Kulashekharanatha Mahalingam Temple, Pathai – Legends
Kulasekharan got relieved of his Stomach Pain here:
Pandya
King Kulasekharan was on his hunting spree in the forests along with his men. He
found some sages erecting a tent and demanded the rishis to remove them as it
was obstructing his way. The sages replied that a great yajna was
scheduled to take place there and their Guru would not accept another
venue. The angry king losing his right senses began to get the tents
removed by force. The Guru came. His face grew red and said that the duty
of the king was to help the animals and the rishis in penance to live in peace
and if the king himself became arrogant and behaved otherwise, “he loses the
right to be a king”. He cursed the king to suffer from acute stomach pain
for ever.
King
Kulasekharan was shocked and fell at the feet of Guru and begged for remedy. He
was advised to build Shiva temples at places where he hunted caused troubles to
the rishis and to pray to Lord and that his stomach pain would start reducing
gradually. The king again fell at the feet of the Guru and began building
temples for Lord Shiva. The last temple he built is the one at Pathai
village. Fortunately, he got a Shivalinga worshipped by divine cow Kamadenu and
installed it in this temple. His sufferings came to and worshipped Lord Aadhi
Nathar here. Pleased with his worship, Lord granted Darshan to the king
with Mother Parvati.
The king
begged the Lord that he be praised as Kulasekhara Nathar and to bless the
devotees worshipping him. Lord granted the boon. He also made an idol of
Lord in the darshan posture and installed it in the temple. In her hurry to follow Lord to grant darshan to the king, Mother Parvati came
without her crown dressing the hair in a simple manner. She was praised as
Sugantha Kundalambikai. The idol of Ambica has no crown. The king also arranged
a school for teaching Thevaram hymns and all Saivite books. He also left
lands for the maintenance and the daily pujas, according to epigraphic finds.
Rama’s Visit to this Temple:
The Sthalapuranam,
or the history of the place, indicates that Lord Rama visited this temple
en route to Lanka in search of his wife Sita.
Cow fell at the spot where Lingam got buried:
Local
mythology says that the temple was covered in the forest in later years only to
be discovered by a local ruler when a cow fell at the spot of the Lingam
submerged in the land. When his men were clearing the area, hit something
similar to a stone with his pick axe, resulting in blood gushing from it. The Lingam
was found there and the local ruler built a temple, which transformed over the
period of time to the present state.