Swetharanyeswarar Swamy Temple, Thiruvenkadu - Navagraha Temple

Thiruvenkadu Sri Swetharanyeswarar Swamy Temple is located in Sirkazhi, representing the navagraha Budhan (Mercury), is one of the 276 holy shrines of Saivite saints. The main deity is Lord Shiva in the name of Swetharanyeswarar, meaning the lord of white forest. There is a separate shrine for the planet Budhan. The temple is also known for its unique incarnation of lord Shiva as ‘Agora Murthi’ (fierce form). Long ago, there was a man in this area called ‘Salantharan’ and one of his sons was a doctor. He did penance towards lord Shiva and got a divine spear. But he didn’t use the boon for a good deed and he started using it against spiritual powers. Due to his act, lord Shiva got angry and sent ‘Nandi’ to fight with him. In this conflict, Nandi got nine holes in his body. Then, Lord Shiva himself appeared in a frightful form (Agoramoorthy) and quelled the maruthuvan.

There are stone inscriptions available here which relate to the period of Chola Kings Adithyan, Rajarajan, Rajendran, Kulothungan, Vikrama Cholan and Rajathi Rajan. Some other stone inscriptions relate to Pandiyan kings Kulasekara Pandian, Vikrama Pandiyan, Sundarapandian and Parakirama Pandian. The temple campus covers an area of 12 acres. The rivers, Kaveri and Manikarnika flow near this holy shrine. This is a famous ‘Parihara sthalam’ for the planet Budhan. Those suffering from nerve related ailments worship lord Budhan here for relief. Lord Budhan is believed to be the lord responsible for education and business. Hence, devotees believe that by worshiping lord Bhudan, they will be blessed with better education, knowledge, wisdom, oratory excellence and improvement in their businesses.