Masilamaniswara Temple, Thirumullaivayil – Legends
King Thondaiman battle with Vaanan and Onan from
the Kurumbar tribe:
In
ancient times, the forest surrounding Tirumullaivayil was occupied by two notorious tribesmen, Vaanan
and Onan from the Kurumbar tribe. King Thondaiman,
the then ruler of the land, wanted to put an end to their atrocities. All his
attempts went futile and finally he decided to defeat them in war. He set out
for the war with all his infantry and cavalry with elephants and chariots. Enroute
to the war, they waded through a dense growth of Mullai plants (Jasmine climbers). The foot of the elephant on which he
was mounted was entangled in the dense foliage. The king and his men, in an attempt
to free the elephant from this mess, went on to cut the wild twines with their
swords and daggers.
Suddenly
they noticed blood gushing out from the leaves and found a 'lingam' bleeding. Shocked, the King was in great distress that
he has committed a sin. Seeking mercy and forgiveness from Lord Shiva, he
prayed to him. Without any delay Lord Shiva and Parvathi appeared before the King lest he indulge in
causing self-inflicted injury out of grief. The Lord asked the King to build a
temple for him right there and promised that he would reside there as
'Masilamaniswara', the Lord who is as precious as a gem, but without stains ('maasu'
- dirty or stain (caused by the profuse bleeding), 'ila' - without, 'mani' –
gem).
It is
believed that the Lord also promised to support him in destroying the Kurumbars
by sending his holy steed, the Nandi bull. On his orders, the Nandi also gets ready to go and fight for the King. This
is why the Nandi in this temple faces
outwards, ready to leave for the battle on the orders of the Lord, whereas in
all other Shiva temples, it faces inwards facing the Lord. The
positions of the deities - Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi (Kodiyidai Amman) is
also found to be interchanged as against what is usually found in Shiva
temples. It is believed to be so because the Lord and his Consort were in a
hurry to give 'Darshan' (holy appearance) to the King.
With the
Lord's blessings and Nandi's support, the King did win over the battle and
proceeded to his capital. As a memoir of the victory, he seized a very prized
possession of the Kurumbars – two pillars
made of the tree trunk of 'Vellerukku' (white Crown flower - Calotropis gigantea). These pillars can be seen even today placed on both sides,
decorating the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord.
People worshipped Lord Shiva here:
It is
believed that lords Mahavishnu, Brahma, Murugan, Ram, Lakshman, Krishna,
Suryan, Chandran, sages Bhrigu, Vashista, Sudama, Durvasar, and all the 27 Nakshatra
(constellations) have worshiped the lord here and received his blessings.
Vashista got the divine cow Kamadenu as a reward for his
devotion:
It is
believed that sage Vashista performed penance here and got the divine cow
Kamadenu as a reward for his devotion.