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Friday, July 28, 2023

Thirunokkiya Azhagiyanathar Temple, Thiruppachethi – Legends

Thirunokkiya Azhagiyanathar Temple, Thiruppachethi – Legends

Thirunokkiya Azhagiyanathar:

When Indra and Brihaspati were going towards Mount Kailasha to meet Lord Shiva, their way was blocked by a naked yogi with matted hair and a radiant face. The yogi was Lord Shiva himself, who had taken the form to test the knowledge of Indra and Brihaspati. Indra did not recognize the yogi and was infuriated at the fact that the man was not moving out of their way. Indra asked him to move, but the man did not budge. Indra got furious and threatened him with his weapon thunderbolt.

The yogi made the arm of Indra paralyzed and neutralized his weapon thunderbolt. Lord Shiva got angry on the action of Indra and his eyes turned red, frightening Indra. The anger caused his third eye to open, nearly killing Indra. Brihaspati recognized Lord Shiva and prayed to him, requesting him to pardon Indra. To avoid killing Indra, Lord Shiva sent the fire from his eye towards the ocean and upon meeting with the ocean it assumed the form of a boy.

The boy cried terribly, which caused Brahma to descend from his abode. The ocean told Brahma that he did not know where the boy came from. Brahma then told him that the boy would one day become the emperor of the asuras, that he could only be killed by Lord Shiva and that after his death, he would return to third eye. Then, Brahma named him Jalandhara. Jalandhara grew up to be a handsome man and was made the emperor of asuras by Shukra, their guru.

Jalandhara was exceedingly powerful and was considered to be one of the mightiest asuras of all time. He married Vrinda, the daughter of the asura Kalanemi. Jalandhara ruled with justice and nobility. One day, the sage Bhargava (Shukra) came to meet Jalandhara. He narrated the tales of Hiranyakasipu and Virochana. He also told him how Vishnu had severed the head of Rahu during the episode of the Samudra Manthana. The asura came to believe that the devas had treacherously taken the treasures of his father Varuna.

He sent one of his messengers, Ghasmara, to Indra to ask him to return the treasures of his father. However, Indra refused to return the treasures. A fierce battle ensued between the devas and the asuras. Many warriors were killed on both sides. Shukra revived the asuras using his amritajeevini vidya. Brihaspati revived the dead devas by using the medicinal herbs from the Drona mountain. Shukra counselled Jalandhara to uproot the mountain so that Brihaspati would be unable to employ the medicinal herbs to revive the devas.

Jalandhara acquiesced and hurled the mountain Drona into the ocean. Demoralized, the devas requested Lord Vishnu for his aid. A fierce battle was fought between Jalandhara and Lord Vishnu, who rode upon Garuda and wielded his divine sword, Nandaka. Vishnu was impressed by the valiance of Jalandhara in battle and granted him a boon of his choice. Jalandhara requested Lord Vishnu to stay in his eponymous city, bringing with him his followers and his consort, Lakshmi.

Without the help of Lord Vishnu, the devas were defeated by asuras and Jalandhara became the lord of the three worlds (heaven, earth, and the underworld). He confiscated all the jewels that the devas and the gandharvas had hoarded during the Samudra Manthana and ruled virtuously, with nobody in his realm sick or lean. The devas were unhappy about their defeat, dejected at their being stripped of their authority. The divine sage, Narada, upon consulting with the devas, went to see Jalandhara.

On being asked the purpose of his visit by Jalandhara, he described the beauty of Kailasha where Shiva lived, and that he wondered if any other place matched its beauty. In response, Jalandhara showed off his riches to Narada, who commented that he did not have the most beautiful woman as his wife. Narada then continued to describe the residence of Lord Shiva and also described to him about the beauty of goddess Parvati.

Jalandhara sent his messenger Rahu to Shiva and accused him of hypocrisy, pointing out that Shiva claimed to be an ascetic but kept a wife, Parvati. He proposed that Shiva hand over Parvati to him. Upon hearing these insults, Lord Shiva became so angry that a fearsome creature (Kirtimukha) sprang from his brow and nearly killed Rahu, the messenger who had delivered the demand. War being determined, Jalandhara marched first to Kailasha; but finding that Shiva had forsaken it and taken up a position on a mountain near Lake Manasa, he surrounded the mountain with his troops. 

Nandi marched against them, and spread destruction; however, the army of the gods suffered many losses. Parvati then urged Lord Shiva to enter the war. Lord Shiva carefully warned Parvati to be on her guard during his absence, as it was possible asuras in some disguise might visit her; after this, accompanied by Virabhadra and Manibhadra, two forms of his anger, Lord Shiva went to the battlefield. Kartikeya came to fight with him but was defeated.

After his defeat, Ganesha tried to attack him but was badly defeated by him and was left unconscious on the battlefield. Upon seeing Lord Shiva and his avatars dominate the battlefield, Jalandhara created an illusion of beautiful apsaras singing and dancing. This illusion distracted his army, but not himself. Meanwhile, Jalandhara disguised himself as Lord Shiva and went to Parvati in order to trick her. Parvati recognized him and fled, growing beyond infuriated.

The goddess meditated on Vishnu, and when he appeared, she demanded that he deceive Vrinda, just like Jalandhara had tried to deceive her. Lord Vishnu caused Vrinda to dream that Jalandhara had been killed by Lord Shiva. Posing as an ascetic, he creates the illusion that Jalandhara is then restored to life by him. Delighted to see her husband restored to life, Vrinda sported with him for many days in the forest.

She recognized that it was Vishnu in disguise, and curses him that someday someone would trick his own wife (which becomes true when Sita is kidnapped by Ravana) just like how he had tricked her, that he would roam about in distress with Shesha (Lakshmana), and that he would seek the help of monkeys (Vanaras). Saying thus, she entered the fire to immolate herself. After her death, her soul left her form from the funeral pyre, joining Parvati.

Jalandhara, hearing of this deception and his wife's death, was enraged and left Mount Kailasha, returning to the battlefield. The illusion ending, Lord Shiva and his forces realised the truth. Lord Shiva engaged Sumbha and Nisumbha in battle, but they soon fled. They were later killed by Parvati. Jalandhara then engaged Shiva in battle. Towards the end of the battle, when most of the army of Jalandhara had been slaughtered, Lord Shiva beheaded him with a chakra (discus) created from his toe.

Upon his death, his soul merged with Shiva, just like the soul of Vrinda had merged with his consort. Lord Vishnu mixed himself in the ashes of Brinda. Vaikunda the abode of Lord Vishnu became dark. Mahalakshmi was sad. Parvathi came to Mahalakshmi and advised her to perform penance on Shiva with Shiva Theertha to get back Lord Vishnu her husband. Mahalakshmi followed this rigidly for a Mandalam (48 days) when Lord Shiva appeared before them. 

They went to Vegavathi River (now Vaigai) and worshipped Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva gave them some seeds to be sowed on the ashes of Brinda from which Tulsi appeared.  Lord Vishnu worshipped Lord Shiva with the leaves and also made a garland and wore it himself. This happened on a Monday (Somavaram). Since then, pujas to Lord Shiva in this temple is performed with Tulsi leaves. As Lakshmi worshipped Lord Shiva here, Lord Shiva came to be called as Thirunokkiya Azhagiyanathar.

Thiruppachethi:

As per legend, Koon Pandiyan was the Pandyan ruler during 7th century CE. He followed Jainism but his wife, Mangayarkkarasiyar and his minister, Kulachirai Nayanar, were both Shaivites. When the king suffered from boils and incurable fever and also had a hunch back, the two invited the Shaivite saint, Sambandar, to Madurai. Sambandar offered to help the king. The Jains monks opposed this, arguing that a Brahmin from the Chola country should not be trusted. The Jains sought to demonstrate the incompetence of Sambandar by challenging him to a debate.

Further, they declared that they would become his slaves if defeated. Sambandar rejected the condition about slavery. Sambandar proposed that the Jains be impaled if defeated. In the fire contest, two manuscripts, containing Jain and Shaivite hymns respectively, were thrown into fire. The Jain manuscript burned, while the Shaivite manuscript remained unscathed. In the water contest, the Jain manuscript was carried away by the river, while the Shaivite manuscript came back to the shore undamaged.

It is believed that the Shaivite manuscripts reached Thiruvedagam against the river water and the Jaina manuscripts were washed away by the river and reached this place. As the Jaina manuscripts (Thiruppakkal) reached this place, the place came to be called as Thiruppachethi. Sambandar defeated the Jains in the ensuing debate and he miraculously cured the hunched back of the king, transforming him into a handsome man. The king converted to Shaivism, and the Shaivite devotees impaled the defeated Jains.

Emperor Nala worshipped Lord Shiva here:

As per legend, Emperor Nala had lost his kingdom and was separated from his queen Damayanti due to the adverse aspects of Sani. Sage Durvasa advised him to visit this place and worship Lord Shiva for relief from Sani dosha. As per his advice, Nala came here, took bath in the theertham, worshipped Lord Shiva and got back his kingdom and wife. In gratitude, Emperor Nala constructed the Punniya vimana of this temple.

Unnathapuri:

It is believed that Emperor Nala and Sage Durvasa worshipped Lord Shiva here, the place came to be called as Unnathapuri.

Lakshmipuram:

It is believed that goddess Lakshmi worshipped Lord Shiva here, the place came to be called as Lakshmipuram.

Parijatha Vanam:

As the place was a forest dense with Pavalamalli, the place came to be called as Parijatha Vanam.