The temple as seen from the main road
3600 divine years make the Treta Yuga
2400 divine years make the Dvapara Yuga
1200 divine years make the Kali Yuga
These four yugas together comprise what is called as one Mahayuga. And a thousand mahayougas make one Kalpayuga, 432 crore human years.
Source: India 1000 to 2000, a millennium book of reference.
In the Treta Yuga, the four Vedas were abducted by an asura called Komukaasuran and were later rescued by Lord Vishnu. In order to get rid of the Asura dosham, (a defamation caused by an asura), the four Vedas namely, Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana, upon the advice of Lord Brahma, arrived at the Taraka vanam and prayed to the Shiva linga there. The Lord who was pleased with their prayers came before them and cleansed them of their dosham. Hence the name of this place is Vedasreni, that morphed to Velacheri in later times.
How the place Dandeeswaram got its name?
In the Dwapara yuga, there lived a sage called Mrigandu. He performed astounding penance toward s Lord Shiva, who, having been pleased with his penance, blessed him with a son, Markandeya. Markandeya was destined to live only till the age of sixteen. When the time came for his life to end, Markandeya was in his prayers to Lord Shiva and could not be harmed by the death messengers of Lord Yama, the demi-god of Death in Hindu mythology. Finally when Yama himself came to take Markandeya’s life, by accident of fate, his paasakayiru, the death noose, that cuts all bonds of materialism, fell around the Shiva linga too. Enraged, Lord Shiva, took away the Dhanda (a staff) from Yama. Upon the advice of Sage Narada, Yama arrived at Vedasreni and worshipped Lord Shiva creating a thadakam, a pond of lotuses. Lord Shiva’s rage was pacified and He came down to give back Yama his Dhanda and hence the place is celebrated as Dandeeswaram and the Lord as Dandeeswarar. The pond is now venerated as Yama Theertham.
The temple:
The Rajagopuram
In the outer prakaram, as one enters the temple, is the Lord who takes the first respects, Lord Vinayaka as Veda Vinayakar. In the left corridor of the outer prakaram, are Valampuri Vinayakar and the 63 nayanmaars, tamil saints who are celebrated as the primary devotees of Shiva. There are shrines of Lord Vaidheeswarar, Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sokkanadhar. The Sthala Vriskham, the tree of the shrine, is a very unique feature. It’s a Vilvam with 13 leaves in each stalk, as opposed to the occurrence of three leaves in each stalk. Then in the north eatern corner is the Navagraha. And as one comes clockwise towards east, there is the shrine of Naagar and in the east, is the Gvajasthambam or the Kodi Maram. There are the small shrines of Kalai Sandhi Vinayakar and Balasubrahmanyar facing the Gvajasthambam on the east .
In the inner prakaram, on the right wall, bordering the Sanctum Sanctorum, are shrines dedicated Maha Ganapathi, Yoga Dhakshinamurthy, Lingodhbhavar, Brahma, Durga and Chandikeswarar. All of them, except Chandikeswarar are in niches carved in the outer wall of the Sanctum Sanctorum. In the left wall of the inner prakaram, are the Utsava Vigrahas, Somaskandhar, Chandrasekarar, Valli Devasena Samedha Subrahmanyar, VInayakar, Mahalakshmi, Saraswathi, Gnanasambandhar. In the Natarajar Mandapam, are Lord Shiva as Nataraja and Goddess Sivagami along with Manikkavaasagar, one of the top four Shiva devotees in Tamil Literature. In the far north east of the inner prakaram is Lord Bhairava, the guarding deity. Then as one comes further east is Lord Mahavishnu and Sambu Suryar.
The Garbha Graha:
In the innermost lair, is the Garbha Graha or the Sanctum Sanctorum. This is where the presiding deity of Dandeeswaram, Lord Dandeeswara, facing east resides and is worshipped. To his left facing south is Goddess Parvathi as Goddess Karunambika. Flanking the entrance to Lord Shiva’s shrine are Lord Vinayaka and Valli Devasena samedha Subrahmanyar.
