Prasanna Venkatachalapathy Temple, Gunaseelam –
Legends
Etymology:
The name
of the place Gunaseelam derives from "Gunam" (meaning cure) and
"Seelam" (meaning place), meaning the place in which illness is
cured. "Gunam" also means qualities and "Seelam" also means
"Assuming a lower position". Hence Gunaseelam is the place where
Vishnu comes down and addresses the devotees problems from his heavenly
position.
Greatness of Gunaseelam Temple:
In
Bhavishyotra Puranam, one finds reference to the significance of this temple in
Gunaseela Mahatmiyam. Thaalpiya Maharishi along with his disciple Gunaseela Rishi once went
to the Himalayas. On his way back, Gunaseela Rishi stayed back at Tirupathi and
was so attracted to Lord Venkatachalapathy that he wanted the Lord to appear in
Gunaseelam and bless the devotees. He came back, bathed in the Cauvery and
undertook severe penance here in his ashram in Gunaseelam. Impressed with his
sincerity, the Lord appeared before him along with Goddess and promised to
remain here till the end of Kali
Yugam.
Pleased
with the darshan of Prasanna Venkatachalapathy, Gunaseela Maharishi continued
to offer his daily poojas to the lord from his ashram here. At the end of
the Dwapara Yugam, the Gunaseela
Maharishi’s Guru wanted him to go to Naimisaranya. Gunaseela Rishi designated
his young disciple to continue the daily poojas. However, floods in the Cauvery
and dangerous animals in the forest led the disciple to flee the place and thus
the poojas ended abruptly. The Lord decided to hide himself in a pit. After
several years, Chola king Nyana Varma, who ruled this place with
Uraiyur as the capital, used to visit Gunaseelam regularly.
Every
day, cowherds would milk the cows from near the pit and carry the milk all the
way back to his court. One day, to everyone’s shock, the milk that was filled
to the brim of the pot vanished all of a sudden. An invisible voice wanted the
king to dissolve the pit by pouring milk. The king brought in his army and used
thousands of litres of milk to complete this exercise. Once dissolved, Vaikunta
Vasudevan is said to have appeared before the king as Prasanna Venkatesan. As
per the king’s wishes, the Lord agreed to remain here till the end of Kali
Yugam and help fulfil all the prayers of the devotees, who visit this temple.
Delighted
at the darshan of Prasanna Venkatachalapathy, the king shifted from Uraiyur to
Kallur, (this place was then called ‘Badra Chakra Pattinam’) near Gunaseelam
and built the beautiful Gunaseelam temple and laid down the process of the
daily poojas as directed by Prasanna Venkatesan. He also allocated a lot of
land for the temple as well as funds to undertake the daily pooja formalities.
People with physical problem pray here for cure:
It is
said that Srudadeva, disciple of Sage Bharadhwaja regained his vision. King
Bahuviraja was cured of his paralysis in the legs. Prince of Koorjara kingdom
not only was cured of his speech disorder but also became a poet and sung in
praise of the Lord. People with any physical problem pray here for cure and
mental peace.
Destination for mentally ill people:
This
temple is a destination for those mentally ill. Saint Gunaseela was the
disciple of Saint Sreethalpya. He was such an adept at serving his Guru that he
was bestowed with all the superior knowledge that the Guru possessed. Once
Gunaseelar went on a pilgrimage to the Seven Hills and had darshan of Lord
Venkateswara. So, moved was he that he pleaded with the Lord to go with him to
his Ashram, as he felt that he could not stay away from him anymore.
The Lord
who is ever moved by the true love of his devotees spoke to Gunaseelar and told
him that as he was in a state of debt, he could not leave Tirumala. He directed
Gunaseelar to return to his Ashram on the banks of the Cauvery and do penance.
The Lord told the saint that none other than Vaikuntavasa Narayana would
appear. Gunaseelar did as the Lord had directed and many years later in Kritha
Yuga on Saturday in the month of Purattasi on the day of the star Sravana,
Venkatachalapathy appeared in the Ashram of Gunaseelar as a Swayambu.
Gunaseelar
was overjoyed and spent his days performing pujas to his Lord. At the time, his
guru Sreethalpya wanted to go to Badrinath and perform penance. He however
didn’t feel like parting from his dear disciple Gunaseela. Gunaseela could feel
the desire of his Guru and also his dilemma. But he was himself in the horns of
a dilemma: Whether to go with his Guru and in the process, forsake his dear
Lord who came to his abode or to forsake his Guru and stay with his Lord?
The
ever-compassionate Narayana was so moved at seeing the predicament of his
devotee that when he prayed to Him to clear his mind and make him do the right
thing, the Lord blessed his devotee and bade him to serve the guru. Since
Venkatachalapathy cleared his mind, Gunaseela made a prayer that all those who
pray to win at Gunaseelam should be rid of illusions and delusions and be
blessed with clarity of mind. This is why there is a belief that praying at
this temple is a cure to insanity and madness.
Equivalent to Thiruppathy:
Since
Tirupathi Lord himself appeared before Gunaseela Maharishi, it is believed that
those who are not able to go to Tirupathi can visit Gunaseelam and all their
wishes are said to be fulfilled here.
Saturday Visit to this Temple:
Visiting
this temple on a Saturday is special. Lord Prasanna Venkatesan is said to have
asked king Nyana Varma to visit the temple every Saturday and offer special
poojas.