THIRUVALASUZHI PILLAIYAR KOVIL SHRI VELLAI PILLAIYAR KOVIL/Trivalanhu Ji Ganesh

One of so many iconic temples in the vicinity on the way to Swami malai, around 1km before Swami Malai. This Thiruvalanchuzhi, or Thiruvalansuzhi or Thiruvalanjuli Vellai Vinayagar Temple(also called Swetha Vinayagar, or Valanchuzinathar temple) is a big temple where Vinayaka in white colour around 2ft tall is at the entrance to the Shiva temple which is behind the Vinayaka’s sanctum sanctorum, called Kapardeeswarar temple represented by a normal lingam & his consort Parvati, depicted as Brihannayaki.The local story on presiding deity is said to have been noted in the 7th century & Tamil Saiva canonical work, Thevaram, written by Tamil poetic saints(nayanars) & so this place called as Paadal Petra Sthalam.
There are many inscriptions in this temple indicating contributions from Cholas to Thanjavur Nayak Kings. The oldest parts of the present masonry structure are said to be built during Chola period, while later expansions, are attributed to later periods, up to the Thanjavur Nayaks in 16th century.

The temple complex is very large & houses a seven-tiered gateway towers(gopuram). The temple has many shrines, with those of Kapardeeswarar & Swetha Vinayagar being the most important. The temple complex houses large halls & three precincts(praharam) the most notable is of Swetha Vinayagar that has many sculptures. The temple as locals say has six daily rituals at various times from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. & many yearly festivals are celebrated.

The story of this temple goes with a sage called Herandar, who is believed to have gone through an underground passage to paathal & brought Cauvery to earth to flow in the direction as desired thru tapas. Since the river took a convoluted direction in its flow, the place is called Thiruvalanjuzhi. There is an image of Herandar in the temple & trunk of Vinayagar swirls towards the right. The presence of Buddhist images from the Chola period in the temple show presence of Buddhist tradition here.

The temple is renowned for its dedication to Vinayagar/Vinayaka. The idol of Vinayaka is white in colour & is said to have been created out of sea foam(kadal norai). Hence, this temple is known as Swetha Vinayagar Temple(Sanskrit) or Vellai Vinayakar Temple(Tamil).

The story goes like, Indra(king of Devas), created idol of Ganesha out of sea foam during samudra manthan & left it in a niche(box type container) in the temple hoping to get back the idol later. But later, when he returned to remove the idol of Ganesha, it was not possible, despite after trying ro open with elephants & hence the idol was allowed to remain where it is right now. A lattice worked stone window pane called PALAHANI, is present in the temple from where Darshans happen. The temple is originally said to have been built by Kanaka Chola.

Another story is, when Devas & Asuras were churning ocean of milk with Vasuki snake, they disregarded advice of Vinayaka. It resulted in the spilling of poison in Amritha. To propitiate, the Devas created an image of Vinayaka with sea foam & worshipped him at this place. The image of the presiding deity is white in colour on account of this belief. The temple priests do not conduct abhishekham & pour any liquids over the deity for this reason.
Stories are available in painted form in the temple, photos of the paintings are enclosed.