 Thiruverkaadu near Chennai, is considered as one of the 32 ‘Divya
Kshetras’ (prestigious temple towns) of Lord Shiva in ‘Thondai Mandalam’
(present districts of Kancheepuram and Vellore). One
of the 63 ‘Naayanmars’ (saints of ‘Shiva-cult’) – ‘Moorka
Naayanar’ was born in Thiruverkaadu. Another saint Thirugnanasambhandhar
had written many hymns about the main Deity in the Vedhapureeswarar Temple here.
This village was also known as ‘Vadavedharanyam’
(North Vedharanyam). Lord Vedhapureeswarar appears in all his bridal-splendour with his
consort ‘Balambigai’ in this temple.
 The ‘Sthalapuranam’ of this
temple narrates that Sage Agastyar was sent down South when the great Himalayas
tilted towards North when the divine marriage of Shiva and Parvati was taking place there.
As almost all the Devas and Rishis assembled at Himalayas, the North tilted down and the
South tilted up and to balance the same, Sage Agastyar was sent towards South.
When Sage Agastyar prayed to Lord Shiva to bestow upon him a boon so that he
could witness the wedding scene from this place, the Lord obliged. Hence, the Lord and
Goddess appear as newly wedded Divine Couple in this temple.
Another temple adjacent to the Vedhapureeswarar temple is
dedicated to Goddess Karumaari Amman. Karumaari is one of the ‘Sapta Kannikas’
(seven ‘Shakthi’ forms of Goddess Parvati).
|
 In the sanctum sanctorum of
Devi Karumaari Amman temple, only the head of the Goddess could be seen, whereas the
‘Utsava Vigraham’ of the Goddess is in full form.
Originally, there was only a white ant hill here, which was
symbolically worshipped as the Goddess. In 1943, a small temple with a ‘Vigraha’
(sculpture) of the head of the Goddess was built. In 1946 the first ‘Kumbabishekam’
(consecration) was performed on the newly-built ‘Rajagopuram’ (Entrance-tower).
In 1975 ‘Mantaps’ were added and the second ‘Kumbabishekam’
was performed, followed by the third in 1987.
As prescribed in the ‘Hindu – Ahamas’ the
fourth ‘Kumbabishekam’ was performed on 24th June 1999,
after 12 years from the previous one.
 Devotees throng this Karumaari Amman
temple in thousands every Fridays and Sundays.
This Amman temple has separate sanctum sanctorums
for ‘Prathyankaraa Devi’ ‘Saptha Kannikas’, ‘Goddess
Durga’, ‘Navagrahas’, ‘Lord Vishnu’,
‘Dakshinamurthy’ and ‘Lord Muruga’.
Some festival or other is being performed every month for
the Goddess Karumaari Amman and the village ‘Thiruverkaadu’ is well
connected by bus service with Chennai city.
D. Vidhya |
