Vaidyanatha Swamy - Vaitheeswaram Temple

The Vaitheeswaram Temple, near Mayavaram, was our first stop. The temple is the abode of Lord Vaidyanatha Swamy (Shiva) and his consort Thayyalnayagi.
The route from Mayavaram to Vaitheeswaram is scenic. Lush green fields, lovely lakes, and little huts dotting the countryside. The very place seemed to have God's hand in it. Nature in its glory looked at us from every side.
The Temple was gorgeous. A number of small shops lined the entrance of the temple. We bought uppu (salt) and vellam (jaggery) from a shop. It is a ritual to dissolve the jaggery in the waters of the temple tank. We also bought pooja items for the archana.
The entrance to the Temple was magnificent. The rich beauty and architecture of the place almost took my breath away. Its a wonder how such beautiful architecture was designed and given form in the early ages.
After buying the required items from the shop, we proceeded directly to the Temple tank. It was a huge tank with clear green water. Beautiful. As we went down the steps of the tank, a guard there told us that we are not to dissolve the jaggery in the water as it has been recently cleaned. We were told that dissolving jaggery in the Temple tank has been banned now.
So, we just washed our hands in the water and went to the inner sanctums of the Temple.
We first paid our respects to Lord Ganesh. A priest lead us on to the other sanctums. Handing me a paper plate containing lamps with ghee, he instructed me to light the lamps at some of the sanctums, which I did.
Proceeding through the temple, we covered all the sanctums. The Temple was huge and walking around in it was really a good exercise.
The last sanctum we covered was of Chevvai. This is one of the planets in astrology. It is believed that paying respects at this shrine removes all doshams or faults caused in a horoscope by this deity.
After the pooja, we sat for a while on the cool floor of the Temple and watched the Temple Elephant and his antics. I offered a banana to the Elephant and he blessed me with a tap of his trunk on my head. :-) .. Sweet!!
An amusing thing happened next. A person offered half a coconut to the elephant. The elephant pushed it beneath his foot. The mahout tried to push it away using a stick and tried to admonish the elephant. But, the elephant pushed it back beneath his foot and stepped on it. The coconut split into many pieces. For this, he got admonished by the mahout. I could have sworn that the elephant was smiling mischievously.
Our first stop having completed successfully, we moved out of the temple. We bought two bottles of mineral water and proceeded to the next Temple.