Vanychilingeshvarar Temple

Overview

This temple is one of the 276 Thevara Paadal petra sthalams and it is believed that it removes one's fear for death, the temple is also considered as to be on par with kasi.The glory of God in this temple is worshipped by Saint Tirugnana Sambandar in his hymns and also the temple is amongst the 70 Shiva temples which is placed on the Southern bank of Cauvery and worshipped in Thevaram hymns.

About the Temple

The temple is about 110 feet tall based on a five tier Rajagopuram which is facing toward the east.The temple is considered to be ancient temple and this temple was build up by Rajendra Chola in the year of AD850, there are separate temples for Yama who is the God of death.The God of death Yama is placed on the left side of the entrance and attracts many of the devotees towards it.The shrine of God Vinayaka and and Subramania (Muruga) are placed in the first Mandap where God Vinayaka is worshipped as Abayankara Vinayaka and while going through the inner entrance there are shrines of Mother Mangala Nayaki which is standing upright and blessing its devotees.The hymns of Thevaram are related to the temple and are carved in the marble stone which are fixed on the walls and looks beautiful.Sri Adhikara Nandhi is established on the left side and the procession deities are kept very safe in the mandap. The presiding deity is comparatively taller and fatter apart from the shrines of these gods there are Vennai Pillayar, Muruga, Panchabhooda Lingas, Jeshtadevi and Sani Bhagawan shrines in the inner corridor.At the first entrance to the temple there is a 5 tier Raja gopuram and a 3 tier gopuram at the second entrance which welcomes the devotees.

The most attractive and special thing about this temple is the presence of the shrine of Yama and Chithraguptha which is facing towards the south in the Agni moola of the temple.The Cow milk payasam and buffalo milk payasam is offered to Yama and Chithraguptha which clears off the dosham relating to their long life.Appar, in his pathigam it is also believed that staying one night here can solve all the problems which are faced, Abayankara Vinayagar is the other name for Vinayagar.All the temples are closed during the Grahana periods but special abhishegams are conducted for God shiva during that time.Apart from the shrines of these gods there are shrines of Pancha bootha Lingas, Gaja Lakshmi, Saturn, Lingas of Mukthi kshetras also with a Durga's shrine which is very exclusive and eye catching and facing towards the east.The place is glorified because there are inspirations of Chola, Pandya and Naick period are seen here and this place is known as Raja Gambeera Chathurvedhi Mangalam.This temple also consists of a Yama Vahanam on which the idol named the Utsava idol is taken during the main festival.This main festival is held in the Tamil month of Maasi.Sri Vanchiam temple is open during the eclipse through a tradition where the other temples are closed during this period of time.There are many special abhisheks done and are dedicated to God on these days and God shiva is considered as swayambumurthi.The doors of the temple are open during the time and the period of eclipse because of the tradition but the other shiva temples are closed.

Legends/Story

It is believed that once Mother Ganga sought one solution from God which can make her clean herself of all the sins by those who took bath and a dip in the river.God asked her to pray at a place where even Yama who is the God of death was blessed by him.It is said that Ganga left small amount of power of herself in the original Ganga and she merged in the sacred spring here with all the remaning 999 parts of her holiness.From then the Theertha is called as Gupta Ganga and it is still believed that she is there residing in the Theertha secretly, this theertha is considered to be more holier than Ganga.Currently it is known as Muni theertha and during the Masi magma there is a festival Which celebrates this theertha.Those who participated in the Daksha yagna had to be punished for which he wasn't invited with a motive to insult him where God Shiva sent Veerabadra to destroy the Yajna in which Sun was one amongst the participants.Just because of God's anger he lost the shining and he begged for his relief where he performed a very exhaustive penance here and regained his brightness with all the blessings of God Shiva.God Vishnu was eager that is desirous (Vaanchithal in Tamil) of Mahalakshmi (Sri) sought the help of God Shiva and help to realize his wish and hence due this incident the place was known as Sri Vaanchiam.

As there are many conflicts between Sridevi and Boomidevi sridevi left Sri Vishnu, after that he came to Sri Vanchiyam and then worshipped God Shiva just to get back Sridevi.This place was called as Sri Vanchiyam just because of the Vanchai that means affection Sri vishnu has towards Sridevi hence the name was kept as Sri Vanchiyam.

Yama the God of death felt very sad that he was given a job to take life of people as there are many jobs showing happy nature.Yamm went to Tiruvarur and he spoke to Gos about his sorrow when God Shiva directed him and asked him to go to Sri Vanchiam and pray their.Yama went to Sri Vanchiam, prayed their and performed penance he also pleased with his penance and God Vanchinadheswarar appeared in front of him and asked him to wish, it is believed that God Vanchinadheswarar appeared in the month of Masi and Bharani Star day that lies between February to March.Yama shared his sorrow and said that he had been assigned a job that he had to take life of people that caused incurring their hatred. He also faced harsh criticism as he was suffering the Brahmmahati dosha that was caused by his job and his duty.God Shiva assured that in future people will attribute the cause of the death due to diseases, age and accidentsand they won't blame him for their death. Yama was also instructed by God that he should only permit those who are less sinners and they should not have a rebirth.God also Emphasized that Yama should make their end very peaceful, he also granted him the status of Kshetra pal aka where the devotees will worship him first and then only they would go to the shrine of God.In this temple the first puja is always dedicated to Yama only everyday.

Significance

God Shiva is very much dominant in the temple and hence there are no shrine for Navagrahar that is the nine planets.In the Southeast corner that is the Agni corner in the temple there is the shrine of Yama with his assistant Chitra Gupta.The devotees visiting the temple worship Yama and also garlands which is made up of Vada which is a very popular dish in Tamilnadu, many of the devotees also conduct their birthday pumas in the shrines and homes seeking for longevity.In the temple Mother Mahishasuramardhi is established with her eight hands and blesses the devotees visiting the temple regularly.The devotees coming to the temple and worshipping at this temple is considered complete only when they worship Perumal and Thayaar at the Perumal temple nearby Yama, Brahma, Parasarar, Athri, Makudavardhana, and Charumathi who worshipped God Shiva very loyally.It is also believed God Shiva blesses all the Devotees who die here with salvation and pronouncing the 5 lette mantra in their ears at the time of the death.It is also believed that those people are not at all affected by the pain caused by the death and Yama has no role to punish the person for his Sins.The Pathigams were composed by Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar. With the miracles of a Naga kannika that is the Snake princess was of the Manikkavacakar sang and who worshipped God Shiva. later he became one with him as Ammai Appan.