Tirusoolanathar Temple, Tirusulam – Legends
Brahmapuri:
According
to the legend, originally, Lord Brahma was 5 headed. As Lord Brahma was too
proud of himself, Lord Shiva cut one of his heads off to bring down his ego.
Later Brahma continued his duty of creation. He prayed Lord Shiva that he
couldn’t concentrate on his duty because he was disturbed losing a head. Lord
Shiva blessed him and granted peace of mind after which Lord Brahma continued
his duties peacefully.
After
this incident, as part of his duty, Lord Brahma created one of the most
beautiful dancers of Devaloka, called Thilothama. After creating her, Lord
Brahma himself fell in lust with her, because of her divine beauty. Lord Brahma
went and spoke to her. Thilothama refused to accept him saying that as Brahma
himself being her creator, he is in the position of her father and hence she
can’t think of involving herself with him.
Knowing
this, the Siva Ganas (Lord Shiva’s soldiers) started chasing Lord Brahma, to
punish him for the sin he committed. Lord Brahma hid himself, amidst the hills
in this place and also realized his sin. To be relieved off the sin, Lord
Brahma installed a Shiva Lingam here and started worshipping Lord Shiva. Lord
Shiva was pleased with his prayers apologized Lord Brahma as he realized and
admitted his sin. As Lord Brahma, the creator worshipped Lord Shiva here; it
was called as Brahmapuri originally.
Thirusoolam:
The
temple is situated amidst 4 hills surrounding it. In Tamil, the place between
the hills is called ‘Churam’ and hence this place was called as ‘Thiru Churam’ which
had later become Thirusoolam. It is believed that these 4 hills denote 4 Vedas.
Trichuram:
The
temple gets its name from Trichuram family which ruled over the region.