வைத்தீஸ்வரன் கோயில்Vaitheeswaran Koil (Vaidyanathaswamy Temple)

Sthala Mahātmyam

Vaitheeswaran Koil, in the town of the same name in Mayiladuthurai district, is the Navagraha temple of Angaraka (Mars) and one of the most revered healing shrines in Tamil Nadu. Here Shiva is worshipped as Vaidyanathaswamy — the divine physician, the 'God of healing' — with his consort Parvati as Thaiyalnayaki (Balambika), 'the Mother who can sew up wounds.' According to temple tradition, Angaraka (Mars) was afflicted with leprosy and was cured by Vaidyanathaswamy; in gratitude the planet took up residence here as one of the nine celestial bodies, making the temple his abode. Devotees come seeking cure from illness and relief from Mars-related doshas. The temple's tank, Siddhamirtham (Siddha Amritam), is believed to hold curative waters in which pilgrims bathe, and a prominent shrine to Muthukumaraswamy (Subramanya) is a focus of the Kanda Sashti observance. The chief festival is the Brahmotsavam, celebrated in the Tamil months of Panguni and Thai (January–February), along with the Karthigai festival in November.