Veeratteswarar Temple,
Thirukkovilur – Legends
Slaying
of Andhakasura:
In the Shiva Purana, when
Shiva was meditating on Mount
Mandara, Parvati was in a playful mood and covered Shiva's eyes.
This caused the whole universe to become covered in darkness. The sweat that
oozed out of Parvati's hands due to touching Shiva fell to the ground and
created a horrible looking and blind boy. Parvati was terrified on seeing him,
but Shiva rebuked her, claiming that since he was born due to their physical
contact, he was their child. When the demon king Hiranyaksha
performed penance to please Shiva in order to beget a child, Shiva
gifted the boy to him and named him Andhaka due to his blindness.
After Hiranyaksha death by Vishnu,
Andhaka became the new king, but was not regarded as an Asura since
he was born of the Devas. Disowned by majority of his clan, he performed a
severe penance to please Brahma.
His kingdom was taken over by his cousins, including Prahlada, when he went to the
forest to perform penance to Brahma. During his penance he
abstained from both water and food while severing his own limbs as an act of
desperation to please Brahma. His actions proved successful. A pleased Brahma
appeared before him and offered him a boon of his choice.
Andhaka asked Brahma to repair
his vision and also asked him to make him immortal. Brahma replied that he
could not make him immortal since all that take birth must die, although he
could choose the condition of his death. Andhaka asked that he could only be
killed if he lusted after a woman who was like a mother. Brahma agreed and
granted all his boons. When Andhaka returned to his kingdom, his cousins became
fearful of his new power and returned his kingdom as well as their own.
After becoming the Lord of all
Asuras, Andhaka fought with the Devas along with his army and conquered heaven.
He then proceeded to conquer the Nagas,
Gandharvas, Rakshasas, Yakshas and
the humans. He thus became the lord of the three
worlds. He was a cruel ruler and disrespected the Vedas,
the Brahmins and
the Devas. Once while on a journey, Andhaka
happened to visit Mount Mandara. Charmed by the beauty of
the mountain, he decided to stay there and ordered his three generals
Duryodhana, Vighasa and Hasti to search for a place suitable to stay.
While searching, his generals
found a cave where a hermit was meditating and saw a beautiful woman along with
him. They told their master about this, who ordered them to bring the woman to
him. The hermit happened to be Shiva and the woman his wife Parvati. When they
told the ascetic to hand over the woman to their master, Shiva refused, stating
that if their master wanted her, he should take her himself. When his generals
informed Andhaka about this, he became furious and proceeded to fight Shiva.
With his army of Asuras, Andhaka
fought Nandi and Shiva's Ganas, but were
defeated and forced to flee. Andhaka soon returned to battle, which lasted for
five hundred years. Vishnu, Brahma and the Devas joined the battle against
Andhaka and his army. Andhaka's general Vighasa swallowed all the gods, to
which Shiva retaliated by charging with his bull and plowing into the demon. Shukra,
the preceptor of Asura, brought the dead Asuras back to life by using his
medicinal herb, the Mrtasanjivani. Lord Shiva ordered the Ganas to capture Shukra. When they brought him to Shiva,
he swallowed the demon guru.
Andhaka then launched an attack
on Indra. Shiva intervened to save Indra and assaulted the demon with his
trident. However, whenever Andhaka's blood fell on the ground, a copy of him
would spawn. Mother Parvathi caught the blood in a pot. As the lines of
blood collected in the pot, it formed a pattern of 64 squares which later
became known as the Vaastu Mandala. Lord Shiva manifested 64 Bhairavas, one for
each square, to help him in his battle with these demons. This combination and
the worship of the 64 Bhairavas became known as Vaastu Shanti Puja. Thus,
science of Vaastu originated from this temple.
Finally, Lord Shiva impaled
Andhaka with his trident and lifted him thereupon, where he remained for a very
long time. Once he had realized his mistake, Andhaka apologised to Shiva,
providing a eulogy for the deity. This pleased Shiva, who forgave him and made
him the lord of all the Ganas. It is significant to note
that this kind of killing is unique to this Veeratta Sthalam because in other
seven places Lord Shiva vanquished the demons by pinning them to the ground.
In
Hindu mythology, there are eight special places where it is
believed that Lord Shiva vanquished various demons and exhibited acts of
bravery. These places are Veeratta Sthalams. In Tamil, this is referred to as Atta Veerattanam (Atta means
eight and Veeram means bravery). This is the place where Lord Shiva destroyed
the demon Andakasuran. Of the eight Veeratta sthalam, this is the second one
and it has significant historical importance and antiquity.
The
other seven Veeratta Sthalams are –
Periyanai
Ganapathi:
It is believed that Periyanai
Ganapathi shrine of this Temple is believed to have been worshipped by the
renowned poet-saint Avvaiyar. Avvaiyar has sung the famous Vinayakar Agaval
dedicated to Vinayakar of this temple. When Saint Sundarar and Cheraman were
proceeding to Mount Kailash through sky, Avvaiyar was performing puja to Lord
Ganesha of this temple. She was hastening to complete the pujas as she also wanted
to reach Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva. Lord Vinayaka appeared
before her and advised her not to be hasty. Lord Ganesha advised her that there
was no need for her to hasten her worship and that he himself would take her to
Kailash.
Avvaiyar performed Ganapathi
Puja chanting her noted Vinayagar Agaval and completed the puja
patiently. Lord Vinayaka took the Vishwarupa – covering both earth and
heaven, took Avvaiyar and left her at Kailash before Sundarar and Cheraman
reached the destination. As he took a huge form, Vinayaka is praised as
Peria Yanai-huge elephant. There is a beautiful fresco depicting this story can
be seen on the walls next to the Periyanai Ganapathi Shrine.
Origin
of Vastu Sastra:
The origin of Vastu Sastra (the
traditional Hindu system of architecture) can be traced back to this place. It
is believed that while fighting the demon Andakasuran, Lord Shiva started
sweating profusely. His sweat took the form of a man called Vastu Purusha. A
stone sculpture depicting Vastu in his sleeping posture can be seen in the wall
of the sanctum sanctorum.
Meiporul
Nayanar:
Meiporul Nayanar (Meiporular / Miladudaiyar) is
a Nayanar saint,
venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism.
He is generally counted as the fifth in the list of 63 Nayanars. The life of
Meiporul Nayanar is described in the Periya
Puranam by Sekkizhar (12th
century), which is a hagiography of the 63 Nayanars. Meiporul Nayanar was the
chieftain of Miladu Nadu, with his
capital at Tirukkoyilur, modern-day Thirukovilur, Kallakurichi District in the Indian state
of Tamil
Nadu.
Meiporul Nayanar belonged to
the Malayaiman dynasty of the Velirs royal
house. His name "Meiporul" means “one for whom God was the sole
reality". Miladudaiyar is a title indicating him being a Miladu
chief. A devout devotee of the god Shiva (the
patron of Shaivism), Meiporul Nayanar served the god in his temples as well as
his devotees. He organised glorious pujas in
Shiva temples. The kingdom flourished along with Shaivism and the arts.
Muthanathan, king of a
neighboring state, became envious of Tirukkoyilur prosperity. He attacked
Tirukkoyilur numerous times but was vanquished by Meiporul Nayanar's troops
each time. Following this, Muthanathan understood that he could never defeat
Meiporul Nayanar by fair means and devised a devious stratagem. Muthanathan
arrived in Tirukkoyilur, disguised himself as a Shaiva ascetic (Yogi). The
guards let him through and finally he reached the king's bed chambers, guarded
by Dathan.
While Dathan dissuaded the
ascetic from entering since the king was resting, Muthanathan insisted that he
wanted to teach the king the knowledge of gaining emancipation. Dathan let him
through; the wife woke up seeing the ascetic enter and awakened the king.
Muthanathan said that he had come to educate Meiporul in the secret knowledge,
imparted to him by Lord Shiva himself and requested privacy with the king.
Meiporul sent off his queen and guards away.
Meiporul placed Muthanathan on a
high seat, while he sat at the feet of ascetic. Muthanathan removed a dagger
hidden in a scroll and stabbed the king. Dathan, who was suspicious of the
ascetic's intentions from the beginning, had hid in the room and rushed to the
king's chamber and attacked the ascetic. As Dathan was about to strike the
ascetic with his sword, Meiporul dissuaded him saying as a Shaiva, the ascetic
was related to Meiporul and commanded him to ensure the ascetic is escorted
unharmed to the boundary of the kingdom.
While the king's subjects
charged at the false ascetic, Dathan prevented them from inflicting harm on
Muthanathan, informing them of the king's orders. Dathan accompanied
Muthanathan outside the city and left him in an uninhabited forest, where no
one could harm him. Dathan returned to the king and conveyed the news of the
safety of the ascetic. Meiporul called his ministers, wife and kin to his
death-bed and advised them to propagate Shaivism. He closed his eyes and
meditated on Shiva. Shiva appeared before him and blessed him. Shiva took
Meiporul Nayanar to Kailash, his abode.
In the name of Dathan, there is
a place called 'Thathanur' in Ariyalur district near Jeyamkondam. It is
believed that the Dathan's descendants were part of Rajendra Chozhan-I military
force and settled in this area. The tale of Meiporul Nayanar (called Cedi
Vallabha in the account) is also recalled in the 13th Century Telugu Basava
Purana of Palkuriki Somanatha in brief and with
some variation. The king derives his name from his kingdom Cedi. He adores the
external Shaiva symbols like the Tripundra (three
horizontal lines of sacred ash on his forehead) and the Rudraksha beads
worn by Shaivas.
Foreign kings defeated by
Vallabha sent thirteen warriors in guise of Shaivas. Vallabha bowed to the
devotees, who fatally wounded the king with their swords. In spite of their
actions, the king bowed to them, revering them as his gurus. Lord Shiva
appeared before him and granted him an "exalted and eternal
status". In Kannada, Meiporul Nayanar is known as Cediraja,
the king of Cedi. The kingdom of Cedi existed around Tirukkoyilur.
One of the most prominent
Nayanars, Sundarar (8th
century) venerates Meiporul Nayanar in the Thiruthondar Thogai, a hymn to
Nayanar saints, praising as invincible. An inscription by Aditya
I (reign: c. 871–907 CE) in the Naganathaswamy(Shiva) Temple of Thirunageswaram -
part of a now ruined shrine - suggests that the shrine may be dedicated to
Meiporul Nayanar. Another theory suggests that the record is talking about a
school or monastery in honour of the Nayanar, who lived in the period close to
Aditya I. However, the theories are disputed.
A stone record in the temple
suggest that in the third year of the reign of Rajendra
Chola I (reign: 1012–1044 CE), a royal officer Adhithan Suryan
set up a copper image of Meiporul Nayanar in the Brihadeeswarar Temple (dedicated to
Shiva) of Thanjavur, built by his father. The stories of
Meiporul and other Nayanars, whose copper images are installed, are
"alluded to in the groups of copper images set up by various royal
officers in the temple".
Meiporul Nayanar is worshipped
in the Tamil month of Karthikai,
when the moon enters the Uttara Phalguni Nakshatra (lunar
mansion). He is depicted like a king with a crown and folded hands. He receives
collective worship as part of the 63 Nayanars. Their icons and brief accounts
of his deeds are found in many Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu. Their images are
taken out in procession in festivals.
Thiru
Kai Vel:
Lord Shanmuga wanted to perform
Shiva Puja to cleanse himself of the sin of destroying the demons. Ambika
showed the place where the Vel fell from her hands. Hence the place is
known Tiru Kai Vel – Kai-hand and Vel a weapon. Lord Muruga
performed his puja here and is praised by Arunagirinathar in his Thirupugazh
hymns.
Marriage
of Princess Angavai and Sangavai happened here:
This is the
temple where the princess Angavai and Sangavai daughters of King
Parivallal were married to King Deiveegan by their guardian Avvaiyar.
Association
with Sangam Period Poet Kapilar:
This
temple is also connected to the Sangam period poet Kapilar, who fasted
till death on a rock in the river next to this temple.
Sukran
relieved of his curse here:
This is the place where Venus
(Sukran) was released from his curse hence problems related to Marriage and
children will be easily solved here.
Removal
of Black Magic:
Since the Lord achieved Bhairava
power here, visiting this
temple will rid one from the grasp of black magic and sorcery.
Birthplace
of Divine Beings:
Saptha Mathas, Mother Maha
Tripura Sundari, Vastu Purusha, 64 Bhairavas and 64 Bhairavis are believed to
have come into existence at this sacred land.
People
worshipped Lord Shiva here:
It is believed that Vinayakar,
Murugan, Rama, Parasurama, Krishna, Indira, Yama, Suriyan, Kubera, Adiseshan,
Goddess Kali, Roma Rishi, Kanva Rishi, Patanjali, Vyagrapada, Saptharishis, Manmadan
and Vanasuran are believed to have worshiped the lord here and received his
blessings.