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Friday, September 21, 2018

Sivagurunathaswamy Temple, Sivapuram – Legends

Sivagurunathaswamy Temple, Sivapuram – Legends
Lord Vishnu in Varaha Avatar worshipped Lord Shiva:
As per the Sthala puranam, during a deluge, Lord Mahavishnu prayed to Lord Shiva and took the Varaha Avatar. This avatar is also called Swetha Varaha because he took the form of a white pig. In this avatar, Lord Mahavishnu held the submerging earth on his head. After rescuing the earth, he came to this place and worshiped Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva blessed him by restoring him to his original form.
A beautiful relief (Pudai sirpam) depicting this legend can be seen in the outer wall of the sanctum, near Lord Dakshinamurthy shrine. In their hymns, Saint Tirugnanasambandar and Saint Thirunavukkarasar have also mentioned about this legend. This legend is similar to that at Aradaipperumpaazhi (Haridwaramangalam) and Avalivanallur.
Kuberapuri / Kuberapuram:
Another story mentioned in the Sthala puranam is that of Ravana. It is believed that Ravana once visited this temple for worship without taking bath and observing other ritual requirements. Nandhi stopped him from entering the temple. Without knowing the facts, Kuberan came to help Ravana and asked Nandhi to step aside. Nandhi cursed Kuberan to be born on earth as a greedy king. Kuberan then took birth in a royal family and was named as Thanapathy. He worshipped Lord Shiva in this temple regularly.
One day he saw a copper plate in the corridor which bore the following inscriptions - “On a Shivarathri day in the Tamil month of Maasi that also happens to be a Monday and Pradosham day, if someone performs abishekam to the lord using the blood of a male child, that person will get enormous money. Greedy King Thanapathy managed to buy a young male child by offering money to a poor couple. The king took the child and his parents to this temple and started the pooja.
Just as he was about to cut the child, the young boy clung to his parents in fear and started praying to Goddess Parvathy. Goddess Parvathy in turn asked Lord Shiva to save the child. The lord pacified her and informed her that this was in fact his ploy to relieve Kuberan from Nandhi’s curse. He further told her that the couple was none other than Lord Indra and his wife Indrani and that the child was Agni.
It is believed that Lord Shiva appeared before them and stopped Kuberan. It was then that Kuberan realized the depth of his avarice and the folly that he was about to commit because of his greed. Kuberan prayed for forgiveness and Lord Shiva forgave him and also relieved him from the curse. To signify this incident, there is a small crack and the mark of a drop of blood on the Shivalingam. Hence this place came to be called as Kuberapuri / Kuberapuram.
Angapradakshina Tradition:
When Saint Tirugnanasambandar visited this place, he was able to divine that there are innumerable Shivalingams buried underneath. Hence, he did not want to place his feet on the ground. He, along with his followers, undertook Angapradakshina (rolling around the temple so that the feet do not touch the ground) in the temple. He prayed to the lord and rendered his pathigam from outside the temple. The place from where he sang his hymn is called Swamigal Thurai. Following this tradition, devotees can be seen performing Angapradakshina even today.
Brahmapureeswarar:
Brahmma is said to have worshipped Shiva here before he undertook his task of creation. Hence Lord came to be called as Brahmapureeswarar.
People worshipped Lord Shiva here:
It is believed that Lord Mahavishnu, Kuberan, Saint Tirugnanasambandar, Saint Thirunavukkarasar (Appar), Ravana, Pattinathar, Agni, Brahma, Indra, Indrani and Arunagirinathar had worshiped Lord Shiva here.
Other Names:
The place is also known as Kuberapuri, Kuberapuram, Bhoo Kailas and Shanbagaranyam.