Ashta Veerattanam Sthalangal

Back in February of 2017, we posted this article. Now in upcoming weeks we will be posting an article about each temple from Ashta Veerattanam Sthalangal. Hence reposting the introductory article again to set the context of upcoming articles.

There are 8 Shiva temples in Tanjavur district of Tamil Nadu along the banks of river Kaveri. These temples were built about more than 1000 years ago. In all these places, Lord Shiva has performed destruction and has shown exemplary valor. Here he took these actions to destroy Asuras and evil forces. These temples were built to commemorate the triumph of victory over evil i.e. to remove the negative features like ego, ignorance, lust and fear of death, etc. In one place, Lord Shiva cut one of Lord Brahma’s head and gave him life again (Brahma is a Brahmin and also responsible for creation – hence it was appropriate that he was brought back to life by Shiva). 

These events indicate that evil or ego will not go un-punished. In all these temples, the special feature is that there exists various Shiva idols known as Samhara moortis.

Temple	Location	Name of Lord Shiva	Name of Goddess	Sthala Vruksha	Name of Special Moorthy	Importance of the place
Thiruvadigai Veerattaaneswara Temple	Thiruvadigai, Panruti	Veerattaneshwar	Periya-nayaki	Bahava (Sara Kondrai)	Tripurantaka Moorthy	Tripura samharak place
Tirukovilur Veerateshwarar Temple	Tirukovilur	Veeratteswarar	Shivananda-valli	Bahava (Sara Kondrai)	Gangala Moorthy	Andhakasura samharak place
Amirta-ghateswarar Temple	Thirukadaiyur	Amirta-ghateswarar	Abhirami Amman	Bilva, Pinjalam (Gulabi Chameli)	Kalasamhara moorthy	Markandeya was saved by Shiva by killing Yama
Vazhuvur Viratteswarar Temple	Vazhuvur, Mayiladuthurai	Krithivasar	Ilankilai-naayaki	Shami, Deodar (Indian teak wood), Kapurimadura (Jadi)	Gaja samhara moorthy	The rogue elephant created by sages at Darukh van was slain by Lord Shiva
Tirupariyalur	Keelaparasalur, Nagapattinam	Veerateshwar (Daksha-kurishwar)	Ilam Kobanayal – Balambika	Bilva, Jackfruit	Daksha samhara moorthy	Daksha samhara place
Thirukandeeswarar Temple	Thirukkandiyur	Brahma-sira- kandeeswarar	Mangala-nayaki	Bilva	Brahma-shiracheda moorthy, Hara Saabha Vimochana moorthy	Place where Brahma’s 5th head was cut by Lord Shiva
Thiruvirkudi	Thiruvirkudi, Tiruvarur	Veerataneshwar	Parimala nayaki	Tulasi	Jalandarasura samhara moorthy	Jalandarasura samhar place
Thirukkurakkai	Korukkai, Nagapattinam	Yogeshwarar	Gnanambika	Harada, Punniai (Alexandrian Lourel)	Kamadahan Moorthy	Kamadahan (Manmada) dahan place