Lakshmipureeswarar Temple, Thirunindriyur – Legends
Thirinindravur:
As per legend, a Chola king used to pass through this
village daily on his way to Chidambaram
Nataraja Temple. While he was crossing this
place one day, the wick of the torch carried by his men
automatically went off. They could not light it again despite all
efforts. When he crossed the
place, it began to burn again. This phenomenon happened each
day. The king was eager to know the reason behind this strange phenomenon.
So, he enquired a shepherd from the village whether anything strange was
happening in the
village.
The shepherd informed the King that there was a
Shivalinga and a cow was pouring its milk on it. The king found the Linga
and tried to take it out from the
place in order to place it in a temple which he intended to build
for housing the Lingam. The soldiers started to excavate the
place to take the Linga out. The Lingam was hit by crow bar
mistakenly and it began to bleed.
The King felt so bad and prayed to Lord Shiva for
forgiveness. The King dropped the plan to shift the Lingam and built a temple
at the very place where he found the Lingam. The scar caused by the crow bar
can still be seen on top of the Lingam. As the wick of the torches (Thiri in
Tamil) got extinguished (Nindra in Tamil) at this
place (Oor in Tamil), the
place came to be called as Thirinindravur
and got corrupted to Thirunindriyur.
Mahalakshmeeswarar /
Lakshmipureeswarar:
As per legend, Goddess Maha Lakshmi wanted to have
permanent place in Lord Vishnu’s chest. So, she came here, worshipped Lord
Shiva and was blessed with the place in Lord Vishnu’s chest. As Goddess Maha
Lakshmi (Thiru) worshipped Lord Shiva here, the
place came to be called as Thirunindravur
and Lord Shiva came to be called as Mahalakshmeeswarar / Lakshmipureeswarar.
Mada
Kovils:
Kochengat Chola was an early Chola king and
one of the 63 Nayanmars (Saivite saints) of Saivism. He is believed
to have attained spiritual rebirth of a spider that fought with an elephant in
its previous birth over the worship of the Lord Shiva. He had red eyes
during birth as he remained in his mother’s womb a little longer. His mother,
looking into the baby red eyes said Kochengkannano (in Tamil Ko=king,
Cheng=red, Kan=eyes), which literally means king with red eyes and hence he was
named Kochengat Cholan. After becoming a king, he followed Saivism and
built 70 Maadakovils,
temples with elevated structure where elephants cannot reach the
sanctum, in the Chola empire. It is believed that this is one of the
temple built by him.
Sage Jamadagni & Parasurama worshipped Lord Shiva
here:
As per legend, one day Renuka, wife of Sage Jamadagni,
went to the river to fetch water. She saw gandharva and apsaras playing
in the river. She was captivated by the sight for a moment as a result of which
she lost her concentration and devotion to her husband for a moment. As she was
distracted, she lost her power of collecting water in unbaked pots, which she
had gotten from her chastity. She lost the water which she had collected.
Disappointed by this, she returned to
the ashram in worry. Jamadagni had seen these events through his
yogic power and was furious when she came back to the Ashram. Jamadagni ordered
his elder four sons to kill Renuka Devi but all of them refuse to kill their
mother. Jamadagni, cursed his four sons and reduced them to ashes for
disobeying his order. Then Jamadagni called his fifth son Parashurama who was
meditating on Lord Shiva and ordered him to behead Renuka Devi.
Parashurama immediately obeyed his father's words
and beheaded his mother with his axe. Jamadagni was pleased by Parashurama's
devotion and obedience towards him. Sage Jamadagni then offered a boon to Parashurama,
who wisely asked for his mother and brothers to be brought back to life.
Jamadagni was impressed by Parshuram's intelligence and brought Renuka and her
four sons back to life. For committing the sin of killing the mother, he worshipped
Lord Shiva here for peace.
Jamadagni also repented here for his hasty
decision. Pleased with their worship, Lord Shiva granted darshan to both
father & son and provided relief for their sins. Parasurama is believed to
have endowed 365 measures (Veli) of agricultural lands to this
temple. The income generated from the land would be used the expenses incurred for the worship of the
entire year. The Lingams worshipped by Sage Jamadagni and Sage Parasurama can
be seen in the prakaram.
A cow attained salvation
here:
As per legend, a cow performed abhishekam to the Lingam
with its own and attained salvation here.
Indra worshipped Lord
Shiva here:
Indra worshipped Lord Shiva of this
temple and attained the overlordship of Indra Loka.
People worshipped Lord
Shiva here:
It is said that Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Goddess Maha
Lakshmi, Indra, Airavata, a Chola King, a cow, Devas, Sage Jamadagni, Sage
Parasurama, and Sage Agastya had worshipped Lord Shiva of this
temple.
