The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.
திருவெண்காடு சுவேதாரண்யேசுவரர் கோயில்
Thiruvenkadu, Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu · 11.1753°, 79.8094°
The 'white forest' shrine, a Paadal Petra Sthalam and one of the nine Navagraha temples, dedicated to Budha (Mercury). Founded under the Cholas, whose inscriptions survive alongside Pandya and Vijayanagara records, its present masonry is 16th-century Vijayanagara work.
What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.
Shiva is said to have taken the fierce form of Aghoramurthi beneath a tree here to destroy the demon Maruthuvasuran.
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-27 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Vijayanagara
Answers only from cited records
Opening the line…