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அருள்மிகு (கனகசபாபதி) சுந்தராம்பிகை உடனுறை சுந்தரேஸ்வரர் திருக்கோவில் கரிசூழ்ந்தமங்கலம்.

This temple is in the village Kari Soozhnda Mangalam, which is 2 km north of Pathamadai.

Lord Nataraja at this temple was one of the oldest in the region and the vigraham of Lord Nataraja said to have been made by the same person who made the Chidambaram Nataraja vigraham. 

There is a sombre story to the making of five Nataraja vigrahams by one sthapathy. During that period, Kattarimangalam was ruled by Veera Pandiyan who was related to ‘Muzhuthum Kanda Rama Pandiyan’.

When Veera Pandiyan visited Chepparai, he saw the vigraham of Lord Nataraja . Extremely impressed, he requested Rama Pandiyan for a similar vigraham. 

Rama Pandiyan called for the sthapathy, gave him enough copper and asked him to prepare two identical vigrahams. He wanted to give one to Kattarimangalam and the other to Swamy Nellaiyappar temple.

 The two vigrahams were ready. King Veera Pandiyan was highly pleased and impressed by the beauty of the vigrahams. He decided that such beautiful vigrahams should not be available to any one else.  So he chopped off the right hand of the sthapathy; then the two vigrahams were taken by the king’s army. 

One group went to Kattarimangalam. The other group proceeded to Nellai , but could not proceed because of floods in the river; so they threw away the vigraham into the river and returned when the floods receded. 

However, the villagers of Karisulndamangalam took the vigraham and installed it in their village. It has been worshipped since. 

Meanwhile, Rama Pandiyan came to know of his poor stapathy’s loss, the chopping of the right hand. An enraged Rama Pandiyan waged war against Veera Pandiyan, defeated him—and had both his hands chopped off. 

Rama Pandiyan worshiped the Sri Nataraja Vigraham and wanted to take it to his own place. But none could move the vigraham. 

That night the Lord appeared in the King’s dream and said that he wanted to dwell in that fertile village; he asked the king to build a temple there.

Then the Lord disappeared. The king built a temple there and installed the vigraham in the temple. 

Temple address: Kanagasabapathi temple, Kari Soozhnda Mangalam, Ambasamudram Taluk, Tirunelveli district - 627453, Tamil Nadu