Vedapureeswarar Temple, Tiruvedikudi

01Where the Vedas worshipped

The temple says that after an asura stole the Vedas from Brahma and Bhagwan Vishnu won them back, the Vedas came here and did tapas to Shiva to be cleansed of that touch, and so the Lord is Vedapureeswarar and the village Vedikudi. Veda Vinayaka, called Sevi Saitha Vinayaka, sits with his head tilted, listening to the chanting. In the niches Ardhanareeswara is shown with the Devi on the right half, the reverse of the usual form. A hundred and eight lingas are set in the prakaram. On the 13th, 14th and 15th of Panguni the rising sun touches the linga. Mangayarkarasi is prayed to for marriages, and Sambandar’s hymn here is recited for the same.

02Hymns and the Saptasthanam

Sambandar sang Tiruvedikudi in two hymns of the third Tirumurai, and Appar in two of the fourth. The Lord’s other name, Vazhaimadunathar, comes from the tank by the plantain grove where, the temple says, he appeared. Tiruvedikudi is a stop on the Saptasthanam procession of Tiruvaiyaru, and the temple also holds the lingas of all seven Saptasthanam shrines within its walls. The temple grew from a Chola core with inscriptions of the Chola, Nayaka and Maratha periods. Its Nataraja bronze, photographed in the temple in 1959, was later stolen; it has been traced abroad by the Tamil Nadu idol wing.