Thirumazhapadi Vaidyanathaswami Temple

Getting there

• By air

  The nearest international airport to Ariyalur district is Trichy, about 75 km away.

• By train

  Ariyalur railway station comes under the Trichy railway division and lies on the chord line, 70 km from Trichy and 267 km from Chennai.

• By road

  Ariyalur town sits on the NH45 and NH226 highways, 65 km from Trichy and 44 km from Thanjavur.

Why devotees come here

Thirumazhapadi Vaidyanathaswami Temple is a Shiva temple in Thirumazhapadi, Ariyalur district, Tamil Nadu. It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, the Shiva shrines praised in the Tevaram hymns. The Nayanars Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar all sang its praise.

Devotees believe the deity came to Saint Sundarar in a dream and asked him to sing his praise. The temple is dedicated to Shiva as the presiding deity, Vaidyanathaswami, and his consort Parvati is worshipped here as Sundarambikai. The place was once called Mazhuvadi.

The antiquity of the place goes back to the Sangam period. The Siva temple was built of stone in the time of Aditya I (871-907). Rajaraja I ordered it rebuilt, and his son Rajendra I completed the work. The queens of Aditya I, Rajaraja I and Rajendra I gave lands and ornaments to the temple.

The Hoysala king Viranarasimha repaired the temple in A.D. 1235-36. The first and second gateway towers, the gopuras, were built under the Pandyas and the Cholas respectively. The temple is counted among the temples on the northern bank of the River Kaveri.

Festivals

• Panguni month, mid-March to mid-AprilNandi kalyanam

  The celestial wedding of the bull Nandi is celebrated in a grand manner here. Locals believe that seeing it removes obstacles to marriage.

Tips for your visit

• Annadhanam, free meals, is provided at this temple, one of eight in Ariyalur district.
• Look at the two gopuras, the gateway towers, built under the Pandyas and the Cholas.

Questions people ask