Sri Vedaranyeswarar Swamy Temple - Vedaranyam

 

Vedaranyeswarar Swamy temple is located in the small town of Vedaranyam near Nagapattinam in the State of Tamilnadu.

Vedaranyeswarar Swamy is an incarnation of Lord Shiva, who is Swayambhu here.

Goddess Veda Nayaki Amman is the consort of Vedaranyeswarar Swamy.

This is one of 275 Siva Devara Sthalam. The temple is one of Saptha Vidanga Sthalam.

The fruits of the Vanni tree in the temple are long with thorns on one side and are round without thorns on the other side.

Lord Rama is believed to have prayed here. Sage Agasthiyar, Gowtahamar, Vishwamitra, Vashista, and Lord Brahma worshipped Lord Shiva here.

The temple is facing West direction and built in the Chola style of architecture and has a 5-tiered Raja gopuram. Lord Vinayaka in the West tower (gopuram) entrance tossed with one leg a demon woman who attempted to kill Lord Sri Rama. The temple has separate flag posts-Kodi Maram for the lord, Ambica and Lord Vinayaka. The marriage of Lord Shiva with Parvathi is depicted as a stucco image behind the main Sivalingam inside the sanctum sanctorum. There is a koneru named as Veda theertham and Manikarnika theertham. The Lingam is made of Maragatham (Emerald). This temple is also known as Sri Thirumaraikadar Temple.

A rat, which unintentionally, lit a lamp here at Thirumaraikadu Vedaranyam was born as Emperor Mahabali in the next life. The temple doors were closed after reading the Vedas and were made to reopen by Thirunavukkarasar and again were closed by Thirugnanasambandar with their rendering of the Thevaram Hymns. Sage Agastya is believed to have seen the divine vision of the Lord’s marriage in Kailash here also. Agasthiyar had a darshan of Shiva and Parvathi marriage in this place. On their journey to various Shiva temples spread over the state, celebrated Saivite Saints Tirugnana Sambandar and Tirunavukkarasar (Appar) came to Thiru-Marai-Kadu Temple. They sang Pathigams-set of 10 verses- at each temple in praise of Lord Shiva. They were shocked to see that the main entrance of this temple was closed. They also saw devotees entering the temple through a side entrance. They enquired with the priests how this happened. They were told that the Vedas worshipped Lord Shiva here and returned after closing the door. Hearing that Vedas, the holy scriptures of land themselves worshipped the lord here, Gnanasambandar requested Tirunavukkarasar – Appar to sing a hymn on the lord to open the doors. Appar, tears flowing from his eyes sang ten verses beginning with the line “Pannin Ner Moshiyal” and begged the lord to open the doors of the temple. Excited by the graceful response of the lord, both entered the temple through the main entrance and worshipped the lord. While coming out, Appar wished Gnanasambandar to sing a hymn so that doors could be opened and closed for the worship of the devotees as in all temples.

This temple was built in 871-907 C.E

Traditional dress is allowed for darshan.

Temple Timings

5.00 am to 12.00 pm

4.00 pm to 9.00 pm

Pooja Schedule :

5.00 am – Ushathkalam Pooja

8.00 am – Kala Santhi Pooja

10.00 am – Uchikalam Pooja

5.00 pm – Sayarakshai Pooja

7.00 pm – Irandamkalam Pooja

8.00 pm – Ardha Jamam Pooja

How to Reach the Temple

45 km from Nagapattinam

350 km from Chennai

Nearby Temples

Thalainayar, Sri Kutram Poruttha Naathar Temple – 30 km

Nagapattinam, Sri Soundararaja Neelamega Perumal Temple – 48 km

Punjai, Sri Nattrunai Appar Temple – 48 km

Melakottaivasal, Sri Kayarohaneshwarar Temple – 48 km

Thirukannangudi, Sri Loganatha Perumal Temple – 54 km