Iravatheeswarar Temple, Thirukottaram

Iravatheeswarar Temple is a Shiva temple in the village of Thirukottaram, on the banks of the Vanchiyaru, a tributary of the Kaveri. It was built by the Medieval Cholas about a thousand years ago, and inscriptions of Kulothunga Chola I claim him as its builder.

Legend says that Indra and his elephant Airavata once slighted the sage Durvasa, who cursed them both. Airavata had to live on earth as a wild elephant, freed only after a hundred years of visiting holy places, Thirukottaram among them. The temple is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams: Sambandar praised it in the Thevaram, and those verses are inscribed on the walls inside the sanctum. Besides the main shrine to Shiva there are shrines for Surya and Chandra, Ganesha, Murugan, Bhairava and Ardhanarisvara.