Azhagamman Temple, Vadiveeswaram, Kanyakumari
Azhagamman Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord
Shiva located at Vadiveeswaram Village, now part of the town of Nagercoil in Kanyakumari District of Tamilnadu. The
village was originally an agraharam, or a traditional double
line of houses occupied by Brahmins and flanking a temple or pair of temples.
It is most famous as the birthplace of Neelakanta Sivan, a well-known
19th-century composer.
History
The name Vadiveeswaram is a compound of the words Vadivu,
which means 'beauty' and Easwaran, an appellation of the God Shiva, in Tamil. The name thus
means the beauty of Shiva, which could refer either to the area or to the
presiding goddess of the Azhagamman
Temple, a Hindu Saivite temple situated in
the north-east corner of the village.
Carnatic composer Neelakanta
Sivan was born in Vadiveeswaram in 1839. He mentioned his birthplace twice in
his work Thiruneelakanta Botham. A festival of Carnatic music was
held in the village in 2007.
The
Temple
The
Temple is situated in the North-East corner of the Vadiveeswaram Village. Azhagamman
Temple is the biggest temple in Vadiveeswaram Village. The term Azhagamman
means Beautiful Goddess. This caused the name of the surrounding circle as
Vadiveeswaram, meaning Beautiful-God's Place. The temple is situated in a
peaceful environment with lot of Hindu God Avatars contained in it.
This
temple is dedicated to Vadivambal and Sundareswarar from whose names the name
of the village is derived. There was a Temple tank attached to this temple. A
rare image of saint Vyagrapada Vigneswari was found in Vadiveeswaram by the Kanyakumari
Historical and Cultural Research Centre. The village is also home to five other
temples: Mutharamman Kovil, Perumal Kovil, Idar Theertha Perumal Kovil, Sastha
Kovil and Pillayar Kovil.
Festivals
The
Azhagamman Temple, the biggest in the area presides car festival annually. The
temple has two cars which was parked on the middle of the East car street (Keezha
Ratha Veedhi / Kizhakku Ratha Veedhi). The four prominent streets were named
after the car festival which was held in the streets was named as North, East,
West & South Car streets respectively. Another important festival worth to
mention was the Soora Samharam which too was held under Azhagamman temple at Keezha
Radha Veedhi.
Connectivity
The
Temple is located at about 4 Kms from Nagercoil, 800 meters from Nagercoil Bus
Stand, 850 meters from Nagercoil Railway Station, 6 Kms from Suchindrum, 19 Kms
from Kanyakumari, 12 Kms from Boothapandi, 17 Kms from Thuckalay and 75 Kms
from Thiruvananthapuram. Nearest Railway Station is located at Nagercoil and
Nearest Airport is located at Thiruvananthapuram.