Sukreesvarar Temple, Sarkar Periyapalayam

Sukreesvarar Temple is a Shiva temple at Sarkar Periyapalayam, around 8 km from Tiruppur on the road to Uthukuli, on the north bank of the Noyyal River. The place was once called Kurakkuthali, a name tied to the belief that Sugriva of the Ramayana worshipped here, and it has also been known as Mukundapuri. The saint Sundarar mentions it in his hymns, making it one of the Vaippu Sthalams, and the walls carry inscriptions of the Cholas, Pandyas and Udayars.

The east-facing linga is worshipped as Sukreesvarar, called Aludaya Pillai in the inscriptions, and the goddess as Avudainayaki, facing south. A relief on the south wall shows a monkey worshipping the linga. Two Nandis sit before the shrine, one without ears: the story says a farmer cut them off and the image bled, so devotees set a new Nandi in front, but the two were later found back in their old places, and on divine instruction the old one was kept before the deity. The sun's rays reach the linga at the turn between Dakshinayana and Uttarayana.