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 Thiruvenkadu or Swetaranya is situated close to the rivers Kaveri and Manikarnika, about 9
km from the Shiyali Railway Station, Thanjavur. It is accessible by road from Vaitheeswaran Koil and Semponnar Koil railway stations as well.
The name Thiruvenkadu, as also its Sanskritic equivalent Swetaranya, literally means ‘sacred white forest’. The place is differently known as Jnana-aranya, (forest of wisdom), Patala Kailas, Adi Chidambaram etc. The temple enshrines Lord Shiva - Swetaranyeswara - Thiru-ven-kaatu-eswara - and His consort Brahma
Vidyanayaki.
The shrine is associated with prominent devotees like Meikandar, Pattinathaar and Swetaketu. In fact, Pattinathaar had the childhood name of Thiruvenkadar.
Sthala Purana
Thiruvenkadu and its vicinity were under the clutches of an asura by name Marutwasura who was troubling the Rishis and the people, who sought divine interference from Lord Shiva who sent his Nandi, the Bull - his vahana - who fought with the demon and threw him in the sea before returning victoriously. However, the demon Marutwasura did not stop with that and undertook severer penance, invoking Lord Shiva, the merciful who could not but appear before him though he had a very bad reputation and as a result of the penance, the demon obtained His trident - sula - from Him.
Obtaining much superior power, Marutwasura returned with all vengeance and intensified his attack on innocent people and sages. Once again the Lord was requested by the poor devotees for protection and once again He sent Nandi to fight him. However since the demon was equipped with the trident of the Lord, the mighty war weapon of his Master, he could not fight Marutwasura and was attacked by the demon very badly, causing grievous wounds on his sturdy frame.
Nandi had to retreat from the field and report back to the Lord, pleading inability to face the demon who wielded the Lord’s weapon, against which he had no power. The Lord, opened His third eye which discharged intense fire that consumed the demon who became one with the jyoti of the third eye.
The sages submitted their desire to the Lord, wishing Him to turn the jyoti into a form and reside there in the shrine. The Lord accordingly assumed the form of Aghoramurti, a manifestation of His wild and angry form, in action. The idol of Aghoramurti installed in Thiruvenkadu is considered to be a rare specimen of the rich sculpting skills of our ancient land.
The idol of Nandi installed bears nine scars on its body and is seated at the entrance of Devi’s shrine, with face turned towards the Lord’s shrine and ears cocked towards that of Devi. This is considered to be a rather peculiar posture, signifying the readiness of the celestial Bull to receive orders from the Divine Couple.
The story of Swetaketu
 Swetaketu’s story is very similar to that of Markandeya. Swetaketu, it was predicted, would die at the age of eight. He installed a Lingam in Thiruvenkadu and worshipped the Lord, seeking His protection from Yama. At the end of his eighth year, the Lord of Death appeared before Swetaketu to end his life. The Lord came forth from the Lingam and punished Yama who dared to take the life of His devotee, under His protection. The name Swetaranya is associated with Swetaketu, the devotee who was saved by the Lord.
It is said that the Lord performed seven of His dances - Tandavam - known as Ananda, Sandhya, Samhara, Tripuranta, Urdhva, Bhujanga and Lalita, before Swetaketu, at his request.
The deity of the Lord has five faces - Easanam, Tatpurusham, Aghoram, Vamadevam and Sadyojatam, a manifestation that is not commonly seen in all Shiva temples.
The temple
 The temple is situated in a sprawling area of 2,45,520
sq. ft. surrounded by five prakarams known as pancha prakarams. Apart from the presiding deity, the Lord is consecrated in His forms as Aghoramurthi and Nataraja. The Nataraja image bears the seven instruments and weapons - Vetalam, Khadgam, Udukku, Mani, Kedayam, Kapalam and Trisulam. Devi in Her divine form of Bhadra Kali has a separate shrine. There are two shrines of Ashta Lakshmi, four in each. The Navagrahas are installed in a row, which is very unusual in any temple.
Thiruvenkadu occupies the eleventh place in the list of 274 Siva temples, compiled by Umpathi Sivachariyar and is considered as sacred as
Banaras. The theerthams - three in number - are called Agni theertham, Surya theertham and Chandra theertham. The sthala vrkshams are also three in number - Vilvam, Vadaval and Konrai.
The float festival that is conducted on the last day of 12-day celebrations in the month of Masi (mid-February and mid-March) is the most important festival in Thiruvenkadu. The float festival is conducted in the Chandra theertham. The stone inscriptions on the walls of the temples, which have been documented by the Archaeological Department, contain important historical information on the Chola dynasty as well as several kings of Vijayanagar.
Hari Krishnan
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