Pasupatheeswarar Temple,
Aavoor – Legends
Aavoor:
Once, the divine cow Kamadhenu
was cursed by Sage Vasishta. Kamadhenu sought the advice of Lord Brahma to get
relief from the curse. Lord Brahma advised Kamadhenu to visit this temple and
worship Lord Shiva. As per the advice, Kamadhenu came to this place and
worshipped Lord Shiva by pouring her milk on Shiva Linga and got rid of the
curse. Hence, the village came to be called as Aavoor (Aa means cow & Oor
means village / place). There is a village called Govindakudi near to Aavoor.
It is said that Govindakudi was the
first place Kamadhenu visited in earth while descended from celestial world.
Govindakudi is said to have derived from the phrase Go Vandha Kudi (Go means
cow, Vandha means arrival & Kudi means village). As Kamadhenu worshipped
Lord Shiva here, Lord Shiva came to be called as Pasupatheeswarar and the place
came to be called as Pasupatheeswaram. A sculpture indicating the legend is
present in the walls of the second precinct of the temple.
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 temple is one of the
temple built by him.
Contest between Adisesha and Vayu:
Once, a contest arose between
Adisesha and Vayu regarding their prowess. Vayu was tasked with trying to blow
off Adisesha from the holy Meru mountain while Adisesha was
asked to protect the peak with his hood. Adisesha held the Meru Mount
tightly. Vayu blew violently to break the mount. Adisesha failed to
hold on to the Mount Meru because of the severe wind emanating from Vayu during
the contest. Two rocks from Meru mountain got dislodged and fell on the earth.
One rock fell at Aavoor and another at nearby village Nallur. The temple was
built over this hillock.
Dasaratha worship of Lord Shiva here:
During his pilgrimage to South
India, Emperor Dasaratha came here and found only the Linga. He wished to have
blessings of Lord Shiva along with his consort. Hence, he installed the idol of
Pankaja Valli and performed pooja invoking the blessings of Lord Shiva and Mother
Pankajavalli. There is a sculpture of Emperor Dasaratha offering his prayers to
Lord Shiva can be seen on the eastern wall opposite to Pankaja Valli Shrine.
Pancha Bhairava Sthalam:
During Dasaratha worship in this temple, a divine voice showed him the location of Pancha Bhairava idols buried
under the ground. Dasaratha excavated the location and retrieved the idols from
the ground. He installed these five Bhairava idols in a shrine opposite to the
Pankajavalli Shrine. Hence, the temple came to be called as Pancha Bhairava Sthalam.
This temple is considered as Parihara Sthalam for Pithru Dosha and Drishti
Dosha. It is said that one would be relieved from these doshas after offering
sincere prayers to the Pancha Bhairava idols in this temple.
Dhanush Subramanya:
Emperor Dasaratha wanted to have
a boy like Lord Muruga as his son. Hence, he invoked the blessings of Lord
Murugan of this temple. It is believed that Rama was born subsequent to the
prayers offered by Dasaratha here. Hence in memory of this event, Lord
Subramanya is seen in a unique posture with a bow and arrow in hand. Hence,
Lord Murugan of this temple came to be called as Dhanush Subramanya.
Saint Tirumular:
As per legend, Saint Tirumular saw a herd of cows lamenting the death of
their herdsmen. Being a siddha, he entered into the body of dead herdsman,
came back alive to serve as the herdsman and sung 3000 verses in praise of
Shiva. This legend is closely associated with Gomuktheeswarar temple at Thiruvaduthurai,
but is also associated with other temples like Dhenupureeswarar Temple at Patteeswaram and Gokarnesvara Temple at Thirukokarnam
near Pudukkottai.
Kavardeswarar:
As per legend, Mother Parvathi
came to earth, chose this place to perform penance. The Devas also came
here in the form of plants and trees to worship the Goddess. Pleased with her
penance, Lord Shiva appeared before the Goddess with his Jadamudi (long hair
rolled as a crown on the head). Hence, Lord Shiva came to be called as Kavardeswarar.
People worshipped Lord Shiva here:
It is believed that Saptha Rishis
(Sages Atri, Bharadhwaja, Gautama, Jamadagni, Kashyapa, Vasishta and
Vishwamitra), Goddess Parvathy, Lord Brahma, Devas, Yakshas, Gandharvas, Bhooda
Ganas, Indra, Suryan, Kamadhenu, Patti (daughter of Kamadhenu), Navagrahas, Emperor
Dasaratha, Kochengata Chola, Tirumular and Thirugnanasambanthar have worshiped
Lord Shiva here.
King Dharmadhwaja got relief from leprosy here:
As per legend, King Dharmadhwaja
came to this place, took a dip in Brahma Theertham and worshipped Lord Shiva
for relief from leprosy. Pleased with his worship, Lord Shiva provided relief to
him and was cured of his leprosy.
Then Kailasha:
This temple is considered
equivalent to Mount Kailasha. Hence, the temple came to be called as Then Kailasha
(Southern Kailasha).
Other Names:
Aavoor was also called as Pasupatheeswaram, Aswathavanam and Manikudam in ancient times.
