THIRUKAZHUKUNDRAM - Siva Temple
Kanchipuram district, Tamilnadu
The Vedagiriswarar
temple is situated in Kanchipuram district, on the Chengulpet-Mahabalipuram
road. It is also known by other names - Uruthrakodi, Nandipuri, Indrapuri,
Narayanapuri, Brahmapuri, Dinakarapuri, Muniganapuri, Patchi Theertham,
etc.
The Moolavar
is Vedagiriswarar and Ambal is Tirupurasundari. The theertham is
Changu theertham and the sthala vriksham is kadali (plantain) tree.
Several Saivaite saints and poets such as Appar, Sundarar, Manickavaasagar,
Pattinathaar, Arunagirinathar, Tiruporur Chidambaram Swaamigal, Andagakavi
Veeraraga Mudaliar, Ramalinga Adigalar, Ramanathapuram Somasundaram Pillai,
Kanchipuram Mahavidwan Sabapathi Mudaliar have sung the praise of this
sthalam.
It is believed
that the four vedas appear as four hills and the Lord is seated in a temple
atop the hill which is Atharvana Veda. For this reason, the four
Saivaite saints sang the praise of the Lord from the foot of the hill,
unwilling to step on the veda (hill).
Lord Siva gives darshan as a swayambu
Lingam with a kavasam. Ambaal temple is situated at the foot of the
hill. It is believed that Indran worships the Lord on the hill by
Idi (thunder) abhishekam. Normally, the abhishekam to Ambaal is only
for her feet. Only thrice, in the months of Adi (Uthram), Puratasi (Navami)
and Panguni (Uthram), Abhishekam is done to the entire idol.
The speciality of this temple is
the fact that two kites visit the temple everyday and take the naivedya
prasadam offered by the priest. The story behind this:
The eight Brahmaputras
prayed to Lord Siva to achieve Sarooba Padavi. When Siva appeared
before them to grant the boon, they changed their minds and asked for Sayujya
Padavi. Enraged by their deceit Siva cursed them to be born as kites.
When they begged for forgiveness, Siva gave liberation from the curse.
They were to born as holy kites, two in each yugam and attain Sayujya Padavi
by worshiping him sincerely. Thus it is believed that Sandan, Prasandan,
Sambathi, Jadayu, Samburuthan, Maguthan have already attained their wish.
In this yugam Boosha and Vidatha
have been born as kites and they worship the Lord everyday to get rid of
the curse. The changu theertham is the place where Maarkandeya Munivar
did thavam. Every twelve years the changu appears in the theertham.
Ashtalakshmi temple, Besant Nagar, Chennai
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