An ancient temple in the city of waterfalls - Kuttralanathar Temple, Courtallam

Courtallam is a small town located near Tirunelveli city in South India. It is an ancient city; the reference to this town can be found in ancient Tamil literature. 

Courtallam is a top-rated tourist destination in South India due to its nine waterfalls. Among the nine, the most important waterfall is called "Main Falls" or "Peraruvi". Near the Main Falls, at the foothills of Courtallm hills which is a part of Western Ghats, the age-old temple of Lord Shiva is located. Shiva is named Kutralanathar in this temple. The town is named Kutralam (Courtallam) after this deity.

Courtallam Shenbaga Devi Falls

The ancient Kutralanathar temple has many Chola and Pandya-era inscriptions. The temple is a Devaram Paadal Petra Sthalam and also a Shakti Peetham. Hence, it is auspicious for Shiva and Shakti. The temple's glory was sung by Tirugnana Sambandhar. 

Courtallam is one of the five sacred sites (sabhas) of Nataraja (Shiva in dancing posture). The sabha in this town is called Chitra Sabha - the hall of paintings. The small temple called Chitra Sabha is located nearby, which remains a lesser-known destination. 

The presiding deity, also known as Kurumpalaveesar, is in the form of a big Shiva Linga. The entrance of the sanctum has the icons of Ganesha and Murugan. The procession idols (utsava images), icons of Nataraja and Sivakami, a Shiv Linga with Uma and Anuknai Vinayakar are also seen within the same shrine.

The Goddess having a beautiful Tamil name, Kuzhalvaaimozhi Amman, is enshrined in an equally significant shrine. The small passage surrounding this shrine has the Murtis of Kailasanathar and Durga. Nandi is seen facing her. The entrance has the image of Ganesha.

Chitra Sabha Temple, Courtallam

There is a separate shrine for Adi Parasakthi, which is very popular. It is because of her, this site is considered a Shakthi Peetham. 

The temple has a small tower followed by a long exterior hall (mandapa). On either side of the tower entrance, the images of Ganesha and Murugan are found. Many beautiful life-sized sculptures such as kings and gorgeous ladies are located on the mandapa pillars. Nandi facing the main shrine, bali peetha, and flagstaff are also found here.

The inner corridor (prakara) has the following icons/shrines:

1) Adikara Nandi with his consort

2) Linga and Ambal

3) Big sculpture of Surya

4) Dakshinamurti shrine

5) 5 small Shiv Lingas

6) Sapta Matas

7) Brahma

8) Kumbha Muni

9) Suradeva

10) Ayyanar

11) Brahmi

12) Vishnu

13) Narasimha

14) Ganesh

15) Kanni Vinayakar shrine

16) Chandra

17) Vanmeeginathar with his consort

18) Vishnu

19) Jambukeshwarar with his consort

20) Annamalai with his consort

21) Kalathiappar with his consort

22) Tirumoolanath with his consort

23) Ramalinga with his consort

24) Murugan-Valli-Devasena along with Shiv Linga-Parvati in a small shrine

25) Chandikeswarar

26) Shaneeswarar

The outer corridor (prakara) of the temple has a lot of important shrines/icons. 

The sthala vruksham of the temple is Kurumpala. Kurubalanathar (Shiv Linga form) is seated below the holy tree. We can clearly hear the sound of water falling from the main falls near this tree. A small piece of the original tree (1000 years old) is also found here. Some of the other icons/shrines located in the outer corridor include:

1) 63 nayanmars

2) Vishnu shrine (Ganesh in the entrance)

3) Sailappar shrine

4) Vallabha Vinayakar

5) Papanasar and Ulagamman

6) Nellaiyappar and Kanthimathi

7) A rare collection of icons - Mankkolanathar (Shiva) marrying Parvati - Vishnu, Brahma and Agastya nearby - all sandalwood icons

8) Narumbunathar

9) Sankaralinga with his consort

10) Chokkanathar and Meenakshi

11) Ayyanar sitting on a tall horse

12) Ayyanar with his consorts - in a different form - similar to Shiva Linga

13) Somalinga

14) Marundeeswarar and Aramvalartha Nayaki

15) Agastya and Ganesh

16) the site where the waterfalls can be seen - the same site where Arjun got back his lost chambudam

17) Vasuki shrine

18) Sivalayamuni shrines

19) Mahalinga shrine

20) Sahastra Linga shrine

21) Viswanath and Visalakshi

22) Ayyanar with Ganesh

23) Ayyanar in Linga like shape

24) A lot of Ganesh icons in the entrance of many of the above shrines

25) A very big and important shrine for Adi Parasakthi

Courtallam is well associated with the saint Agastya. As per the legend, Lord Shiva married Parvati in the Himalayas. The Himalayas were crowded like anything to witness this divine marriage, resulting in an imbalance. Lord Shiva sent Agastya to the South - to Courtallam city to avoid the imbalance. Later, it is believed that Agastya saw the divine wedding in Courtallam. It is also believed that Agastya shrunk an image of Lord Vishnu to create the sculpture of Shiva linga of this temple.

When you go to Courtallam, besides enjoying your time in the waterfalls, visit this temple.

Happy travelling.