Vedanam 2023

  At the outset, let us join in congratulating ISRO for having landed Indian rover on the moon! Coincidentally, the temple about which I am going to write is associated with the moon. The name of this temple is Nanmadhiya Perumal temple, also called as Thalaichanga Nanmathiyam temple. This is a Divya Desham of Maha Vishnu and the lord is presiding as Nanmadhiya Perumal and His consort is Thalaichanga Nachiar. This temple is located in a village called Thalaichangadu in Akkur, Mayiladuthrai district of Tamil Nadu.  Most of the legends associated with this temple revolve around Chandra, the moon-god and his curse which was relieved by Maha Vishnu at the place where the temple is located currently.  During the Samudra-manthan, Chandra came out of the ocean, followed by Devi Lakshmi. Hence he is considered as the elder brother of the Devi. As per one legend, Chandra took away Tara, the wife of his Guru Brihaspati and got cursed by him. As per another legend, Chandra married a...

Previously, we read about a Paadal Petra Sthalam of Lord Shiva, named Edirkolpadi, where the grand wedding reception of Lord Shiva and Devi Parvathy took place. In continuation to the same, we will be reading about a temple in this blog, a temple which is referred to as Nithya Kalyaana Kshethram.   It is said that every day marriages happen at this place. The name of the temple is Udhvaganathar temple and it is situated at Thirumanancheri in Mayiladuthrai district of Tamil Nadu. Lord Shiva presides as Udhvaganathar and His consort is Devi Kokila. The temple is also called as Kalyanasundareswarar Swami temple.  Legend says that Devi Parvathy wished to have a grand wedding with Lord Shiva one more time and enjoy the festivities. Lord Shiva agreed but did not take any immediate action. Hurt by this, Devi Parvathy left His abode and wandered over the earth in the form of a cow. Lord Shiva, in the form of a lingam, was worshipped by the cow and also bore on His body, the scar ...

This blog is about a Divya Desham of Maha Vishnu, which goes by many names such as Sthalashayana Perumal temple, Arulmaakadal Perumal temple, Kripa Samudra Perumal temple and so on. Maha Vishnu is worshipped in the form of Sthalashayana Perumal and His consort is worshipped as Thirumagal Nachiyar. The temple is located at Sirupuliyur, Tamil Nadu.  Many wonderful legends are associated with this temple. There was a sage who had the feet of a tiger (puli in Tamil), named Vyaghrapada (Vyaghra - Tiger, Pada - feet). He was advised by Lord Shiva to pray to Lord Ranganatha Swami at Srirangam to attain salvation. The sage was accompanied by Rishi Patanjali in his journey. The two sages lost their way and ended up in Kripa Samudram, the place where the temple is currently located. The sages prayed to Ranganatha Swami to grant them His divine vision at Kripa Samudram. The Lord took on the form of a child and gave them His divine vision as Bala- shayana Perumal (Bala - child, shayana - recli...

This is the 24th blog for the Padal Petra Sthalam temples of Lord Shiva. These temples have been mentioned in the ancient text of Thevaram which has been composed by the prime devotees of Lord Shiva, named as Nayanmar. All the temples of Lord Shiva mentioned in the blogs of Vedanam constitute the Padal Petra Sthalam. In this article, we will read about Mela Thirumanancheri Temple, where Lord Shiva is worshipped as Iyravatheshwara and His consort is Devi Sugantha Kudalambigai. This temple is located in Mayiladuthrai district of Tamil Nadu. The place where the temple is situated is also called as Ethirkolpadi . It is believed that after conducting the divine marriage of Lord Shiva and Devi Parvathy at Tiruvelvikudi (about which we read in the previous blog for Padal Petra Sthalam), Sage Bharata arranged for a wedding reception for the celestial couple at Thirumanancheri. The ritual of welcoming newly married couple is called as Ethir Kollal in Tamil. Hence this place came to be called as...

  We have often heard the term Brahmavarta in our sacred texts. It is actually a place where the river Saraswati joined flow with another river Dhrishadvati. This place is considered as very sacred by the Devas. It is at this place that King Prithu decided to perform hundred Ashwamedha yajnas. Everyone in the kingdom as well as in the celestial world heard about this and assisted the king by providing various items required for the yajna. All the celestial beings were present for the same. The king successfully performed 99 yajnas. Lord Indra grew pensive about the king’s increasing power. He was also very jealous about the king’s fame which prevailed over all the worlds. Not wanting a mortal to gain more fame than himself, Indra took on the guise of a sadhu and stole the sacrificial horse. Prithu’s son decided to search for the thief and retrieve the horse. Sage Atri who was present there could easily identify Indra and pointed him out to Prithu’s son who eagerly rushed to c...

The Divya Desham mentioned in this article is called as Devaadi Raja Perumal temple and is located in a village named Therezundhur (pronounced as Therelundur) in Mayiladuthrai district of Tamil Nadu. Maha Vishnu is worshipped as Amaruviappan and Maha Lakshmi is worshipped as Sengamalavalli Thayar.  There are several interesting legends associated with this temple. There was a king named Uparicharavasu who obtained a flying chariot from Lord Brahma. There are several versions regarding this chariot (called as Theru in Tamil). According to one version, the king was flying in his chariot over a place where there were many cows grazing. The chariot was made such that its shade could burn the person or object on which it fell. The shadow of the chariot fell on some cows which started burning. Maha Vishnu was upset by the plight of the cows and using His divine power, He made the chariot fall down. Since then, the place where the chariot fell, came to be called as Therezundhur. ...

  The Bhagawatham gives us a brief glimpse into the lineage of Dhruva. His eldest son named Utkala was a philosopher and wasn’t interested in the worldly affairs. He showed no inclination towards being a king. Hence his younger brother Vatsara was crowned the king. One of the descendants of Vatsara was a king named Anga. In spite of being a Rajarishi and having performed many Ashwamedha Yajna, the king remained childless. After a major yajna was performed by all the Rishis in his kingdom, a son was born to the king. He was named Vena. Unfortunately, Vena was the very embodiment of Adharma. He insulted sages, showed complete disregard to the ancient traditions and rituals and went out of his way to disrupt the lives of people.   Deeply saddened by this behavior, Anga, the king, left his kingdom and people and went away in search of renunciation and peace. In his absence, Vena was crowned the king. The power allotted to him only made him take a turn for the worse. Vena grew ...

Picture Courtesy: Mentioned in the image. In this article, we will read about Kalyanasundareswarar temple situated in a village named Thiruvelvikudi in Kuthalam, Mayiladuthrai, Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Lord Shiva as Kalyanasundareswarar and His deity is Devi Parimala Sugantha Naayaki. The Goddess is said to be extremely beautiful in this temple with an enchanting smile.  This temple is associated with a major event. It is believed that it was in this place that one half of Lord Shiva merged with the Devi, thereby becoming Ardhanareeswarar. This is also believed to be the place where Lord Shiva wedded Devi Parvathy. There are no Navagrahas in the temple.  Devi Parvathy is said to have performed special penance for 16 consecutive Mondays to acquire Lord Shiva as Her husband. Pleased with Her devotion, Lord Shiva appeared in front of Her as Manavaleswarar and promised to marry Her. The marriage was officiated by Lord Brahma as the head-priest. Marriage-rituals are calle...