Muppurareeswarar Temple, Kanchipuram – Legends
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.
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). Though the three cities were reduced to ashes, Tarakaksha,
Vidyunmali and Kamalaksha were not killed due to their ultimate devotion to
Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was impressed by their devotion, asked them to go to
Kanchipuram and install Shiva Linga under the name of Muppurareeswarar. Lord
Shiva made them as the dvarapalas of the
temple.