Sunday, August 14, 2016

Kodunkundranathar Temple, Piranmalai, Sivaganga – Legends

Kodunkundranathar Temple, Piranmalai, Sivaganga – Legends
Fight between Vayu & Adishesha:
According to Legend, Piranmalai is said to be a block of Mount Meru. A contest arose between Vayu the Lord of winds and the divine serpent Adisesha about their prowess. The race was that Vayu should break the Meru Mountain bound by Adisesha. Despite his best efforts Vayu could not succeed in moving the mount but some pieces fell on earth. One such piece fell here. It is on this hill, this temple is built in three tiers consisting of Padala Loka, earth and the hill.  Lord Shiva graces from this temple. Since this hill is in the form of a Sivalingam, it is also called Prachandragiri and Katoragiri. 
Agasthya witnessing Divine Marriage from South:
As per popular Hindu Mythology, North went down due to the heavy weight caused by the huge crowd of Sages and Devas gathered there to attend the Shiva-Parvathi wedding. Lord Shiva sent powerful dwarf sage Agasthya to go south to equalize the ground level.  Agasthya came to Pothigai hills in south.  But Agasthya had to sacrifice the pleasure of joining the divine wedding party. Agasthya begged Lord that he should be able to get his darshan at all places of his choice during his pilgrimage. The boon granted, the sage enjoyed the Wedding function in many places including this place-Piranmalai. 
Lord Shiva in this hill temple is known as Mangaibaagar (also called Mangai Nayagar) and Goddess Parvati is known as Thenammal. In this hill, there is a natural stone carving that depicts the marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. It shows Lord Mangaibaagar is holding hands with Goddess Thenammal. The temple is under the administration of Kundrakudi Devasthanam.
People worshipped Shiva here:
BhramaSaraswati, Agasthya, Subramanya and Nandi are believed to have worshipped Shiva here.