Sri Velvidai Nathar Temple

Overview

The temple is located in Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu.

About the Temple

The temple is dedicated to Velladainathar. The idol is seen gracing devotees as a Banalinga on a square Peeta in the sanctum sanctorum. River Ganga sprang in the well here on the New Moon day in the Thai month (January-February). Based on this story, the holy spring is opened for the use of devotees on this day only and will be closed during the rest of the year Lord Vinayaka in the temple is on a Lotus seat with an umbrella above Him and two fans called Samaram. Lord Muruga, against the tradition of facing East, is seen facing the South, a direction attributed to Guru. Lord Muruga is revered as Jupiter-Dakshinamurthy in this temple. He graces with His consorts Valli and Deivanai. Special pujas are performed in His shrine on Thursdays, a day attributed to Guru. There are shrines for Mother Durga with eight hands and Sattainathar. There is no shrine for Navagrahas – the 9 planets. On this day, the procession idol of Gnanasambandar is brought to this temple from the Sirkali Brahmmapureeswarar temple. The Presiding deity of this temple (Velladainathar) and Goddess (Kavianganni) grants audience to Sambandar and give him the Theertham. Sambandar returns to Sirkali in the evening. This is celebrated as a grand festival in the temple. In the course of the pilgrimage, Saivite Saint Sundarar came to this place to worship Shiva, but could not find the temple as the place was a dense jungle then. He sadly continued his journey with his followers. When he felt very hungry, an old man came to him and said that he was feeding Shiva devotees at a nearby place and asked him to come there for a lunch. Sundarar and his followers enjoyed a good feast coupled with hospitality of the host. After the lunch, Sundarar slept for a while as he was very tired then. When he woke up, he found neither the feeding camp nor any sign of feeding event. He realized that it was Lord Shiva who quenched his hunger. Lord Shiva appeared before Sundarar and showed him the temple.

About the Deity

The main deity in the temple and the goddess bless the audience. Sambandar returns to Sirkali in the evening. This is celebrated as grand festival.

Legend and Stories

Legend goes that Tirugnana Sambandar as a child devotee of Lord Shiva and blessed with a high degree of poetic abilities by Mother Parvathi, fought the Jains who waged a war against Saivism. According to the literary history of Tamilnadu, it was Child Sambandar and the ripe old Saivite saint, who had a firsthand knowledge and experience of the Jain designs, fought the war together. In the various challenges Sambandar was drawn, he defeated the Jains and re-established the glory of Saivism in Tamil Nadu and almost eliminated Jainism from the Tamil soil. As was agreed between Sambandar and the Jains, the latter were hanged after Sambandar won every challenge. However, Sambandar had to incur the sin of causing the death of the Jains and wanted to go to Kasi to make amends for the sin. He prayed for the permission of Lord Shiva in Sirkali to proceed to Kasi. Lord appeared before Sambandar and brought Ganga here itself. The child saint had a dip in holy Ganga and got relieved of the sin. A temple was erected here later.

Festivals

New Moon day in the month of Thai (January-February) and Full Moon day in the month of Chithirai (April-May) are the festivals grandly celebrated in the temple.

Significance

Those who had committed anything wrong unknowingly are blessed with mental peace if they sincerely pray to the Lord Devotee perform Abishek and vasras to lords and Ambal

Nearby Place to Visit

Kayaroganeswarar
ThanthondreeswararNeelakandeswarar
PallavaneswararAranyeswarar
Naganathar

Accessibility

Tirukaruhavur is 5 kms far from Sirkali. Bus facilities are not convenient. The devotee has to get down at the Vadakal stop from Sirkali and can reach the temple from there at a distance of one kilometer. Auto facility is available. The closest railway station is in Mayiladuthurai, and the closest airport is in Trichy, and the alternate option is to fly in to Chennai.

Temple Address

Arulmighu Velvidai Nathar Temple
Tirukkadavur, vadakaal Post, Sirkazhi Taluk
Nagapattinam District
PIN 609115