Vadiveeswaram is located in Kanyakumari district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The village chiefly inhabited by Brahmins is part of the town of Nagercoil. Neelakanta Sivan, a famous 19th century music composer was born in this region in 1839. The village finds its name mentioned in his work Thiruneelakanta Botham. Vadiveeswaram was earlier an agraharam i.e. having traditional double line houses.
History of Vadiveeswaram
The name Vadiveeswaram has been derived from two words; `vadivu` means beauty and Eeswara a term used for Lord Shiva in Tamil language. The word Vadiveeswaram thus, denotes the beauty of Lord Shiva. He is the presiding deity of the Hindu Shaivite temple, Azhagamman Temple located in the north eastern part of the village. In 2007 the village hosted a festival of Carnatic music.
Geography of Vadiveeswaram
Vadiveeswaram is located at 8°10`46?N latitude and 77°26`20?E longitude. Deep Street (Palla Theru), Dalavai Street, East Car Street (Kizhakku Radha Veedhi), Big Street (Periya Theru), West Car Street (Merku Radha Veedhi), High Street (Mettu Theru) and Sasthankoil Street are some of the streets frequented by the residents of this village. Vadiveeswaram being located on a low lying area is probe to floods during heavy rains. The village is bordered by the Cape road as the western side, Meenakshipuram on the northern side, Kottar (Kambolam) on the southern side and the Railway station with paddy fields on the eastern side.
Pilgrimage Centres of Vadiveeswaram
Azhagamman Kovil is the main temple of Vadiveeswaram dedicated to Vadivambal and Sundareswarar. The village has derived its name from the name of these two deities. Apart from this there are four other temples in the village such as Idar Theertha Perumal Kovil, Pillayar Kovil, Perumal Kovil and Sastha Kovil. The image of Saint Vyagrapada Vigneswari was discovered by the Kanyakumari Historical and Cultural Research Centre from Vadiveeswaram.
Festivals of Vadiveeswaram
The Azhagamman Temple annually celebrates the car festival with much fervour. The temple is in possession of two cars parked in the centre of the East car street also known as Keezha ratha veedhi and Kizhakku ratha veedhi in Tamil. The four important streets of the village, North, South, East and West car streets have been named after the car festival organised in these streets. Other than this the Azhagamman Temple also celebrates the soorasamhaar or soora samhaaram at keezha radha veedhi.
Vadiveeswaram is well connected by different modes of transport. The Nagercoil Railway Station is the nearest railway station of the village.
