Vaaleeswarar Temple, Ramagiri – Legends
Vaaleeswarar:
There is
an interesting story behind this temple. In Ramayana, after defeating Ravana,
Rama reached Rameswaram, on his way to Ayodhya. As he killed Ravana, he was
caught by Brahmahatti Dhosham. One will suffer from this Dhosham, if he kills a
Brahmin. Ravana, though being a demon king, was a Brahmin as he was born to a
Rishi. Rama was advised by his Guru Sage Vasishtar to get a Shiva Lingam from
Kasi (Varanasi) and perform poojas to Lord Shiva to get relieved from the
Dhosham, so that he can proceed to Ayodhya to take charge as the king. Rama
took his Guru’s advice and sent Anjaneya (Hanuman) to bring a Shiva Lingam from
Kasi Kshethra.
At the
behest of Rama, Anjaneya was making his way by air with a Shivalingam taken
from Kasi to Rameswaram to be installed there. He was surprisingly confronted
by strange and dry weather and scorching sun premeditated by Lord Kala Bhairava,
who wanted the Linga to be installed right here at his place. Unaware of this
and driven by thirst Lord Anjaneya went on screening the whole area for water
until finally found a beautiful calm cool pond. As the Linga was not to be
placed anywhere before Rameswaram he looked for someone to keep the Linga while
he drank water.
Lord Kala
Bhairava in the form of a small boy came by and consented to hold the Linga.
While Anjaneya was quenching his thirst, the boy told Anjaneya, that the Shiva
Lingam was too heavy for him to hold anymore and kept it on the ground and went
off. Anjaneya came back and saw the Shiva Lingam on the ground. He tried lifting
it but he couldn’t. He roped around the Shiva Lingam with his lengthy tail and
tried to pull it up using all his strength. The Shiva Lingam tilted a bit but
never came off the ground. Anjaneya understood the trick and he cursed the pond
to become a hill.
The pond
became the hill here, on which a Murugan Temple is situated now. As Anjaneya
brought the Shiva Lingam here, which was meant for Rama, the place came to be
known as Ramagiri. The Shiva Lingam which was brought by Lord Anjaneyar is
situated in the temple at the foot hill. Since Anjaneya tried to pull the Shiva
Lingam with his tail, the Lord here is called as Vaaleeswarar (Vaal means Tail
in Tamil). As the Shiva Linga here is brought by Anjaneyar from Kasi, it is
said that by worshipping Vaaleeswarar here, one gets the benefit of worshipping
Lord Shiva of Kasi.
Association with Vanara Kinga Vaali:
Another
myth is connected with Vanara king ‘Vaali’ who used to follow ablution in the
evening while submerging into the nearby ocean water. Appeased Lord Shiva
appeared as a Swayambu Linga there. Vaali’s devotion wanted to enshrine it in
his capital ‘Kishkinda’. Therefore, he tried to pull it with all his might but
failed and fell weak on the ground. Realizing the sin, he committed, he pled to
god for seeking pardon of the sacrilege he did. The sea of compassion lord
Shiva came into vision with his consort as a gypsy with dogs. He constructed
the water tank to empower the strength that Vaali had lost earlier. Since then,
holy dip in that pious water tank is assumed to be curative.
Pancha Brahma Sthalams:
The
river Brahma Aranya was believed to have been created by Lord Brahma. Once when
he churned the Arani wood (Arani means fire) to create fire to start the Yagna
for Sage Romesa, fire came out initially but on churning further, water came
out of it and flown as a river. Since this was created by Lord Brahma from the
Arani wood, this is called Brahma Aranya river.
The
Brahma Aranya river flows from Andhra Pradesh and merges with sea at
Pazhaverkadu. Many sages have meditated at the banks of this river and created
many temples. Out of these, in five places they have contained all their
meditative powers into Shivalingams and built temples. They are called Pancha Brahma
Sthalams, representing the five faces of Lord Shiva and they are:
1.
Ramagiri alias Thirukaarikarai in Andhra near Surutapalli/ Nagalapuram
representing Ishana face of Lord Shiva
2. Pallikondeswaram
alias Surutapalli representing Tatpurusha face
3. Vamadhevapuram
alias Arani near Periyapalayam (not North Arcot) representing Vamadeva face.
4. Varamoorthy
Kshetram alias Ariyathurai representing Satyojatha face.
5. South
Gokarnam alias Chinthamaneeswaram – Kattur near Minjur, the place where Brahma
Aranya river merges with sea representing Aghora face of Lord Shiva.
All
these temples are many thousand years old and since they have been created by
Sages, the base of the lingam (Avudayar) will be in square shape.