Udhvaganathar Temple, Thirumanancheri – Legends
Thirumanancheri:
Once, Lord Shiva and Mother Parvathi were playing the game
of dice in Kailash. Lord
Shiva purposely made goddess Parvathy to win each game. Overwhelmed with the
joy, she become arrogant and had excessive pride in her success. On seeing her
arrogance, Lord Shiva cursed to be born as a cow on earth. She was born as a
cow in Therazhundur
and Lord Vishnu became her cowherd. She in the form of cow worshipped Lord
Shiva at Thirukozhambam.
She hit the Shiva Linga mistakenly and its hoof mark can
be seen on the Linga at Thirukozhambam.
Goddess Parvathy in the form of cow came to Thiruvaduthurai
and worshipped Lord Shiva for relief. Pleased with her worship, Lord Shiva
restored her back to original form. Goddess Parvathy also wanted to marry Lord Shiva
in an earthly marriage with all religious rites on the earth.
At the same time, Sage Bharatha performed Putra Kameshti
Yagna at Thiruthuruthi
for child boon. In order to fulfill her wish, Lord Shiva made goddess Parvathy
to appear in the form of child from the Yagna Kunda. Sage Bharatha raised her
as his own daughter. When she attained the marriageable age, the sage was
worried about finding a suitable groom for her.
Sage Bharatha prayed to Lord Shiva in finding a suitable
groom for her. Lord Shiva appeared in his dream and assured him that he would
marry her and also revealed to the sage that she is none other than Goddess
Parvathy. Sage Bharatha was overwhelmed with joy and made the arrangements for
the divine marriage. Sage Bharatha received his son in law at Ethirkolpadi.
The Yagna (Velvi) for the wedding ceremony was held at Thiruvelvikudi.
The earthly marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy
took place in Thiruvelvikudi.
The divine couple came after their wedding to this
place and granted their wedding darshan to everyone at this
place. Hence, this
place came to be called as Thirumanancheri
(Thirumanam means wedding & Cheri means village in Tamil) and Lord came to
be called as Kalyana Sundareswarar (Kalyanam means wedding in Tamil).
It is also said that the seven seas came to this
place for witnessing the divine marriage and offered themselves as
garlands to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy. They also stayed back here in the
form of the Theertham. Hence, the theertham of this
temple came to be called as Sapta Sahara Theertham (Sapta means
Seven, Sahara means Ocean and Theertham means holy tank). This tank in the form
of Agazhi (moat) encircles the
temple.
Lord Shiva gave Mangalya Bhiksha to Rathi:
As per legend, Once, Manmathan disturbed Lord Shiva
while he was meditating at Korukkai.
Angered by his actions, Lord Shiva opened his third eye and burnt him with the
fire sparks from his third eye in his forehead. Rati, wife of Manmathan fell at
the feet of Lord Shiva of this
temple and begged for her husband’s life (Mangalya Bhiksha). For
the sake of Rati, Lord Shiva of this
temple is said to have brought him back to life in flesh & blood
form and in a formless state for others.
Lord Shiva converted turtle shaped boy to handsome young
man:
As per legend, Once, two girls promised each other that
their son and daughter would marry in future. One got a beautiful girl while
the other gave birth to a turtle shaped boy. The former refused the marriage on
seeing the disability of the boy. The latter pleaded to Lord Shiva of this
temple, he converted the turtle shaped boy to a handsome young man
and the marriage went off well. Devotees worship Lord Shiva here for relief
from physical disabilities.
