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Situated on the
southern bank of river Cauvery and surrounded by many centuries old temples,
besides being the headquarters of Dharmapuram Adhinam, this thriving town has an
ancient temple dedicated to Lord Maheswar. It is a very hoary kshetra visited by
the highest divinities like Brahma, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Manmatha, Sapta Kanyas in
addition to sages like Agasthya, Kanva etc. Its ancient name is Mailaduthurai
signifying the worship offered to Lord Siva by Mother Parvatht in the form of
peacock. Its legends reveal several awe-some anecdotes occurred here and the
protagonists were no other than the Adidampathis - Gowri and Shankar.
According
to sthalapurana, Mother Parvathi worshipped here Lord Siva in the form of
Pea-hen and earnestly prayed to him to bless her once again with the spectacle
of Gowri tandava, one of the seven highly specialized forms of dance. The
compassionate Lord demonstrated the glory of dancing to her heart's content. The
place where it was performed is called Adisabha and it is an integral part of a
grand temple built and in course of time attracted huge crowds in unending
streams.
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