sri vadaranyeswarar temple thiruvalangadu

Sri vadaranyeswarar is a famous Hindu temple of Lord Shiva. It is located in the Thiruvallur district of Thiruvalangadu town, Tamilnadu. Margazhi Tiruvadhirai is a famous festival in this temple.this one of the padal petra shalangal.This is also one of the pancha sabhai ( five dancing places of lord shiva )and sabhai here is Rathna sabhai. Here lord is also called as , Sri Alavana nathar, Sri Oorthu vadandaveswarar, Sri Devarsingaperuman. This is the place where Karaikal Ammayar (one among 63 Nayanmar) attained Moksham (Heavenly Adobe). Also here goddess Kali is seen in dancing posture.

Pancha sabhai of lord Natarajar (Lord shiva):

This temple is one among the 5 Sabai (Dancing Places of Lord Nataraja).

1) Thiruvalangadu "Rathina Sabai (Gem)" in Oorthuva thandavam posture.

2) Madurai “Rajata sabhai(silver)” in sandhya thandavam.

3) Thirunveli “Thamira sabhai(copper)”in Gowri thandavam.

4) Thirukutralam”chithira sabhai(picture)” in Thiripura thandavam.

5) chidambaram “Kanaka sabha (Golden)” in anandha thndavam.

Meaning of Thiruvalangadu :

This place once a forest of Banayan tree and hence a name of Thiruvalangadu (Thiru + Alam + Kadu) Thiru means holy , Alam means Banyan kadu means Forest. Lord shiva here is swayambomurthy. Earlier this village was called Pazhayanur and the place where this temple was located was called Alangadu. In the Devara Hymns, this place is mentioned as “Pazhayanur Alangadu”.

History of Thiruvalangadu temple :

This is very ancient temple. It is believed that temple was originally constructed by Chola and pallavas Dynasties.The stone inscriptions available in this temple are from the periods of king Paranthaka Chola-I till the last king of vijayanagaram.

This temple is under the administrative control of the hindu religious and charitable Endowments Department of government of tamil nadu (HR &CE). This temple is controlled by Thiruthani Murugan temple’s Executive officer / Joint commissioner.

Story on Thiruvalangadu Temple :

According to the history, Sumba and Nisumba were demons who bothered the Devas in the banyan jungle. The Devas requested Mother Parvathi to save them. Mother Parvathi took the Kali incarnation and killed the demons. Kali drunk the blood of demons and got angry.

Sage Munjikesa Karkodaka requested lord Shiva to calm goddess Kali. Kali asked lord Shiva to dance with her. If he won, she would give her place to him. While they were performing, lord Shiva dropped his earring. Even while dancing he took his earring by his toe and placed it in his ear. Goddess Kali accepted her defeat and gave her place to lord Shiva.

In this temple goddess Kali deity is in dancing posture.)The great legend about this temple is Karaikal Ammayar attained moksham at the feet of Nataraja here. It is also at this temple that she sang her Mootha Tirupathigam. Karaikkal Ammaiyar is one among the 63 Nayanmars (saints praying lord shiva)
She was born to Danadathan. Her father was a big businessman of that region. As he was childless, he and his wife prayed to the Lord to bless them with a child. The lord who was happy with the devotion of the couple, blessed them with a daughter. The couple named her as Punithavathi. Danadathan arranged for the marriage of his daughter and found a suitable bride for her. Paramadattan was his name. He was also a big businessman. The new couple were having a peaceful and happy married life.One day, Paramadattan sent two mangoes to his house. To serve the mangoes to her husband for lunch, Punithavathi kept them separately. At that time a Shiva Yogi (Sage) came and begged for food. Punithavathi received the yogi properly and offered him a mango which she had kept for her husband and kept one mango for her husband. During lunch, Paramadattan who had come home for lunch ate the single mango. When he found the mango tasty, he asked for another one. But as Punithavathi had already given it to the shiva yogi, she prayed to the Lord to help her and a mango appeared mysteriously. She served the same to her husband. After tasting the second mango, Paramadattan was sure that the taste was extra ordinary and asked his wife about the mango. Punithavathi then revealed what happened. Paramadattan thought that Punithavathi was fabricating a story and asked her to get one more mango from the Lord. Punithavathi once again prayed to the Lord and she was given one more mango. She gave it to her husband after which the mango disappeared.An astonished Paramadattan realised the greatness of Punithavathi. He had to sail far away for trading. When he returned he went to another place and settled there and married another woman and lived happily.
When Punithavathi and her relatives heared about this, they went to Paramadattan to inquire. When Paramadattan heared about the visit, he along with new wife and daughter went and received them and fell at the feet of Punithavathi. He told them that Punithavathi was not an ordinary woman but a goddess. Hearing this Punithavathi prayed to Lord Shiva to give her an ugly look so that no one would look at her. The lord granted that boon also immediately.She then started her pilgrimage and went to Mount Kailash. She thought that going to Mount Kailash on foot was unholy and disrespectful to Lord. So, she walked with her Head (Upside Down) and went to Thiruvalangadu.Lord Shiva, highly delighted by the dedication of Punithavathi and named her as Karaikal Ammayar (Karaikal is the place where she was born). As per her request, the lord danced for her and Karaikal Ammayar attained Moksham (Heavenly Adobe)

Mantheeswarar :

Another legend is that sani bhadavan (Saturn) advised his son, Mantheeswarar who had accured a sin (dosham) when a lizard fell on him, to go to thiruvalangadu and worship lord shiva there. And lord shiva pleased with his penance, Lord shiva appeared before him and blessed him by removing his sin.