Kundala Karaneswarar Temple

Kundala Karaneswarar Temple stands in the village of Thirukkurankaval, about 11 km by road from Vaitheeswaran Koil in Mayiladuthurai district. Shiva is worshipped here as Kundalakaraneswarar, with his consort Bala Tripura Sundari, and the Ganapathy Theertham, a tributary of the Cauvery, flows beside the temple. It is counted as the 28th of the Tevaram Paadal Petra Sthalams in Chola Nadu north of the Kaveri, and as one of the five Kaavus, though it now draws far fewer visitors than the others.

Its legend is shared with nearby Karuppariyalur. Hanuman, seeking pardon for trying to uproot the lingam at Rameswaram, is believed to have built a temple to Shiva here and offered him his earrings, or kundalams, which gave the deity his name. Hanuman's shrine faces Shiva's, and this is described as one of only two places, with Rameswaram, where he is shown worshipping Shiva. Local belief holds that monkeys still enter the sanctum in Chittirai and Vaikasi to offer flowers or bilva leaves.