Somanatheshvarar Temple

The Somanathesvarar Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is located in Kolathur, in Pallipattu. The temple is around 1.5 kilometres from the Kolathur junction, towards the Ganga theatre or the Villivakam Railway gate. Legend has it that the Moon God was once affected by a curse and lost all his 16 vital talents. He took a bath in the tank in this temple, called Chandra Theertham, and got the dharshan of Shiva. His curse was cleared off. The moon god is known as Soman and the deity here is called Somanatheswar. Demons Vilvalan and Vathapi once troubled sages at a place called Vilvatharanyam, which is now known as Villivakkam. Sage Agasthiar ate demon Vathapi in the form of a mango and killed him in his stomach. The place where Agasthiar killed him is called Konnur and the place where he burned the demon so that he cannot reappear is called Koluthur. The lingam in this temple is made out of maragatha and as an example of the Shiva-Vishnu unison, Sridevi-Boodevi sametha Amirtha raja Perumal is seen with a separate shrine in the outer praharam. Out of the Navagraha gods, the Moon is related to the mind and this God is believed to cure mind-related diseases. People who are not able to abandon bad habits and people who suffer due to no fault of theirs are blessed by this God.