Thursday, June 1, 2017

Brahmapureeswarar Temple, Ambal – Legends

Brahmapureeswarar Temple, Ambal – Legends

Brahmapureeswarar:

Once, Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu had a disagreement about which one of them was supreme. To settle the debate, Lord Shiva pierced the three worlds appearing as a huge infinite pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Lord Shiva told them that anyone who could see the head or foot of this pillar of light pillar would be declared as the supreme one. Lord Vishnu took the form of a wild boar and had gone in the direction of the base of the pillar, admitted that he had not found the foot of the pillar.

Lord Brahma took the form of a Swan and flew in the upward direction to find the top of the pillar. Lord Brahma returned and lied to Lord Shiva that he had seen the top of the pillar. Lord Shiva cursed Lord Brahma to become a swan. He further cursed that he would have no place in the ceremonies and no places of worship. Lord Brahma pleaded to Lord Shiva to pardon him. Lord Shiva took pity of Lord Brahma and asked him to go to this sacred place, Punnagavanam and meditate.

As advised, Lord Brahma reached this place, created a theertha called Annamam Poigai and performed abhisheka to Lord Shiva with the water from this pond. He performed his worship for many years. After many years, his curse was absolved, was freed from his swan form and commenced his duty of creation. As Lord Brahma worshipped Lord Shiva here, Lord Shiva came to be called as Brahmapureeswarar. The traditional festival, the appearing of Lord Shiva before Lord Brahma, is celebrated every year on the Masi Maham day.

Ambakarathur:

As per legend, Amban and Ambarasuran were born to Sage Durvasa and Madalola, a heavenly maid. The two brothers were ardent devotees of Lord Shiva and acquired several powers through boons from Lord Shiva. They become arrogant because of their powers and started harassing the celestial beings, the sages and common people. Devas went to Lord Shiva for protection. Lord Shiva instructed Goddess Kali to annihilate the demon brothers.

Goddess Kali took the form of an enchantress accompanied by Lord Vishnu in the form of elder person visited the palace of the demon brothers. The demon brothers were fascinated by the beauty of the girl and asked for her hand. Lord Vishnu told them that she would like to marry the stronger among the two brothers. Both the brothers started fighting with each other on who would get to marry her.

In ensuing fight, the elder brother Ambarasuran was killed and Goddess Kali killed the younger brother. The place where the younger brother Amban was killed came to be called as Ambakarathur. She thus incurred the brahmahatya dosha for killing the demon Amban. To get rid of the brahmahatya dosha, she made a Shiva Linga with her own hands, installed at Thirumakalam and performed pooja to the Lingam with Vilva leaves.

The finger imprints of goddess Kali can be still seen on the Lingam. As Kali vanquished the demons and worshipped Lord Shiva here, the place came to be called as Ambar Makalam. As Lord Vishnu played a significant role in instigating the fight between Amban and Ambarasuran, Lord Vishnu has a small temple (Veetrirundha Perumal Temple) near to this temple. An image of goddess Kali can be seen in the Vishnu 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 is one of the temple built by him.

Somasi Mara Nayanar:

Somasi Mara Nayanar is a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as the thirty-third in the list of 63 Nayanars. He was a contemporary and devotee of Sundarar (7th century CE). The life of Somasi Mara Nayanar is described in the Periya Puranam by Sekkizhar (12th century CE), which is a hagiography of the 63 Nayanars. Somasi Mara Nayanar was a Brahmin, member of the priestly caste. He was a temple priest and was born in Thiruvambar, currently known as Ambar in Thiruvarur District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was married to Suseelai.

As per Periya Puranam, Maran was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, the patron deity of Shaivism. He was a practitioner of soma yajnas (sacrifices), which earned him the epithet Somasi. He served all devotees of Lord Shiva, unmindful of his creed or caste. He went to Thiruvarur and befriended Sundarar. He became a devotee of Sundarar and served him. Somasi Mara Nayanar is said to have acquired the grace of Lord Shiva by gracefully serving Sundarar. Somasi Mara Nayanar challenged the rigid caste rules of that era. He not only intermingled with non-Brahmins, which was a taboo in that era, but also served them.

Once, he wanted to perform a Soma Yagna in honour of Lord Shiva and wanted Lord Shiva of Thiruvarur to attend it to accept the havir (oblations burnt in the fire sacrifice of the yajna). He knew Sundarar was the only person who can convince and bring Lord Shiva to the Yagna. Sundarar was on pilgrimage and luckily he was staying in Ambar itself. Somasi Marar went to meet Sundarar and noticed that Sundarar was suffering from cough and cold. Somasi Marar sent an herbal concoction made from Thoodhuvalai leaves (Thoodhuvalai leaves, leaves from an herbal plant used as traditional medicine for curing cold and cough) to Sundarar every day.

Sundarar enquired about the person sending the herbal concoction to him daily, His wife Sangiliyar informed about Somasi Marar. When Sundarar was relieved from cold, he came to meet Somasi Marar personally to thank him for sending the herbal concoction. Somasi Marar sought the help of Sundarar to bring Lord Shiva to his Soma Yagna. Sundarar agreed to bring Lord Shiva for his Yagna. Sundarar convinced Lord Shiva to participate in the yagna. Lord Shiva promised to attend the Yagna on the Aayilya star day in the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May-Jun). The new of Lord Shiva attending the Soma Yagna spread like a wildfire.

Sages, Scholars and peoples from nearby and far off places gathered in Thiruvambar to witness the Yagna. Lord Shiva with his wife Parvati and sons Vinayaga and Murugan arrived the Yagna spot in the guise of a hunter family. Four Vedas in the form of four dogs were following him. He also had a dead calf on his shoulder. The sudden arrival of the outcaste family made the sages & vedic scholars assembled in the Yagna spot to think that a serious blunder was committed while conducting the Yagna. They started running away from the venue.

But Somasi Marar whole heartedly welcomed the guests. However, Lord Vinayaga revealed the identity of the visitors to Somasi Marar. In memory of this event, there is a small shrine dedicated to this Vinayagar called as Acham Theertha Vinayagar (Vinayaga who cleared the doubts) in the temple premises. Lord Vinayaka is depicted with a human face in this shrine. As Lord Vinayaka came here to take part in the yajna with a human face, it is said that he had stayed here in the same form. Somasi Marar and Sundarar worshipped the hunter, continued the Yagna and offered him the havir.

After the sacrifice, Lord Shiva appeared with Parvati in his true form, blessed Somasi Mara Nayanar and made him one among the 63 Nayanmars. There is a small mandapam, where the Soma Yagna is believed to have been conducted. This Yagna Kunda is situated in between the Ambar Makalam and Ambar Perunthirukovil. To commemorate the event, a Yagna is conducted on Aayilya star day in the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May-Jun) in this temple every year. As Lord Thyagaraja of Thiruvarur Thyagaraja Temple is believed to have to come to this place for attending this Yagna, the noon pooja is not performed at the Thyagaraja Temple on that day. 

Annihilation of Samhara Seelan:

A demon named Samhara Seelan, a descendant of Sage Pulasthya, performed intense penance on Lord Brahma. Pleased with his penance, Lord Brahma bestowed him with immense powers. With his newly acquired powers, he defeated Indra and the devas. On seeing the condition of Indra, Lord Brahma advised him to perform penance and worship Lord Shiva at Punnagavanam. As advised, Indra along with the devas came here and started worshipping Lord Shiva. The demon also reached this place in search of Indra. Lord Shiva directed Kala Bhairava to aid the devas and Indra. Lord Kala Bhairava killed the demon and saved the devas. As Indra performed penance here, the place came to be called as Indrapuri.

Moksha of Vimalan:

A Brahmin along with his wife from Kasi went on pilgrimage to many holy places and finally reached Ambar. He worshipped Lord Shiva and Parvati of this temple for several years. Pleased with his devotion, Lord Shiva appeared before him and granted several boons to him. It is said that Lord Shiva brought the river Ganga for him in Annamam Poigai. He along with wife took bath in the theertha. The couple was blessed with a son named Mahadevan. The couples attained salvation here.

Manmatha got relief from his curse here:

Once, the penance of Sage Viswamitra was disturbed by the apsaras. He felt that the romantic feeling was caused the by the arrows of Manmatha. So, he cursed Manmatha that his arrows should become powerless. On advice of Brahma, Manmatha came here and worshipped Lord Shiva for relief. Pleased with his worship, Lord Shiva granted relief to his curse.

King Nandan of Kambujadesa got relief of Brahma Hatya dosha here:

Once, a sage named Pingalakkan wore a dress made of tiger skin performed an intense penance on a forest. During this time, King Nandan of Kambujadesa went for hunting in this forest. He mistook the sage as a tiger and shot his arrow towards the sage and killed him. Due to the killing, he was afflicted with Brahma Hatya dosha. To get relief from the dosha, he went on pilgrimage to various temples. The Brahma Hatya followed him wherever he went. When he reached Ambar, the Brahma Hatya stopped at the border of the village. The sages in the village advised him to worship Lord Brahmapureeswarar for relief. He did as per the advice and got relief.

People worshipped Lord Shiva here:

It is believed that Brahma, Indra, Vyasa, Durvasa, King Nandan, Manmadan and Saptharishis had worshiped Lord Shiva of this temple.

Other Names:

Ambar was called as Maakalapuram, Maakalipuram, Punnagavanam, Brahmapuri, Nandarajapuram, Maarapuri and Shanbagaranyam during ancient times.