Shri Swetavinayaka temple

This Ganesha temple is situated in the village Thiruvalanchuzhi near Swami Malay in Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu. The Shiva temple at this place is among the 276 shiva temples revered by Nayanmars. The present temple is about 2000 years old. 

Moolavar: Shri Thiruvalanchuzhinadar

Devi (Parvati): Shri Periyanayaki

Kshetra Vruksha: Bilva

Kshetra Purana: 

Sage Yayarava had 100 sons. He prayed to Goddess Parvati for a daughter. Goddess Parvati decided to take birth as his daughter as she wanted to see herself getting married to Lord Shiva with matted hair. At very early age she told her father about her wish and started doing penance. With her divine power, she made a shiva linga out of sand. In order to make the Shiva linga she prayed and requested Lord Shiva to fetch water from Ganges. Lord Shiva obliged and created sacred tank known as Jatatirtha with Ganges water from his matted hair. Since Goddess Parvati wished to marry Lord Shiva with matted hair the name of Lord Shiva is Shri Kabardeeshwarar (kabar in Urdu also means jata). Lord Shiva appeared according to Goddess Parvati wish and married with her at this place. As per Goddess Parvati’s wish Lord Shiva stayed at this place in the form of a Shiva Linga which is worshiped as Shri Kabardeeshwarar.

The following kshetra purana explains why the name is Thiruvalanchuzhi. The detail is obtained from a grantha known as Abhidana chintamani. During Samudra manthan they started the churning the ocean of milk with Vasuki (snake) as churning rope. She started splitting venom which became unbearable. When devas approached Lord Shiva for a remedy, he reminded them that they forgot to worship Lord Ganesha first. So they made an idol of Lord Ganesha from the foam of ocean of milk. And after worshiping they got relief from venom. This idol of Lord Ganesha is known as Lord SwetaVinayaka. 

Lord Indra desired to have Lord SwetaVinayaka for his worship. At the same time the the devas were also interested in same. Finally it was decided to worship Lord Swetavinayaka at everyone’s place for some time. Lord Swetavinayaka was worshiped by Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati for some time at Kailash, by Lord Maha Vishnu and Goddess Mahalakshmi at Shri Vaikuntha, by Lord Brahma and Goddess Saraswati at Satyaloka and then finally it came to Goddess Indrani and Lord Indra at Indralok. When Lord Indra had to leave Indralok due to curse of Ahalya as an atonement he started on a pilgrimage. He took Lord Swetavinayaka along with him. Lord Indra reached this place and decided to have a bath at Jatatirtha. Lord Shiva felt that Lord Swetavinayaka should be installed at this place. So he appeared as a small brahmin boy. Lord Indra handed over the idol to small brahmin for a safe keeping while taking bath. He left the instructions that the idol should not be kept on the ground. When Lord Indra took dip in the water the boy kept the idol on the ground and disappeared. Lord Indra tried to uproot it from the place but could not do so. A celestial voice instructed him to leave the idol in the same place and worship the idol on Mondays in the shukla paksha in the month of August (second fortnight August) to first fortnight of September. But still Lord Indra tried to move the idol with the help of chariot, horses and elephants and he failed miserably. The celestial voice of Lord Shiva again instructed him to stop his attempts. Lord Shiva told him that Lord SwetaVinayaka will grace and fulfill desires of one and all by staying in Kailash in Krutayuga, at Vaikuntha in Tretayuga, at Satyaloka in Dwaparyuga, and at earth in Kaliyuga.

There is also Kshetra purana associated with this place. With Lord Swetavinayaka’s blessing Kaveri river started flowing from Sage Agastya’s kamandalu. When she was entering this place the king received her with full honor and this place was known as shaktivan. She went around Lord Shiva and entered through a hole (called Piladavara in sanskrit) in the northeast direction. The king failed in his attempt to get her out of hole. He sought the help Sage Heranda. The Sage came to this place and prayed to Lord Shiva. Under the instruction of Lord Shiva the sage entered the hole. After worshiping Kaveri he brought her out of the hole near Kumbhakonam. This place is known as mela (upper) kaveri. Since Kaveri went around Lord Shiva at this place, the place is known as Thiruvalanchuzhi.

About the Temple:

There is a separate temple for Lord Shani facing the Sun. The shiv linga is a swayambhu linga. The idol of Lord Ganesha is believed to have been made of foam from the ocean of milk. Hence he is known as Lord Sweta-vinayaka (Vellaivinayaka in Tamil). The main shiva temple is facing the east. Goddess Ambika is to the right of Lord Shiva as she is in her wedding posture. Generally the consort is always to the left of Lord Shiva in temples. There is an idol of Goddess Ashtabhuja Mahakali with a slight (minute) damage. It is believed that this was done to calm down her anger several years ago. 

Gabhara of Lord SwetaVinayaka at this place is known as Gayatri Mandap. There are nine small windows and big balcony made of single block of rock with intricate sculpture and design. There are 24 special stone columns, with inscription of all 24 words of Gayatri mantra, that support the mandap. It is believed that this was constructed by celestial sculptor Vishwakarma. This Gayatri mandap is facing the south. Lord Ganesha is seated in this mandap with his shakti known as Goddess Veni and Goddess Kamala (Riddhi and Siddhi). He has four hands which hold a tusk, paash (noose), ankush and sweet meal (modak). The idol is relatively small. It is stated that Lord Bhairav got rid of Brahmahatya dosh by doing penance. 

It is stated that one should take darshana of Lord Swetavinayaka before proceeding to Lord Murugan temple at Swami Malay. Lord Vinayaka married Riddhi and Siddhi at this place. 

Festivals:

Masi (Feb-Mar): Mahashivaratri

Karthigai (Nov-Dec): Thirukarthigai (second fortnight of November and first fortnight of December)

Avani (Aug-Sept): Vinayak Chaturthi

Courtesy: Various websites and blogs