Vijayanatheswarar Temple,
Vijayamangai – Legends
According to the Indian
epic Mahabharata, Arjuna desired to get the Pasupatha missile to conquer
the Kurukshetra war. Lord Krishna told him that though he got many weapons
with the blessings of his father Indira, for Pasupatha he had to appeal to Lord
Shiva only. Arjuna came to this place and performed penance on Lord
Shiva. Duryodhana sent a demon Mookasura to spoil the penance and kill
Arjuna.
Lord Shiva appeared at the spot
as a hunter with Mother Parvathi followed by four dogs representing the four
Vedas. Lord shot an arrow on the Mookasura pig and killed it while
simultaneously Arjuna too hit the pig with his arrow. An argument arose
between and Hunter Lord and Arjuna as to whose arrow hit the animal
first. War of words between the two ended in true fight. Lord broke
Arjuna’s arrow.
Exasperated Arjuna hit the Lord
with the broken arrow and the impact of the blow was felt by all in the three
worlds. Lord appeared before him with Mother Parvathi in his true form and
blessed him with the Pasupatha weapon. When Shiva was about to give the
Pasupathastra, Mother Parvathi had a doubt whether Arjuna really deserved
it. Then Lord asked Arjuna to show his hand to the Mother.
When Arjuna showed his hand to Mother
Parvathi, she studied it carefully and decided that he was having the required
characteristics to receive the Pasupathastra. The scar on the Linga is still
visible on the Linga. As Arjuna (Vijaya) performed penance here, the
place was named Thiru Vijaya Mangai.