Uthavedeeswarar Temple

The Uthavedeeswarar Temple is located in Kuthalam and is dedicated to God Uthavedeeswarar. Mother Parvathi fell in love with God and was determined to have his hand. To achieve her wish she persuaded God Shiva to meet her parents and seek their consent. The God being an abode of all noble traits did so. They were happily married with the consent of her parents. This is a lesson for modern lovers to follow that they should get married without antagonizing parents of both sides. Sage Bharatha desired to have Mother Parvathi as his daughter and performed intense penance. The God made blessed him and Mother Parvathi came to the sage from a fire pit (Homa Kundam). The sage nurtured her and she attained the marriageable age. As her sole desire was to have God Shiva as her own God, she performed penance on the banks of Cauvery by making a Linga with sand. She also found a Shiva Linga there and was happy that God Shiva responded her prayer. God appeared from the Lingam and took Parvathi by hand. However, the Mother requested the God to take her with the consent of her parents. The God was too happy at the suggestion. After a while, the God sent Nandhi to Parvathi's parents with his proposal, according to custom. They were very happy at the offer. The day too was fixed for the wedding. The God came to this place on his Nandhi, the bull vehicle, accompanied by the Uddhala tree to give shadow on the way. The God came to Kuthalam, and took Parvathi in holy matrimony. To mark this event, God Shiva left his sandals (padukas) and the tree here. Devotees can have the darshan of the Padukas in the temple. Mother Parvathi, Mother Kali, Sages Kashyapa, Angirasa, Gautama, Markandeya, Vasishta, Pulasthya and Agasthya are said to have worshipped God Shiva in this temple. Shiva was married to Parvathi at this place and the god is believed to have left his sandals here before embarking for Mount Kailash.