Sukshmapureeswarar Temple,
Cherugudi – Legends
Sukshmapureeswarar:
Once, Lord Shiva and Mother Parvathy were playing dice
in Mount
Kailash. When Mother Parvathy was about to win the game, Lord Shiva
suddenly disappeared. Mother Parvathy was searching for him everywhere,
but she was not able to find him. Finally, she came to this
place dense with Vilwa trees. She created the Mangala Theertham, made a
Lingam with a handful of sand and worshipped it. Pleased with her prayers, Lord
Shiva appeared before Mother Parvathy and took her back to Kailash.
As the Lingam is made of sand, abhishekam is performed
only to the Avudaiyar. As Mother Parvathy created the Lingam with handful of
sand, this place came to be called as Siru Pidi (handful in Tamil) and later
got corrupted to Sirukudi.
The hand imprints of Mother Parvathy can still be seen on the Lingam during
Aarthi. As Lord Shiva disappeared suddenly and appeared here, he came to be
called as Sukshmapureeswarar.
Kolaru
Pathigam:
As per legend, Koon Pandyan, the reigning King of Madurai
got converted to Jainism under the influence of Jain monks. Mangayarkkarasiyar,
Queen of Pandyan King sought the help of Appar and Sambandar for
reconverting his husband back to Shaivism from Jainism. Appar and Sambandar accepted
the Queen's request and decided to visit Madurai
for helping the queen. They were staying together at this
place during that time. As Appar felt that the time was not auspicious and
very unfavourable due to the planetary positions, he advised Sambandar to
postpone the trip.
Thirugnana Sambandar said that the planets could not do
anything to the devotees of Lord Shiva. Then, Thirugnana Sambandar sang
the Kolaru Pathigam to nullify the ill effects due to the planetary positions
and left for Madurai.
He reached Madurai safely and won against the Jains. He also cured his hunched
back of Koon Pandyan. Thus, Thirugnana Sambandar can be seen among the planets
in this
temple. Bhairava and Vinayaga are also seen along with them.
Angaragan
got relief from his curse here:
As per legend, Angaragan (Planet Mars) got relief from
his curse by worshipping Lord Shiva of this
temple.
People
worshipped Lord Shiva here:
Sage Viswamitra, Garudan, Angarakan, Suryan and
Gandharvas had worshipped Lord Shiva in this
temple.