The main deity is Shiva – also called as Swetharanyeswarar meaning the "lord of white forest" and the goddess is Brahma Vidya ambal. There is a separate location for Bhudhan (mercury). The temple is quite large and all four important Saivite saints have sung in praise of this lord.
This temple is especially known for its unique incarnate of Lord Shiva called "Agora Murthi". Thiruvengadu village is also famous for its unique structure of pools in temples. This temple has 3 pools, 3 Gods. It is a belief that who takes bath in all these pools, the one will be free from their problems like diseases, delay in marriage, etc.,.
Sri Suvedharanyeswarar Temple, Thiruvenkadu – 609 114, Nagapattinam district.
Phone no:+ 91-4364-256 424.
The temple is open from 6 am until 12 pm, and then from 5.30 pm to 9.30 pm.
February – Indira Festival – 13 days festival – Indra, who is believed to be featured at the festival. Note that the function has been reported in the epic, Silapthikaram. The festival takes place very grandly. The festival will be attended by thousands of devotees. April– Thiiruvonat Nataraja Abhisheham, June– Beam Nataraja Abhisheham, August – Nataraja Abhisheham, Gokulashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Purattasi – Devendra prayer, Navaratti Festival, October– Skanda Shashti festival, Agora on the third Sunday in November to the Murthy, November torch ceremony, Tiruvadhirai Nataraja vision, Sankranti festival in January are held in this temple . Monthly holy days largely celebrated in the temple when the devotees gather in large numbers. During special days of the year, like Diwali, Pongal, Tamil and English New Year special abhishehams happen in the temple.
It is said that Agora Murthi was one of the furious incarnation of Lord Shiva. There was an Evil named "Maruthuvasuran" in Thiruvengadu. He did a deep meditation on Lord Bhrama for power. Being satisfied with his meditation, Lord Bhrama offered him many powers. But he used those powers in wrong ways. He started to torture the saints and innocent people. All the saints and people requested Lord Shiva to put an end to this evil. Lord Shiva took his incarnation 'Agora murthi' and killed the Maruthuvasuran under a tree which is now in Thiruvengadu temple.
This Shiva temple is one of the 6 most sacred places on the banks of river Cauvery which is considered as equivalent to the temple at Varanasi.
Indiran, Airavatam, Budhan, Sun God Sooriyan and Moon God Chandiran are said to have worshipped God Shiva here. From the stone inscriptions found inside this temple, it is seen that the earlier chola kings Aditya Chola and Rajaraja Chola have made a lot of contributions to this temple.
There are several shrines of significance in this well visited temple, including those to Durga and Kali. The image of Natarajar here is of great beauty. Worship to Aghoramurthy is said to be of significance on Sunday nights in this temple. As found in Chidambaram, there is also a shrine for Lord Vishnu near the shrine for Natarajar.
English
Hindi
Arabic
Japanese
Bengali
Philipino
Chinese
Portuguese
Dutch
Russian
French
Spanish
German
Tamil