page_title: Vedaranyeswarar temple
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Vedaranyeswarar temple / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: Vedaranyeswarar temple, Vedaranyam
context_page_description: Vedaranyeswarar Temple is a temple dedicated to Shiva, located in the town of Vedaranyam in Tamil Nadu, India. Vedaranyeswarar is revered in the 7th century Tamil Shaiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the nayanars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam. It is the only temple to have found mention in all the seven Thirumurais. The temple is famed for the legend between Appar and Sambandar when the former sang to open the door while the latter sang to close the door.
  Vedaranyeswarar temple is a part of the series of temples built by Aditya Chola along the banks of river Kaveri to commemorate his victory in the Tirupurambiyam battle. It has several inscriptions dating back to the Chola period. The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and three yearly festivals on its calendar. The annual Brahmotsavam is attended by thousands of devotees from far and near. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu. Agathiyampalli Shiva Temple and Kodiyakarai Shiva Temple are other famous temples located in the same stretch.
context_section_description: The temple houses an emerald image of lingam, locally called Maragatha lingam. Vedaranyeswarar temple complex has three prakarams (outer courtyard) and two five-tiered rajagopuram (gateway tower) both on the western & eastern directions. The temple houses a tank named Manikarnika on the Western entrance inside the temple complex. The central shrine faces east and holds the image of Vedaranyeswarar (Shiva) in the form of lingam made of granite. The granite images of the deities Ganesha (son of Shiva and god of wisdom), Murugan (son of Shiva and god of war), Nandi (the bull and vehicle of Shiva) and Navagraha (nine planetary deities) are located in the hall leading to the sanctum. As in other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the first precinct or the walls around the sanctum of Vedaranyeswarar has images of Dakshinamurthy (Shiva as the Teacher), Durga (warrior-goddess) and Chandikeswarar (a saint and devotee of Shiva). The second precinct is surrounded by granite walls. The inner sanctum houses the image of the 63 nayanars. There are also images of Ramanatha linga, Shanmugha, Jvaradeva, Saraswati, Sanisvara, Annapurni, Durga, Nataraja, Bhairava, Surya and Chandra. Unlike other temples, the images of Navagraha are found in a row.
caption: Panoramic view of the temple
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