

Most people come here to pray for prosperity and relief from debt. Many look for the Kubera of their own rasi and worship him on Fridays and during Sukra hora, and all thirteen Kuberas receive a special abhishekam on the Amavasai near Deepavali and on Akshaya Tritiya. Those hoping for marriage or a child offer milk payasam to Varaguna Ganapathy and put a garland of arugampul grass on him. On the three Panguni mornings when sunlight reaches the lingam, a special abhishekam is held, and its water is given as prasadam to women hoping for a child. People also bring prayers about health, court cases, lost things and business troubles. Customary offerings are a veshti and saree for the god and goddess, abhishekam with milk, curd, tender coconut and sandal paste, and feeding devotees. These are devotional practices and no result is promised; for health or fertility concerns, please also see a doctor.