Valeeswarar
Temple, Sevur – Legends
Valeeswarar:
Vali, the Vanara was a good
and pious king to all his subjects in Kishkinta. Right from a very young age,
he had proven himself through his various valorous exploits. On one occasion a
demon called Mayavi had attacked Kishkinta and Vali was engaged in a bloody
combat with him. The fight took them inside a cave at the entrance of which his
younger brother Sugriva was asked to wait. When Vali killed Mayavi, the asura’s
blood came flowing out of the cave. Sugriva mistaking the same to be his
brother, Vali’s blood blocked the entrance of the cave with a huge boulder to
trap the asura inside.
By the time Vali found an alternate
route out of the cave. Vali got acquired of Brahma Hathi Dhosham for killing
Mayavi. When he consulted Vashishta, he was advised to pray to Lord Shiva
in a place where tiger and cow play together. It is believed that Vali saw a
tiger play with a cow in this place and decided that this is the special place
to offer Shiva Pooja. The image of Vali offering
prayers to the Lord is sculpted in the Deepastambam. He is believed to
have installed this Lingam and hence the Lord is called Valeeswarar.
Kapaleeswarar:
Another name for the Lord is Kapaleeswarar as the sect of Shaivites called
Kaapalikas were predominant in this area. Many of the inscriptions
refer to this place as Kapaleeswaram.
Monday Prayers:
As per one of the legends, a
carpenter who was a staunch devotee of Shiva, faced lot of problems in his
profession and was observing Vratham on every Monday and coming to this temple
for worship on five consecutive Mondays. On the fifth Monday, he met an old
Brahmin who told him that he wanted five bullock carts as he was going to
Kashi. He gave the carpenter the money to pay for the materials. When the
carts were ready, the carpenter came to this place searching for the Brahmin,
but in vain. The local people said that there was no such person in the
village. The carpenter realized it was the Lord who came to his
help. From that time on, his profession picked up and he lived
comfortably. Hence there is a belief that when a devotee visits this
temple on five consecutive Mondays, his prayers would be answered.
Dharma Samvardhini:
As per the Sthala Puranam,
there was a demon called Veeman who was harassing the local people. He
instructed the male members of the society to be disloyal to the women
folk. The women of the place offered Mangalya Pooja to the Ambal to help
them. Ambal used her powers to kill the demon and converted him into a
lotus flower and held it in her hand. Hence every year Mangalya Pooja is
conducted in a big way. As the Ambal restored Dharma, she came to be called
as Dharma Samvardhini.
Names:
The Tamil word Che (or Se )
refers to cattle like cow and as the cattle were in abundance, this place was
called as Rishabapuri, Sevur and Maatoor.
Nandi worshipped Lord Shiva here:
It is believed Nandhi
worshipped Lord Shiva here. Hence, the village came to be called as Mattur.
Karikala Chola worshipped Lord Shiva here:
It is believed that Karikala
Chola, one of the famous early Cholas got back his Chola Kingdom after he
prayed to Lord Shiva of this Temple.
