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Yama the God of Death felt very sad that he was assigned the job of taking the life of people while there are many jobs of happy nature.  He went to Tiruvarur and spoke his sorrow to Lord.  Lord Shiva directed him to go to Sri Vanchiam and pray there. 

Yama performed penance.  Pleased with his penance, Lord Vanchinadheswarar appeared before him on the Masi month Bharani Star day in February-March and asked what he wished. 

Yama said that he had been assigned the job of taking the life of people thus incurring their hatred and harsh criticism and he was suffering the Brahma hathi dosha caused by his job duty. 

 Lord Shiva assured him saying that in future, people would attribute the cause of death due to diseases, age and accidents and they would not blame him.  

 Lord also instructed Yama that he should permit only those who are less sinners and they should not have rebirth.  Lord also emphasized that Yama should make their end peaceful. 

 He also granted him the status of Kshetra Palaka and the devotees would worship him first and then only at Lord’s shrine. Accordingly, the first puja is dedicated to Yama in this temple each day.

The doors of the temple is open  during the time of eclipse too, though as a tradition in other Shiva temples they are closed. 

Mother Ganga once sought a solution from Lord to cleanse Herself of the sins left on Her by those who bathed in the river.  Lord directed Her to pray at a place where even Yama the God of Death was blessed by Him.  

Accordingly, Ganga left just a small power of Her in the original Ganga and merged with the sacred spring here with the remaining 999 parts of Her holiness. Hence, the Theertha is called Gupta Ganga. 

Lord Vishnu desirous (Vaanchithal in Tamil) of Mahalakshmi (Sri) sought the help of Lord Shiva to realize His wish, hence the place came to be known as Sri Vaanchiam. 

As Lord Shiva is all dominant in the temple, there is no shrine for Navagrahas . 

The 110 feet tall five tier Rajagopuram is facing east.  It was built by Rajendra Chola in the year 850 AD.

There is a separate temple for Yama the Lord f Death on the left side of the  entrance.  Shrines for Lord Vinayaka and Subramania (Muruga) are in the first Mandap.

 Lord Vinayaka in the temple is praised as Abayankara Vinayaka.

There are sannidhis for Vennai Pillayar, Muruga, Panchabhooda Lingas, Jeshtadevi and Sani Bhagawan .

Six Shivasthalams on the banks of river Cauvery are said to be the most sacred and on par with Varanasi. They  are Thiruvenkadu, Thiruvaiyaru, Chaayavanam, Mayiladuthurai, Thiruvidaimarudur, and Thiruvanchiam.

 Out of these, Tiruvanchiam is "one-sixteenth" more sacred than Varanasi. Lord Shiva is said to have told Goddess Parvati that He loves this place the most. The presiding deity of this sacred temple Vanchinathar is a Swayambu Lingam and the oldest among the 64 in the world.

One has to visit  this temple  to experience the spirituality and enjoy the beauty of the sculptures and architecture. The style of architecture ranges from the Chola to the Nayakkar era.

To punish those who participated in Daksha’ Yagna for which He was not invited with a motive to insult Him, Lord Shiva sent Veerabadra to destroy the Yagna.  

Surya was one of the participants.  Due to Lord’s anger, he lost his shining and begged pardon for a relief.  He performed rigorous penance here and regained his brightness with the blessings of Lord Shiva. 

As a tradition, Theerthavari is performed only on the final day of Brahmmotsavam in Shiva temples. Here it is performed on the second day in the temple tank itself during the Masi Magam festivals in February-March. Lord Vanchinathaswami comes in procession on the Yama Vahan.