At Vaitheeswaran Koil near Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu, Shiva is worshipped as Vaidyanatha, the divine physician, and this is the Navagraha Sthala sacred to Angaraka, the planet Mars. Tradition holds that Angaraka, afflicted, was healed here, and the temple's sacred tank, the Siddhamirtham, is revered for waters that cure disease.
A Paadal Petra Sthalam, it draws countless devotees seeking healing of body and mind, who offer jaggery and salt dissolved in its waters; the town is also famed as a great centre of Naadi astrology. Vaitheeswaran Koil is the shrine of Mars, and of the Lord who heals.
Vaitheeswaran Koil takes its name from medicine — Vaidya-ishwara, the lord who heals. Devotees dissolve a pinch of the temple's sacred earth in water as a remedy.
Source: Arulmigu Vaitheeswaran Temple, HR&CE Tamil Nadu
