Uthira Vaidyalingeswarar, Kattur, Kanchipuram

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Uthira Vaidyalingeswarar	Ambal / Thayar:	Thaiyal Nayaki
Deity:	Siva	Historical name:	Maraikattur
Vriksham:	Veppa maram	Teertham:	Agastya Teertham
Agamam:		Age (years):	1000-2000
Timing:	6 to 11 & 4.30 to 8	Parikaram:	Sevvaai Dosham parikaram sthalam
Temple group:		–
Sung by:		Temple set:
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Kattur	District:	Kanchipuram
Maps from (click):	Current location	Chennai (50 km)	Kanchipuram (61 km)
	Tiruvallur (64 km)	Vellore (139 km)

Location

Sthala puranam and temple information

Agastyar worshipped at this temple, and stayed here for a long time. At the time, this place was a forest, and in order to have water for his daily worship as well as for use by passers-by, Agastyar dug a pond here. But the locals did not know the value of having someone like Agastyar in their midst. In order to make people aware of Agastyar, and spread the sage’s fame, Siva caused the local people to be afflicted with a communicable disease. The suffering villagers attempted several times but could not find a cure. Eventually, they located Agastyar in the forest, and pleaded with him to save them. The ever-benevolent sage worshipped Siva, who instructed him to dig another pond, install a Siva Lingam, and perform abhishekam to it with the water from that pond. This was duly done and the abhishekam water distributed to the people, after which they instantly recovered. (It is believed that even today, many communicable diseases do not touch the people of this village!) After this, the sage worshipped Siva again, who showed him His kalyana kolam, together with Parvati, here.

Siva here is named Uthira Vaidyalingeswarar or Uthira Vaidyanathar (uthira referring to the north), as this is considered equivalent of Vaithiswaran Koil, which is in the south. As is the case with most temple where Siva is Vaidyanathar, Amman here is Thaiyal (or Thaila) Nayaki.

According to another story, many sages brought the Siva Lingam from Kasi, and installed it here. This village is said to have had the name Marai Kattur (marai = Vedas, in Tamil) in olden times.

Kalamunivar, an astrologer, was very proficient in his vocation, but for some reason, could not tell his own future. As it happened, he was destined to die due to a rare disease, on account of his past sins. He worshipped Siva to gain a higher order of wisdom in his trade. Siva appeared before him but did not grant the astrologer his wish, but indicated his destiny instead. To counter this situation, the astrologer, using his powers, requested all the planets to stay in positions favourable to him, but only Sevvaai (Angarakan) obliged, but for his disobedience, Sevvaai was punished by Brahma. As instructed by Dhanvantri, Sevvaai worshipped at various Siva temples (each of which became a Sevvaai dosham parikaram sthalam), including at this temple. After his pilgrimage, he was blessed by Siva who, as a physician, cured him with a celestial oil provided by Parvati (and hence, Thaila Nayaki). As with Vaithiswaran Koil, this temple too is a Sevvaai dosham parikara stahalam.

In the Ramayanam, it is believed that after Jatayu was killed by Ravana, parts of his body fell at various places. Rama is said to have visited each of them and performed last rites at all such places. This is regarded as one such place.

Murugan is said to have worshipped Siva and Parvati here, before his battle with Soorapadman.

Originally a Chola temple estimated to be from the 9^th century. The temple was completely underground, and was excavated a few decades ago as part of a heritage project. Naturally, it has been renovated in recent years. The temple also has clear indications of renovations in the time of the Vijayanagara Dynasty, and some of the renovations and additions (such as the raja gopuram and the mukha mandapam) were built as recently as in 2003.