Thiruvalangadu : Where Shiva defeated Kali in dance contest

S Balakrishnan
Lord Shiva’s temple in Thiruvalangadu is an important shrine for many significant reasons: It is a very, very ancient temple (5th century); it is one of Five Cosmic Dance Halls of Lord Shiva; it is also one of the 276 most sacred Shiva temples in Tamil Shaivism; it was here Shiva won the dance contest with Kali; this site is considered so sacred that a woman saint did not dare set her feet but came moving with her head/hand! So, on this auspicious Maha Shivarathri day let us darshan this shrine of Lord Shiva in Thiruvalangadu.
Temples are considered sacred on the basis of three basic principles – foremost is the power of the ‘moorthy’ (deity), then the sacredness of the ‘sthal’ (place), and finally the holiness of the ‘thirth’ (the temple’s waterbody, such as tank, well, river, etc.,). The Thiruvalangadu shrine tops in all these three basic principles.
Lord Shiva is worshipped here as Shri Vataranyeswarar [Vat (banyan tree in Sanskrit)arany (forest) eswar (God)]. In Tamil the place is called Thiruvalangadu [‘Thiru’ is a honorific Tamil prefix equivalent to Shri or Holy, ‘alam’ is banyan tree and ‘kadu’ is forest, as the area was once a dense grove of banyan trees. Naturally, therefore, the sthala Vriksham (the temple’s sacred tree) is a large banyan tree located behind the sanctum in the North East. This ‘sthal’/shrine is one of the most praised Five Cosmic Dance Halls of Lord Shiva in Tamil Nadu; Thiruvalangadu is hailed as the ‘Rathna Sabha’ (Ruby Hall) among the Five Sabhas. Here Lord Nataraja (Shiva) performed the ‘Oorthathandavam’ cosmic dance. The other four Halls /Sabhas where Shiva performed cosmic dance are Chidambaram (Kanaka Sabha/Golden Hall), Madurai (Rajath Sabha/Silver Stage), Coutrallam(ChitraSabha/Paintings Hall) and Tirunelveli(ThamiraSabhai/Copper Hall). This shrine is also one of the 276 prominent Shiva Shrines that have been praised in hymns by saints of yore, hence hailed as ‘Padal (hymn) Petra (mentioned) Sthalams (shrines)’.
Why did Shiva and Kali contest in a dance duel?  According to sthalapurana (the legend of this shrine), two asuras – Sumbhan and Nisumbhan – got a boon from Shiva that every blood drop falling from their body would transform like themselves! The devas, unable to bear their torture, prayed to Shiva and He created Badhra Kali with eight hands from the vision of Goddess Shakti. Kali held every drop of blood of the two asuras in a skull and drank it, thus ending their life. Overcome with this victory, Kali now invited Shiva Himself for a fight.  Brahma, Vishnu and Naradhatalked Kali into a dance contest, instead. The dance duel was held under the supervision of two rishis, Sunandha Muni (later called Munjikesa Muni) and Kaarkodaka Serpent. Shiva performed 17 postures which Kali also easily replicated. It was then that Shiva decided to trick Kali by wantonly dropping His left earring and then picking it up with His left leg to again wear it on His ear. Hence this dance form of lifting the left leg is called Oorthava Thaandavam. Among the Five Sabhas where Shiva performed cosmic dances, Thiruvalangadu is the only Sabha where He performed this rare Oorthava Thaandavam by lifting His left leg. Modesty prevented Kali from performing such a posture and She gave up. Hence Lord Nataraja is worshipped here as Oorthava Thaandava Moorthy in the Ruby Hall; gold-plated idol of Oorthava Thaandava Moorthy with His consort Sivagami is housed here. There is a separate sanctum within the temple complex for Goddess Parvathi who is worshipped by the name “Vandarkuzhali Amman” (meaning the one whose locks attract beetles to suck honey from the flowers that decorate Her hair dressing).
The granite stone shrine was raised by the Chola dynasty king in the 11th century (though inscriptions evidence the 5th century). The temple houses many stone and copper inscriptions, mostly pertaining to land donations to the shrine, puja rituals, etc.The sacred tank (theertham) is situated outside the temple complex, at the back side. The ‘Sendraadu Theertham’ is a huge waterbody of 4,35,600 sq. ft. and a depth of 30 ft.  Separate temples for Kali and Munjikesa @ Sunandha rishi are outside the main shrine.
Thiruvalangadu is considered such a holy place that the woman saint-poet Kaaraikaal Ammaiyar (5th – 6th century) reached this place walking upside-down with her hand/head. She is one of the 63 holiest Saivaite saints of Tamil Nadu who are grouped and hailed as 63 Naayanmaars. For her intense devotion towards Lord Shiva she was granted mukthi here and was also rewarded with a permanent place near Him to watch his cosmic dance forever. Her image can be seen to the left of Nataraja in the Ruby Hall, singing praise of the Lord.
Despite its significance Thiruvalangadu is a sleepy village some 60 kms west of Chennai. The serenity of such a holy place was indeed a surprise to me. It is easily accessible by road and train.Though I was yearning to visit the shrine for the past so many decades I could have darshan only last year. But being a lay devotee I reached the shrine walking with my feet unlike Saint Kaaraikal Ammaiyar who walked upside-down with her hand to reach the holy Thiruvalangadu.
The writer can be reached at [email protected]