Vada Aranyeswarar Temple, Thiruvalangadu

Vada Aranyeswarar Temple at Thiruvalangadu is one the Padal Petra Sthalams. This temple is about 60 kms from Kathipara Junction. This place was once a forest of Banyan and hence the name Thiruvalangadu (Thiru + Alam + Kadu). Thiru means holy, Alam is Banyan and Kadu means forest. Lord Shiva is a swayambumurthy here. The Lord is facing East and His Consort Vandar Kuzhali Amman is in a separate shrine facing South. The theertham is Mukthi Theertham and the Sthala Vruksham is Alamaram or Banyan tree.

This is one of the Padal Petra Shalangal. This is also one of the Pancha Sabhais of Lord Shiva. This Rathna Sabai. There are five places where Nataraja, the dancing form of Lord Shiva, has performed his five cosmic dance forms, they are

S.No	Temple	Name of the Sabai	Dance/Nadanam
1	Chidambaram	(Golden hall) Ponnambalam – Kanaka sabha	Anadha Thandavam
2	Madurai	(Silver hall) Velliyambalam – Rajata sabha	Sandhya Thandavam
3	Thiruvalangadu	(Gem hall) Iraththinasabai – Ratna sabha	Oorthuva Thandavam
4	Thirunelveli	(Copper hall) Thamira sabai – Tamira sabha	Gowri Thandavam
5	Thirukutralam	(Picture hall) Chiththira sabai – Chitra sabha	Thiripura Thandavam

Thiruvalangadu is where He performed the Oorthuva Thandavam and this is the Rathna Sabai.

There are a few legends associated with this temple. One of the legends of Thiruvalangadu is connected with Karaikal Ammaiyar. She attained moksham at the feet of Nataraja here. It is also here that she sang her Mootha Tirupathigam. Karaikkal Ammaiyar is one of the 63 nayanmars.

Karaikkal Ammaiyar was born as Punithavathiar in a Vaisya (Business) family. Her father Danadathan was a successful and prosperous businessman. He was childless and he and his wife prayed to Lord to be blessed with a child. The Lord was happy with their devotion and blessed them with a daughter. They named her Punithavathy. Punithavathy grew up as a very pious child. When she attained marriageable age she was married off to Paramadattan, a wealthy businessman. They were both leading a peaceful and happy married life until one day Paramadattan sent two mangoes to his house. Punithavathy kept them away to serve them to her husband during lunch. Meanwhile, a Siva yogi who was exhausted due to hunger came to their house. As was the custom in those days, Punithavathy did a paadha puja him and offered him the mangoes as alms or bhiksha, since she had nothing else to give him at that time. She gave one to the Siva Yogi and reserved the other for her husband. Punithavathy served Paramadattan the mango. He liked it a lot and asked if he could have the other also. Since she had already given the other mango to the Siva yogi, she prayed to the Lord for help and mysteriously a mango appeared on the palm of her hand, which she served to her husband. When he tasted it he was amazed by its extraordinary taste. He was sure that this was not the mango that he had sent and asked her where she got such a sweet mango. Paramadattan could not believe when Punithavathy told the truth. He thought that she was concocting a story and challenged her to get another mango. She then prayed to the Lord and another mango appeared on her palm, which she handed over to her husband. The mango disappeared immediately. An astonished Paramadattan understood the greatness of his wife and set sail to a far away land on the pretext of going for trade. He returned and settled down in the Pandya Kingdom. He married another woman and lived happily. He even named his daughter Punithavathy after his first wife. When Punithavathy’s relatives came to know about this, they took Punathavathy to her husband. When Paramadattan knew about her impending arrival, he took his wife and daughter to meet her and feel on her feet. He explained the reason why he left her. He said that he saw Punathavathy as a Goddess rather than an ordinary human being. Punithavathy then prayed to the Lord to give her a demoniac form instead of her present one. She was immediately granted the wish. She then went on a Pilgrimage to Kailash. She traveled the last part of the journey on her head since she thought that placing her foot in Mount Kailash was disrespectful to Lord Shiva and a sin. It is also said that wherever she set foot on the ground, a Shiva Lingam would appear. She felt this was disrepectful and hence walked with her hands to Thiruvalangadu. Lord Shiva was highly delighted with Punithavathiyar’s dedication and He conferred the title of “Karaikkal Ammaiyar” on her. He also granted a boon to her. She wished that she should not have any more rebirth and in the event of a rebirth she should always be devoted to the Lord. She also wanted to be at His feet and witness His dance, always singing His praise. Lord Shiva asked her to go to Thiruvalangadu to witness His dance. Accordingly she went to Thiruvalangadu and witnessed His dance and also attained moksham.

Sumban and Nisumban were two demons who lived here were harassing the Devas or Demi Gods. They appealed to Goddess Parvathi to help them. Goddess parvathi created Kali to destroy the demons. When Kali killed the demons, every drop of their blood that fell on the ground would produce another demon. Kali had to drink all the blood of the demons She killed. Since Kali consumed the blood of the demons when she killed them, She became even more furious. Lord Shiva came here to pacify Her. Kali challenged Lord Shiva for a dance competition and said that she would give up the place to the Lord if He won. During the dance, His ear ring fell on the ground. Lord Shiva picked it up with the toes of His left leg and fixed it back in his ear by raising his leg vertically, even while He was still dancing. Kali conceded that she could not dance so marvelously and declared Lord Shiva to be the winner. Lord Shiva declared that He only was equal to Her. He bestowed a boon on Her that all devotees coming to this holy place should first worship Her before worshiping Lord Shiva. This temple dedicated to Badra Kali Amman is just outside the Vada Aranyeswarar Temple.

This is the temple to be worshipped by people under Bharani Nakshathiram regularly. By doing so they would lead a peaceful and happy life. The other temple for people born under Bharani Nakshathiram is Sri Agneeswarar Temple at Thirunalladai, Tamil Nadu. It is even better if they visit these temples on the day of Bharani Nakshathiram.

Across the temple tank is the Thirumulanayaki sametha Muktheeswarar Temple in the Rasi Mandapam which has twelve pillars and the Janma Rasis and Navagraha images can be seen on those pillars. One has to either walk or go by two wheeler to reach this temple. There is a cement track along the periphery of the temple tank and you can comfortably ride by a two wheeler or probably even a three wheeler. It is a bit difficult to go by car. You have to take the mud track adjoining the cement track. I was adventurous and went by car and lucky not to have a flat tyre.

Worship Benefits

It is said that Mandhi the son of Saneeswaran was in penance and a lizard fell on him and it indicated a bad omen. He asked his father how he could get rid of the dosham. Saneeswaran asked him to pray to Lord Shiva and accordingly he prayed to Lord Shiva. The Lord appeared before him and asked him to do puja for a mandalam (48 days) at Thiruvalangadu. He installed a Lingam here and performed the puja to get rid of the dosham. The information on Mandheeswarar Parihara Puja is given in the image below in Tamil. It is recommed to do the parihara puja on Saturdays since Mandhi is the son of Saneeswaran who is the Lord of Saturdays. You can perform the puja to get rid of the malefic effects of Ashtama Sani, Ardhasthtama Sani and Janma Sani. It also gets rid of the malefic effects of Mandhi present in the wrong place of the person’s horoscope. The parihara puja is also believed to remove marriage obstacles, childless will be blessed with progeny, improvement of financial status and students will do well in their academics.

It is believed that,

by lighting 1 lamp you would get peace of mind

by lighting 5 lamps you will get the blessing of the Goddess

by lighting 9 lamps you will get rid of your navagraha doshas

by lighting 12 lamps you will get Sakthi Arul

by lighting 27 lamps you will get rid of the Nakshathira Doshas

by lighting 48 lamps will result in improvement in business and get rid of any fear

by lighting 108 lamps your wishes are fulfilled

by lighting 501 lamps hurdles in getting married will be removed

by lighting 1008 lamps childless will be blessed with progeny

Temple Location

Thiruvalangadu is located about 60 kms from Kathipara Junction, Chennai. It is around 15 Kms from Arakkonam and 18.6 Kms from Tiruvallur.

View Tiruvallur Temples in a larger map

Temple Address

Arulmigu Vandarkuzhali sametha Vadaranyeswarar Koil

Tiruvalangadu – 609 810,

Tiruvallur district.

Temple Timings: 

Viswaroopa Darshan – 6 AM

Kala Sandhi Pooja – 7.30 AM

Uchchikala Pooja – 10.30 AM

Sayaratchai Pooja – 4.30 PM

Ardhajama Pooja – 7.30 PM

Palliyarai Pooja – 8 PM

Temple Phone Number: +91- 4118-272 608.