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Friday, November 20, 2020

Kutram Porutha Naathar Temple, Thalaignayiru – Legends

Kutram Porutha Naathar Temple, Thalaignayiru – Legends

Kutram Porutha Naathar:

Meganathan, son of Ravana, was also called as Indrajit, as he won against Indra in a battle. Once, Indrajit was flying in his Pushpaka Vimanam across the sky. Suddenly the flight of the Vimanam was impeded. When he looked down, he understood that he was flying over Lord Shiva’s temple and so this impediment had happened to him. Indrajit came down and worshipped the Lingam after taking bath in the sacred Theertham. 

He also tried to shift this wonderful Lingam to Lankapuri. But he could not and fell unconscious in the process. Ravana came to know about this incident. He surrendered to the Lord’s feet, pleaded to him to pardon his son and bestow blessings on him. Lord forgave Indrajit. As Lord Shiva pardoned Indrajit for his mistake, he came to be called as Kutram Porutha Nathar (Kutram – mistake, Porutha – to pardon & Nathar – Lord Shiva).

Aparadha Kshameswarar:

Once, Indra, the king of Devas, visited Mount Kailasa, the abode of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva in the guise of Bhooda Gana appeared before him. Indra is said to have attacked the Bhooda Gana with his Vajrayudha without realising that the Bhooda Gana was none other than Lord Shiva. Soon, Indra realized his mistake and visited this place for seeking forgiveness. Lord Shiva is said to have forgiven him for his hasty act of aggression. Hence, Lord Shiva came to be called as Aparadha Kshameswarar in Sanskrit and Kutram Porutha Nathar in Tamil. Also, the place came to be called as Karma Nasa Puram.

Lord Hanuman worshipped Lord Shiva here for relief from a curse:

After Lord Rama vanquished Ravana in the battle of Ramayana, he was ready to be returned to Ayodhya to be crowned as King. Ravana, although a personification of evil, had acquired his immense powers through years of penance and devotion to Lord Shiva. While Lord Rama vanquished the evil that Ravana represented, he had at the same time also vanquished a devout Bhakta of Lord Shiva. To atone for killing a devotee of Lord Shiva, regardless of the justification, Lord Rama was advised to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva at Rameshwaram in South Tamil Nadu, within 2 days of the victory.

His devotee Lord Hanuman was assigned the task of finding a Linga suitable for the atonement-rituals. He was to be accompanied by Jatayu in his search. Lord Hanuman and Jatayu searched high and low before finding one in Northern India, near present day Kashi. However, they found it difficult to get their hands onto the lingam as it was guarded by Lord Kala Bhairava, another incarnation of Lord Shiva. A battle ensued between Lord Hanuman and Lord Kala Bhairavar with the former finally prevailing. Back in Rameshwaram, time was running out.

With no sign of Lord Hanuman or Jatayu, Lord Rama advised his consort Lord Sita to prepare a Lingam out of the sea sand nearby. She did so, and this was used for the atonement rituals. As the rituals were ending, Lord Hanuman was sighted with the lingam in hand. However, on noticing that the rituals were completed without his presence, he was extremely disappointed. He tried prevailing on Lord Rama to use the lingam procured by him, for the rituals, instead of the one constructed by Lord Sita.

In a bid to appease him, Lord Rama suggested that if that were to be done, Lord Hanuman would have to move aside the Lingam constructed by Lord Sita and place the lingam brought by him, in its place. As hard as Lord Hanuman tried, he could not move the lingam. Finally, he tried to wrap his tail around it and yank it off the ground. The force he applied was so great that the Lingam did get uprooted but landed a few miles away from Rameshwaram in a place called Hanuman Pallam (pit created by Lord Hanuman). In the process, his tail got separated from his body. Lord Hanuman realized his folly.

It was pre-ordained that the Lingam prepared by Lord Sita was to be used for the rituals and sought forgiveness from Lord Rama and Sita to regrow his tail. Lord Rama suggested to Lord Hanuman that he seek forgiveness from Lord Shiva instead and suggested that Lord Hanuman should go for a pilgrimage and visit a few Shiva temples to seek relief. Lord Hanuman visited Thirukkurankaval and worshipped Lord Shiva for relief. He got his tail back in Thirukkurankaval. Lord Shiva appeared before him and advised him to go to Thalai Gnayiru for relief. As instructed, Lord Hanuman visited Thalai Gnayiru, worshipped Lord Shiva and got relief from the curse.

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.

King Vichitraangan blessed with child boon here:

Vichitraangan, king of Sindh Kingdom along with his wife Suseelai went to pilgrimage and visited several Shiva temples for Child boon. It is believed that they visited this temple and realised their wish after worshipping Lord Shiva of this temple. The King built this magnificent temple in gratitude.

Karuppariyalur:

Those who come, and worship here will not be in the mother’s womb in the next janma are the belief i.e. they will not be born again. The traditional belief is that they will reach the feet of Lord Siva. Hence, this holy place is called Karuppariyalur. Saint Thirugnana Sambanthar also mentions about Karu Pariyal of those who worship Lord Shiva here in his Devaram Hymns.

Lord Brahma informed Sage Vasishta about the importance of this place:

Once, Lord Brahma informed Sage Vasishta about the greatness of this place. Lord Brahma said that the good deeds performed in this holy place would multiply tenfold. Sage Vasishta visited this place after hearing the importance of this place from Lord Brahma. Sage Vasishta installed a Lingam and worshipped it sincerely. Lord Shiva blessed him with highest wisdom.

Thalai Gnayiru:

It is believed that this place is considered as the first place where Lord Surya worshipped Lord Shive. Hence, the place came to be called as Thalai Gnayiru (Thalai means first and Gnayiru means Surya in Tamil). This place is also called as Adityapuri (Aditya means Surya and Puri means place).

Kokudi Koil:

Sthala Vriksham of this temple is Kokudi Mullai, a variety of jasmine. Hence, the temple came to be called as Kokudi Koil. Saint Thirugnana Sambandar and Sundarar have mentioned this temple as Kokudi Koil in their hymns.

Mela Kazhi:

As this temple is situated on the western side of Sirkazhi, this place also gets the name Mela Kazhi (Mela means west).

72 Maha Rishis attained salvation here:

It is said that 72 Maha Rishis including Angirasa, Gauthama, Vamadeva and Kabali have worshiped Lord Shiva here and attained salvation.

Other Names:

The place was called as Adityapuri, Karma Naasa Puram, Melai Kazhi, Thiru Karuppariyalur, Kokudi Koil, Kallar Kottai, Yuthigavanam and Thalaignayiru.