Vanabadra Kaliamman Temple, Mettupalayam – Legends
Story of Aravalli Sisters:
As per legend, the
place was called as Nellur
Pattinam during Mahabharata era. Nellur
Pattinam was ruled by seven sisters Aravalli, Sooravalli, Veeravalli etc.
They were experts is witchcraft and black magic. They were very powerful and captured
the rulers of the surrounding region using black magic. Lord Krishna requested
Pandavas to wage a war against the tyrannical sisters and save innocent lives
from them. Bheema agreed to wage the war against them and set out to Nellur
Pattinam.
The Aravalli sisters heard this
new through sage Narada. The sisters tried witchcraft against him but was
overcame by Bheema. Finally, the sisters invited him for a competition and
defeated him. Bheema was taken as a prisoner and was put in prison. However,
Bheema successfully escaped, returned to Pandavas and informed about the
tactics of Aravalli sisters. Aravalli sisters criticized the cowardly escape of
Bheema.
On the advice of Lord Krishna,
Pandavas deputed Allimuthu to conquer the sisters. Before going to battle,
Allimuthu visited Vana
Bhadra Kaliyamman Temple, offered his prayers and sought blessings of Kali
to win over the sisters. The Goddess gave him a sword, sacred ash and wished
him success. He fought a bitter war and won over the Aravalli Sisters. The
Aravalli sisters decided to win him through treachery.
They begged him to pardon their
mistakes and offered their daughter Palvarisai to Allimuthu for marriage. He
readily accepted but informed them that he would return back to his place and
marry her after getting the consent of Pandavas. He forgot the sacred ash given
by the goddess and started back his journey along with Palvarisai. He felt
thirsty and fell unconscious. Palvarisai cut a lime given by her mother and
gave him the juice without knowing the treachery.
Allimuthu died after consuming
the lime juice. Palvarisai was grief stricken and informed Pandavas. On hearing
the news of his death, Pandavas set out to Nellur Pattinam to annihilate the
sisters once for all. Meanwhile, Abhimanyu went to the heaven met Indra and
with his help brought back the soul. He put his soul in a small locket and
reached the place where the body of Allimuthu was kept. The soul merged with
the body and Allimuthu got his life back.
The Pandavas sought the
blessings of Vana
Bhadra Kaliyamman in their war with Aravalli sisters. Six sisters were
captured, lodged in prison and finally died. One of the sisters escaped, went
to Kerala and became Goddess famously called as Kambhalathu Bhagawati Amman.
Pandavas offered their prayers to goddess Kali and returned to their place.
They renamed Palvarisai to Valamma and
got married to Allimuthu.
Bakasura:
As per legend, once, a demon
named Bhagasura lived in a fort on the west side of Neelamalai. He was considered
equal to Bheema and Duryodhana in strength and valour. He troubled the
villagers for food as he eats lot. Once, he ordered the villagers that they
should send him a cart full of foods every day. When he found the food brought
to him was not sufficient, he would devour the man and bulls of the cart who
brought the food.
When Pandavas visited the
village, the villagers complained about the demon to the Pandavas. Bheema took
the responsibility of carrying the foods to the demon the following day. He
started his journey towards the fort carrying the foods, but he stopped the
cart at a little distance before the fort. He started eating the foods meant for
the demon. The demon got angry on seeing Bheema eating the foods meant for him.
A fight ensued between them.
Bheema finally annihilated the demon. The demon realized his mistakes on his
deathbed and sought forgiveness from Goddess Kali. He also requested Kali with
a place in her temple as a security guard. The Goddess accepted and made
Bakasura as security guard for her temple. Thus, huge statues of Bheema and
Bakasura can be seen in the
temple.
Vana Bhadra Kaliyamman:
As per legend, it is believed
that Mother Shakti came to this forest (Vana) to perform penance on Lord Shiva
to kill demon Mahishasura. As She performed penance in Vana (the forest), She
came to be called as Vana
Bhadra Kaliyamman.