Agnipureeswarar Temple,
Thirupugalur – Legends
Agnipureeswarar:
As per legend, Agni, Varuna and
Vayu had a heated argument about their greatness. Due to the heated argument,
Agni got furious and disappeared completely. All the vedic rites, particularly the
Yagna came to a standstill due to the absence of Agni. Agni came here and
worshipped Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva in the form of Chandrasekara brought back
Agni. Hence, Lord Shiva of this
temple came to be called as Agnipureeswarar and the temple tank came
to be called as Agni Theertham. This occasion is celebrated on the full moon
day of Tamil month Vaikasi (May-June). In this temple. Also, the Sayarakshai
Pooja takes place at this
temple only after pooja for Agni.
Agni with physical body:
As per legend, Agni had no
physical body, but Agni wished to have one. Hence, he sought the advice of Lord
Brahma and Lord Vishnu. Both of them advised Agni to perform pooja to Lord
Shiva at a place where Lord Shiva is seen with tilak. Agni found the form of
Lord Shiva in this
temple. He came here and performed prayers to Lord Shiva. Pleased with
his prayers, Lord Shiva blessed him with physical body. This is the only
temple where Agni is having a physical structure. He is seen with
two heads, 7 hands, 3 legs, 7 Jwala and with 4 Korai teeth.
Kona Piran:
Banasura, a mighty asura,
once ruled over the three world. His influence was so strong and fierce that
all the kings and even devas shuddered in front of him. His mother was an ardent
devotee of Lord Shiva. She used to perform pooja with 108 Swayambhu Lingas in Kasi.
To meet this requirement, the Asura took Lingas from various places. He had
collected up to 107 Lingas. He came to Thirupugalur
for his 108th Linga. He found several Lingas in this
place and found a Swayambhu Linga meeting his requirements.
He tried to uproot the Linga but
could not move it. Hence, he dug a deep and vast Agazhi around this Linga and
tried to move the Linga again. All his efforts in moving the Linga failed. In turn,
the Agazhi he excavated was full of water springing from the ground. He decided
to end his life in frustration. Pleased with his devotion and commitment to his
mother, Lord Shiva is said to have turned slightly towards north (Kasi)
and provided darshan to his mother.
At that time, a divine voice
from the sky informed him that the Linga would be available for his mother’s
Pooja. Hence, Lord Shiva came to be called as Kona Piran (Konal means tilted in
Tamil). The Agazhi he excavated came to be called as Bana Theertham. Later,
Agni took bath in this Theertham and worshipped Lord Shiva here. Hence, it is
also called as Agni Theertham.
Mukthi Sthalam of Appar:
As per legend, Appar (Tirunavukkarasar)
is said to have spent his last years here. He used to serve Lord Shiva in
various Shiva temples by cleaning the grounds and paths to enable devotees to
walk comfortably. He did this work using a tool called Uzhavaram. Thus, the
work done by Appar came to be called as Uzhavara Pani. He served the Lord Shiva
here by doing Uzhavara Pani during his last days. Appar repeatedly prayed to Lord
Shiva requesting for salvation.
Lord Shiva wanted to test the
devotion of Appar. Lord Shiva put some valuable gems at the place where Appar
was cleaning. Appar did not show any regard for the precious gems and threw them
out along with other wastes. Then, Lord Shiva sent few celestial nymphs to entice
him. However, Appar didn’t show any interest towards them. Lord Shiva was
astonished to see the devotion of Appar towards him.
Appar attained salvation
(Mukthi) at the age of 81 on a Chithirai Sadayam star day. To commemorate this
event, a grand festival is celebrated every year on this day called Appar
festival. Appar festival begins 10 days
before Chithirai Sadayam Star day in April-May. The events includes his home coming
from the Jains, the greatness of his Uzhavaram, dance of celestial nymphs and
his merging with Lord Shiva. There is a separate shrine for Appar in this
temple in memory of this episode.
Vasthu Parihara Sthalam:
As per legend, Sundarar decided to
provide Annadhanam for the devotees on Panguni Uthiram in Thiruvarur
but he was short of funds. He informed his wife that he would visit Thirupugalur
to worship Lord Shiva and wanted to get some money from him. He reached Thirupugalur
in late evening and the
temple was closed. Sundarar decided to stay outside the
temple for the night and could worship Lord Shiva in the morning.
He picked up a brick and placed
his head on the brick and slept thinking of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva appeared in
his dreams and assured him that he would provide necessary money to carry out
his noble cause. When he woke up, he was surprised to see the brick got turned
into gold bar. Sundarar was overwhelmed with joy and rendered 11 Pathigams in
praise of Lord Shiva.
He further requested Lord Shiva that
Lord should bless all the devotees who visit here with issues relating to house
construction. Thus, this temple is considered as Vastu Parihara Sthalam. People bring 3 bricks
and after prayers, take them and install them on the Eesanya (North East), Agni
(South East) and the proposed pooja room (North east, east or north are the
preferred corners) so that the construction proceeds smoothly. Hence,
Lord Shiva is also called as Vasthunathar.
Shrine of Saneeswarar along with Emperor Nala:
As per legend, Emperor Nala was
under the influence of Lord Saneeswarar. He visited this
temple, took bath in Bana Theertham and worshipped Lord Shiva for
relief. After worshipping Lord Shiva, a divine voice informed him that he would
be relieved from the influence of Lord Saneeswarar at Thirunallar.
Hence, Lord Saneeswarar in this temple is considered as Anugraha Moorthy. There
is a special west facing shrine for Lord Saneeswarar along with Emperor Nala in
this
temple. It is said that one must visit this
temple first before visiting Thirunallar.
Mother Shrines located at a distance away from
Sanctum:
As per legend, a local king
prayed to Lord Shiva of Raamanadeechuram for child boon. Raamanadeechuram
is a Devara
Padal Petra Sthalam situated close to Thirupugalur.
He performed a Yagna to realize his wish. A divine voice informed him that he
would be blessed with girl child soon and this child would be an incarnation of
Mother Parvathy herself. After a while, when the king went for hunting in the
forest, he saw four young girls under a tree. He brought them to his palace and
raised them as his own daughters.
When they reached the
marriageable age, the king prayed to Lord Shiva and requested Lord Shiva to
marry them. As requested, Lord Shiva married them at four temples nearby namely
Karundhar Kuzhali in Thirupugalur
Agnipureeswarar Temple, Vanduvaar Kuzhali in Thirumarugal
Rathnagiriswarar Temple, Sarivar
Kuzhali in Raamanadeechuram and Vaaitha Thirukuzhal Nayaki in Thiruchengattangudi
Uthrapathiswarar Temple.
It is believed that these four
Goddesses once helped a pregnant woman deliver her child. Hence, these
goddesses are referred by the common name Choolikambal. (Chool means pregnancy
in Tamil). It is said that when the goddesses returned to the
temple after this incident, stayed at a distance away from the sanctum.
Thus, the shrines of Parvathy at these temples are located at a distance from the
sanctum to symbolically represent the above story.
Karundhar Kuzhali:
Once, a pregnant woman from a
nearby village Polagam was under labor pain and was not able to find a doctor
as the village was hit by severe floods. She prayed sincerely to Mother Parvathy
for safe delivery. Pleased with her prayers, She attended her in the guise of a
nurse and helped her in safe delivery. Hence, she came to be called as
Karundhar Kuzhali. As a symbolic gesture of having played the role of a nurse,
a white saree is presented to Ambal during the night pooja. People strongly
believe that there would not be any infant or maternal mortality in this
place.
Muruga Nayanar:
Muruga Nayanar is
a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He
is generally counted as the fifteenth in the list of 63 Nayanars. Traditional
hagiographies like Periya Puranam (13th century CE) and Thiru
Thondar Thogai (10th century CE) describe him as a great
devotee of Lord Shiva. He is described to have lived an ascetic life,
filled with austerity and selfless devotion to Shiva, spending his time in
collecting flowers from woodlands and decorating the Shiva Lingam with garlands
and coronets. Muruga Nayanar was born in a Brahmin family in Chola
Nadu, now located in Nagapattinam District, Tamil Nadu.
His daily routine was to leave
home in the early morning and roam around the woodland to collect the colourful
and fragrant flowers like lotus, champaka, jasmine, konrai etc. While plucking
flowers he used to chant the Panchakshara mantra. He would get back
home and tie up the flowers into beautiful garlands and coronets to adorn the
Shiva Lingam (Vardhamaneeswarar) and his consort Parvati (Manonmani). He
was in the habit of visiting the
temple at least three times daily.
Muruga Nayanar is described as a
contemporary of other Nayanars like Sambandar, Appar, Sundarar, Thiruneelakandar
and Thiruneelakanda Yaazhpaanar Nayanar. When Sambandar and Thirunavukkarasar,
two of the most prominent Nayanars, visited the Thirupugalur
temple, Muruga Nayanar warmly welcomed them and took them home.
Spending time with them and listening to their hymns, Muruga Nayanar was
elated. Sambandar appreciated Muruga Nayanar's devotion to Shiva and developed
thick friendship with him.
Sambandar invited Muruga Nayanar
to his wedding in Nallur
Perumanam. After the wedding, Sambandar, his bride and other Shiva
devotees went again to Nallur
Perumanam temple of Lord Shiva. Sambandar prayed to Lord Shiva,
seeking salvation and sang a hymn called Panchakshara Pathikam. Lord Shiva
appeared before him and granted his wish. Then Sambandar, his bride and all the
wedding guests, including Muruga Nayanar merged in the Light of Siva. The Tamil
month Vaikasi, star Moolam (nakshatra) is observed as Muruga Nayanar's Guru
pooja day in all Shiva temples.
Saranyapuri:
As per legend, an asura called Trimukhasura
was ruling over the three worlds. He had three faces (face of a human, bird and
pig). He started harassing the Devas. Unable to bear his harassment, the devas
surrendered (Saran) to Lord Shiva of this
temple. Hence, Lord Shiva came to be called as Saranyapureeswarar
and the place came to be called as Saranyapuri.
Saran means asylum / surrender. Saran is called as Pugal in Tamil. Hence, the
place is also called as Thiru
Pugalur.
Saranyapureeswarar:
As per legend, King of
Saranyapuri performed Putra Kameshti Yagna for begetting child in this
temple as directed by Lord Shiva. A child arose from the flames of
Yagna. The King named the child as Sooligai. As Lord Shiva blessed the King with
child, he came to be called as Saranyapureeswarar.
Prathyaksha Nathan:
Once, a priest from this
temple had left the temple for his personal work. A local king visited
this
temple for darshan during this time. Lord Shiva himself in the guise
of the priest performed pooja and went back to his original position to
safeguard the priest from the wrath of the King. Hence, Lord Shiva came to be
called as Prathyaksha Nathan.
Mother Bhudevi worshipped Lord Shiva here:
As per legend, Bhudevi, the
consort of Lord Vishnu wanted to install a Linga and worship Lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva was pleased with the devotion of Bhudevi and blessed her with his
cosmic dance. Lord Shiva also blessed Sage Satyashada with
his cosmic dance here.
Punnai Tree:
Lord Vishnu performed Pooja invoking
the blessings of Lord Shiva in this
temple. He wished to be present here as the Sthala Vriksham. Lord
Shiva granted his wish. It is believed that the Sthala Vriksham, Punnai tree is
considered as a form of Lord Vishnu.
People worshipped Lord Shiva here:
It is believed that Banasura,
Bhoodevi, Devas, Agni, Emperor Nala, King of Saranyapuri, Muruga Nayanar, Lord
Vishnu, Sage Satyashada, Sage Bharadhwaja, 18 Siddhars, Thiru Neelanakka
Nayanar, Siruthonda Nayanar, Thirugnana Sambanthar, Appar and Sundarar have
worshiped Lord Shiva here.
Other Names:
Thirupugalur is also called as Punnagavanam, Saranyapuram, Saranyapuri and Rakthaaranyam in ancient times.