Vekkali Amman Temple - Uraiyur

Uraiyur is the old capital of ancient Chola dynasty before they were ruling from Thanjavur. The temple is situated at a distance of 7 Kms from the city centre. The specialty of the temple is that the deity here faces North. The interesting folklore associated with the North facing idol of the Goddess here, is a fact that the idols of deities who personify valor and face North are believed to bless the king. And so, the Chola kings used to visit this shrine and seek her blessings before heading to the battlefield. A saint named Sarama Rishi, who lived in Woraiyur had a garden with rare flowers in it. He used to worship Thayumanavar Swamy of Rockfort everyday, offering garlands made of flowers from his garden, to lord Shiva. A local florist, Pranthakan, saw the beauty of the flowers and planned to start supplying them to the King in the palace, to keep himself in the good books of the king. The king was very pleased with the flowers. So, Pranthakan started stealing flowers to maintain the name earned. Rishi noticed the theft of the flowers from his garden.

One day, the sage came to know that Pranthakan was the culprit and complained to the King, saying that the flowers were meant exclusively for lord Thayumanavar. The king didn't give an ear to it, as he liked those flowers so much. With no options left, the sage went straight to lord to put an end to Pranthakan's activity. On learning of this incident, the deity, hitherto facing east, turned west (towards Uraiyur), and with his powerful eyes open, created a huge sand storm that ruined the entire Uraiyur town. People had no idea about the reason for this sudden sandstorm. They went to Vekkali Amman, praying to save them. The Goddess went to Lord Thayumanavar and prayed, asking him to reduce his anger which subsided later. Because of the disaster, people of the town lost their homes in the storm. Hence, the Goddess also decided to live in a temple without a roof, until everyone there had built a shelter for themselves. It is the reason that this temple doesn't have a roof. The main deity is open to the sky, be it rain or shine. Many attempts were made to build a roof for this temple at various times, which ended in vain. Generally in Shakti temples, the deity is posed bending the left leg and the right leg over the demon. But here, it is a rare form that the Amman is posing with her left leg over the demon and the right bent. The temple is under the control of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of Tamilnadu.