Panchavateeswarar Temple, Anandha Thandava Puram –
Legends
Manakanchara Nayanar:
Manakanchara Nayanar was a Nayanar saint,
venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as
the twelfth in the list of 63 Nayanars. Manakanchara Nayanar is dated to the 8th
century CE and was a contemporary of Eyarkon Kalikkama Nayanar, a Nayanar
saint and his son-in-law as well as Sundarar, one of the most prominent
Nayanars. Sundarar venerates Manakanchara Nayanar in the Tiruthonda
Thogai, a hymn to Nayanar saints. The life of Manakanchara Nayanar is described
in the Periya Puranam by Sekkizhar (12th century CE),
which is a hagiography of the 63 Nayanars.
He is said to have cut his daughter's hair and given it
to Lord Shiva disguised as a Shaiva ascetic, on her wedding day. Manakanchara
Nayanar was born in Kancharur,
a fertile place in the Chola Kingdom. Kancharur
is currently called as Anandha
Thandava Puram in Mayiladuthurai District in the Indian state
of Tamil Nadu. He was a Vellalar, a caste of agricultural
land owners. He was a great devotee of Shiva, the patron god
of Shaivism. He was the commander-in-chief of the Chola army. Manakanchara
became a powerful and wealthy commander. He served devotees of Shiva and
generously donated gifts to them.
However, Manakanchara did not have a child. He prayed to
Lord Shiva for a child and was blessed with a daughter. He distributed many
gifts to devotees, while celebrating the birth of his daughter with great pomp.
He named her as Punniya Vardhini. She was instilled with values of devotion to Lord
Shiva by her father from childhood. She grew up to become a beautiful maiden,
with long and beautiful locks of hair. The family elders arranged her marriage
to Eyarkon Kalikkama Nayanar, who was a Vellalar commander-in-chief of the
Chola kingdom. The prospective groom also shared the devotion and love for Lord
Shiva with Manakanchara Nayanar.
It was said that Manakanchara Nayanar had gained two
boons from Shiva namely a pious daughter as well as a devout and illustrious
son-in-law. On the day prior to the wedding, while the bridegroom was on the
way to the marriage venue at Manakanchara Nayanar's house, Lord Shiva disguised
himself as a Mahavrata Shaiva yogi, with sacred ash smeared over
his body, matted hair and wearing garlands of bones and skulls and
a Yagnopavita (sacred thread worn across the chest) made of human hair
called a Panchavati. Manakanchara Nayanar welcomed and honoured the ascetic.
The ascetic enquired about the festivities and in
response, Manakanchara Nayanar informed him of his daughter's wedding. When she
arrived and sought the blessings of the ascetic, he commented that her long
hair would have been ideal for making his Panchavati. Without giving it a
second thought, taking the statement as a command by the yogi, Manakanchara
Nayanar chopped off the hair of his daughter and gifted them to the ascetic, in
an act of supreme devotion to Shiva's devotees. Cutting of the hair of a young
maiden, especially of a bride, is considered inauspicious and thus a taboo.
The daughter of Manakanchara Nayanar had lost her hair,
the reason of her beauty, and faced the risk of rejection by the bridegroom.
The ascetic disappeared immediately, as soon as he accepted the hair. Lord Shiva
along with his consort Parvati gave a divine vision to the family of
Manakanchara Nayanar, pleased with their service. The divine couple blessed the
family and disappeared. The bride's beautiful hair were also restored. Eyarkon
Kalikkama Nayanar and his wedding party arrived at the place and got to know
what had happened.
Kalikkama regretted that he missed an opportunity to see
his patron god Shiva. He felt that if he had married the bride when Shiva asked
for the hair, he would have had the honour of gifting Lord Shiva. The vision of
Lord Shiva to the family of Manakanchara Nayanar is said to have happened in
this temple. There is a bronze image of Jata Nathar depicts Lord Shiva with a
lock of hair, alluding to the hair of Manakanchara Nayanar's daughter in his
hands. Manakanchara Nayanar is worshipped in the Tamil month of Margazhi, when
the moon enters the Swati nakshatra (lunar mansion).
Anandha Thandava Puram:
As per legend, a sage named Anandha lived in this
village. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. He could go to any
Shiva Temples of his choice on aerial route through his yogic powers. He used
to fly to Rameshwaram
to take bath in the sea in the morning, then fly to Chidambaram
for the darshan of Nataraja in the afternoon, then fly to Mahendramalai for
meditation in the evening and finally would return to his village of Ananda
Thandava Puram by night.
This was his daily routine for several years. Lord Shiva
wanted to test the devotion of his devotee on the Thiruvadhirai day in Margazhi
month. Thiruvadhirai was an auspicious day for Shiva puja and all the Shiva
temples wore a festive look. Sage Anandha was about to leave for his daily
routine, but Lord Shiva created a strong storm with heavy rains that hindered the
routine. The storm and the heavy rain continued the whole day and the sage
could not able to follow his daily schedule.
He was very sad and angry with the nature for spoiling
his day. He decided to end his life he could not have the darshan of Lord Shiva
on the auspicious day of Margazhi Thiruvadhirai. As he was about to commit
suicide, Lord Shiva along with his consort appeared before him and consoled
him. Further, Lord Shiva performed his cosmic dance (Ananda Thandavam) for his
devotee. As Lord Shiva performed his Anandha Thandava in this
village, the
village came to be called as Anandha
Thandava Puram.
Amirtha
Bindu Saras:
As per legend, Sage Kashyapa had two wives Vinata and
Kadru. They wanted to have children and Kashyapa granted each of them a
boon. Kadru asked for one thousand Naga sons, while Vinata asked
for just two, but each an equal to all of Kadru's thousand sons. Kashyapa
blessed them, and then retreated to a forest to meditate. Later, Kadru gave
birth to one thousand eggs, while Vinata gave birth to two eggs. After
incubating them for five hundred years, Kadru's eggs hatched and out came her
1,000 sons. Vinata, eager for her own sons, impatiently broke one of her eggs.
From this egg emerged the partially formed Aruna,
looking radiant and reddish as the morning sun, but not as bright as the midday
sun as he was promised to be. Aruna chided his mother, Vinata for her
impatience, and warned her to not break open the second egg, cursing her to be
a slave until his brother rescued her. Aruna then left to become the charioteer
of Surya, the sun god. Vinata waited, and after many years the second egg
hatched, and Garuda was born. After losing a bet to Kadru through trickery,
Vinata was forced to become her slave.
Garuda later on asked his brothers to free his mother
from her slavery, to which they demanded Amrita from heaven. Garuda waged a war
against gods with his extraordinary might and abilities beyond thinking, and
defeated all of them, including Indra. He then took Indra's nectar vessel and
flew back to earth. It is believed that a drop of the nectar carried by Garuda
fell in the Sivagangai Theertham. Thus, the theertham came to be called as
Bindu Theertham / Amirtha Bindu Saras. It is also said that Lord Shiva himself
took bath in this Theertham. It is located in front of the
temple.
Kalyana Sundari &
Periya Nayagi:
As per legend, Sage Bharadhwaja performed intense
penance under the Parijada tree of this
temple. Pleased with his penance, Lord Shiva appeared with the two
forms of Goddess Parvathy. She appeared in the form of bride namely Kalyana
Sundari and in the form of married lady namely Periya Nayagi.
Kaumari worshipped Lord
Shiva here:
As per legend, Kaumari, one of the Sapta Matrikas, is
said to have worshipped Lord Shiva of this
temple.