This is the third shiva temple of the sapta sthanam. It is situated on the southern bank of river kaveri. This is one of the 276 padal pethtra sthalams revered by three Shaiva saints Shri Appar, Shri Sundarar and Shri Sambandhar. The temple is situated at Thiruchotruthurai in Thiruvaiyyaru taluka of Tanjavur district.
Mulavar: Shri Odhanavaneshwarar, Shri Chotruthurai-nadar, Shri Tholayachelvandar, Sri Oppilllachelvar
Devi: Shri Annapurni, Shri Tholayalachelvi, Shri Oppilaambika
Kshetra Vruksha: Bilva, Rishyagandha (Paneer flower tree in Tamil)
Sacred Teertha: Kaveri, Kudamurutti, Surya Teertha,
Puranik Name: Thiruchotruthurai, Gautamashram
The shiva linga is a swayambhu linga. The temple is facing the east. There is no rajagopuram. In it's place there is a sculpture of Shri Parvati Devi and Shri Shiva seated on Rishabh (nandi). There are two prakarams or parikramas. At the second entrance there is a three tiered gopuram. The temple is about 2000 years old built by chola kings.
Shrines and Idols:
In the main hall (artha mandap) we have Shri Muruga’s shrine. The idol is very huge with six heads and twelve hands known as Shri Shanmukha. The shrine of Shri Parvati Devi and Shri Shiva face east. Shri Parvati Devi's shrine is on the right side of Shri Shiva and she is in a wedding posture. There is a stone sculpture of sage worshiping Shri Shiva. Another stone sculpture depicts war between two groups. There is an idol of Kaal samhar murti. In the mahamandap, Shri Nandi faces the sanctum sanctorum. There is an idol of Shri Ganesha and Kashi Shiva Linga. There is an idol of a devotee couple who got a akshaya paatra from Shri Shiva. In the inner corridor, we have shrine of Shri Mahaganapati, Shri AdhikarNandi, Shri Lingodbhavar, Shri Navagraha, Shri Surya, Shri Bhairav, Shri Sapta Matrikas, Shri Pancha Bhuta Linga and Shri Sapta Sthana Linga and Shri AyyarAppar.
The koshtha murtis are - Shri Ganesha, Shri Dakshinamurti, Shri Vishnu, Shri Brahma, Shri Durga Devi, and Shri Chandikeshwar exist in their respective places. To the right side of sanctum, we have the shrine of Shri Subramanya facing the east, Shri Mahasiddha, idol of a shiva-gana worshiping Shri Shiva, Balipeetha, Shri Nandi and Dhwajasthambha. Devi Annapurni in her wedding attire is in a separate shrine. There is also Shri Nandi facing her shrine at the entrance. We have Shri Subramanya, Shri Ganesha and Shri Mahalakshmi idols also.
Those who worshiped here:
Shri Ramlinga Vallarar, Shri Ganesha, Shri Surya, Shri Indra. Sage Gautam obtained salvation at this place. Hence the place is known as Gautamashram.
Kshetra Purana:
Shri Indra got rid of his curse which he had incurred due to Sage Gautama.
After Shri Shriram went to forest, King Dasharatha came to worship Shri Shiva at this place.
It is believed that once upon a time rice instead of unhusked rice was grown at this place due to the grace of the Shri Shiva and Shri Annapurni Devi.
It is believed that once upon a time the lake nearby was filled with rice instead of water due to the grace of Shri Shiva, so that no one in the region died of starvation without food. So Shri Shiva is known as Shri Chotruthurai-nadar (who gave not only food but also salvation to the souls).
Once there was a very severe famine. All men, women and children were starving. The priest of the temple too had stopped coming to the temple. The staunch devotee of Shri Shiva, Arulalan who was sitting in the dark corner of the temple, cried to Shri Shiva and dashed his head against the steps of the entrance to the temple requesting the Shri Shiva to save them. Suddenly there was a rain and the whole area was flooded. A bowl (patra) came floating in the flood water. At that time Arulalan heard a celestial voice stating that patra was a akshaypatra which will help him to feed the people. He did as per the command of the celestial voice and got rid of the starvation and the famine in the region. Hence Shri Shiva is known as Shri Chotruthurai-nadar and Devi as Shri Annapurni.
As Shri Parvati Devi provided abundant food (rice) she is known as Shri Annapurni. This is one of the seven places where Shri Shiva fed his devotees.
Festivals:
Chitrai (April-May), Sapta Sthanams festival and Brahmotsav
Avani (August-Sept) Ganesh chaturthi
Purattasi (Sept-Oct) Navaratri
Aippasi (Oct-Nov) Annabhishek and Skanda shashthi festival
Karthigai (Nov-Dec) Festival of light known as Karthikeya Deepam
Thai (Jan-Feb) Makar Sankranti
Masi (Feb-Mar) Shivaratri.
Besides this the daily rituals, weekly pujas and fortnightly pradosha pujas are conducted. Arudra darshan is also celebrated.
Courtesy: Various websites and blogs
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