Lord Kadaimudinathar - The One Who Protects Till The End!



The next temple in the list of Paadal Pethra Sthalam is the Kadaimudinathar temple in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu. Lord Shiva is worshipped here as Kadaimudinathar and His consort is Devi Abhirami. 

There are 16 types of wealth mentioned in our holy texts, namely - health, education, monetary wealth, food, pride, beauty, fame, youthfulness, intelligence, children, strength, courage, longevity, favourable fate, victory in all efforts and good relationships. The shiva-lingam in the temple is said to have 16 stripes denoting the above types of wealth. It is believed that worshipping the deity here will lead to achievement of the above wealth. 

There is a legend about how the name Kadaimudinathar came to be. It is believed that Lord Shiva protects His devotees even on the verge of Pralaya (the great deluge that signifies the end of the world). As He is the protector till the end, He was named Kadaimudinathar, the one who protects till everything has ended. 

As per another legend, Lord Brahma got the divine vision of Lord Shiva under a tree in this place. There is a shiva-linga placed beneath the said tree in the temple premises. 

The Navagrahas inside the temple are not placed in a regular line and have been placed in a hexagon-shaped altar with their fronts and backs to each other. There is a deity of Lord Dakshinamurthy with a ring in only one of His ears. Also, the deity of Bhairavar has a ring in one ear while the other is plain. There are also deities of Lord Vinayaka, Lord Subrahmanyam and His two consorts Valli and Devayani. 

Devi Abhirami is specially worshipped here by women seeking marriage. They tie mangalsutras to the deity and once the marriage is held successfully, they remove the mangalsutras, tie them to their necks, worship the Devi and return the mangalsutras to Her. This ritual is believed to grant longevity to the marriages.

Om Namaha Shivaaya! Om Devyai Namaha!

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