Brahmapureeswarar Temple, Ambal – Legends
Brahmapureeswarar:
Once, Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu had a
disagreement about which one of them was supreme. To settle the
debate, Lord Shiva pierced the three worlds appearing as a huge
infinite pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Lord Shiva told them that
anyone who could see the head or foot of this pillar of light pillar would be
declared as the supreme one. Lord Vishnu took the form of a wild boar and had
gone in the direction of the base of the pillar, admitted that he had not found
the foot of the pillar.
Lord Brahma took the form of a Swan and flew in the
upward direction to find the top of the pillar. Lord Brahma returned and lied
to Lord Shiva that he had seen the top of the pillar. Lord Shiva cursed Lord Brahma
to become a swan. He further cursed that he would have no place in the
ceremonies and no places of worship. Lord Brahma pleaded to Lord Shiva to
pardon him. Lord Shiva took pity of Lord Brahma and asked him to go to this sacred place, Punnagavanam and meditate.
As advised, Lord Brahma reached this place, created a
theertha called Annamam Poigai and performed abhisheka to Lord Shiva with the
water from this pond. He performed his worship for many years. After many
years, his curse was absolved, was freed from his swan form and commenced his
duty of creation. As Lord Brahma worshipped Lord Shiva here, Lord Shiva came to
be called as Brahmapureeswarar. The traditional festival, the appearing of Lord
Shiva before Lord Brahma, is celebrated every year on the Masi Maham day.
Ambakarathur:
As per legend, Amban and
Ambarasuran were born to Sage Durvasa and Madalola, a heavenly maid. The two
brothers were ardent devotees of Lord Shiva and acquired several powers through
boons from Lord Shiva. They become arrogant because of their powers and started
harassing the celestial beings, the sages and common people. Devas went to Lord
Shiva for protection. Lord Shiva instructed Goddess Kali to annihilate the
demon brothers.
Goddess Kali took the form
of an enchantress accompanied by Lord Vishnu in the form of elder person
visited the palace of the demon brothers. The demon brothers were fascinated by
the beauty of the girl and asked for her hand. Lord Vishnu told them that she
would like to marry the stronger among the two brothers. Both the brothers
started fighting with each other on who would get to marry her.
In ensuing fight, the
elder brother Ambarasuran was killed and Goddess Kali killed the younger
brother. The place where the younger brother Amban was
killed came to be called as Ambakarathur. She thus incurred the brahmahatya
dosha for killing the demon Amban. To get rid of the brahmahatya dosha, she
made a Shiva Linga with her own hands, installed at Thirumakalam and performed
pooja to the Lingam with Vilva leaves.
The finger imprints of
goddess Kali can be still seen on the Lingam. As Kali vanquished the demons and
worshipped Lord Shiva here, the place came to be called as Ambar Makalam. As
Lord Vishnu played a significant role in instigating the fight between Amban
and Ambarasuran, Lord Vishnu has a small temple (Veetrirundha Perumal Temple)
near to this temple. An image of goddess Kali can be
seen in the Vishnu Temple.
Mada
Kovils:
Kochengat Chola was an early Chola king and
one of the 63 Nayanmars (Saivite saints) of Saivism. He is believed
to have attained spiritual rebirth of a spider that fought with an elephant in
its previous birth over the worship of the Lord Shiva. He had red eyes
during birth as he remained in his mother’s womb a little longer. His mother,
looking into the baby red eyes said Kochengkannano (in Tamil Ko=king,
Cheng=red, Kan=eyes), which literally means king with red eyes and hence he was
named Kochengat Cholan. After becoming a king, he followed Saivism and
built 70 Maadakovils, temples with elevated
structure where elephants cannot reach the sanctum, in the Chola empire. It is
believed that this is one of the temple built by him.
Somasi
Mara Nayanar:
Somasi Mara Nayanar is a Nayanar saint,
venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as
the thirty-third in the list of 63 Nayanars. He was a contemporary and
devotee of Sundarar (7th century CE). The life of Somasi
Mara Nayanar is described in the Periya Puranam by Sekkizhar (12th
century CE), which is a hagiography of the 63 Nayanars. Somasi Mara Nayanar was
a Brahmin, member of the priestly caste. He was a temple priest and was
born in Thiruvambar, currently known as Ambar in Thiruvarur District in
the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was married to Suseelai.
As per Periya Puranam, Maran was an ardent devotee of
Lord Shiva, the patron deity of Shaivism. He was a practitioner of soma yajnas (sacrifices),
which earned him the epithet Somasi. He served all devotees of Lord Shiva,
unmindful of his creed or caste. He went to Thiruvarur and befriended
Sundarar. He became a devotee of Sundarar and served him. Somasi Mara Nayanar
is said to have acquired the grace of Lord Shiva by gracefully serving
Sundarar. Somasi Mara Nayanar challenged the rigid caste rules of that era. He
not only intermingled with non-Brahmins, which was a taboo in that era, but
also served them.
Once, he wanted to perform a Soma Yagna in honour of
Lord Shiva and wanted Lord Shiva of Thiruvarur to attend it to accept
the havir (oblations burnt in the fire sacrifice of the
yajna). He knew Sundarar was the only person who can convince and bring Lord
Shiva to the Yagna. Sundarar was on pilgrimage and luckily he was staying in
Ambar itself. Somasi Marar went to meet Sundarar and noticed that Sundarar was
suffering from cough and cold. Somasi Marar sent an herbal concoction made from
Thoodhuvalai leaves (Thoodhuvalai leaves, leaves from an herbal plant
used as traditional medicine for curing cold and cough) to Sundarar every day.
Sundarar enquired about the person sending the herbal
concoction to him daily, His wife Sangiliyar informed about Somasi Marar. When
Sundarar was relieved from cold, he came to meet Somasi Marar personally to
thank him for sending the herbal concoction. Somasi Marar sought the help of
Sundarar to bring Lord Shiva to his Soma Yagna. Sundarar agreed to bring Lord
Shiva for his Yagna. Sundarar convinced Lord Shiva to participate in the yagna.
Lord Shiva promised to attend the Yagna on the Aayilya star day in the Tamil
month of Vaikasi (May-Jun). The new of Lord Shiva attending the Soma Yagna
spread like a wildfire.
Sages, Scholars and peoples from nearby and far off
places gathered in Thiruvambar to witness the Yagna. Lord Shiva with his
wife Parvati and sons Vinayaga and Murugan arrived the
Yagna spot in the guise of a hunter family. Four Vedas in the form of four dogs
were following him. He also had a dead calf on his shoulder. The sudden arrival
of the outcaste family made the sages & vedic scholars assembled in the
Yagna spot to think that a serious blunder was committed while conducting the
Yagna. They started running away from the venue.
But Somasi Marar whole heartedly welcomed the guests.
However, Lord Vinayaga revealed the identity of the visitors to Somasi Marar.
In memory of this event, there is a small shrine dedicated to this Vinayagar
called as Acham Theertha Vinayagar (Vinayaga who cleared the doubts) in the
temple premises. Lord Vinayaka is depicted with a human face in this shrine. As
Lord Vinayaka came here to take part in the yajna with a human face, it is said
that he had stayed here in the same form. Somasi Marar and Sundarar
worshipped the hunter, continued the Yagna and offered him the havir.
After the sacrifice, Lord Shiva appeared with Parvati in
his true form, blessed Somasi Mara Nayanar and made him one among the 63
Nayanmars. There is a small mandapam, where the Soma Yagna is believed to have
been conducted. This Yagna Kunda is situated in between the Ambar Makalam and
Ambar Perunthirukovil. To commemorate the event, a Yagna is conducted on Aayilya
star day in the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May-Jun) in this temple every year. As
Lord Thyagaraja of Thiruvarur Thyagaraja Temple is believed to have to come to
this place for attending this Yagna, the noon pooja is not performed at the
Thyagaraja Temple on that day.
Annihilation
of Samhara Seelan:
A demon named Samhara Seelan, a descendant of Sage
Pulasthya, performed intense penance on Lord Brahma. Pleased with his penance,
Lord Brahma bestowed him with immense powers. With his newly acquired powers,
he defeated Indra and the devas. On seeing the condition of Indra, Lord Brahma
advised him to perform penance and worship Lord Shiva at Punnagavanam. As
advised, Indra along with the devas came here and started worshipping Lord
Shiva. The demon also reached this place in search of Indra. Lord Shiva directed
Kala Bhairava to aid the devas and Indra. Lord Kala Bhairava killed the demon
and saved the devas. As Indra performed penance here, the place came to be
called as Indrapuri.
Moksha
of Vimalan:
A Brahmin along with his wife from Kasi went on
pilgrimage to many holy places and finally reached Ambar. He worshipped Lord
Shiva and Parvati of this temple for several years. Pleased with his devotion,
Lord Shiva appeared before him and granted several boons to him. It is said
that Lord Shiva brought the river Ganga for him in Annamam Poigai. He along
with wife took bath in the theertha. The couple was blessed with a son named
Mahadevan. The couples attained salvation here.
Manmatha
got relief from his curse here:
Once, the penance of Sage Viswamitra was disturbed by
the apsaras. He felt that the romantic feeling was caused the by the arrows of
Manmatha. So, he cursed Manmatha that his arrows should become powerless. On
advice of Brahma, Manmatha came here and worshipped Lord Shiva for relief.
Pleased with his worship, Lord Shiva granted relief to his curse.
King
Nandan of Kambujadesa got relief of Brahma Hatya dosha here:
Once, a sage named Pingalakkan wore a dress made of
tiger skin performed an intense penance on a forest. During this time, King
Nandan of Kambujadesa went for hunting in this forest. He mistook the sage as a
tiger and shot his arrow towards the sage and killed him. Due to the killing,
he was afflicted with Brahma Hatya dosha. To get relief from the dosha, he went
on pilgrimage to various temples. The Brahma Hatya followed him wherever he
went. When he reached Ambar, the Brahma Hatya stopped at the border of the
village. The sages in the village advised him to worship Lord Brahmapureeswarar
for relief. He did as per the advice and got relief.
People
worshipped Lord Shiva here:
It is believed that Brahma, Indra, Vyasa, Durvasa, King
Nandan, Manmadan and Saptharishis had worshiped Lord Shiva of this temple.
Other
Names:
Ambar was called as Maakalapuram, Maakalipuram,
Punnagavanam, Brahmapuri, Nandarajapuram, Maarapuri and Shanbagaranyam during
ancient times.