Karaiyur Eswara vasal
Lord Mangala Saniswarar temple
– Santhipriya –

Karaiyur, a small hamlet is five Kilometers away from  village  Kangalancheri in the district of Thiruvarur in Tamilnadu. Kangalancheri is approximately 6-8 Kilometers away from Thiruvarur.

On the bank of river Vennaru, a tributary of Kaveri, considered to be  divinely like river Ganges in all aspects,  a spiritually significant temple dedicated to Lord Mangala Saniswarar, who makes ones’ life pleasant has been established. The greatness of river Vennaru is found in the folk lores. According to one folk lore, when one cleanse themselves and pour sesame seeds mixed water into the river praying their ancestors remain thirst and hunger free in pithru loga, the Goddess of river Vennaru in turn keep sending the same in some kind of invisible energy waves to  pithru loga to quench the thirst and hunger of their ancestors.

Though the temple is primarily dedicated to Lord Saturn, the temple is called as Sankaranarayana temple since both Lord Siva alongside with  goddess Parvathi (Ambal) and Lord Vishnu alongside with  goddess Lakshmi Devi are primarily  worshipped  in two  separate sanctums affirming the concept that both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu are essentially manifestations of the same divine entity. 

The Vennaru River flows through this village, splitting it into two halves. To reach the temple on the other side, one has to cross a bamboo bridge constructed over the river.  ‘Kari’ means Sani in Tamil, and ‘oor’ translates to village or hamlet, therefore, this village is called Karaiyur, meaning the village of Lord Sani.

Lord Saturn is the most intense deity in Navagrahas (planets) and his position in a person’s horoscope can either take him to glory to or push him to unbearable misery. In the first phase of 7½ years of Lord Saturn’s influence, one may face significant challenges in life and suffering  including financial lose. While this period cannot be avoided, the priest of the Karaiyur temple, citing legend, shares the perception  that  Lord Mangala Saniswarar (Saturn) changes one’s life by diluting the negative effects of 7½ years of his rule, if they visit and offer prayers to Lord Mangala Saniswara.

The law of divine justice is sound and clear, no one can escape the rule of punishment for their past karmic actions, otherwise  individuals will continue to  behave as they wish, committing sins fearlessly. Lord Saturn is primarily responsible for delivering penalties to all sinners, which may vary from mild to harsh treatment. He dispenses the punishments by affecting their life spread over a span of 15 years  in two spells, each  lasting for a period of 7½ years,  which provides  opportunity for self realization and to atone  their sinful acts.

Those undergoing  7½ years rule of Lord Sani in their life span, when visit this temple and offer prayers, receive the mercy of the Lord who lessen their suffering and hardship to give a chance to face life’s challenges with greater resilience and less frustration. 

The temple history states that thousands of years ago, riding on his divine vehicle Crow, Lord Saniswarar proceeded to Tirunallaaru (another destination where his temple exists) from Thirukollikkaadu to bring under his influence, King Nala one of the then powerful emperors (in Mahabharata period) who had to undergo extreme suffering for 12 years on account of a curse befallen on him in his previous birth. King Nala attracted the sin as he had  punished an innocent saint in his previous birth who cursed him to undergo extreme suffering and humiliation. Hence to mete out the punishment to Nala, Lord Saniswarar proceeded to Tirunallaru from Thirukollikkaadu. 

It was late in the evening when Lord Saniswara arrived at the outskirts of Karaiyur. Since the crows cannot fly at night due to their poor vision when Lord Saniswara was looking out for a place to rest that night, he unexpectedly saw Lord Shiva resting  in a temple. Lord Saniswara quickly went there worshipped him and explained reasons for landing there. Lord Shiva was gracious enough to permit him to stay overnight in the same place where he was resting.

The next morning, after completing morning rituals and offering prayers to Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu, he sought their permission to proceed to Tirunallaaru to fulfill his duty to punish King Nala, as the appropriate time to mete out the punishment had arisen. While granting permission for him to leave, Lord Shiva instructed Lord Saniswara to henceforth stay  in Karaiyur too in the form of Mangala Saniswarar to bless the devotees who visit there to offer prayers to Sankaranarayanas (Both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu).  As Lord Saturn served under Supreme Lord Shiva, he had to follow his commands and stayed there  as Lord Mangala Saniswarar. Therefore, it became custom to offer prayers to Mangala Saniswara and Lord Shiva in Karaiyur temple which in turn bring joy and happiness in the life to the devotees. Further, they will also receive partial relief from the malefic effects arising out of their past karmas when prayers to Lord Saniswara is offered in Karaiyur. A divine can appear in various forms and sit in the shrines across different locations of the universe at the same period of time to bless their devotees.

Since such a spiritually significant temple is situated in a remote village, not visited by many, the temple timing is not adhered to. It  is therefore advisable to contact the priests in advance before visiting there, so that they can arrange for archana and pooja services. The temple address is:

Shri Thyagaraja Gurukkal
Eswara vassal
Karaiyur post
Via Kangalancheri
Thiruvarur District
Cell: +91 97906 76748 OR 9447 11048

Temple Photos