Nandeeswarar Temple,
Nandivaram – Legends
Nandeeswarar:
During the churning of the Ocean of Milk (Samudra
Manthana), Mount Mandara was used as the churning rod, and Vasuki, a
Nagaraja who abides on Lord Shiva's neck, became the churning rope. During
the churning process, the Halahala poison escaped from the mouth of the serpent
king Vasuki. This terrified the gods and demons because the poison was so
powerful that it could destroy all of creation. Despite this, the Devas and the
Asuras pulled back and forth on the snake's body alternately, causing the
mountain to rotate, which in turn churned the ocean.
The Devas then approached Lord Shiva for
protection. Lord Shiva consumed the poison. Lord Shiva was suffering intense
pain. Mother Parvati immediately places a hand on his throat, stopping the
poison to flow any further, and by her Maya stopped it forever. As a
result, his throat turned blue and he was henceforth called Neelakantha (the
blue-throated one; Neela – blue, Kantha – throat in Sanskrit).
Finally, Dhanvatri, the heavenly physician, emerged
with a pot containing the amrita, the heavenly nectar of immortality.
Fierce fighting ensued between the Devas and the Asuras for it. To protect
it from the Asuras, Garuda took the pot and flew away from the
battlefield. The Devas appealed to Vishnu, who took the form
of Mohini and, as a beautiful and enchanting damsel, distracted the
Asuras.
Then, she took the amrita and distributed it among the
Devas, who drank it. Overjoyed for having the nectar, the devas started
singing, dancing and enjoying and completely forgot Lord Shiva for saving them
from Halahala poison. After a while, the devas realized their mistake and
sought forgiveness from Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva forgave them and danced in the
middle of horns of Nandi, his vahana (mount) here. Thus, he came to be called
as Nandeeswarar.
Swayambhu
Linga:
Once upon a time, the place where the present temple
located was a dense forest. A large anthill was present in the middle of this
forest. A cow used to come here for grazing would halt on the anthill and shed
its milk every day. The owner was shocked to see the empty udder of this cow.
He enquired the cowherd about the reason of the empty udder and he was also not
aware of it. Curious to know the reason behind the empty udder, he followed his
cow secretly to the grazing area in the forest.
He noticed his cow going near the ant hill and shed its
milk automatically. The owner with the help of the cowherd excavated the ant
hill and found a Shiva Linga inside it. The owner immediately went to the
Pallava King Nandivarman and informed about the Shiva Linga found in the
anthill. Nandivarman, a great devotee of Lord Shiva, built a
temple for Lord Shiva at the same place where the Linga was found.
Nandi
Vanam / Nandikeswaram:
As per legend, Nandi, the mount of Lord Shiva,
worshipped Lord Shiva here. Hence, the
place came to be called as Nandi
Vanam / Nandikeswaram. Later, got corrupted to Nandivaram.
Palli
worshipped Lord Shiva here:
As per legend, Lord Shiva of this
temple was worshipped by Palli (lizard) and attained salvation here.