Paampuranathar Temple, Thirupampuram – Legends
Ashtama
Nagas got relief from Lord Shiva curse here:
When Lord Vinayaka offered his pranams to his father
Lord Shiva, the snake around Shiva’s neck grew proud that Vinayaka was
worshipping him too. Angry Shiva cursed the whole snake community that it
should lose its power - viz. their poison power. All the Ashtama serpents -
eight great serpents – appealed to Lord Shiva that it was not fair on his part
to curse the whole community for the wrong committed by a single one and they
also sought pardon for the snake that grew proud.
Lord Shiva told them that the Ashtama Nagas, Aanandhan,
Vasuki, Dakshakan, Karkodakan, Sangabalan, Kuligan, Padman and Mahapadman and
others headed by the divine snake Adhishesha may come to Tiruppamburam on Maha Shivarathri
day when they will be pardoned and relieved of the curse. All serpents
came to the earth and did penance and in a single night (4 jamas) it worshipped
Shiva in four places. All serpents worshipped Lord Shiva at Nageswarar temple
in the morning, Thirunageswaram in the afternoon, Thirupampuram in the evening and
Naganathar at Nagore in the night to be absolved of the effect of the curse.
Thirupampuram is the place where Nagaraja worshipped in
3rd Jamam. Due to unavailability of flowers that time, he tied agathi poo
(sesbania grandiflora) flowers in alavizhudhu (banyan tree stems) and finished
pooja. So, as a rarity in this village, Agathi won’t flower and
alamvizhudhu won’t touch the earth (It is very usual that alamvizhudhu
will touch earth and the stem itself will turn to roots). By this worship
method, Serpents regained their lost power.
All serpents are believed to follow the same worship
method every Mahasivarathri. There is a belief that following the same
routine to worship at these four temples is of special importance. Hence, it is
believed that people who had lost anything valuable in their life will get it
back by praying to Lord Shiva here.
Rahu and
Ketu in single body:
It is also noteworthy that Rahu and Ketu are not
individually separate from each other as in other temples, but are in one
single body with Lord in their mind.
Parihara
Sthalam:
This temple has the combined reputation of the temples
of Thirunageswaram, Nagoor, Keelaperumpallam, Kalahasthi and Kumbakonam. This
is a remedial temple-Parihara Sthalam- for all adverse planetary aspects,
according to Puranas.
Presence
of Snakes:
It is said that since Adhiseshan and the serpents had
worshipped at this temple, snakes are present in this temple. On Sundays,
Tuesdays, Fridays the fragrance of Fragrant Screw pine or Jasmine is in the air
in this temple and serpents are believed to be present within the temple
premises. On 26-5-2002 a snake had shed its skin on the Shiva Lingam here
like a garland. This is still preserved at the temple and can be seen at
the Lord’s Sannidhi. Villagers here vouch that there has been no history of
anybody being bitten by a snake in the vicinity of this village.
Ganga
got relieved from the sins of the devotees which occupied in her body:
Gangadevi took bath in the Cauvery River at
Mayavaram for 30 days during the month of Thula and then she is moving to
Thirupampuram during the month of Karthigai. Gangadevi continuously performing
the prayer for sixteen years and she get relieved from the sins of the devotees
which occupied in her body.
Slaying
of Daksha’s Head by Virabathira:
Thirupampuram Sthalapuranam gives a detailed account of Daksha
and his act of not giving respect to his Son-in Law Lord Siva. He was punished
by Virabathira who was created by Lord Siva by slaying Daksha’s head.
Later on he came to Thirupampuram with the goats head provided by Lord
Siva and worshiped the Lord to expiate his misdeed and he was graced by our
Lord Seshapureeswarar.
Suneethan
king of Kasi got rid of the disease Epilepsy by worshipping here:
Suneethan king of Kasi as per the advice of Vashista Munivar
who presented himself in his dream came to Thirupampuram to get rid of his
Epilepsy disease and performed the prayers as per the rituals and get cured and
went back to rule his Kingdom.
Kochenganan
got rid of the disease Leukemia by worshipping here:
Kochenganan alias Chilanthi Cholan alias Chenkanan came
to Thirupampuram to get rid of the disease Leukemia and after taking bath in
the “Brahma Theertham” performed Prayers to the Lord Seshapureeswarar for three
years. His disease was cured by the Lord and ruled the Chola Kingdom for a
longer period. The king arranged for the Chariot to run in the streets of
Thirupampuram for the Lord.
Competition
between Adhiseshan and Vayu:
In a competition between Adhiseshan and Lord Vayu to
prove who between them was more powerful. Vayu tried to unearth all the
mountains with his force. While Adhiseshan with his strength prevented this
from happening, in his rage, Vayu stopped the breathing air (oxygen) to all
beings. As requested by all devas including Lord Indra, Adhiseshan retreated
from this test of strength. But Vayu continued to unearth the mountains and
this angered Lord Shiva, who cursed Vayu and Adhiseshan to life of ghosts. Upon
the repentance of both, Lord Shiva directed Vayu to do the penance at the north
of the river Vaigai & to the east of Madurai, while directing Adhiseshan to
worship him for 12 years in the Pambupuram hence Adhiseshan created Theertham
here observed his penance and got relieved of the curse.
Adhiseshan
worshipped Shiva to get rid of his overburden of supporting the World:
Legend has it that when Adhiseshan who supports the
world on himself felt overburdened and ill. Lord Shiva directed him to worship
him on Mahasivarathri night in the following order: First, at Nageswarar at Kumbakonam
next Naganathar at Thirunageswaram and finally at Thirupampuram. Adhiseshan did
so and got back his strength. Because of this, all snakes in this place are
considered as devotees of Lord Shiva and legend has it that they do not bite
anyone here.
Brahma
absolved his curse of having of ill intention towards Thilothama:
Brahma created Thilothama, as the most beautiful of all
women .Since he was her creator, she considered him as her father and went
round him in worship but Brahma to savour her beauty, created for him four
heads to look at her as she went round him. Getting afraid of this, Thilothama
fled skyward, but, Brahma started at her with a face on top too. Upon her
prayers to Lord Shiva, the Lord removed the top head of brahma and also cursed
him to lose his powers of creation. Acting on the advice of rishis, Brahma
reached Thirupampuram with his consort, created a Theertham there, worshipped
the lord for one year and got released from the curse.
Indran
absolved his curse of having illicit relationship with Ahalya:
Indra, the king of Devas, was cursed with a thousand
eyes all over his body for his illicit affair with Ahalya, wife of sage Gautama.
Heeding the advice of the Devas, he came to Pambupuram and worshipped there for
12years .The Lord appeared before him in the first segment on Mahasivarathri
and gave him from release from the curse.
Uma
relieved of curse for playfully closing the eyes of the Lord:
Similarly, Goddess Uma playfully closed the eyes of the
Lord while in Kailayam. Since this darkened the world and every being was
stopped from pursuing its vocation, the Lord got angry and cursed the Goddess
to leave him. Repenting for her mistake, the Goddess was directed by him to
worship him at Pambupuram for 12 years. After she thus completed her penance, she
was relieved from her curse in the fourth segment of Mahasivarathri.
Agasthya
got his speech back here:
Once, in Kailayam, the Sage Agasthya countered the argument
of Devas and other Rishis who claimed that Sanskrit was unequalled, by saying
that Tamizh was a great as Sanskrit. Lords Shiva and Vishnu agreed on this,
albeit silently. But, the Devas and rishis, cursed Agasthya to become dumb for
disrupting their say. On his prayer to Lord Shiva, he was directed to visit Thirupampuram
and worship there for one year for restoration of his speech. Agasthya did so
and Lord Shiva appeared before him in the first segment of Mahasivarathri and
cured him. He was also directed to leave for Podhigai hill and help Tamizh
grow.
Agni
relieved of his curse for attending Daksha’s Yagna:
During the Yagna by Daksha, Lord Shiva was ignored for
distribution of alms, while all other Devas were given theirs. Getting angry at
this, the Lord in the form of Veerabhadra, cut off Agni’s hand and kicked him
down. Realizing his mistake, Agni prayed to the Lord and he directed Agni to
pray to him at Thirupampuram. Agni worshipped at Thirupampuram for three years
and got relieved from the curse.
Suryan
in search of source of his light:
Suryan, the Sun god, went about asking the rishis of
Naimisaranya the source of his light. They told him that only sage Vyasa could
answer him, and upon his doing so, sage Vyasa told him to go to Thirupampuram temple
and worship the Lord there. Surya went to Kashi, took a holy dip in the Ganges,
then travelled to Mayiladuthurai to worship Mayura Nathar and then reached Thirupampuram.
He worshipped the Lingam worshipped by Adhiseshan, with a thousand flowers every
day for twelve years. The Lord appeared before him in high moon on a day in Chithirai
month and granted him the boon to be forever bright.
Chandran
absolved his curse of having illicit relationship with Vanathara:
Vanathara, the wife of Brihaspathi, in his absence,
begot Budhan in an illicit relationship with Chandran. Learning of this, Brihaspathi
cursed Chandran to fall ill with tuberculosis. Indiran, the other Devas and
Chandran requested the rishis to suggest ways of absolving this curse. The
rishis advised Chandran to worship Pampuranathar and Chandran did so with a
thousand flowers daily for twelve years. He was absolved of his disease at noon
on Thai Poornima Day.
Presence
of Snake Skins:
In 2002 May 26 a snake skin was found (8.3 feet)
like a garland on Siva Shrine. Already a snake skin (7.5 feet) was found around
Ambikai Shrine on 21.03.2002.
