Historical Significance

There is news about pothigai Hills in Sangam literature. Courtallam is considered as one of the towns of Sangam period. Though it was under the rule of Aoi Andren,the chola King Kochenkannan planted the sthalavriksham.All these prove that Kutralanathar workship has been in practice since Sanga Period.In “Sivaperuman Anthathi” written by Kabilar in Pallava Period,the natural ambience of Courtallam and the popularity of Kutralanathar are referred to.It also Proves the name and fame of Courtallam and the temple even then.

Puranic Significance

According to the Puranas,the temple was a Vaishnavite temple.Sage Agasthiar,by shrinking the image of Vishnu,converted into Kutralanathar temple.So the deity has permanent head-ache and to cure it,abisheka is performed every evening with 64 herbs.Moreover,during the pooja at night a concoction of herb is prepared as Prasadam.The conch shape of the temple indicates that it was a vaishnative temple.Since conch is sacred to vaishnavites.

Importance of Inscriptions

There are 89 inscriptions (Kalvet) in Thirukutralanathar temple.10 inscriptions belonging to the period of the cholaking ParakesariVarman and Paranthahan,the first are found.Only the first inscription refers to the God as Thirukkutrala Perumal and those belonging to the later period refer to the God as Kutralathevan and Madevan.The reference to the date of the solar eclipse in the inscriptions indicates that the historians calculated the kings dynasty on its basis.The Practice of donating Gold,Money,Cow,Sheep and Buffalo also finds a reference in them.Since the name Perumal is found only in the inscriptions of this chola King,it may be inferred that there were both the shrines of Lord Perumal and Lord Siva.