The village of Tiruvengadu is today a major pilgrimage centre, famed as the “Budha Kshetram” among the Navagraha Kshetrams that cluster around Kumbakonam. Every day bus loads of pilgrims come in and having worshipped Budha, then hurriedly go around worshipping the principal deities viz., Swetharanayeswarar, His Consort Brahmavidyamba, Aghoramoorthy, who is yet another manifestation of Lord Shiva and Subramanya. The pressure on time is intense, for they need to get back to their bus in order to proceed to the next Navagraha shine, all part of a package tour. Rarely does a pilgrim pause to hear the nadhaswara music that is performed in front of the various sanctums in temple. In the past, Tiruvengadu or Swetharanyam was one of the great shrines of the Thanjavur – Kumbakonam area, which fostered Read More
Pillai was the Asthana Vidwan of the Dharmapuram Adheenam for 12 years. In addition he received regular honours from other mutts such as Thirupanandal and Tiruvavaduthurai.
Pillai was given the Title of “Swetharanya Punnaga Nadhamani” by the Paramacharya of Kanchi, Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi.