Vanchinadha Swamy Temple, Srivanchiyam – Legends
Sri Vanchiyam:
Due to
the conflicts between Sridevi and Bhoomadevi, Sridevi left Vishnu. He then came
to Sri Vanchiyam and worshipped Lord Shiva here to get back Sridevi. Due to the
“Vanchai” (affection) of Sri Vishnu towards Sri Devi, this place is called Sri
Vanchiyam. Due to this, worship at this temple is considered complete only after
a worship of Perumal and Thayar at the Perumal temple nearby.
Place for Salvation:
It is
considered that Lord Shiva blesses all the people who die here with salvation
by pronouncing the 5-letter mantra in their ears at the time of death. So those
people are not affected by the death pain and Yama has no role to punish for
their sins.
Manikkavacakar sang of the miracle of a Naga Kannika:
Manikkavacakar
sang of the miracle of a Naga kannika (Snake princess) who worshipped Shiva and
became one with him as Ammai Appan.
Temple will be open during eclipse times:
During
the eclipse times, the doors of the temple is open though as a tradition in
other Shiva temples they are closed. Special abishek is performed to Lord
of Sri Vanchiyam during this time.
Gupta Ganga:
Shiva is
said to have created the Temple Tank, Guptha Gangai with his Tirusoolam. Mother
Ganga once sought a solution from Lord to cleanse herself of the sins left on her
by those who bathed in the river. Lord directed her to pray at a place
where even Yama the God of Death was blessed by him. Accordingly, Ganga left
just a small power of her in the original Ganga and merged with the
sacred spring here with the remaining 999 parts of her holiness. Hence,
the Theertha is called Gupta Ganga.
It is
still believed that she is residing in the theertha secretly. This
Theertha is considered holier than Ganga. Presently, it is known as
Muni Theertha. During Masi Magam, a festival is celebrated in this Theertha
also. The Theertham is believed to be present in all the four yugas and is
known as Punya Theertham, Athri Theertham, Parasara Theertham and Muni
Theertham in all the four yugas. Athiri, Bharadhwaja, Jamathgini, Viswamithra,
Vasishtar, Gowthama have all been blessed with this Theertham.
One of the 6 Sacred Places:
Historically,
six places – Thiruvenkadu, Thiruvaiyaru, Thiru Mayuram (Mayiladuthurai),
Thiruvidaimaruthur, Chaya Vanam and Srivanchiyam - along the banks of Cauvery
have been specified as sacred and comparable to visiting Kasi. Among these, Sri
Vanchiyam counts as the most sacred. This temple is considered to be equivalent
to Kashi.
Separate Sannidhi for Yama and Chitragupta:
Yama the
God of Death felt very sad that he was assigned the job of taking the life of
people while there are many jobs of happy nature. Having been the cause of the
unreasonable demise of Markandeya Rishi who clung on to the Shiva Lingam at the
time of his death at Thiru Kadaiyur, Yama felt depressed. He went to
Tiruvarur and spoke his sorrow to Lord. Lord Shiva directed him to go to
Sri Vanchiyam and pray there. He came here and undertook penance invoking the
blessings of Vanchinathar.
Lord
Shiva appeared before him on the Barani day in Maasi and asked him for a wish. Yama
Dharma Raja wanted Vanchinathar Swamy to relieve the death fears of devotees
from their sins of previous births. Devotees who visit Srivanchiyam and offer
sincere prayers after bathing at the sacred Pushkarani are believed to be
relieved from any fears of death that they may have. Yama also wanted to serve
Lord Shiva as his Vahana. Pleased with the penance of Yama and his good
thoughts, Shiva provided darshan at Thiru Kodikkaval with Yama taking him there
from Srivanchiyam as his Vahana.
In
memory of this event, every year on Maasi Barani, Vanchinathar Swamy goes
around on a procession on the Yama Vahana. Since Yama plays the role of the
security, this place is believed to be protected from earth quakes and natural
calamities. In recognition of his penance and his noble thoughts, Yama has been
accorded the leading status at the Srivanchiyam temple. Devotees, after having
bath at the sacred temple tank on the Northern side, must seek the blessings of
Yama at his sannidhi on the Southern side of the Eastern entrance, before they
enter the sanctum of Vanchinathar. Next to Yama is Chitragupta who is seen in a
standing posture.
Equivalent to Kasi:
If any
one dies around the Mada Streets, the temple does not close and secret poojas
continue, though the big bell is not rung during this period as this temple is
considered just as sacred as the Kasi temple.
Sun God’s Penance & Liberation:
The
story goes that Brahma’s son Dakshan refused to give his daughter in marriage
to Shiva. Despite this, Dakshayani went ahead and married Shiva. Upset at this,
Dakshan performed a Yagna inviting all but Shiva. Dakshayani protested against
this decision but to no avail. Angered at her father’s decision to insult her
husband, Dakshayani cursed all those present there for agreeing to participate
in the yagna without the presence of Shiva and fell into the pyre.
Shocked
at this turn of event, Shiva sent Veerabhadra to knock out all those who were
present at the Yagna. He went there and hit out at the Sun God, who had his
teeth broken. Repenting his wrongful participation in light of Daksha’s intent
to insult Shiva, Surya undertook a month-long penance at the sacred tank in the
month of Karthigai and liberated himself.
People worshipped Lord Shiva here:
Yama,
Brahma, Saptharishis, Agni, Surya, Sangabalan (Serpent Lord), Devas, Ganga,
Parvathi, Parasarar, Indra, Makudavardhana and Charumathi have worshipped Lord
Shiva at this place.
Rahu and Kethu are carved out of a single stone:
Rahu and
Kethu disguised themselves as Devas in order to consume the nectar that
brought immortality to the Devas. Finding out their malice intent, Lord
Vishnu killed them as seen from the story on Thiru Kadaiyur. Here
Rahu and Kethu are carved out of a single stone and seen together in a separate
sannidhi.
Nandhi and Linga facing same direction:
The
presiding deity is Swayambu Shiva Linga. Some 2600 years before the Linga was
facing west, even the temple was facing west. During that time a major earth
quake destroyed all the temples in the region, however this temple is not
destroyed. Saints and Sages were puzzled as how this temple was saved. They
soon realize that during the earth rotation, Shiva Linga was turned to east
along with the earth; hence saving from the earth quake. As an evidence, you
will find lord Shiva and Nandhi facing at one particular direction; normally Shiva
and Nandhi face each other. This isn't a myth, even today people can find the
evidence. Aarathi is shown both sides of lord Shiva Linga. This place is also
known to cure the rarest of rare disease.
Parvathi worshipped as Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi:
The
goddess here is known as Mangalambikai. She is worshiped as Durga in the
morning, as Mahalakshmi in the evening and after 6 pm she is worshipped as
Saraswathi (goddess of knowledge).