Shwetaaranyeshwarar Temple at Thiruvenkadu - Temple of Budha

This temple is a Navagraha temple representing the planet Budha (Mercury). It is also a Padal Pethra Sthalam revered by Nayanmars on the bank of river Kaveri. 

Mulavar (Main deity): Swetaranyeshwarar

Amman (Consort): Brahmavidyambika

Kshetra vruksa (Sacred tree): Peeple (vadavanal), Kondrai (Bahava), Bilva

Pouranik Name: Thiruvenkadu, Adi Chidambaram, Swetaranya

Sacred Teertha: Surya Teertha, Agni Teertha, Chandra Teertha

Village Location: THIRUVENKADU, Tamil Nadu 609114, India

Salient Features:

1) The shiva linga at this place is swayambhu linga. 

2) Just like Kashi where we have Vishnu paduka, here we have rudra paduka below the Vadavanal tree. Hence Lord Shiva is also known at this place as Thiruvenkadar and Thiruvenkattudevar 

3) Abhishek is done on this sphatika linga four times in a day and Nataraja idol six times in a day 

4) This is also considered as Shakti peetha and is known as Pranava shakti peetha

5) This kshetra is one of the six kshetras which are considered to be as auspicious as Kashi. The other five are 1. Thiruvayaru, 2. Mailaduthurai, 3. Chhayavan, 4. Thiruvidaimaruthur and 5. Thiruvanchiam

6) This temple also finds mention in the Valmiki Ramayan.

Explanation of Swetaranya: Sweta means white in english and venmai in Tamil. Aranyam in sanskrit means forest in English and Kadu in Tamil. Thats why is known Swetaranyeshwar or Venkadu

Legends:

1) Once Lord Muruga imprisoned Lord Brahma for not being able to explain the meaning of pranava mantra. Lord Shiva intervened as the brahmasrushti had come to an end. Brahma was released by Lord Muruga. Due to his imprisonment Lord Brahma forgot the Brahmagyan, so he came to this place and did penance. The penance he performed is known as SamadhuNilai (Tamil) i.e. holding the breath. Lord Shiva as Dakshinamurti taught him Brahmagyan again. Goddess Parvati taught Lord Brahma, brahmakala (art of srushti) hence Goddess Parvati is known as Brahmavidyambika. There is a separate shrine (brahmasamadhi) to indicate this.

2) It is believed that Lord Shiva has sixty four forms and five faces. Five faces are Ishaan facing sky and represents purity, Vamadeva - faces north - represents sustenance, Tatpurusha - faces east- represents spirituality and destruction of ego, Aghora murti- faces south - represents destruction and resurgence, Sadashiva - faces west - represents eternal peace. According to the legend a demon named Marutva (son of Salindra) was a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. By performing rigorous penance he got a trishul (trident) and started terrorizing the devas. Lord Shiva sent nandi to punish the demon who inflicted nine wounds on Nandi. Lord Shiva took the form of Aghora murti and killed a demon under the tree. (It is believed that the tree still exists here). The idol of Nandi has nine wounds on his body. It is stated that Lord Shiva destroyed the demon on the nakshatra Purva Phalguni and it was a Sunday.

3) Lord Yama was punished by Lord Shiva for trying to take away the life of King Swetaketu. Yama worshiped Lord Shiva for forgiveness. 

4) It is stated that Lord performed nine tandavas namely - Ananda Tandava, Kali Tandava, Gauri Tandava, Muni Tandava, Sandhya Tandava, Tripura Tandava, Bhujanga Tandava, Samhar Tandava and Bhikshatan Tandava. He performed Anand Tandava for Parvati at this place. While performing Ananda Tandav three drops of water (Ashru) fell from his eyes and they formed three sacred Teertha here. 

5) Budha worshiped Lord Shiva and got the status of a navagraha at this place. He was also relieved of neutral gender (Napunsak).  

6) Indra, Airavat, Lord Mahavishnu, Surya, Chandra and Agni worshiped Lord Shiva at this place.

7) A saint named Pattinathar got Shivadiksha at this place. 

Other deities and shrines at this place: 

1. Shrine of Lord Vinayaka
2. Shrine of Lord Vallabha Ganapati with his wife Sri Vallabha devi by his side
3. Shrines of Lord Muruga, Sweta mahakali and Bhairav
4. Idols of Swetavanaperumal, Panchalinga, Nageshwarar and Veerabhadra
5. Shrine of Kashi Vishwanath and Vishalakshi
6. There is a separate shrine for Lord Vishnu

Besides this we have other kosha murtis in their respective places.

The unique feature of this temple is as follows. 1. There are three main deities namely swayambhu linga, nataraja and aghora murti. 2. There are three goddesses namely Brahmavidyambika, Kali and Durga. There are three Teerthas namely Surya, Chandra and Agni. There are three kshetra vrukshas namely bilva, kondrai (bahava), vadavanala

Festivals:

1) 13 day festival Brahmotsav known as Indra festival in the month of Masi (Feb-Mar)

2) 10 day festival on Purva Phalguni nakshatra in the tamil month of Adi (July-Aug)

3) Ganesh Chaturthi festival on Avani month of (Aug-Sept)

4) Skanda shashti and Anna abhishek in Tamil month of Aippasi (Oct-Nov)

5) Arudra darshan (Ardra nakshatra) in Tamil month of Margazhi (Dec-Jan)

6) Laksharchana of Aghora Murti in Panguni (Mar-Aprl)

7) Aghora Puja on Third Sunday of Tamil month Karthigai (Nov-Dec)

8) Vaikashi festival for Indra’s elephant airavat who got relieved from curse at this place

9) Pradosh puja on every pradosha day

10) 10 day navaratri festival in Sharad rutu