Manickavannar Temple,
Thiruvalaputhur – Legends
Thiruvaloliputrur:
As per legend, Arjuna visited this
place during his pilgrimage to South India. He was thirsty and
seeking water to quench his thirst. Lord Shiva in the guise of an old man
came to him and gave a stick advising him to strike the ground under Vagai tree
for water. Arjuna gave his sword to the old man in order to strike the
ground and drink the water. While Arjuna was drinking the water, Lord Shiva hid
the sword in a hole in the tree and disappeared. When Arjuna returned, he found
the old man was missing.
He followed the footsteps of old man and found a
glittering and bright anthill with a Shivalinga. He also found his sword in the
hole in a nearby tree. Lord Shiva appeared before him and blessed him. Also,
Lord Shiva disclosed that the old man was but himself. As Lord hid Arjuna’s
sword here, the place came to be known as Thiruvaloliputrur
(Thiru (honorific prefix), Val (sword), Oli (to hide), Putru (ant hill) &
Oor (place). Thiruvaloliputrur
now got corrupted to Thiruvalaputhur.
Vasuki
penance on Lord Shiva:
During the churning of the Ocean of Milk (Samudra
Manthana), Mount Mandara was used as the churning rod, and Vasuki, a
Nagaraja who abides on Lord Shiva's neck, became the churning rope. During
the churning process, the Halahala poison escaped from the mouth of the serpent
king Vasuki. This terrified the gods and demons because the poison was so
powerful that it could destroy all of creation. Despite this, the Devas and the
Asuras pulled back and forth on the snake's body alternately, causing the
mountain to rotate, which in turn churned the ocean.
The Devas then approached Lord Shiva for
protection. Lord Shiva consumed the poison. Lord Shiva was suffering intense
pain. Mother Parvati immediately places a hand on his throat, stopping the
poison to flow any further, and by her Maya stopped it forever. As a
result, his throat turned blue and he was henceforth called Neelakantha (the
blue-throated one; Neela – blue, Kantha – throat in Sanskrit). Vasuki was
afflicted with sin for spitting the Halahala poison.
To get relief from the sin, Vasuki came to earth and
performed penance on Lord Shiva. Vasuki performed penance under Vaagai tree
in an ant hill (Putru). Lord Shiva granted darshan to Vasuki and provided
relief from the sin. Also, Vasuki was granted the boon of decorating the body
of Lord Shiva. Vasuki requested Lord Shiva to stay in this
place. As requested, Lord Shiva agreed to stay in this
place as Shiva Linga. This Linga had disappeared in course of
time.
Manicka
Vannar:
During the reign of king Ruduketan, the region faced a
severe famine. He surrendered at the feet of Lord Shiva. Lord poured
rain of diamonds and asked him to use it for the welfare of his subjects.
Hence, Lord Shiva came to be called as Manicka
Vannar. As per another legend, Lord Vishnu installed a
Manicka (Ruby Lingam) here. Hence, Lord
Shiva came to be called as Manicka
Vannar.
Durga
annihilated Mahishasura at Kidathalaimedu:
As per legend, Goddess Durga annihilated Mahishasura, a
buffalo headed demon, at Kidathalaimedu, a nearby place. It is said that
Goddess Durga came to this temple to calm down after killing Mahishasura. It is
a practice to worship Durga first in this
temple before worshipping Lord Shiva.
People
worshipped Lord Shiva here:
It is believed that Arjuna, Vasuki, Lord Vishnu, Durga,
Indra, King Ruduketan, Pandavas and Draupadi have worshipped Lord Shiva here.
