Before tracing the origin of the Tamil word Mokkai meaning 'blunt', it's time the Kongu region remembered the discovery of the temple's 1000-year-old stone inscription by the late epigraphist 'Avinashi' M. Ganesan in the 1980s.
In the vernacular of the present-day youth in Coimbatore, you could hear a new expression as they comment on a useless, boring, lengthy talk as ' Mokka Podarathu'. It is also interesting that they cut a word out of the phrase to describe anything tasteless as Mokka Padam (Boring movie) and Mokka Kathai (Boring story). But it is surprising to come across a new avatar of Lord Siva by the name of Mokkaneeswarar! Though the etymology of His name is not something negative as the modern youth mean it, the deity, who has taken abode at Kuttakam, a hamlet near Chevur in Tirupur district, has been called Mokkaneeswarar for hundreds of years!
And before tracing the origin of the Tamil word Mokkai meaning 'blunt', it's time the Kongu region remembered the discovery of the temple's 1000-year-old stone inscription by the late epigraphist 'Avinashi' M. Ganesan in the 1980s. However, the archaeologist did not decipher it due to some reason. But, the content of the epigraph later came to light, thanks to the efforts taken by the two epigraphists the late D.Sundaram of Coimbatore and C.Veeraragavan of Villupuram.
Though Sundaram had been researching the inscription from 2014, he was able to finalize its content only in May 2016 after he and Veeraragavan visited the Mokkaneeswarar shrine, and took an imprinted copy of the inscription and deciphered it.
The inscription, which dates back to 1009 A.D, contains in the first 20 lines, the Meikeeerthi (A Panegyric poem about the great deeds of a king) of Kalimoorga Vikrama Chola, the king, who was also called Paragirama Chola. But the inscription reveals a piece of interesting information that the temple was built by a Kongu woman called Erulangothai in Kudavodu (Kuttakam). In contrast to the fashion of 'coining' Tamil words from English expressions today as 'Illaththarasi' for 'Homemaker' or 'Housewife', the inscription provides the exact Tamil term for it as 'Manai Kizhaththi' with the meaning as the 'owner of home'. The epigraph mentions Erulangothai as the 'Manaikizhaththi' of Kovan Vichaathiran.
But more interesting is the tale behind the deity's name Mokkaneeswarar.
Legend has it that once a trader, after his tiring journey, wanted to have his food and repose for a little time at Kuttakam. Since he used to worship Lord Siva before his meal, the trader's assistant looked for the lingam that he carried wherever he went with his boss. But, unable to find it anywhere now, he 'created' a new lingam using the fodder-filled nosebag of the trader's horse. And having performed the Pooja, the assistant was surprised to see that the nosebag had now turned into a real lingam! As he informed this miracle to the trader, it is said that a Siva temple was built at the place and the deity was named ' Mokkaneeswarar'. Because the Tamil word ' Mokkani' means the nosebag of a horse!
And before tracing the origin of the Tamil word Mokkai meaning 'blunt', it's time the Kongu region remembered the discovery of the temple's 1000-year-old stone inscription by the late epigraphist 'Avinashi' M. Ganesan in the 1980s. However, the archaeologist did not decipher it due to some reason. But, the content of the epigraph later came to light, thanks to the efforts taken by the two epigraphists the late D.Sundaram of Coimbatore and C.Veeraragavan of Villupuram.
Though Sundaram had been researching the inscription from 2014, he was able to finalize its content only in May 2016 after he and Veeraragavan visited the Mokkaneeswarar shrine, and took an imprinted copy of the inscription and deciphered it.
The inscription, which dates back to 1009 A.D, contains in the first 20 lines, the Meikeeerthi (A Panegyric poem about the great deeds of a king) of Kalimoorga Vikrama Chola, the king, who was also called Paragirama Chola. But the inscription reveals a piece of interesting information that the temple was built by a Kongu woman called Erulangothai in Kudavodu (Kuttakam). In contrast to the fashion of 'coining' Tamil words from English expressions today as 'Illaththarasi' for 'Homemaker' or 'Housewife', the inscription provides the exact Tamil term for it as 'Manai Kizhaththi' with the meaning as the 'owner of home'. The epigraph mentions Erulangothai as the 'Manaikizhaththi' of Kovan Vichaathiran.
But more interesting is the tale behind the deity's name Mokkaneeswarar.
Legend has it that once a trader, after his tiring journey, wanted to have his food and repose for a little time at Kuttakam. Since he used to worship Lord Siva before his meal, the trader's assistant looked for the lingam that he carried wherever he went with his boss. But, unable to find it anywhere now, he 'created' a new lingam using the fodder-filled nosebag of the trader's horse. And having performed the Pooja, the assistant was surprised to see that the nosebag had now turned into a real lingam! As he informed this miracle to the trader, it is said that a Siva temple was built at the place and the deity was named ' Mokkaneeswarar'. Because the Tamil word ' Mokkani' means the nosebag of a horse!