The Life
Kootruva was a valiant chieftain ruling from Kalanthai who, through his conquests, gained wide lands and wealth yet lacked the sovereign title. He longed to be crowned with the ancient Chola diadem, but this was in the keeping of the three thousand Brahmins of Thillai (Chidambaram), who declared that none but a rightful Chola king might wear it, and refused him. Rather than seize it by force against the devotees, Kootruva turned in surrender to Lord Nataraja Himself, the true king of Chidambaram, praying to be crowned by the Lord's own grace. Shiva appeared in his dream and set His sacred foot upon Kootruva's head, granting him a coronation greater than any earthly one. Thereafter Kootruva ruled devoutly, honouring the temple and its servants, and in time attained the feet of Shiva.