Mullaivananathar Temple, Thirumullaivasal – Legends
Mullaivananathar:
As per legend, Chola King Killivalavan of Sangam era was
afflicted with a skin disease. The royal physicians advised him to take a bath
in the sea near this
place. As advised, he came to this
place for a holy bath in the sea. The place was dense with Mullai (Jasmine
creepers) which bound the legs of the horses and made their movement difficult.
The king started cutting the plants with his sword to make way for his horses.
The sword hit an object under the bushes and blood started oozing out from that
place.
The king was shocked and ordered his soldiers to the
clear the bushes carefully to find the source of the blood. He found the
damaged Linga, the source of the blood. The king felt bad and attempted to take
his life for the mistake. Lord Shiva & Mother Parvathy appeared before him
and stopped him from committing suicide. The King built a temple where the
Linga was found and named the Lord as Mullaivananathar (Lord of Jasmine
forest). The sword cut scar on the head of the Linga is still visible. Thus,
the place came to be called as Thirumullaivayil.
Vishnu Theertham:
As per legend, Susavi, eldest son of Vamadeva, was a
vedic scholar from Pandya country. When his father died, he cremated and
collected the bones and ashes in a bag and started to Kashi to immerse it in
the Ganges river. He met Sage Markandeya in this place during his journey to
Kashi. Sage Markandeya advised him to immerse the bones in the Vishnu
Theertham, as ganga resides in the theertham.
As advised, he immersed the bones and ashes in the water
and to his astonishment he found the bones got turned into diamonds. He
immediately performed all the last rites for his father in this
place to enable him to obtain salvation. It is still believed
that holy Ganga springs in the Vishnu Theertham. It is situated on the
northwest side of the
temple.
No Palliyarai in this
Temple:
As per legend, Goddess Parvathy desired to learn the
meaning of Panchakshra Mantra (Namashivaya) from Lord Shiva. She came here and
worshipped Lord Shiva. Pleased with her worship, Lord Shiva imparted the
knowledge of the mantra to Goddess Parvathy. As Lord Shiva imparted knowledge
to Parvathy, he is considered as teacher (Guru) here and goddess as his
student. Hence, there is a no Palliyarai (bed chamber) and Poojas associated
with it.
Chandra Theertham:
As per legend, Chandra was suffering from some illness.
He sought the help of Brihaspati for a cure. Brihaspati advised him to worship
Lord Shiva here for relief. As advised, Chandra came here, dug a pond and
worshipped Lord Shiva. He was completely cured of his illness. The pond created
by him came to be called as Chandra Theertham.
People worshipped Lord
Shiva here:
It is believed that Indra, Chandra, Yudhishthira, Brihaspati,
Killivalavan, Susavi, Markandeya and Karkodaga have worshipped Lord Shiva here.