Jalakandeswarar temple.



The temple is in Vellore Fort which is about 35kms from Arani. The Fort is surrounded by moats (Agazhi) with water, to all three sides. South side we have the main entrance.






The Raja gopuram is of seven tiers and there are three prakarams.
























As we enter inside through Raja Gopuram we find a Kalyana Mandapam with beautiful sculptures to the pillars.












To right side we see a pushkarani and to the same side we see Golden Chariot in a closed shed.







We enter through another gopuram to inner prakaram, and we see a hugeValampuri Vinayakar here. As we go around the sanctum we see Selva Vinayakar, Venkatesa Perumal, Subramanyar with his consorts Valli and Devani, and Adi Sankarar, 63 Nayanmarsas as stone sculptures Saptha Kanniar and Veerabadrar.



Main Deity in the temple is Siva Lingam known as Jalakandeswarar and his consort known as Akilandeswari Amman. Urchavar here in this temple is Somaskandar, Chandrashekarar.



Sthala Vruksham is Vanni.


There is a well seen inside the temple prakaram which is considered as Ganga. A Siva Lingam found from the well is installed near the well known as Ganga Palaru Eswarar. As we move further, Kala Bairavar, Navgraham and Saneeswarar are seen.


We see kodi maram and Nandi in front, facing Sri Jalakandeswarar sanctum.


When we enter inside we see Natarajar sanctum. In the third prakaram round, we see Vinayakar, Dakshina Moorthy, Mahavishnu, Brahma, Durgai, Urchava moorthy of 63 Nayanmars, Somaskandar, and Valli Devasena idols.



Inside the Garbha graham main deity Jurakandeswarar /Jalakandeswarar is seen in Linga form with Rudraksha mala mandapam above Him.



Goddess Sri Akilandeswari Amman is seen in separate sanctum in the inner prakaram of the temple when we go around the main sanctum. To the outer walls of Amman sanctum we get the darshan of Vinayakar, Madeswari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Lakshmi and Saraswathi.



Sthala purana says Athri muni installed a Siva Lingam in this place and worshiped. After he left, without proper maintenance the Siva Lingam in the temple was covered by Puttru (valmeegam).



King Bommi constructed a temple for Lord Siva as he was guided by Lord in his dream. Initially the King fixed a date for starting the construction work. He over heard the conversation between Sculpturer and his Son. He came to know from their conversation, the day they have chosen to start the work was not auspicious. So he prayed Lord Siva to guide him. Lord told him to approach the same persons, to suggest a remedy for this. He was asked to build temple within a Fort with moats (Agazhi). King did as he was guided and installed Siva Lingam known as Jalakandeswarar and his consort Goddess Akilandeswari in separate sanctum. The temple flourished well up to the inavasion of Mogul period. During this period, devotees out of fear shifted Siva Lingam to a nearby place Sathuvachary, Vellore town.



All these years there was no deity in the temple. With efforts of many devotees Siva Lingam from Sathuvachery was shifted to Vellore and installed once again on 16th March 1981.