Vaseeswarar Temple, Tirupaasur – Religious Importance
& Festivals
Thirugnana Sambandar, a 7th century
Tamil Saivite poet, venerated Vaseeswarar in ten verses in Thevaram, compiled as the First
Thirumurai. Appar, an 8th century Nayanmar, also venerated
Idaiyatreeswarar in 10 verses in Thevaram, compiled as the Third Thirumurai.
As the temple is revered in Thevaram, it is classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam, one of the 275 temples that find mention in the Saiva
canon. The temple priests perform the puja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis.
The temple rituals are performed three times a day; Kalasanthi at
8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 a.m.
and Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m.
Each ritual comprises four steps: abishekam (sacred bath), Alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and Deepa
aradanai (waving of lamps) for Vaseeswarar and Than Kathali Amman. Unlike
other Shiva temples, anointing with oil is not performed in the temple. There
are weekly rituals like somavaram (Monday)
and sukravaram (Friday), fortnightly rituals like Pradosham, and
monthly festivals like Ammavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai, Pournami (full moon day) and Sathurthi. 10 day Brahmotsavam
during the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May - June), Margazhi
Tiruvadhirai in December-January and Shivarathri in February-March are the
festivals celebrated in the temple.
