Airavateshwarar Temple, Mela Thirumanancheri – Legends
Ethirkolpadi:
Once, Lord
Shiva and Mother Parvathi were playing the game of dice in Kailash. Lord
Shiva purposely made goddess Parvathy to win each game. Overwhelmed with the
joy, she become arrogant and had excessive pride in her success. On seeing her
arrogance, Lord Shiva cursed to be born as a cow on earth. She was born as a
cow in Therazhundur and Lord Vishnu became her cowherd. She in the
form of cow worshipped Lord Shiva at Thirukozhambam.
She hit
the Shiva Linga mistakenly and its hoof mark can be seen on the Linga at Thirukozhambam.
Goddess Parvathy in the form of cow came to Thiruvaduthurai and worshipped Lord Shiva for relief. Pleased
with her worship, Lord Shiva restored her back to original form. Goddess Parvathy
also wanted to marry Lord Shiva in an earthly marriage with all religious rites
on the earth.
At the
same time, Sage Bharatha performed Putra Kameshti Yagna at Thiruthuruthi for child boon. In order to fulfill her wish,
Lord Shiva made goddess Parvathy to appear in the form of child from the Yagna
Kunda. Sage Bharatha raised her as his own daughter. When she attained the
marriageable age, the sage was worried about finding a suitable groom for her.
Sage
Bharatha prayed to Lord Shiva in finding a suitable groom for her. Lord Shiva
appeared in his dream and assured him that he would marry her and also revealed
to the sage that she is none other than Goddess Parvathy. Sage Bharatha was
overwhelmed with joy and made the arrangements for the divine marriage. Sage
Bharatha received his son in law at this place with the Poorna Kumbham, when he arrived for
the marriage.
Hence,
the place came to be called as Ethirkol Padi (Ethirkol means receiving a person and Padi
means village in Tamil). Presently it is known as Melakoil. The
Yagna (Velvi) for the wedding ceremony was held at Thiruvelvikudi. The
earthly marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy took place in Thiruvelvikudi. The
divine couple came after their wedding to Thirumanancheri and granted their wedding darshan to everyone
at Thirumanancheri.
Airavateshwarar:
Indra,
the King of Swarga, while riding on the elephant, came across
Sage Durvasa who offered him a special garland given to him by a
nymph, which he accepted and placed it on the trunk of Airavata (his
vehicle) as a test to prove that he was not an egoistic deva. The flowers
had a strong scent that attracted some bees. Annoyed by the bees, the
elephant threw the garland on the ground.
This
enraged the sage as the garland was a dwelling of Sri (fortune) and
was to be treated as a prasada or religious offering. Sage Durvasa
cursed that his head would be chopped off by a weapon in the hands of Pandya
king. He further cursed Airavata to became ordinary elephant. Shocked Indra,
Indra begged Sage Durvasa for forgiveness for his mistake. Pleased with his
submission, the sage said his crown would fall down saving his head.
Airavata
came down to earth and wandered among many places worshipping Lord Shiva and
finally got relieved of the curse in this place. As Airavata worshipped
Lord Shiva here, he came to be called as Airavateshwarar. As Airavata
worshipped Lord Shiva here, the sanctum is vast enough that an elephant can
enter in it. It is also said Indra worshipped Lord Shiva here to get back his
lost position.
