Swetha Vinayagar Temple Thiruvalanchuzhi

Thiruvalanchuzhi is a small village near swamimalai. The name Thiruvalanchuzhi is believed to be derived from the legend, which says the Ganapathy statue of the village’s beautiful oldest thiruvalanchuzhi Nathar temple, whose thumbikkai (trunk of an elephant) is said to be in right side instead of the usual left.

Thiruvalanchuzhi – “thiru” means holy or sacred, “valan” means right, and “chuzhi” means curve.

The temple is actually dedicated to lord Shiva. The main deities here in this temple are Sadaimuninathar (kabardeeshwarar) and his consort is Periyanayaki (Brihan’nayaki) Amman. This temple is famous for the Ganapathy here and also highly recognized by the name SHWETHA VINAGAR TEMPLE.

Shwetha vinayagar, the name of the Ganapathy here. Shwetha means “vellai” or white. The statue of the lord is seen to be white in color unlike the other stone statues we find in Hindu temples. It is believed that the statue is made of froth, hence the white color. Since the statue is made of froth, there are no abhishekam performed for the lord’s statue. 

shwetha vinagar idol, Thiruvalanchuzhi 

The legend

When devas and asuras started churning the milky ocean (paarkadal), they made the mistake of forgetting to worship lord vinayaka before embarking the event. This resulted in the “Nanju” (poison) which came out from the Mandhara Malai. Lord Indra immediately regretted his negligence and decided to dedicate a statue to the lord. Thus he created a icon of valampuri vinayaka with the froth of sea waves and thus the name shwetha vinayaka. In the north India, the lord is called vellai varna pillayar in the tamil speaking areas.

The temple’s gopuram is five tiered. Treasured with idols and intricate carvings, the gopuram is a definite feat to the visitors. The main deity is said to be worshipped by lord Bramha and Indra.  

Enrty to Lord shiva's shrine

Also, the temple has numerous inscriptions all around its walls, all dating to different ages that the temple has stood and flourished upon. Inscriptions also marks that the great king Raja Raja cholan had a habit of visiting the temple and worshipping the Mahakali idol – (kaali with 8 hands) here on the first praharam ( circumambulatory path ) before he ever went for a war. There are also inscriptions marking the period of paranthaka cholan I.

The temple is situated one kilometer away from swamimalai, Kumbakonam. There are frequent busses from swamimalai and kumbakonam. Nearest cities are manargudi and myladuthurai.

Holy water – kaveri , arasalaru, jada theertham

Holy tree – vilvam

The dwajasthambha ( "dwaja" means "kodi", "sthambha" means "kambam" - "kodi kambam")

Other sannithis in the temples includes

·         Asta puja maha kali

·         Sani bagawan

·         Kala baiaravar

·         Vishnu & lakshnmi in kalyana kolam (marriage view)

Festivals

The main festival here is chaturthi vizha in avani month marking the birth of the elephant faced lord. The festival is celebrated for 10 days here like a carnival. Devotees encircle the temple during this time of the year to have the Holy Communion with the lord.

Another important festival here is the valli kalyanam episode from skanda purana, where the utsavar of swaminatha swami  is brought from swamimalai. In this episode ganesha comes as an elephant to scare valli into marrying his brother lord muruga.