Gnanaparameswarar Temple,
Thiru Naalur Mayanam – Legends
Apastamba
Rishi worshipped Lord Shiva here:
Apastamba, the founder of a Shakha (Vedic
school) of Yajurveda. He is known for his work, Apastamba Dharmasutra. It
is a Sanskrit text and one of the oldest Dharma-related texts of Hinduism.
It is one of three extant Dharmasutras texts from the Taittiriya school
of Krishna Yajurveda, the other two being Baudhayana
Dharmasutra and Hiranyakesin Dharmasutra. The Gautama
Dharmasutra is part of Apastamba Kalpasutra collection, along
with Apastamba Shrautasutra and Apastamba Grihyasutra.
It is one of the best preserved ancient texts on Dharma.
The text is notable for its broad minded and liberal views on women and all
social classes. It is also notable for mentioning and citing views of ten
ancient experts on Dharma, which has led scholars to conclude that there
existed a rich genre of Dharmasutras text in ancient India before this text was
composed. It is said that Apastamba Rishi worshipped Lord Shiva of this
temple.
Naalur:
Chaturvedimangalam refers to the settlement of learned
Brahmins or when a whole village was settled by a number of learned Brahmins by
the ruling monarch. It is said that the inhabitants of this settlement must
have achieved proficiency in four Vedas. This
place is considered as one such Chaturvedimangalam populated by
Vedic Scholars in ancient times. Chaturvedimangalam is also called as
Naalvediyur in Tamil. Naalvediyur later got corrupted to Naalur.
Palasavananathar:
Once, this place was full of Palasu / Purasu (Flame of
the Forest) trees. Hence, the
place came to be called as Palasa
Vanam and Lord Shiva came to be called as Palasavananathar.
Snakes
worshipping Lord Shiva here:
It is said that snakes have been visiting this
temple occasionally and remain on the Lingam for some time. In fact,
Thirugnana Sambandar had mentioned about the snakes worshipping Lord Shiva in this
temple in one of his Devaram hymns.
பாலூரும் மலைப்பாம்பும்
பனிமதியும் மத்தமும்
Gnanaparameswarar:
As Lord Shiva have Gnana (knowledge) to the Rishi and
the Vedas at this
place, he came to be called as Gnanaparameswarar.
People
worshipped Lord Shiva here:
It is believed that Apastamba Rishi, Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma,
the four Vedas and Saint Thirugnana Sambanthar had worshipped Lord Shiva here.
