Aappudayar Temple, Thiru Aappanoor, Sellur – Legends
Aappanoor:
King Cholandhagan was a staunch Lord Shiva
devotee. During his reign, the land was fertile and prosperous with timely
rains. Farm yields were plenty. His subjects were happy. All this was
due to his devotion to Lord Shiva. He went on hunting on a day. As he could not
succeed in chasing a deer, he felt fainted at last. Shocked attendants
offered food and water to the king to recover from the weakness. The king
said that he could not afford to take food before doing his usual Shiva
Puja. There was no Linga for the puja.
A wise minister fixed a wooden piece (Aappu) on the
ground as Shivalinga and suggested that he can worship and take his food. The
king believed the minister, worshipped the Aappu and ate his food. He
found then what he worshipped was not a Shiva Linga but a piece of wood fixed
on the ground by his minister. He cried to the Lord that if he was indeed
his devotee, Lord should come into the Aappu and accept his worship. Lord
appeared on the Aappu and became Aappudayar. The place came to be known as
Aappanoor.
Anna
Lingeswarar:
During the period of another king Suguna Pandya
belonging to the same dynasty, the place faced a severe famine. Yet, the
priest of the temple grew some grains with difficulty and was offering the
Nivedhanas to Lord. Seeing this, people grew angry on the priest and
harassed him for his feeding the Lord while people were starving. The priest
fell at the feet of the Lord for help. Lord asked the priest to follow him
with his wife and set on his Rishaba to another place. He stopped at this
place – Aappanur. As Lord stopped here on his Rishaba - Idaba in Tamil,
this also came to be known as Idabapuram. The priest used the sands of the
Vaigai River to cook the Nivedhana for Lord. By the grace of Lord, the sand
became rice-Anna. This event brought the Lord the name Anna Vinodhan / Anna
Lingeswarar.
Punyasenam
becoming Kubera by the grace of Lord Shiva:
Punyasenam in the lineage of Lord Brahmma was a staunch
Shiva devotee. As advised by Sage Agasthya, he performed severe penance on Lord
Shiva to become as wealthy as Kubera. Pleased with his penance, Lord
Aappudayar with Mother Sugantha Kundalambikai granted darshan and the boon he
sought. But as fate had it, he became immediately arrogant and cast a
mischievous look on Mother and lost his eyes and fell dead. Merciful Lord
Aappudayar gave back his life and called him Kubera. Since then, he became
the Lord of North with two wealth – Sanga Nidhi and Padhma Nidhi.