Vaaneswarar Temple,
Kanchipuram – Legends
Banasura, a mighty asura, once ruled over a large
kingdom. His influence was so strong and fierce that all the kings and even
some of the devas, shuddered in front of him. Banasura used to worship a Rasalingam given
to him by Vishwakarma, on instruction from Vishnu. An ardent devotee
of Shiva, he used his thousand arms to play the Mridanga when
Shiva was performing the Tandava dance. Shiva gave Banasura a boon
and the latter requested Shiva to be his protector. Therefore, Banasura became
invincible.
As time passed, he became even more cruel and arrogant.
He locked up his daughter, Ushas, in a fortress called Agnigarh because
many young suitors had come to him asking for her hand. One day, Ushas saw a
young man in her dream and fell in love with him. Chitraleka was a
friend of Ushas and daughter of Kumbhanda, Minister of Banasura.
Chitraleka was a talented artist who helped Ushas to identify the young man
seen in her dream by sketching various portraits. She had dreamt of Aniruddha,
the grandson of Krishna.
Chitraleka, through supernatural powers, abducted
Aniruddha from the palace of Krishna and brought him to Ushas. This led to a
fight between Krishna and Banasura. Shiva came to rescue his devotee, but after
Krishna pleaded his cause Shiva allowed him to continue. Thereafter, Krishna
started severing the arms of Banasura and cut off all of them except for two.
Shiva requested Krishna to spare his devotee's life.
Banasura too apologized to Krishna and he was forgiven.
Aniruddha was then married to Ushas. Banasura came here for the purpose of
attaining salvation. He installed the Linga and started worshipping Lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva appeared before him and granted a boon which enabled him to rise to
the position of General of the Divine Army of Lord Shiva.
