Iluppaipattu Neelakandeswarar Temple, Nagapattinam –
Legends
Parvathi saving Shiva by pressing his Neck:
During
the churning of the milk ocean, serpent Vasuki used as the rope, was exhausted
and spit its deadly venom. To protect the Devas and the world, Lord Shiva
devoured the venom before it started spreading. To protect Shiva from the
effect of the poison, Mother Parvathi pressed the neck of the Lord from behind
so that the venom did not reach the stomach and made it stay at the neck
itself. As Mother Parvathi stopped the poison from mixing with the Nectar,
She is praised as Amirtha (nectar) Valli. She has her shrine behind Lord
Shiva’s. As Mother Parvathi saved her husband, married women pray in the
shrine for the longevity of their husbands and thereby their Mangalsutras. Mother’s
left hand points to her feet.
Shiva appeared as Five Lingas to each Pandava Brothers:
Pandavas
During their exile, Pandava brothers stayed in this place for some time. They
could not get Shivalingas for their worship here. They lit lamps in the
Iluppai nuts and worshipped the Lord in meditation. Lord granted darshan
to them individually. They prayed to the Lord that he should grace all
devotees from this place. He appeared then as five Shivalingas as prayed
by the Pandava brothers. Hence, there are five Lingas (Panchalingas) in
separates shrines in the temple.
Emperor Nala prayed here for reducing Saturn Effects:
Towards
the end of the seven and half year rule of Saturn-Sani Bhagwan in his life,
Emperor Nala was visiting Shiva temples. Before visiting
Thirukkadaiyur temple, he came to this temple and felt the impact of the effect
of the planet reducing considerably. It is believed that worshipping here
would greatly reduce the adverse effect of Sani Bhagwan during such times.