Vajrabureeswarar Temple, Vallam, Thanjavur
There is
a beautiful Shiva temple in Vallam near Thanjavur. The deity there is
Vajrabureeswarar, the legend goes to say that Lord Indira had worshipped this
Vajrabureeswarar to annihilate his sins; following the curse of Kausigar Muni
when Indira deceptively had an affair with Agaligai.
There is
a large dilapidated pond south of the temple the depth of which is still
unknown. It is believed that Lord Rama came here with Seetha, in his journey
back from Sri Lanka after defeating Ravana. During their journey, Seetha had
become extremely thirsty.
As the
path they had taken was an arid desert, Rama using his Vajrayutham (Celestial
Weapon), that drilled a crate, overflowing with water, so vast and so deep that
its depth is still undiscovered, even today. The last attempt at measuring
its depth leads to an estimate of more than 40 feet.
The
Temple committee has attempted renovation on the temple and as their hammers
touched the slabs of stone around the praharam, there was a resounding ‘AUM’
emanating from these slabs. When they ignored the sound and continued to hit
the sound intensified, frightened the workers refused to work on and the
project was abandoned. However, they completed the work on the outer praharam.
Close to
the temple there is a large Banyan tree and the local people refer it to as
Kausigar Muni’s Ashram. Further north there lays a pond which is referred to as
Kausigar theertham. 90% of this pond is currently encompassed in the Periyar
engineering college campus.
The
locals and people from the temple committee have appealed to the court, to
preserve this pond and its history and heritage. However it’s a long battle
particularly in an age where pages of history and essences of scriptures all
have a price tag attached.
The
temple has a Sthala Virutcham this tree cannot be seen anywhere in the world.
It emits a fragrance so mild and enchanting, that envelopes the entire temple.
According to the priest, it is written in the Purana’s that this tree is only
to be found in the astral world.
