Naganathar Temple, Thirunageswaram (Rahu)

Milk poured over Rahu in worship here is seen to turn a shade of blue.

At Thirunageswaram near Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu, the Naganathar temple is the Navagraha Sthala sacred to Rahu, the shadowy northern lunar node. Shiva is worshipped here as Naganatha, and the temple is a Paadal Petra Sthalam of ancient renown. It is famed for a daily wonder: during the Rahu Kala worship, the milk poured over the image of Rahu is seen to take on a bluish hue.

Devotees throng here to propitiate Rahu and remove its doshas, seeking relief from obstacles and the fulfilment of delayed hopes. Thirunageswaram is the shrine of Rahu among the nine.

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Part of a sacred circuit

The Navagraha (Tamil Nadu)

Around the town of Kumbakonam in the Kaveri delta lie nine temples, each linked to one of the Navagraha — the nine celestial powers that tradition holds to shape the courses of life: the Sun and Moon, the five planets, and the two lunar nodes Rahu and Ketu.

Suryanar Kovil (Surya / Sun)

Thirumangalakudi, Tamil Nadu

The Navagraha shrine where Surya himself presides, ringed by the nine grahas.

Kailasanathar Temple, Thingalur (Chandra / Moon)

Thingalur, Tamil Nadu

The Navagraha shrine of the Moon, freed here from the curse of Daksha.

Vaitheeswaran Koil (Angaraka / Mars)

Vaitheeswaran Koil, Tamil Nadu

Shiva as the divine physician, the Navagraha shrine where Mars was healed.

Each thumbnail is Creative Commons–licensed via Wikimedia Commons and credited on that temple's own page.