Neelakandeswarar Temple,
Iluppaipattu – Legends
Neelakandeswarar:
During the churning of the Ocean of Milk (Samudra
Manthana), Mount Mandara was used as the churning rod, and Vasuki, a
Nagaraja who abides on Lord Shiva's neck, became the churning rope. During
the churning process, the Halahala poison escaped from the mouth of the serpent
king Vasuki. This terrified the gods and demons because the poison was so
powerful that it could destroy all of creation. Despite this, the Devas and the
Asuras pulled back and forth on the snake's body alternately, causing the
mountain to rotate, which in turn churned the ocean. The Devas then approached
Lord Shiva for protection.
Lord Shiva consumed the poison. Lord Shiva was suffering
intense pain. Mother Parvati immediately places a hand on his throat, stopping
the poison to flow any further, and by her Maya stopped it forever.
As a result, his throat turned blue and he came to be called as Neelakandeswarar
(the blue-throated one; Neela – blue, Kanda – throat in Sanskrit). As
Mother Parvathi saved her husband, married women pray in the shrine for the
longevity of their husbands and thereby their Mangalsutras.
Amrita
Kara Valli:
As per legend, Pandavas stayed in this place during their exile. Duryodhana is said to have mixed poison in Brahma
Theertham of this temple. However, Mother Parvathy removed the poison and
replaced it with Amrita (celestial nectar). The extracted poison is said to
have been consumed by Lord Shiva in order to protect the Pandavas. Hence, the
Theertham is called as Nachupoigai (poison pond). As the tank was filled with
Amrita by Mother Parvathy, the tank also came to be called as Amrita Theertham
and Mother Parvathy came to be called as Amrita Kara Valli.
Pancha
Lingams:
As per legend, Pandavas stayed in this
place during their exile. It is said that the Pandavas used to
extract oil from the seeds of the Illuppai tree and used it to light lamps
here. They worshipped Lord Shiva in meditation as they could not get
Shivalingas for their worship here. They prayed to the Lord that he should
grace all devotees from this place. Lord granted darshan to them
individually. He appeared then as five Shivalingas as prayed by the
Pandava brothers. Hence, there are five Lingas (Panchalingas) in separates
shrines in the
temple. The five Lingas are;
· Neelakandeswarar with his
consort Amudhakara Valli worshiped by Dharma
·
Padikarai Nathar with his
consort Mangalambikai worshiped by Arjuna
·
Magadeeswarar worshiped by
Bheema
·
Parameswarar worshiped by
Nakula
·
Muktheeswarar worshiped by
Sahadeva
Emperor
Nala prayed here for reducing Saturn Effects:
Towards the end of the seven and half year rule of
Saturn (Sani Bhagwan) in his life, Emperor Nala was visiting several Shiva
temples. Before visiting Thirukkadaiyur
temple, he came to this
temple and felt the impact of the effect of the planet reducing
considerably. It is believed that worshipping here would greatly reduce
the adverse effect of Sani Bhagwan during such times.
Illuppai
Tree:
Once, a Chola King was crossing the Manniyaru River on a
boat to reach this temple. During his crossing, he saw an uprooted Illuppai
tree floating on the river. The King thought of planting the Illuppai tree in
temple premises as oil can be extracted from its seeds and the extracted
oil could be used to light lamps in the
temple. Accordingly, he retrieved the uprooted tree from river and
planted it in the
temple premises. There is a beautiful relief depicting this incident
can be seen on the wall of the sanctum.
Valampuri
Vinayaga:
It is believed that Draupadi, the consort of Pandavas,
worshipped Valampuri
Vinayaka of this
temple.
Iluppaipattu:
As the region is dense with Illuppai trees, the place came
to be called as Iluppaipattu.
Other
Names:
Iluppaipattu was called as Pazhamanni
Padikarai, Tirumannippadikkarai and Madhukavanam during ancient times.
People
worshipped Lord Shiva here:
It is believed that Pandavas, Draupadi, Devas, Lord
Brahma, King Mandhadha and Emperor Nalan have worshiped Lord Shiva here.
