Thirukameswarar Temple, Kali – Legends
Kali:
Once, Lord
Shiva and Mother Parvathi were playing the game of dice in Kailash. Lord
Shiva purposely made goddess Parvathy to win each game. Overwhelmed with the
joy, she become arrogant and had excessive pride in her success. On seeing her
arrogance, Lord Shiva cursed to be born as a cow on earth. She was born as a
cow in Therazhundur and Lord Vishnu became her cowherd. She in the
form of cow worshipped Lord Shiva at Thirukozhambam. She
hit the Shiva Linga mistakenly and its hoof mark can be seen on the Linga at Thirukozhambam.
Goddess Parvathy in the form of cow came to Thiruvaduthurai and worshipped Lord Shiva for relief. Pleased
with her worship, Lord Shiva restored her back to original form. Goddess Parvathy
also wanted to marry Lord Shiva in an earthly marriage with all religious rites
on the earth. At the same time, Sage Bharatha performed Putra Kameshti Yagna at
Thiruthuruthi for child boon. In order to fulfill her wish,
Lord Shiva made goddess Parvathy to appear in the form of child from the Yagna
Kunda. Sage Bharatha raised her as his own daughter.
When she attained the marriageable age, the sage was
worried about finding a suitable groom for her. Sage Bharatha prayed to Lord
Shiva in finding a suitable groom for her. Lord Shiva appeared in his dream and
assured him that he would marry her and also revealed to the sage that she is
none other than Goddess Parvathy. Sage Bharatha was overwhelmed with joy and
made the arrangements for the divine marriage. Sage Bharatha received his son
in law at Ethirkolpadi. The Yagna (Velvi) for
the wedding ceremony was held at Thiruvelvikudi.
The earthly marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy
took place in Thiruvelvikudi. The divine couple came
after their wedding to Thirumanancheri near Kali village and granted their wedding darshan to
everyone at Thirumanancheri. The Devas, Shiva Ganas,
sages and other celestial beings gathered at Thirumanancheri to witness the wedding darshan. Goddess Kali
along with his brother Srinivasa Perumal also came to witness the marriage. While
returning back to her abode, goddess Kali got mesmerized by the beauty of this
village and decided to stay in this village. Thus, the village came to be
called as Kali after her.
Mandhai Karai Kali:
As per legend, the village was called as Srinivasapuram
named after Lord Srinivasa Perumal. It is said that the idol of main deity,
Kaliyamman, was found in the Vikraman River. Once, the village and its
agricultural fields were heavily flooded due to the torrential rain. Due to
devastation of the floods, epidemic diseases and famine struck the village.
Several villagers and livestock died due to the lack of medication and food.
The surviving villagers surrendered to Abhirami of Thirukameswarar temple for relief.
They light deepas and performed abhishekam to Abhirami.
During deepa aradhana, an old lady got possessed by the goddess and told
villagers that she was hidden in the form of Kali under earth in Keeraimedu
canal. She further asked the villagers to excavate the idol and build temple
for the idol for relief from the natural fury. As instructed, the villagers
went to the Keeraimedu canal, excavated the idol and installed the idol. The
villagers worshipped the idol sincerely and got relief.
As goddess Kali shown the destination (Karai) for the
people who were roaming like a herd (Mandhai) during the natural calamity, she
came to be called as Mandhai Karai Kali. It is said that Lord Srinivasa Perumal
appeared in the dreams of several villagers and ordered them to rename the
village as Kali instead of Srinivasapuram in gratitude to Kaliyamman. The
shrine of Kaliyamman can be seen at the entrance of the Kali village.
Two goddesses Balasugambal and Abhirami:
As per legend, once, the
temple authorities decided to replace the damaged idol of goddess with the
new idol of Balasugambal. The goddess appeared in the dreams of the priest and
enquired that if your mother is not well would you replace with new one. The
next day, priest went to the
temple saw the damaged idol turned into a new one. The
temple authorities named that idol as Abhirami and installed in an east
facing shrine.
