Vaidyanathar Temple, Tirumazhapadi

01Nandi’s wedding

Each year in Panguni, on Punarpusam, the temple celebrates the wedding of Nandikeshvara to Suyasha, daughter of the sage Vyaghrapada, with Shiva and Parvati themselves present. The procession goes to nearby Tiruvaiyaru, and villages around send gifts as for a family wedding. A Tamil saying runs: see Nandi’s wedding and your own will follow. Unmarried young people come in large numbers that day. The festival is the biggest in Ariyalur district.

02Ponnar meniyane

Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar all sang Tirumazhapadi. Sundarar’s padigam here begins ponnar meniyane, O you whose body is like gold, with the tiger skin at your waist and the crescent in your matted hair, and it is among the best loved hymns of the seventh Tirumurai. The Lord here is Vaidyanathar, the physician, as at Vaitheeswaran Koil. The temple stands on the north bank of the Kollidam, across the river from the Tiruvaiyaru country, and its old name is Mazhuvadi.