Famous Temples in India

Religious Significance

The following account of the legendary origin of the temple is taken from an old Tamil prose manuscript. A Rishi was doing penance in the forest near Tiruvarangulam happened one day to restore to a hunter his wife whom he had lost in the woods. Out of gratitude, the hunter brought him everyday some tubers and fruit to eat. The hunter was in turn amply rewarded for his service, for a Palmyra tree sprang up miraculously in the jungle, and dropped a fruit of pure gold every day at the hunter’s feet as he brought food to the hermit. But unaware of the value of the fruit he sold them all to a Chettiar of Vallanad for some rice, salt, chilly, and tobacco. A dozen years passed, and the Chettiar had amassed thousands of these gold fruits. At this time the Chola king who held sway over these parts had built a fort near Tiruvarangulam. The hunter finally discovering his stupidity one day demanded additional payment for his fruit from Chettiar, and when this was refused he appealed to the king who made inquiries. The king examined the miraculous fruits and found them to be pure gold. They then sought for the hermitage of the Sage, but both he and the Palmyra tree had vanished, and in their place stood a lingam. It also happened that a shepherd who carried milk for the king's use from Kadayakkudi stumbled every day at this hallowed spot and broke his milk pot over the lingam, thus unintentionally performing the daily ablution of the god with Cow's milk. When the shepherd one day examined the spot with pickaxe and spade, he inadvertently cut the top of the lingam and the cut may have seen to this day - and was horrified to see blood issuing from the cut. The king decided that a temple must be built to the god, and he was pleased to find that the Chettiar of the golden fruit was himself willing to build one at his own expense in six months. After completing the temple in this manner and providing it with a car and some jewels, 3000 of the gold fruits were still left and they were locked up in the temple cellars.

Other stories - The story is that an untouchable, who had disguised himself, was appointed as peshkar (manager) of the temple and having been detected, was done to death. A devadasi lover of his, out of grief, committed suicide. The couple is now worshipped by the Isai-vellala community, Melakarars) of the village, at this temple. The main temple has another association with the once untouchable community. According to an old Tamil prose manuscript, the temple car on an occasion broke down. When an attempt was made to move it, legend has it that the lord appeared and decreed that the car should not be moved unless a paraiyan had broken the first coconut on the wheels of the car and touched the car ropes. The practice is observed to this day.