Jalanatheeswarar Temple, Thakkolam – Legends
Daksha's Olam:
Another,
legend is Daksha who conducted Yagna in a grand scale without inviting Lord
Shiva; the purpose of Yagna was to prove his superiority over Lord Shiva. Though
he married off his daughter Dakshayani (Sati Devi) to Lord Shiva, his animosity
against the Lord remained the same. He invited all the Gods and sages for the
grand Yagna except Lord Shiva. Dakshayani without the consent of Lord arrived
at the Yagna and was regrettably, not well received with due honor and was
insulted. Consequently, Dakshayani sacrificed her life in the Yagna fire. Lord
Shiva sent Veerabhadra a self-manifestation to punish Daksha.
Finally,
when Daksha is annihilated and his head was replaced with a goat’s head. Daksha
realized his mistake and prayed to Lord Shiva to pardon him. Lord Shiva advised
him to go the river bank and asked him to invite Lords Vinayakar, Mahavishnu
and Brahma to witness his prayers. On Thakkan’s request, Lords Vinayakar,
Mahavishnu and Brahma came to witness his prayers. Since Thakkan’s head had
been replaced with that of a goat, his prayer sounded like the bleating of a
goat like huge cry ("Olam"). Hence this place is called as Daksha's
Olam - changed to Thakkolam. These prayers are called “Chamakam” and each line
ends with syllable “may”. Pleased with his prayers, Lord Shiva blessed him with
salvation (Moksham).
Theenda Thirumeni:
Another
legend is that Goddess Parvathi returned to this place after having been
insulted at her father Daksha’s yagna. She is believed to have installed a
lingam made of sand here. Once she was performing her penance, this region was
inundated by flood water. To protect the lingam, Goddess Parvathi embraced it.
This is evident from the markings that can still be seen on the idol. Since
this Lingam is believed to have been embraced by Goddess Parvathi, it is not
touched by human hands. Poojas are performed by the priests without touching
it.
Theerkathar, Son of Sage Udhadhi got relieved of his
curse here:
Theerkathar
was born to Sage Udhadhi the brother of Jupiter (Guru) and Mamata. Theerkadha
one day saw divine cow Kamadenu near his hermitage. He requested the cow to be
with him for conducting a yagna. Kamadenu said that it could not oblige him
without the permission if Indira. The sage cursed the cow to become an ordinary
and average animal losing its super powers. The cow in turn cursed the sage to
be engaged in menial jobs. Sage Udhathi was sad to see his son doing menial
jobs. He came to this place as advised by Maharshi Naradha and worshipped the
Lord. Lord Shiva advised Sage Udhathi to perform penance on Nandhi and perform
abishek to him with the water springing from Nandhi.
It's
believed that the spring from Nandhi is Ganges and Lord Jalanatheeswarar is
also referred as Gangadheeswarar. The sage got his son Theerkathar rescued
from the curse. Kamadenu too worshipped here by pouring the milk on the Lord
and was restored to its original form and power. The Lingam worshipped by the Sage
Udhadhi is in the northern side of the temple as Gangadheeswarar temple and opposite
to the temple is Ganga Theertha Kulam.
Worshipped by Kamadenu:
Kamadenu,
the divine cow, is also believed to have worshipped the lord here by pouring
milk on the lingam. She was relieved from Theerkathar curse and got back her
original form and power. On knowing this, Lord Indiran is believed to have come
to Thiruvooral and taken her back to the celestial world.
Water flowing out from the Mouth of Nandhi:
At the
behest of sage Uttandi, Nandi brought the river Ganges to this place. In
the olden days, it was designed in a way that water would come out of Nandi
idol and flow around the Shiva Linga idol; it would reach another Nandi idol
and come out of its mouth to ultimately reach the river 'Kallaru'.
Chandran got relieved of
his curse here:
Thakkan
gave all his 27 daughters to marry Chandran. After marriage, he showed interest
to only one wife Rohini and the rest he ignored. Thakkan got wild and cursed
Chandran with deadly skin disease. Chandran worshipped in this temple and after
taking bath in the Ganga Theertha Kulam he was relieved out of the curse.
Demon Thakkan:
One more
legend is that King Sivathithan who ruled Thiruvural was troubled by demon
Thakkan. The King prayed to Lord Shiva of this temple who instructed Goddess
Kali to destroy the demon. Goddess Kali executed the orders of Lord Shiva. For
this reason, there is a separate shrine for Goddess Kali at the border of this
place. This shrine attracts a large number of devotees. It is believed that
since Thakkan cried loudly before being killed by Goddess Kali, this place got
the name Thakkan Olam – Thakkolam (Olam meaning crying loudly).
Sthala Vriksham:
Another
reason why this place is named “Thakkolam” is that the sacred tree of this
temple is also called “Thakkolam” (Pottu).
Worshipped by Others:
It is
believed that Sage Samvartha, Lords Mahavishnu, Indiran, Suryan, Chandran, Yama
(lord of death), Sage Udhadhi, Sage Theerkathar, Saptha Kannikas (the
seven divine virgins), Pandavas and Savitha Sivachariyar have also worshipped
the Lord of this temple to seek absolution for their sins. Since the
divine cow Kamadenu worshipped the Lord in this place, any good deed by
devotees done here pleasing Lord Shiva would bring them 100-fold
benefits.
