History

Swetharanyeswarar Temple is a Hindu temple located in the town of Thiruvenkadu near Sirkazhi. The main deity is Swetharanyeswarar, a form of Shiva and Brahmavidya Ambal as the consort. There is a separate Sannidhi for Budha. All four important Saivite saints have sung in praise of Swetharanyeswarar, the lord of the white forest and the lord of this large and important temple.

This temple is especially known for its unique incarnation of Shiva called “Agora Murthi”.

Thiruvenkadu village is also famous for its unique structure of pools in temples. This temple has 3 pools, 3 Gods. It is a belief that who takes bath in all these pools, the one will be free from their problems like diseases, delay in marriage, etc.,.

Swetharanyeswarar is the main God in this temple. It is said that Agora Murthi was one of the furious incarnation of Lord Shiva. There was an Evil named “Maruthuvasuran” in Thiruvengadu. He had a deep meditation on Lord Brahma for power. Being satisfied with his meditation, Lord Bhrama offered him many powers. But he used those powers in a wrong ways. He started to torture the saints and innocent people. Having nothing to do, all the saints and people requested Lord Shiva to put an end to this evil. As they asked, Lord Shiva took his incarnation ‘Agora murthi’ and killed the ‘Maruthuvasuran under a tree (which is now in Thiruvengadu temple, back to the entrance of Agora murthi). All the people thanked Lord Shiva for saving them. The place is called by other names like Swetaranyam, Adi Chidambaram and Nava Ntirya Stala.

Festivals :

There are many festivals which are being celebrated in this village. It includes the chariot festival which is celebrated every year in the month of February. This Chariot festival is celebrated for 10 days. On 5th day a special occasion is celebrated for Lord Agora Murthi. People from many surrounding villages would come here and pray here for their better life.