Marga
Sahayeswarar Temple, Moovalur – Legends
Marga Sahayeswarar:
As per legend, after the death of Tarakasura, who
was killed by Kartikeya, his sons Tarakaksha,
Vidyunmali and Kamalaksha undertook severe penances on Lord Brahma.
Lord Brahma was pleased by their penance and asked the wishes of the demon brothers.
They requested for immortality. Lord Brahma politely refused and said to them
that nothing can be immortal. Then Tarakaksha, Vidyunmali and Kamalaksha asked
to be blessed with impregnable fortresses, which would be everlasting.
However, as Brahma told them that nothing could be
everlasting, they requested that the destruction of the cities could be brought
about by a single arrow only, on the hope that it was
impossible for anyone to shoot such an arrow. Lord Brahma then blessed them
that such fortresses would be constructed. As per Brahma words, the three
cities were built with the lowest, with walls of Iron, located on earth, the
second, with walls of silver, located in the sky, and the third, with walls of
gold, located in heaven by Mayasura.
The three cities were mobile and moved in such a way
that they would never be in a single line, except for a few moments in around a
thousand years, when the Nakshatra Pushya would be in conjunction
with the moon. Tarakasura's sons were thus reassured that they were safe, as it
would be an extremely difficult task to destroy such impregnable cities, which
aligned only momentarily, by a single arrow. Asuras from everywhere began to
flock to Tripura to live there.
After several years of joy, the inherent evil tendencies
of the Asuras surfaced once again and they began to oppress the good and
torment the noble. In the meantime, Mayasura was engaged in the worship of Shiva.
The rest of the demons attacked sages and the Devas and shattered the
peace of the worlds. Finally, when Indra and the rest of the Devas
despondently approached Lord Brahma for respite,
Lord Brahma redirected them to Shiva and also informed them of
the vulnerability of Tripura to a single arrow.
Lord Shiva promised to help them, and the
Devas returned to combat the Asuras in a mighty war. They were also assisted
by Nandi, the leader of Lord Shiva's Ganas. Even though
Vidyunmali was slain by Nandi, and several other Asuras were killed
in the war, they were revived by water in the pool of Tripura, which had
magical powers. As the war raged on, Devas continued to struggle to match the
Asuras, who used their magical powers to great effect in the war. One day the
three cities aligned.
Lord Shiva ordered that a chariot be made from which he
would battle the three demons. The war-chariot designed for Shiva was
different. The Earth or Prithvi became the chariot with the Sun and
Moon its wheels. Brahma was holding the reins. Mount Meru became the
bow and the serpent Vasuki was the bow string. Vishnu was the
arrow, and Agni was the tip of the arrow. Vayu was inside
the feathers on rear of the arrow.
All other Devas had their own places and forms in the
chariot. Just as the cities aligned, when the Pushya Nakshatra positioned
appropriately, Lord Shiva was about to strung the mighty bow,
the Pinaka with the arrow, the Devas were overjoyed that Tripura was
going to be destroyed because of them (because they were part of the
war-chariot, without which Shiva cannot destroy). Lord Shiva, knowing what the
Devas, were thinking, did not fire the arrow and just smiled.
All the three purams were burned immediately. Shocked
at this act, Brahma pleaded that Devas thought wrong and that Shiva should
forgive and release the arrow, or else the Devas would have a permanent bad
name and the reason behind making this chariot would become meaningless. Lord
Shiva then fired the arrow on the already burning cities. Lord Shiva immediately
regretted his act, since he had forgotten to protect Maya, a great devotee of Lord
Shiva.
Realising this, Nandi raced ahead of the arrow
and informed Maya of the impending doom. Instantly, Maya fled Tripura, leaving
behind the great city he had constructed, which was immediately reduced to
ashes, along with its inhabitants, the Asuras, by the great arrow of
Shiva. This destruction of Tripura, led to the appellation Tripurantaka, for
Shiva. When Lord Shiva seated on the chariot before heading to war, chariot was
unable to move forward, Lord Vishnu took form as bull and dragged the chariot
and then became the bull flag on top of chariot.
After destroying three cities Lord Shiva started Tandava
Nrutya on debris which is also called as Tripura Nasha Narthana. The smile and
burn act of Shiva in Tamil is beautifully called as Sirinthuppurameritha
Peruman (God who laughed and burned the three purams). Devas, Brahma and Vishnu
felt shy on their pride. As they ridiculed Lord Shiva, they acquired sin.
Hence, they came to Lord Shiva for relief. Lord Shiva advised them to worship
him in Punnagavanam on the banks of Cauvery River. He further stated he manifested
as a Linga below Punnai tree.
Lord Shiva advised them to perform Shiva Pooja and get
relief from their sin. Lord Vishnu and Brahma came here and searched for the
Linga in the forest. As they could not able to find the Linga, they requested
Lord Shiva to show them the path. Lord Shiva in the guise of hunter guided them
to the Linga. As Lord Shiva showed way (Markham) and helped them in performing the
pooja (Sahayam), he came to be called as Marga Sahayeswarar.
Marga Sahayeswarar is called as Vazhi Thunainathar /
Vazhi Katti Vallal in Tamil. Further, he taught them how to offer worship by himself
doing it. Lord Vishnu and Brahma followed suit. As Hindu trinity, Lord Shiva,
Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma offered worship to the Linga at this place, the
place came to be called as Moovarur and later got corrupted to Moovalur.
Annihilation of Mahishasura:
As per legend, a demon
named Mahishasura (mahisha meaning buffalo and asura meaning
demon) lived in Mysore. Mahishasura was born of the union of a demon Rambh and
Mahishi, a cursed half woman half buffalo. Rambh had obtained a boon from Agni,
the God of fire, to have a powerful son who would rule over the three worlds
and so Mahishasura was born. When he came of age, he obtained a boon from Lord Siva that he would not die from the
hands of a male. Soon, he captured heaven
and earth, terrorizing the Devas.
The Devas, left with little
recourse, took refuge at the mercy of the trinity of Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu.
On seeing the plight of the Devas, Lord Shiva directed Goddess Durga to slay
the demon. She fought Mahishasura and his demon army for nine continuous days
slaying Mahishasura army and eventually killing the powerful demon king
Mahishasura. Hence, she came to be called as Mahishasura Mardini.
Her face turned terrific and ugly due to the sin of
killing Mahishasura. Mother Durga prayed to Lord Shiva and requested him that she
should regain her original form. Lord Siva directed her to offer worship to the
Lingam in Moovalur.
As directed by Lord Shiva, she came to Moovalur,
created a tank, took bath in it and started worshipping Lord Shiva. She got
back her original form as promised by Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva married Durga in
this place. To commemorate this incident. even now a marriage festival is
conducted in this
place in the Tamil month of Panguni.
Punnagavana
Kshetram:
Moovalur once abounded in
Punnai Trees. Hence Moovalur
is also called as Punnagavana Kshetram.
People
worshipped Lord Shiva here:
It is believed that Saptha Matrikas, Brahma, Vishnu,
Nava Nagas, Chandran and Durga worshipped Shiva here.