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Shiva Puranam |
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Shiva is
both static and dynamic and is both creator and
destroyer. He is the oldest and the youngest, he is the
eternal youth as well as the infant. He is the source of
fertility in all living beings. He has gentle as well as
fierce forms. Shiva is the greatest of renouncers as
well as the ideal lover. He destroys evil and protects
good. He bestows prosperity on worshipers although he is
austere. He is omnipresent and resides in everyone as
pure consciousness. Shiva is inseparable from Shakti -
Parvati the daughter of Himavaan - Haimavati. There is
no Shiva without Shakti and no Shakti without Shiva, the
two are one - or the absolute state of being -
consciousness and bliss. The five mantras that
constitute Shiva's body are Sadyojaata, Vaamadeva,
Aghora, Tatpurusha and Eesaana. Eesaana is Shiva not
visible to the human eye, Sadyojaata is Shiva realized
in his basic reality (as in the element earth, in the
sense of smell, in the power of procreation and in the
mind). The Vishnudharmottara Purana of the 6th century
CE assigns a face and an element to each of the above
mantras. (Sadyojaata - earth, Vaamadeva - water, Aghora
- fire, Tatpurusha - air and Eesaana - space). The names
of the deified faces with their elements are Mahadeva
(earth), Bhairava (fire), Nandi (air), Uma (water) and
Sadasiva (space). Panchamukha lingams have been seen
from the 2nd century onwards. The Trimurthi Sadasiva
image of Shiva in the Elephanta Caves near Mumbai is a
portrayal in stone, of the five faces of Shiva.
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This
legend relates to the story of Shiva's protecting
Markandeya from the clutches of death. Mrikandu Munivar
worshipped Shiva and sought from him the boon of
begetting a son. He was given the choice between a
gifted son with a short lived tenure on earth or a dunce
with a long life. Mrikandu Munivar chose the former, and
was blessed with Markandeya, an exemplary son, destined
to die at the age of 16. Markandeya grew up to be a
great devotee of Shiva. On the day of his destined death
Markandeya continued to worship a Shivalingam. The
messengers of Yama, the God of death were unable to take
away the lad's life, given his devotion to Shiva and his
being engaged in the act of worship then. Yama himself
came in person to take his life away and sprung his
noose around the young sage's neck. The noose landed
around the Shivalingam, and out of it, Shiva emerged in
all his fury, and kicked Yama and killed Death itself.
He then revived him, under the condition that the devout
youth would live for ever.This legend of Shiva killing
death itself, is frozen in metal and held in worship at
Tirukkadavur. Tirukkadavur is the shrine where thousands
throng to celebrate shashti abda poorthi (60th
birthdays), with the belief that the blessings of the
deity enshrined would prolong their lives. Tirukkadavur
is one of the 8 Veeratta temples celebrating Shiva as
the destroyer of evil forces. |
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This
legend is of great importance both in Saivite and
Vaishnavite system of beliefs. The devas and the asuras
(gods and demons) united in their efforts to churn the
celestial ocean of milk (ksheerasaagaram), in quest of
Amrita (the nectar of life and immortality). This
mammoth task was carried out with the Mandara Mount as
the churning stick and the mythological snake Vasuki as
the rope. Vishnu assumed the Koorma avatara (tortoise)
to hold the Mandara mountain in place and to prevent it
from sinking into the ocean. Lakshmi the Goddess of
wealth emerged from the ocean, and so did the moon god
Chandra. Then came the dreaded poison, Kaalakoota. The
gods and demons appealed to Shiva to save them from the
fumes that emanated from the poison. Without hesitation,
Shiva consumed the poison, and retained it in his
throat, which turned blue on account of the poison,
leading to the name Neelakantha or Vishaapaharana
Murthy. This instance of all of the gods, mortals and
demons worshipping Shiva, for the act of saving the
Universe from the dreaded poison, is believed to have
occurred during the pradosha kaala (the time period just
before sun set). The pradosha kaala puja in Shiva
temples is considered to be very sacred on all
occurrences of pradosha days, two days before the new
moon and the full moon each month. The legend does not
end here. Their obstacle out of the way, the devas and
asuras continued to churn the ocean in quest of their
ultimate goal, and were rewarded with the spectacle of
the divine physician Dhanvantari emerging out of the
ocean with a pot bearing the celestial nectar. A fierce
tussle followed between the gods and the demons over the
issue of sharing the nectar of immortality. Vishnu the
protector of good intervened, took the form of an
enchantress Mohini, appeared on the spot, charmed the
asuras, and served all of the nectar to the devas, and
thereby protected the universe from the calamity that
would have occurred if the asuras had attained
immortality. The legend still does not end here. Two of
the asuras, aware of Mohini's trickery took the guise of
devas and begot a dose of the nectar from her. Vishnu
discovered their act, only when they had consumed half
their portion of Amrita, and proceeded to destroy them.
Protected by the nectar of immortality, the demons took
the form of Rahu and Ketu. Rahu with a snakes head and
a human body, and Ketu with a human head and a snake's
body are regarded as celestial bodies - shadow planets,
or the node positions at which eclipses are caused. Rahu
is the ascending node while Ketu is the descending node.
Popular belief has it that eclipses are caused when Rahu
or Ketu swallow the moon or the sun. Yet another legend
has it that the serpent Vasuki consumed the celestial
nectar much against the wishes of the sun and the moon,
and that it was split into two, and still continued to
live in the form of Rahu and Ketu, the so called enemies
of the sun and the moon, threatening to eclispse them at
the right moment! |
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This
legend is associated with the destruction of Daksha's
sacrifice and the origin of the Shakti Peethas of India.
This is one of the eight legends portraying Shiva as the
destroyer of evil. Sati, the consort of Shiva was the
daughter of Daksha Prajaapati a descendant of Bhrama..
Sati had married Shiva against the wishes of her father.
The vain Daksha performed a great yagna (with the sole
aim of insulting Shiva), to which he invited all of the
gods and goddesses except his son in law Shiva. Against
Shiva's wishes, Sati attended this sacrifice and was
insulted by her father. Unable to bear this insult, Sati
immolated herself. Enraged at the insult and the injury,
Shiva through Veerabhadra, destroyed Daksha's sacrifice,
cut off Daksha's head and replaced it with that of a
goat, as he restored him to life. Still crazed with
grief, he picked up the remains of Sati's body, and
danced the dance of destruction throughout the Universe.
The other gods intervened to stop this dance, and the
disk of Vishnu cut through the corpse of Sati, whose
various parts of the body fell at several spots all
through the Indian subcontinent and formed the sites of
what are known as Shakti Peethas today. |
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This
legend narrates the story of the destruction of Kaama by
Shiva and the birth of Skanda. Sati, the consort of
Shiva immolated herself at the site of the Daksha Yagna,
which was later destroyed by Shiva. Sati was reborn as
Uma, or Parvati the daughter of the mountain king
Himavaan (the Himalayas). Shiva withdrew himself from
the universe and engaged himself in yogic meditation in
the Himalayas. In the meanwhile, the demon Surapadma
ravaged the earth and tormented its beings. It was
realized by the gods that only the son born of Shiva and
Parvati could lead the gods to victory over Tarakaasuran,
Surapadman and their demon companions. They plotted with
Kaama, the lord of desire, to shoot a flower arrow at
Shiva, as he sat in meditation, so as to make him fall
in love with Parvati. When Kaama aimed his arrow at
Shiva, he opened his third eye and burned him to ashes
instantly. Upon hearing the pleas of Kama's wife Rati,
he brought back Kama to life, in flesh and blood for her
sake, and in a formless state for others. His penance
disturbed, Shiva fell in love with Parvathi. However,
the sparks of the fiery seed of Shiva were unbearable;
even the fire God Agni could not bear them; this fire
was then transported by the river Ganga into the Sara
Vana forest, where Sara Vana Bhava was born. He was
raised by the six Kartika damsels. Parvati combined
these six babies into one with six faces, ie. Shanmukha.
Shanmukha, or Kartikeya the supreme general of the devas,
led the army of the devas to victory against the demons.
The six sites at which Kartikeya sojourned while leading
his armies against Surapadman are Tiruttanikai,
Swamimalai, Tiruvavinankudi (Palani), Pazhamudirsolai,
Tirupparamkunram and Tiruchendur. All these sites have
ancient temples glorified by the tamil poems of
Tirumurugaatruppadai of the Sangam period (prior to the
3rd century CE). |
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View photos of Temple, Festival, Lake,
Yagabhumi click here |
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Madai
Vadukunda Shiva Temple |
Pooramkuli |
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P.O.Payangadi, Pin 670303, Kannur Dist., Kerala St., Tel: 0091497
2874942, 2752655, E-mail: vadukunda@gmail.com |
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Madai Sree Vadukunda Shiva Temple (Locate in google map) |
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