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Sunday, July 19, 2020

Naanmaraiyurar Temple, Perumkadambanur – Legends

Naanmaraiyurar Temple, Perumkadambanur – Legends
Mada Kovils:
Kochengat Chola was an early Chola king and one of the 63 Nayanmars (Saivite saints) of Saivism. He is believed to have attained spiritual rebirth of a spider that fought with an elephant in its previous birth over the worship of the Lord Shiva. He had red eyes during birth as he remained in his mother’s womb a little longer. His mother, looking into the baby red eyes said Kochengkannano (in Tamil Ko=king, Cheng=red, Kan=eyes), which literally means king with red eyes and hence he was named Kochengat Cholan. After becoming a king, he followed Saivism and built 70 Maadakovils, temples with elevated structure where elephants cannot reach the sanctum, in the Chola empire. It is believed that this is one of the temple built by him.
Pancha Kadamba Sthalams:
Lord Muruga annihilated Sura Padman, his brothers and his army to safeguard Devas. Due to the killings, he acquired Veerahathi Dosha. Due to the Dosha, Lord Muruga prayed to Lord Shiva for relief. Lord Shiva advised Lord Murugan to worship him at Kilvelur, While worshipping Lord Shiva at Kilvelur, Lord Murugan installed five Shiva Lingas around Kilvelur and worshipped Lord Shiva to get rid of the sin of killing the demons during Sura Samhara. Hence these temples are collectively called as Pancha Kadamba Sthalams.

Chathur Vedapureeswarar:
It is believed that all the four Vedas worshipped Lord Shiva here. Hence, Lord came to be called as Chathur Vedapureeswarar and Mother came to be called as Vedanayaki.