Tmilnad temples - Vasudevanallur gajavhana Ganapthi Temple

Gajavahana Ganapathi (Ganesha, Vinayaka, Vigneswara) temple

Normally Ganapathi (Ganesha, Vinayaka, Vigneswara) temples will have the vahana (carrier, vehicle) mice. Because of this he is known as 'Mushikavahana or Mooshikavahana. But there is one temple where the vehicle of Ganapathi is elephant (Gajavahan). this temple is in the village called Vasudevanaallur in Thirunelveli district of Tamilnad. This is the only know place with the Gajavahana Ganapthi - other than Mushikavhana.

Tamilnad temples - Keezhvaasal Vallabha Ganapthi Temple, Thanjavur

Vallabha Ganapathi (married Ganesha) at Keezhvaasal village

There is a Ganapthi (Ganesha, Vinayak, Vigneswara) temple in the village by name Keezhvaasal (kezhvasal, Kizhvasal) in the Thanjavur District of Tamilnad.The temple is known as Vallabha Ganapathi temple.

The temple as the name suggests is dedicated to Lord Ganesh as married. The Lord is supposed to have married a young lady by name Vallabha. Here Vallabha is not seen separately as it is believed that the wife of the Lord is merged with him and is invisible. So when the devotees offer worship the consort of Lord Ganapathi is supposed to give darasan  in aroopi (invisible) form and bless them.  

The worship of this god is supposed to bless for marriage for those who find difficult to get spouse. For this reason thousands of devotees come to this temple especially those are finding it difficult  to get married and those who desire for good spouses.

The legend about this is from a reference in one of the Purana (old scriptures on religion of Maharishis) stories. It is about a young lady who was cursed for some of her sins to become a demoness (Raakshasi). As is the custom of demons due to their culture, she (Vallabha) started harassing and tormenting the gods, Rishis and human beings.  The gods and Rishis went to Lord Siva and complained bout the demoness and wanted him to do something to spare them from the torment. Lord Siva deputed Lord Muruga (Subramanya, Karthikeya) to defeat her. He went to the demoness Vallabha and pretended to be afraid of her and went to his elder brother, Lord Ganesha (Ganapathy, Vinayak, Vigneswara) to fight her. Lord Ganesh went to fight her with an angry look. The demoness was told at the time of curse that she will be liberated from the curse through a person of human and animal combination. So she was happy. Lord Ganesh lifted her with his trunk and placed her on his lap. Immediately she was released from the curse and became the young lady she was before the curse. Lord Ganesha (Ganapathy, Vinayak, Vigneswara) married her and she merged with him.

Tamilnad temples - Temple where Rahu & Kethu changed places

Ettiathali Agastheeswarar Temple where Rahu & Kethu changed places

Ettiathali Agastheeswarar Temple

The temple got the name Agastheeswar temple because the Lord Siva was worshiped by Sage – Muni Agasthya. The idol is a swayamboo (self originated) Ling (symbol of Lord Siva). The name of the consort of the Lord here is Akilandeswari. 

Unique features of Agastheeswarar Temple

In the Navagrahas installations Lord Sani (Saturn) was installed in such a way that he is visible to the Agastheeswar (main deity) which is a rare case in any temple.  One more unique feature in this temple is that Rahu is installed on the right side of Lord Saniswar and Kethu is on to the left. Normally in all the Navagraha temples the positions of Rahu and Kethu will be in reverse meaning Rahu will be to the left and Kethu to the right of Lord Saniswar. Another uniqueness in this temple is Goddess Akila also known as Navagraha Nayaki is installed near to Navagrahas. Because of this the Navagrahas here are considered to be very powerful. 

Benefits of visiting the temple

By offering proper worship in the temple Kalathra Dosha and Sani Dosha can be relieved. Worship here can cure the Griha Doshaas caused by the unfavorable positions of Sani, Rahu & Kethu in the horoscopes of people. 

Legends about Agastheeswar temple

As the name suggests the temple is dedicated to Lord Eswar – Siva. There is a reference about this temple in the Puranas. The reference is t the effect that Sage Agasthya while traveling from Kasi (Varanasi – Banaras) to Rameswaram. On the way he used to be doing his daily Siva Pooja at the place he halts. When he came to Ettaithali village it was late. He performed the pooja for the night and stayed back at the temple there. On that occasion it so happened the King Kalingarayan was also there on pilgrimage after his worshiping Lord Siva at Rameswaram and Lord Saniswar at Thirunaalaru to get relief from his ‘Sade saathi’ (Ashtma Sani – Sani dasa – Saturn aspect) as per his astrologers suggestion. On his way the king came to Ettaithali. There the King met Sage Agasthya and sought the sage’s suggestion for relief from the grip of the Sani period in the king’s life. The sage suggested the king to build a temple to the Swayamboo Linga of Lord Siva and also install Navagrahas (9 planets) also. Accordingly the King Kalingarayan built the temple and installed the Navagrahas. The consort of Lord Siva in this temple is called as goddess Akilandeswari. She is in a separate shrine near to the main deity Agastheeswar.  Near to the Navagrahas there is another idol of the goddess by the name goddess Akila. 

There is a legend that Lord Siva had Kalathra Dosha. This Dosha was removed on the Sage Agasthya worshiping the Lord. On this removal of the Dosha the sage (Muni) the sage installed the idol of the goddess Akilandeswari near to the main sanctum. 

The Ettiathali Agastheeswarar Temple is estimated to be of more than 2000 years old.    

  

Location of the temple

Agastheeswarar temple is in the village Ettiathali, around 8 km from Aranthangi town in Pudukittai District of Tamilnad in South India.