Bhoomeeswarar Temple, Kunnam – Legends

Bhoomeeswarar Temple, Kunnam – Legends

Bhoomadevi worshipped Shiva for her safety from Demons:

As per legend, Hiranyaksha, the son of Diti and Kashyapa performed intense penance on Lord Brahma and received the boon of invulnerability of meeting his death by neither any god, man, nor beast. Having received this boon, Hiranyaksha assaulted the defenceless Bhumi and pulled her deep beneath the cosmic ocean. The devas and other deities appealed to Vishnu to save the earth goddess and creation. To rescue Bhumi (Mother Earth), Lord Vishnu incarnated as a man-boar (Varaha), plunged into the sea, killed the demon, and rescued Mother Earth.

Mother Earth was disturbed by this unfortunate incident. Mother Earth said to Lord Vishnu that this incident might repeat in future. Further, she asked about the future course of action to avoid such incident. Seeing her distressed condition, Lord Vishnu advised Bhumi to install Lord Shiva, Mother Parvathy and Lord Murugan at a holy place and worship them sincerely to prevent such dangerous incidents in future. As advised, Bhumi wandered through earth for a suitable place and finally landed in a place known as Bodhigandharam in between Cauvery river.

She heard a divine voice instructing her to do penance. She immediately installed Lord Shiva, Mother Parvathy and Lord Murugan and excavated a tank for her bath. She began the Panchakshara Mantra Japa. This worship lasted for 12 years. Pleased with her penance, Lord Shiva appeared before her at the end of the 12^th year and asked what she wished. Mother Earth begged for safety from the demons and the Shivalinga she worshipped should be praised as Bhoomeeswarar in this place for ever and the devotees should be blessed with all happiness, safety, and a happy life.

Those bathing in the Theertha, she created should be relieved of all evil effects and sins on them with total liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. Bhooma Devi also wished that the rituals performed on the bank of the Theertha for the ancestors on the Poornima day (Full Moon day) during the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May-Jun) should be blessed and they would be staying in Kailas Mount forever. Mother Parvathi should also stay here as Vidhruma Nayaki / Pavazhambal along with Lord Vinayaka as Bhoomi Vinayaka and Lord Muruga and bless the devotees with all health and prosperity. Lord Bhairava should be custodian deity. 

Lord Shiva was pleased to grant the boons Mother Earth wished. Mother Earth, called divine sculptor Vishwakarma and ordered construction of a temple. Vishwa Karma placed Lord Bhoomeeswarar and Mother Vidhruma  Nayaki at the centre, Lord Ganesha at the southwest and Lord Subramania with his consorts Valli and Deva Sena in west and Lord Bhairava in the northeast and completed the construction of a beautiful temple as per Agama Rules. Mother Earth prayed in the temple and returned to her abode in Vaikunta.

Parasurama got relieved of Dosha for beheading his Mother:

Sage Jamadagni lived along with his wife Renuka lived in the Ramshrung mountains. Renuka helped the Jamadagni in all of his tasks of performing various rituals and puja. Renuka would wake up early in the morning to bathe in the Malaprabha River with complete concentration and devotion. Her devotion was so powerful that she was able to create a pot to hold water made only of sand, one fresh pot every day. She would fill this pot, on the bank of the river and would use a snake which was nearby, turning it into a rope-like convolution and placing it on her head, so that it supported the pot.

Thus, she brought the water to Jamadagni for his rituals of oblation. Renuka gave birth to five sons: Vasu, Viswa Vasu, Brihudyanu, Brutwakanwa and Rambhadra. Rambhadra was the youngest and most beloved, gaining the favour of Lord Shiva and Parvati and hence called Parashurama (the sixth incarnation of Vishnu). One day when Renuka went to the river, she saw Gandharva spirits playing. These were young couples carelessly frolicking in the water with abandon. For a moment, she lost her concentration and devotion and fantasized about playing in the river with her husband.

She wished she and her husband had such fun sometimes too, living so close to such a beautiful place. After some time, Renuka came to her senses and cursed herself for her indiscretion. She hurriedly bathed, as she had lost precious time, and tried to create the pot, but was unable to as she had lost her concentration. She even tried to catch the snake, but it disappeared. Disappointed by this, she returned to the ashram in shame. Seeing Renuka returning empty-handed, Jamadagni became furious and angrily ordered her to go away.

After being cursed by her husband, Renuka went east and sat in the forest to meditate. In her penance, she met with the saints Eknath and Joginath; she prayed to them and asked to gain the mercy of her husband. They first consoled her, then instructed her to follow their advice exactly as told. They told her to purify herself, first bathing in a nearby lake, and then to worship a Shivalinga, which they had given to her. Next, she should go to the nearby town and beg for rice from the houses.

After collecting the rice, she was to give half to the saints and cook the remaining half, adding jaggery, partaking of the cooked rice with full devotion. They said that if she performed this ritual for three days, she would be able to visit her husband on the fourth day. Jamadagni was still furiously angry with Renuka and ordered his sons to punish their mother. One by one, four of them refused flatly. Jamadagni, who possessed the power to burn anyone to ashes with his one look, was so angry that he went berserk and turned four of his sons into four piles of ashes.

Parashurama, who was not there when this happened, found his mother weeping by the piles of ashes when he arrived, and his father was still raging mad. Jamadagni told him what happened and ordered him to behead his mother for her infidelity. Parashurama had to think quickly. Knowing his father's powers and the extent of his anger, Parashurama immediately obeyed his father, using his axe. His father then offered a boon to Parashurama, who asked for his mother and brothers to be brought back to life. Jamadagni granted it.

Yet, Parasurama had to incur a dosha for beheading his Mother. To get rid of the dosha, Parasurama undertook a pilgrimage and finally reached this place, sat on the Bhoomi Kunda in the temple and began his penance on Lord Bhoomeeswarar. A ferocious tiger came to the place and was about to attack the sage. Parasurama thought of his Mother Renuka Devi who instantly appeared before her son. She made a pot, filled with water and spilled it on the tiger which immediately turned into a Deva and left for his homeland Devaloka after worshipping Renuka Devi and Parasurama.

Sage Parasurama requested his mother to stay in this place with the name Gadeswari (meaning one who makes clay pots) and grant all the boons to those who bathe in this tank and worship her on the Masi Fridays (Feb-Mar). Sage Parasurama continued his penance on Lord Bhoomeeswarar who appeared before him on a Somavara day (Monday) and relieved him of the dosha he incurred for beheading his mother.

Varadan, son of Hara Sharma performed penance on Ganesha here:

As per legend, a Brahmin named Hara Sharma along with his three sons were living in Brahmapuram. The last son was dull headed and violent in nature. Hara Sharma sent him for a pilgrimage. The boy reached the hermitage of Sage Kanwar who taught him the Panchakshara Mantra and advised him to perform penance on Lord Ganesha at this place to become master of all arts. Lord Ganesha was pleased with the penance of the little boy and granted him the boon he desired and made him wise and noble.

The boy blessed by the Ganesha came to be known as Varadan. He visited Kancheepuram and proved his genius in the royal court of learned pandits and received valuable awards from the king. He returned back to Bhoomi Sthala and built a beautiful temple for his mentor God Lord Ganesha. Finally, he returned to his native place Brahmmapuram, his father’s place and lived happily for many years.

Lord Vishnu with his consort Lakshmi worshipped Vinayaga here:

Once, Lord Vishnu told Maharshi Narada that all his powers are derived from Mother Mahalakshmi, and he would be powerless without her. Lord Vishnu asked Narada a way to avoid separation from her. Narada said that their union was the blessing of Lord Ganesha. But they forgot him. Hence, they should begin worshipping him again for a perennial union. Lord Vishnu and Mother Mahalakshmi landed on Earth for worship of Lord Ganesha. Lord Vishnu created a spring with his discus, now praised as Chakkara Theertham and installed a Vinayaka and worshipped him. 

Lord Ganesha appeared before them and granted the boon of non-separation sorrows in future and forever. Lord Vishnu called Vishwakarma the master sculptor and built a grand temple for Lord Ganesha in this place, arranged festivals especially on the Masi (Feb-Mar) Sukhla Paksha Chathurthi (fourth day of the full moon fortnight). Then Lord and Mother Maha Lakshmi left for their abode Vaikuntam.

Viswarupan granted Vaikunda Life here:

A young brahmin boy named Viswarupan was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu from his infant days. He was on a pilgrimage to several Vishnu temple. After visiting Vadarangam and Kazhi Sri Rama Vinnagaram, he reached this place to worship Lord Ganesha with Lord Vishnu and Mother Mahalakshmi. But he could not find the temple and began praying for dharshan in this place. Pleased with his prayers, Lord Vishnu spoke to him without a visible form and advised him to worship at this place and also assured him a place in Vaikunta. The brahmin boy followed the advice of the Lord sincerely. A divine aircraft came down at his pooja spot and took him to Vaikuntam on a Masi Shukla Paksha Ekadashi day (Feb-Mar).

Dharma Sastha saved Hari krishnan from the attack of wolves here:

Once, an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu named Hari Krishnan from Kerala came to this place and was planning to proceed to Chidambaram Govindaraja Perumal temple from here after his worship in Vadarangam Vishnu Temple. He was intercepted by a pack of wolves. Hari Krishna prayed to Dharma Sastha, his family deity, who applied his trident and destroyed the wolves. He also granted darshan to him with his consorts Poorana and Pushkala. Harikrishna begged Lord Sastha that he should stay in the same place and protect everyone visiting this place.

Lord Sastha agreed and directed him to install his idol and promised to put on his power in the idol and disappeared. Harikrishnan installed Dharma Sastha with Poorana and Pushkala at the northwest side of the Chakkara Theertha and continued his worship. He then proceeded to Thillai Chidambaram and worshipped Lord Govindaraja Perumal. He stayed there for some time and then reached feet of the Lord.

Lord Rama got relieved of Sthree Hathi dosha here:

During his exile, Lord Rama met sage Agasthya at Dandakaranyam on the way and sought the reason for the appearance of a terror faced demon woman before him often. Sage Agasthya replied that the woman was Thataka whom he killed during his journey to protect the Yagna of Sage Vishwamitra and suggested Lord Rama to install a Shivalinga and worship the Lord for relief from the Sthree Hathi dosha (sin for killing a woman). Sage Agasthya also said that Lord Shiva himself would show the spot where he should install the Shivalinga for worship. Lord Rama travelled through several places and reached this place. He heard a voice directing him to install the Linga there. Lord Sri Rama, followed this advice sincerely, worshipped Lord Shiva and got relieved from the Sthreehathi dosha.

Chandrachooda got rid of Brahma Hathi Dosha here:

Once, the son of king Chandrachooda of Thiruvannamalai was on a spying job at a night in disguise, he saw a robber torturing the civilians. The prince immediately killed him. He was afflicted with Brahma Hathi dosha for killing the robber. He came to this place to cleanse himself from the dosha.

Dosha Nivarthi Sthalam:

A Brahmin youth in Kancheepuram named Sridharan took to robbery because of poverty. He happened to meet a Yogi who took a pledge from the youth that he would never speak lies. One day, when he was attempting a burglary in the palace of the king, he was caught by the security men. During the trial, the king found his determination to speak only truth, pardoned him and also offered a berth in his cabinet. Sridharan told the king that he was unclean to take up the job due to his earlier life and said that he would cleanse himself of the sins first and would return to Kanchipuram to accept the offer. He took up a pilgrimage and reached this place. A voice told him that he had become worthy of the choice of a minister’s job the moment he stepped on the holy soil. Sridharan returned to Kanchipuram after worshipping Lord Shiva and took charge as a minister and served the people for quite long years.

Dharma got relieved of Dosha here:

Dharma also known as Yudhishthira told his Guru Dronacharya that an elephant named Ashwathama died in the battlefield. As the name also happened to be that of Drona’s son, Yudhishtira’s statement caused the death of the Guru. Yudhishtira’s ratha was always running one inch above the earth because of his pure qualities. But it touched the earth since then. Dharma sought the advice of Sage Vyasa for a remedy. Sage Vyasa advised Dharma to go to this place and worship Lord Bhoomeeswarar for relief from this dosha.