Swayambhu Nathar Temple, Thiruvilayattam – Legends
Swayambhu
Nathar:
In ancient times, this
place was a dense forest and preferred place for hunting among the warrior
class. Once, Chola King visited this
place along with his soldiers for hunting. During the hunting expedition,
the king got separated from his soldiers and was wandering in the forest alone.
The hoof of his horse hit an unknown object. The king noticed blood was oozing
out from the object. The bewildered king got down from his horse and found a
Shiva Lingam bleeding there.
The king immediately plucked some herbs from forest and
applied the herbs on the bleeding spot in the Lingam and stopped the bleeding. By
then his soldiers had arrived at the scene in search of him. The king decided
to shift the Lingam to his capital and build a temple in his capital. He ordered
the soldiers to excavate the Lingam. The soldiers could not able to locate the
peedam of the lingam.
The king realized that Lord Shiva wanted to reside in
the very same place. So, he built a temple on the same place. As Lord Shiva
appeared as Swayambhu (self-manifested) at this place, Lord Shiva came to be
called as Swayambhu Nathar and the place came to be called as Perumulai (Mulai
means sprout in Tamil). As Lord Shiva performed his holy play (Thiruvilayadal)
during hunting, the
place came to be called as Thiruvilayattam.
Mada
Kovils:
Kochengat Chola was an early Chola king and
one of the 63 Nayanmars (Saivite saints) of Saivism. He is believed
to have attained spiritual rebirth of a spider that fought with an elephant in
its previous birth over the worship of the Lord Shiva. He had red eyes
during birth as he remained in his mother’s womb a little longer. His mother,
looking into the baby red eyes said Kochengkannano (in Tamil Ko=king,
Cheng=red, Kan=eyes), which literally means king with red eyes and hence he was
named Kochengat Cholan. After becoming a king, he followed Saivism and
built 70 Maadakovils,
temples with elevated structure where elephants cannot reach the
sanctum, in the Chola empire. It is believed that this is one of the
temple built by him.
Mullaivana
Nayagi:
As per legend, Goddess Parvathy worshipped Lord Shiva in
the form of Mullai flower in Mullai forest here. Hence, Goddess Parvathy came
to be called as Mullaivana Nayagi and the place came to be called as Mullaiyur.
Indra
worshipped Lord Shiva here:
As per legend, Indra along with his wife visited this
place and worshipped Lord Shiva here.