Paal Ukandha Nathar Temple,
Thiruvaippadi – Legends
Chandikeswarar:
Chandikeswarar is one of the
63 Nayanmars. He is the only one 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
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.
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 Shiva 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. As Lord Shiva was happy to accept the milk (Paal in Tamil), he
came to be called as Paal Ukandha Nathar (Lord Shiva who accepted milk). As
Visarasarman grazed the Cows (Aas), the place came to be called as Aipadi.
It is believed that Chandikeswarar attained salvation here on a new moon day on
Shivrathri.
Swayambhu Linga:
As per local folklore, a
shepherd from this village used to carry the milk for sale in the local market.
He would slip at a particular place every day. Thus, spilling all the milk in that
place. He was deeply disturbed and wanted to know the reason behind his
happening. He started digging the place with a shovel. His shovel hit an object
and blood started gushing out from the object. So, he carefully excavated the
place with the help of the villagers and found a Shiva Linga. The Villagers took
the Linga from the place and installed it in the
temple.