Srivanchiyam Sri Vanchinadha Swamy Temple

The presiding deity of this temple is lord Shiva as Vanchinathan and his consort Parvati as Mangalambigai. The speciality of the temple is that the shrine is facing East and West & so, the poojas are done in both the directions. The lingam here is self manifested. There is a separate shrine for lord Yama here, which is not common everywhere. It is the reason that Yama, the God of death, felt very sad that he was assigned the job of taking the life of people while there are many jobs of divine nature. He went to Thiruvarur and conveyed his sorrow to the lord. Lord Shiva directed him to go to Srivanchiyam and pray there. Pleased with his penance, Lord Vanchinadhaswamy appeared before him and asked what he wished. He was not happy with his duty and suffering the dosha caused by his job.

The attributes that cause death will be diseases, age and accidents and not by him, the lord clarified. He was also granted the status of ‘Kshetra Palaka’, that the devotees would worship him first here and then come to him. It is practised by the priest and the devotees here. At the Eastern entrance of the temple is the 5 tier Rajagopuram, one of the biggest in the region. The big 5 acre complex houses three big prakaras with 4 Mada Streets around the complex. Raja Raja Chola contributed a lot to the improvement of the temple. Raja Kesari Varma and Sadayavarma Sundarapandian donated lands in big measure here. The Subramanya idol here belongs to the Nayak period of the 16th Century AD. The devotees have a dip in the temple tank before worship and they will believe that they are free from the sins. They also consider it sacred, doing prayers for their ancestors here.