Ucchi Pillayar Temple, Rockfort – Legends
Lord Vinayaga plan to retain Vishnu Idol in Srirangam:
Vibhishana,
was the younger brother of the Asura King Ravana who ruled Lanka. Lord Rama in the epic of Ramayana rescues his wife Sita, who was kidnapped and held by Ravana, with the help
of Sugriva and Hanuman defeated him. In
this war, the moral and truth-abiding brother of Ravana, Vibishana aids Rama in
his battle against his brother. Ultimately Rama wins the war and as a token of
love, he gives Vibishana a Vigraham (idol for worship) of Lord
Ranganatha, a form of Vishnu.
Vibhishana,
though he supported Rama, was basically an Asura, hence the Devas (who are arch rivals to Asuras as per Hindu
mythology) wanted to stop this idea of an Asura taking Lord's supreme form to
his Kingdom. They request the help of the Remover of obstacles and God of
learning, Lord Vinayaka and the Lord accepts the plan. Vibhishana, while
on his back to his Kingdom, goes through Trichy, and wanted to take his bath in
the river Kaveri and do his daily rituals.
However,
he is perplexed as the deity, once kept in land, can never be removed and has
to be in that place forever. As a solution, Vibishana tries to find someone to
hold the deity while he was taking bath. He finds the Lord Vinayaka under
disguise of a cowherd boy. As per the plan, when Vibishana is fully into water,
Vinayaka takes the deity and keeps it firmly in sand, in the banks of Kaveri. On seeing this, the angry Vibhishana chases the boy,
to punish him, and boy keeps running and climbs over the rock near the Kaveri
bank. Vibhishana finally reaches the boy and hits him on the fore-head.
One can
see a pit in the forehead of the idol even today. The little boy then
reveals himself to be Vinayaka. Vibishana immediately apologizes and the Lord
gives him his blessings, reveals that the idol is destined to remain in
Srirangam and sends him off to Lanka. This is similar in many regards to the story
of Lord Ganesha in Gokarna with Ravana in the same Ramayana period.
The
place in which the Ranganatha deity was kept was later covered in deep forests,
due to disuse and after a very long time, it was discovered when a Chola king
chasing a parrot found the deity accidentally. He then established the Ranganathaswamy Temple,
Srirangam as the largest temple
complexes in the world. Meanwhile, the Pallavas built the Vinayaka temple and
the Thayumanaswami temple, in the rock which Vinayaka used to escape Vibishana.
Association with Manicka Vinayagar:
Uchi
Pillayar is always associated with Manicka Vinayagar at the foothills. It is a
general worship practice to pray obeisance with Manicka Vinayagar before
visiting Uchi Pillayar.
Ancient Names:
This
place was also known as Sirappalli, Rishabachalam & Dhakshina Kailasam
during ancient days.
Tirishiramalai:
According
to Hindu mythology, the city Tiruchirappalli derives its name from legend
associated with the Thayumanaswami Temple. Demon Tirishira (demon with three
heads) was on penance on Lord Shiva. Though many years passed, Lord Shiva
delayed his darshan to test his purity. He threw two of his heads in fire
and was about to throw the third, Lord appeared before him and restored his two
heads. As requested by him, Lord Shiva agreed to stay here in the name of
Thirisira Nathar (based on demon Tirishira story). The place came to be
known as Tirishiramalai, now changed as Trichy.
Thiri Sikarapuram:
There
are also stories that since there are three peaks on Rock Fort, occupied by
three Gods Shiva, Parvathi & Vinayakar (Uchi Pillaiyar), the place was
called Thiri-sikarapuram and
later called Tirisirapuram.
Contest between Adisesha and Vayu:
A
furious contest arose between Adisesha and Vayu to decide the supremacy of
their prowess. The condition was to shake violently Mount
Kailash. Defeating Adisesha, when Vayu broke the mount, the top of
the Kailasam was disturbed by Vayu (air) and thrown in three places and this is
considered one among them and that is why this is called Dakshina Kailasam. The
other two places are Kalahasthi and Tirikonamalai (Srilanka).