Karaikadu Pachai
Vaazhi amman temple , Cuddalore
Compiled by
P.R.Ramachander
Karaikadu is a
locality near Cuddaore town. It seems Goddess parvathi once did thapas addressed to pataleeswara(Shiva).All
her friends and helps were sitting
around her,When Lord Shiva came it seems
she told that she is going to stay there
as “Pachai Vaazhi amman(God who takes
care of greens) along with her
frends,God shiva agreed and
goddess Pachai vaazhi amman started staying here along with her `18 friends and
guards,
Initially it was
a small temples. This area came
under control of Nawabs and their n minister wanted
to remove this temple. It seems
the local people objected saying that
she is the goddess taking care of them.
The minister said that next
day he will come along with his people and remove
this temple. The people were agitated
and all night they stood guard to
the temple , Next day a servant of minister came and told that the minister
was attacked by small pox and he will not remove the temple.
The people went
and met him and he was in a pitiable
condition and requested them to pray the Goddess for him. The people went back and
started doing Abhisheka with water and soon the minister got cured. He helped them to build a big temple there. There
is a belief locally that Queen Victoria
hearing about it had come and visited
the temple and helped them for development of the temple. It seems she gave an order that no one should occupy that land
As soon as we
enter the temple there is a Bali peeds and Nandi.If we turn
left there is a mud statue of Vaazh
muni, Laada muni , Veda muni ,
Muthu muni, Karumuni, Chemmuni , kumbha mnuni
and on its left sideThapa
Rishi , Irupallaa. Maaya veera, Madhurai veera, anthara veera, Thanthira veeran and Ananda veeran, Then there are separate sub temples
to Idumban and Pavadai Rayan.
Then in the
Maha there are
made odf earth , Pachai Vaazhi
amman, Pillayar, Muruka , Parvathi and Paramashiva are there
Then there is a big sanctum where Pachai vaazhi amman with four hands, Holding
in her right hand a staff and in
her left hand the Vel. She
is in a standing position
On her right
are Ardha Nareeswara
and Maha Vishnu and on her left
are Vengai malayamman, evvengayamman,
Karu Vengayamman, Sita Lakshmi amman,
Kathayi amman., Muthu kumara swami,
Muthu kumathiyappan, Subrahmanya , C Valliu, Deivanai, Pachai vengayamman,
Aghora vengayamman, Thiru malai kanniyamman, Pookurathiyamman, Mudi
velMudiyazhaki amman in a row.We can go inside
the sanctum and do worship
Outside you have
small temples dedicated to Dakshayaniyamman, Durgai amman,
Dandayudha pani and Muthu Kumara swami
In the
chithirai(aproil-may) a ten day
festival is held in the temple.On
the tenth day there
is A marriage of Lord
Subrahmanya with valli and devayanai
Lads and
lasses who find it difficult to get
married join in the marriage function, Tie a turmeric on yellow thread, keep it in the feet of Goddess
and pray that once they get
married they will present her with a golden Thali, They then take the yellow thread home and do worship to it. It is seen
that most of them get married soon,They come to the temple and offer
Golden Thali to the Goddess
The
cultivators in the area believe
that it is only due to Pachai Vazhi Amman’s blessing they are able to cultivate, It seems before sowing
seeds they bring it to the temple
and worship before Amman.
They believe that due to her
blessing their fiel;ds has so far
never dried.
Couples who
do not have children, bring a csmall cradle , keep it on the lap of the Goddess on Fridays and pray and
later they tie in a part of the temple set up for this
purpose , They all assure that always their
prayers are answered. The naming
ceremony of such babies is always held in the temple
Whatever may be your problem, visit Karaikadu and
worship Pachai Vaazhi Aman and her
eighteen goddesses. They are definite to
be fulfilled
From Cuddalore
bs stand take bus going to Karaikadu and get
down near CIPKOT .The temple is near by
The temple is
open from 6 am to 11 AM and 5 PM to 9
PM. On Fridays there would be more crowd
and it would be open for some
more time
You can se a video
of temple https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOsepFm0b-Q