Rathnagiriswarar Temple, Thirumarugal – Legends
Sadayay Ennumal Sarani Ennumal:
As per legend, once a merchant named Dhaman from Pandyan
Kingdom promised his nephew that he would give his eldest daughter in marriage
to him. However, the merchant was greedy and later married her to someone else.
He promised his nephew that he would give him his second daughter in marriage.
As time went by, one by one he got his first six daughters married to other men
of wealth.
The last daughter was unhappy about her father breaking
his word. One day she eloped with the young man and planned to get married with
him in another town. On their way, they stopped for the night at Thirumarugal,
and a snake bit him at night during their stay and he died. The girl was in
distress as she had left her parents and the man she was planning to marry was
dead and she was stuck in an unfamiliar place.
She was crying and lamenting and praying to Lord Shiva.
Thirugnana Sambandar happened to pass by on his way to the
temple in the morning and heard her cries. He was moved by her
plight. He went to the
temple and sang the song "Sadayay ennumaal Sarani ennumal"
pleading to Lord Shiva, explaining the girl's plight. Lord Shiva was moved by
the song and resurrected the young man and Thirugnana Sambandar had them
married in front of Lord Shiva.
This episode is re-enacted to this day during the
Chaitra festival. Stucco image depicting this episode can be seen in the
rajagopuram. The Madam situated on street opposite to Goddess Parvathy shrine
is the place where Chettipen and Chetti Pillai stayed for the night. As the
snake poison was removed by Vinayagar, he came to be called as Vidam Theertha
Vinayagar. It is further believed that snakes are not there in this area and if
at all it bites, the person will not die.
Common pathigam for
Thirumarugal & Thiruchengattangudi Temples:
As per legend, Sambandar stayed in Thirumarugal
after saving the Chetti son. Siruthondar Nayanar came to Thirumarugal
and invited Sambandar to visit Thiruchengattangudi
Temple. Before leaving to Thiruchengattangudi,
Sambandar along with Siruthondar came to Thirumarugal
Temple and worshipped Lord Shiva. While they were about to leave,
Lord Shiva provided the darshan of Thiruchengattangudi
Ganapatheeswarar at Thirumarugal
Temple itself. Thus, Sambandar sang a common pathigam for both the
temples in Thirumarugal
itself.
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.
Thirumarugal:
Thirumarugal derived its name
from a variety of plantain tree called Marugal, found
inside the northern side of the
temple. The specialty of the tree is that it will not grow anywhere
else if its branch is cut and planted. The
place is also called Kadalivana Kshetram in Sanskrit.
Lakshmi Theertham:
Once, Sage Brighu visited Vaikunda to see Lord Vishnu.
Lord Vishnu was sleeping on his Sheshnaga. Sage Bhrigu kicked Lord Vishnu on
the chest to wake him up. Vishnu woke up, greeted Bhrigu and started massaging
his feet, asking him if he had hurt his feet in kicking his chest. Goddess
Lakshmi got furious on seeing Lord Vishnu massaging his feet. She left him and
came to this
temple on earth. She prayed to Lord Shiva for her reunion with Lord
Vishnu and undertook Varalakshmi Nonbu at this
temple. Finally, Lord Shiva brought Lord Vishnu and reunited them.
In memory of this event, the temple tank, Lakshmi Theertham, is named after
Goddess Lakshmi.
Lord Brahma and Sage Parasara penance on Lord Shiva:
As per legend, Lord Brahma performed penance here to
regain his powers while Sage Parasara performed penance to get rid of his sins.
Scars on the Lingam:
As per legend, the Swayambhu Lingam was unearthed by
King Kusakethu. While unearthing, the shovel used by the king caused scars over
the Linga. The scars can be seen on the Lingam even today.
Rathnagreeswarar:
As per legend, Lord Shiva of this
temple had showered precious gem stone (Rathinam) to eradicate the famine
in this
place. Hence, Lord Shiva came to be called as Rathnagreeswarar.