Maragadachaleswarar Temple, Thiruengoimalai – Legends
Sage
Agasthya worshipped Lord Shiva in the form of Bee:
The name of the place is said to be derived from
Thiru-i-ongaimalai (‘i’ meaning bee in Tamil) and to have been so called
because the sage Agasthiar, finding the gates of the temple closed one evening,
took the form of a bee and entered the temple to perform his worship.
Sivasakthi
Malai:
Ambal worshipped Lord Shiva here and so the hill is also
called Sivasakthi Malai.
Attaining
Salvation by worshipping three temples in a row:
There are three important sacred Shiva temples in this
region glorified by the Thevara hymns and Agathiar used to worship all the
three in a single day. Agasthiar was not satisfied even after worshipping so
many temples in south and finally got satisfaction after worshipping these
three temples. He worshipped Kadamba Nathar at Kadambar Koil in the morning,
Rathnagreeswarar temple at Ayyarmalai (Thiruvatpokki) in the noon, and the
Thiruvengi Nathar at Thiru-engoi-malai in the evening. It is considered that
worshipping all of them in a single day will get us salvation.
Lord
Shiva gave Gold to Sundarar here:
When Sundarar went to see the Lord, he hid himself in
tamarind and when Sambandhar asked for gold, he gave the tamarind from the tree
which became gold.
Musukuntha
Chakravarthy worshiped Lord Shiva here:
Legendary Chola Emperor Musukuntha Chakravarthy
worshiped Lord Shiva here.
Bogar
meditated here:
Bogar meditated and attained siddhi of making “Nava Pashanam”
in this hill temple, hence there is a Bogar Shrine at the foot hill.
Maragatha
Lingam:
The lingam of the temple is said to be transparent and
also to throw a green shadow when camphor is burned. It is therefore called the
'emerald' (Maragatha) lingam.