Famous Temples in India

Religious Significance

LEGEND 1 - Saint Sundarar was on a fund raising mission to feed the devotees on the Panguni Uthiram festival in Tiruvarur. By lord's miracle, lord of this temple donated 12,000 gold coins to Sundararar. Beware of robbers on the way, he placed all the coins in the Manimutha River and collected it in the tank in Tiruvarur. This is a strange precaution. Money placed in a river cannot be collected from a tank that has no link with each other. But this miracle happened. Thus came the proverb, “losing in the river and searching in the tank”. As doubting Thomas, Sundarar wanted to test the touch of the gold he took from the tank in Tiruvarur. Lord proved the quality of the gold with Lord Vinayaka as a witness who confirmed the touch. Hence, Vinayaka in the inner prakara of the temple is praised as Mattru-touch, Uraitha-confirmed, Vinayaka Mattru Uraitha Vinayaka.

LEGEND 2 - During the renovation of the temple, Vibasithu Rishi used to give the leaves of the Vanni tree as wages to the workers. Based on the quantum and quality of the work of the labourer, it fetched the due value, it is said.

LEGEND 3 - The ashes of the dead when dissolved in Manimutha River change into a stone and stay underneath, according to sthalapurana.

LEGEND 4 - During his visit to this place, the king of Karnataka suffered due to hunger. Mother Peria Nayaki, as a young woman fed him with milk and named him Kumara.

LEGEND 5 - Vruddhachalam is as famous as Kasi-Varanasi as a salvation promising land known as Vruddhakasi. It is also claimed that the benefit measure is a little bit more here than Kasi, hence the saying “Kasiyil Veesam Adhigam in Vruddhakasi”. As believed in Kasi, here too Mother Vruddambika places the departed souls on her lap and fan them with the pallu of her Sari while Lord Shiva chants the Namshivaya mantra in the ears of the dead ensuring his/her salvation, according to Sthala purana. Vruddhambika means goddess of elderly age.

LEGEND 6 - Devotee Guru Namshivayar stayed in this place for a night on his way to Chidambaram. He was very hungry and called mother with a verse with a word Kizhathi. Mother Periyanayaki came there as an old woman and replied that Kizhavi-old woman cannot bring food, only young woman can. The devotee sang another verse describing the youthfulness of Ambica. She appeared as a young beautiful woman and fed the devotee and thus came to be known as Balambika – young mother.