Lord Aranyeswar - The One Whom Lord Brahma Worshipped!



The next temple in the list of paadal-petra sthalam is the Aranyeswarar temple situated in Tirukattupalli in Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Lord Shiva in the form of Lord Aranyeswarar and His consort is Devi Akhilandeshwari. 

Once Lord Indra got caught up in the ill-effects of his wrongdoings and lost his power. He was advised by Guru Brihaspathi to descend to earth and pray to Lord Shiva. As Indra was wandering through a forest (called as Aranya in Tamil), he came across a swayambhu shiva-lingam and worshipped it. Pleased with his devotion, Lord Shiva appeared before Indra and told him that the karma of all actions will have to be borne by everyone themselves. Lord Shiva is believed to have stayed back in the forest and thereby got the name Aranyeswarar.

Lord Brahma is said to have consecrated and worshipped ten shiva-lingams here, of which seven remain as on date. These seven lingams are called - Muniyeswar, Brahmeswar, Agasteeswar, Pulastheeswar, Vyagrapadeswar, Sakreswar and Kapaleeswar. It is believed that worshipping the Brahmeswar lingam is equivalent to conducting one thousand Ashwamedha yagna. 

The deity of Lord Ganesha in the temple is called Nandu - Vinayagar. Nandu means crab. It is said that once a Gandharva was cursed to turn into a crab and worshipped Lord Ganesha here. He got his original form back. Instead of a mouse, Lord Ganesha has a crab as His vaahan here!

This is a west-facing temple and it's layout is such that from a single place, one can worship both Lord Shiva and Devi Akhilandeswari. This is also one of those rare temples where you can find two lingams sharing the same base. Among the seven lingams, two are on the same base and are called Rattai Lingam (Rattai meaning double).

Lord Dakshinamurthy, the guru-swaroop of Lord Shiva has special significance here. He is  called Rajayoga Dakshinamurthy and is surrounded by six sages. It is believed that when one stands at His shrine, one can hear the waves of the sea, even though it is at a distance of 5 kms from this place.

The temple is considered as Aghora - peetham and there is no separate shrine for Navagrahas here. 

The temple has images of two great sages - Sage Mahakal and Sage Aranya, blowing conches and worshipping Lord Shiva.

People who are facing loss of power or title pray here to receive the Lord's good grace. 

Om Namaha Shivaaya! Om Akhilandeshwaryai Namaha!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stories From The Bhagavatham - Narasimha Avatar (Part 1)

Image
In the previous chapters of Bhagavatham, we read about how the doorkeepers of Vaikuntha, the abode of Maha Vishnu, had been cursed to take three births as the enemies of the lord. One of their births was as Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, two Asuras who wreaked untold damage upon the earth and made life miserable for all the devotees of the Lord. Hiranyaksha was killed by Maha Vishnu in His form as Varaha. Angered by the killing of his brother, Hiranyakashipu issued a command to his followers. “My brother has been killed by Narayana. I must destroy him. Go to the earth and wherever you see people performing Tapas, Yajna and other spiritual activities, kill them. Narayana is said to be present at the places where people worship him. I do not want him to be worshipped! Destroy anyone who utters his name!” Eagerly following his orders, the asuras went on a rampage, destroying places of worship, obstructing spiritual activities and harming every one who proclaimed themselves to be a de...
Read more

Stories From The Bhagawatham - Prelude To An Avatar (Part 1)

Image
  While the Devas and Asuras were always rivals, once it so happened that the Devas lost all their strength and the Asuras began to conquer them. Worried about the future of the universe, the Devas approached Lord Brahma, the Creator to seek His help. Lord Brahma advised the Devas to seek Lord Narayana. The Devas, along with Lord Brahma approached Maha Vishnu and asked for His guidance. “I know what you need to win over the Asuras.” Maha Vishnu said. “First and foremost, you need to make peace with them. You need time to recover your strength and should avoid any fights. You need to obtain Amritha, the nectar of life which will grant immortality to you. To get this nectar, you need to churn the ocean using Mount Mandara as the churning staff and the serpent Vasuki as the rope. This churning will require powerful hands and you will need the assistance of the Asuras for the same.” Maha Vishnu also gave some advice to the Devas. “Whatever happens, agree with the Asuras for every...
Read more

Stories From The Bhagawatham - Gajendra Moksham

Image
  In a hill named Trikuta, there was a garden named Rituman which was a paradise in itself. One could find every kind of tree, flower, fruit and animal there. In this hill, lived an elephant with his herd. The elephant was the leader of the herd and is referred to by devotees as Gajendra, and this leela of Maha Vishnu is named as Gajendra Moksham. This story is very special. I grew up listening to this story and simply love it because for me, it stands as a validation that no cry or prayer goes unheard in the Universe. Once, feeling thirsty, Gajendra entered a lake with his herd. After drinking water, the herd bathed in the lake. Unaware to the elephants, a crocodile stealthily swam up to the herd and clutched the leg of Gajendra. The elephant trumpeted loudly in pain. But try as he might, he could not lift his leg from the jaws of the crocodile. Seeing their leader in trouble, the other elephants tried to help him, but all their efforts went in vain. The crocodile kept tryin...
Read more