Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Kottrallishwarar temple-Koviloor, Karaikudi,Tamil nadu

The Kottarleeshwarar temple is about 1000 years old, built by Pandya kings and is situated in pristine surroundings at Koviloor near  Karaikudi, 

First time, when I visited the temple it appeared neglected and was in bad shape . My second visit, a few months ago left me  speechless as the temple had transformed into a magnificent structure. The sparkling bright colors  made it easy  to recognize the well carved statues on the tower and around the temple. Lord Siva, here, is known as Kottralishwarar and the  Goddess is known as Tirunellai Amman. More information about the temple can be read at this link .http://www.kovilur.com/temple.htm
The temple recently had a Kumbabhishekam . The temple tank is right in front of the temple and is maintained well with its circular pillared  mandapam in the center. There is yet another  beautiful mandapam in Southern side of the temple which has fabulous paintings on the ceiling made with natural dyes. In the center of the ceiling the Rasi chakra is depicted. Go through my album and enjoy the visual treat.

This temple is just about 6-7 Kms from the famous Pillayarpatti temple.

How to reach-
 Karaikudi,Can be reached from Madurai and Trichy which is  at a distance of 70 Kms and 82 Kms respectively.

Buses ply from all the towns in Tamil Nadu to Karaikudi and all the above temples are on regular bus routes and are easily reachable.

Karaikudi town has good number of hotels for boarding as well as lodging.

Pictures here.