Bhuvarahaswami Temple is located at Srimushnam, which is 25 km north-east of
Chidambaram in
Cuddalore District. It is a self-manifest Swayam Vyaktam Kshetras in the south. The temple, built by the Nayaks, is dedicated to Bhuvarahan and his consort Ambujavalli Thaayar.
The temple houses separate shrines for
Andal, Srinivasan, Venugopalan, Vishvaksenar, Vedanta Desigar, Nammalwar and Anjaneya. The Purushasukta Mandapam of 17th century resembles the shape of a chariot with stylishly carved figures of warriors riding the horses and elephants. The Sthala Vriksham (sacred tree) is Arasu and the sacred teerthams are Agni, Chakara, Brahma, Bhoomi and Mrithyunjaya theertham.
Legends have it that Lord Vishnu, while answering the prayers of his devotees assumed the Varaha incarnation and vanquished the demons. 'Bhu' refers to Earth and 'Varaha' refers to Boar. Hence the Lord is called `Bhuvaraha'. The main festival of the temple is the Masi maham which is celebrated in the Tamil month Masi. Panguni Uttram and Adipuram are other festivals celebrated here. Special worship is performed on Fridays, Saturdays and on
Ekadasi.
