Kodunkundreeswarar Temple, Piranmalai

Kodunkundreeswarar Temple climbs Piranmalai, a fortified hill over 2,000 feet high in Singampunari taluk, Sivaganga district, 7 km from Singampunari and 20 km from Tiruppathur. The hill, a last outcrop of the Eastern Ghats said to have been ruled by the chieftain Paari, is also sacred to Muslims, with a dargah of Sheikh Abdullah Shaheb on its peak; at its foot remain traces of a moat and of Fort Marudhu, pulled down in the early 19th century.

The temple covers some 30 acres and rises in three tiers representing the netherworld, earth and sky. Shiva is Kodunkundranathar on the lowest level, Vishwanathar with Vishalakshi in the middle and Mangaibagar, made of nine herbs, in a cave shrine at the top, where a natural rock carving shows his marriage to Parvati as Thenammal. There are no Nandis or flagposts, Murugan appears with an elephant rather than a peacock, and the sun falls on the sanctum for six months of the year. A Paadal Petra Sthalam, it celebrates Brahmotsavam in Chittirai.