86. PONDICHERRY

VEDHAPUREESWARAR TEMPLE

Distane: 150kms from Chennai

Shiva: Vedhapureeswarar

Amman: Thiripurasundhari

Speciality:

The temple has been constructed in Dravidian style.

It is a 7 tier Raja Gopuram. 

This is a Suyambhu Linga.

The granite walls surrounds the temple.

There is Mahamandapam, Artha Mandapam, Kodimaram, Nandhi and Palipeetam. 

The Vinayaka and the Murugar Sannidhi are before the mahamandapam. 

Dwarapalas guard the main shrine.

All the Koshta deities have been constructed.

There is a rectangular tank inside the temple. There are steps to reach the basement of the tank.

The daily rituals are performed 4 times a day.

In the month of Vaikasi the Brahmotsavam festival is being celebrated.

In Aippasi the Annabhishekam festival and in Maasi Month Shivarathiri festival is celebrated elaborately.

The old name of Pondicherry was Vedhapuri. This was the place in early times where Vedic scholars resided and explode the Vedhas. It was said that the place had always Vedic sounds.

Agasthya stayed here in an Ashram and worshipped the Shiva here (Vedhapureeswarar). Therefore today's Pondicherry was also known as Agastheeswaram and Vedhapureeswarar was called as Agastheeswarar.

Ramalinga Vallalar Swamigal have sung hymns about the Murugar of the temple.

History:

During the Muslim invasions the temple has been destructed. The temple was completely demolished by the French troops in 1748. Dhiwan Kandhappa Mudhaliar expanded the temple with his money and with public contributions in 1788. The old name of Pondicherry was Vedhapuri. This was the place in early times where Vedic scholars resided and explode the Vedhas. It was said that the place had always Vedic sounds. The destruction of the temple has been recorded in a diary of Aanandha Rangam pillai who was a Chronicler. The idols of the Shiva temple was kept in the Varadharaja Perumal temple after demolition. The presiding deity has migrated from Sambha eswaran street to the temple in the 19th century. 

The Vedhapureeswarar temple was near the sea shore in the early days. It was a very big temple with 4 Maada Veedhis around it. It was very Affluent and the temple festivals were celebrated in a very grand manner. Realising the importance of the place the French built Saint Paul Church beside the temple. After some years they decided to expand the Church and therefore completely destroyed the Shiva temple. This was the main people who performed this act were the wife of Pudhucherry Governor Dupleigh, certain Christian religists in 1748 AD in the Month of September the Vedhapureeswarar temple was completely  destroyed to the ground and many statues were deliberately broken. A person called Aanandha Rangam Pillai who was highly hurt by this wrote about this detail in his diary as a detailed descriptions. This diary is preserved as a Aanandha Rangam pillai diary. Later in 1784AD September 11th the French and the English fought at a place called Parkamudaiyanpattu. In the war a person who played an important role in the destruction of the temple was shot and killed. When Governor Dupleigh's family returned to France they were charged with many crimes and they died due to hunger and poverty. Aanandha Rangam Pillai has recorded even these details in his diary. Good hearted people such as Aarumuga Mudhali, Nalla Chetti, Thuluvappa Mudhali and some more Shiva deovtees collected some idols and the remains of the temple and kept them in a safe place. After 40 years the Shiva devotees who lived here with the help of Diwan Kandhappa Mudhaliyar built a new temple for Vedhapureeswarar in 1788AD.