Airavateshwarar Temple,
Veerakkan – Legends
Chola King Veerasenan stayed in Veerakkan during the
renovation of Thiruppanandal Temple:
Thadagai, a staunch Shiva
devotee was unable to place her garland to Lord Shiva of Thiruppanandal
Aruna Jadeswarar Temple one day as her upper sari slipped. She
held the sari by one hand and tried to place the garland by other yet could
not. Lord Shiva obliged his devotee by leaning his neck for her. The
girl was happy to place the garland on the Lord. Since that day, the
Shivalinga was always in a leaning posture. When a Chola king named
Veerasenan renovated this
temple, he tried to straighten the leaning posture of Shiva Linga with the
help of his soldiers, but he could not succeed.
They even used elephants to pull
the Shivalinga to set it in order but failed. The king learned about Saint
Kungiliya Kalaya Nayanar of Thirukkadaiyur
and his devotion towards Lord Shiva. He called him here and sought his help. This
Nayanar was famous because his worship always involved the use of the fragrant
smoke of Kungiliyam (Benzoin). He tied a rope to the Lingam and to the other
end of the rope he tied a knife. He wrapped the end with the knife to his neck
and started pulling gently.
He prayed to the Lord that in
case he failed to straighten the lingam in this process, the Lord Shiva should
take his life. Even as the rope tightened around his neck, the Nayanar did not
flinch. Lord Shiva did not want to test Nayanar any further and returned the Lingam
back to its straightened position. The king paid rich tributes to Nayanar and
honoured him with gifts. It is said that Veerasenan along with his army stayed
in Veerakkan
during the renovation of Thiruppanandal
Temple.
Chandikeswarar:
Chandikeswarar is one of the
63 Nayanmars. He is the only Nayanmar with the
Eswara title. He is considered to be the guardian of the temple belongings.
Hence, devotees clap their hands to show that they are leaving the temple
empty-handed. It is also customary to leave even the sacred ash inside the
temple itself. According to Periyapuranam, he was born into a Brahmin family
in Seignalur
(Senganur) and was called Visarasarman. His
parents were Echa Dattan and Pavitrai. He learnt all arts in his young age.
His Upanayanam (sacred thread
ceremony) was performed when he was seven. He had no thoughts in mind but Lord
Shiva alone. One day when Visarasarman was playing with his friends, he saw a
cowherd beating a cow with a stick that attempted to hit him. Visarasarman told
the cowherd that beating a cow was sin as all the 33 crore gods were considered
to reside in her and she is very important for survival of humans as well as
for the continuance of rituals. He offered to take forth the task of
herding the cows from then on.
The cow herd readily agreed as
he was tired of managing unruly animals. So, from the next day Visarasarman
took up cow herding as his duty and cared for the cattle. As he was as
kind as a mother, the cows produced plenty of milk. It is said that Visarasarman
used to graze the cows in Veerakkan. As Visarasarman was always drowned in
Shiva thoughts, he made a Linga with the sands of Manniyaru River, installed it
under an Aathi tree and performed pujas and abishek with the milk he got from
the cows.
The cows also gave high measures
of milk to their owners too. Those who saw Visarasarman performing
abishekam to Lord with the milk of the cows complained that he was wasting the
milk meant for yajnas. His father too saw him doing pujas abishekam from a
hiding. The angry father beat him and upset the milk pots. As Visarasarman
was deep in his worship, not knowing the person upsetting the milk pots,
attacked him with a stick, still continuing his worship.
The stick turned into an axe and cut the legs of the father. Lord along with Mother Parvathi granted darshan to Visarasarman and said that he cut his father’s legs because of his devotion and thenceforth he would be his father and honoured with Kondrai flower garland. He was wearing then. Lord also named him Chandikeswara. It is believed that Chandikeswarar attained salvation at nearby Thiruvaippadi on a new moon day on Shivrathri.
