Kadambanatha Swamy Temple,
Kadambar Koil – Legends
Kadambar
Koil:
As per legend, once, two demons named Malayan and
Magaran were defeated by Lord Murugan during his war with Soora Padman. Both
the demons came here, worshipped Lord
Magaraleeswarar of Thirumagaral and attained immense power. They started
harassing the sages and people in the region. Sage Kashyapa was performing a
Yagna at this
place and the demons started disturbing the Yagna. Unable to bear their
disturbance, Sage Kashyapa prayed to Kadambanatha Swamy for protection. Lord
Shiva sent his son Lord Murugan to destroy the demons.
Lord Murugan successfully annihilated the demons with
his Gnana Vel (spear) at Ilayanar
Velur and the Yagna was completed without any disturbance. After the
annihilation of the demons, Lord Murugan worshipped Lord Shiva on a pradosham
day during the Valar Pirai of Tamil month Panguni at this
place. This day is celebrated in a grand scale during the Brahmotsavam
every year. As Lord Murugan (Kadamban) worshipped Lord Shiva here, Lord Shiva
came to be called as Kadambanatha Swamy and the
place came to be called as Kadambar
Koil.
Kadambar
Koil holier than Kasi:
Once, a brahmin named Gunaseelan from Pandyan kingdom died,
his son Budhisenan was going to Kasi
to immerse his father ash in Ganges as per the wish of his deceased father. He
decided to perform Sandhya Vandanam at this
place. He kept the pot containing ash in the banks of the Cheyyar river and
went to take bath in the river. He smelled fragrance of Jasmine flower from the
pot.
He opened the pot and was surprised to find that the
bones got changed to Jasmine flowers in the pot. A sacred voice was heard at
that time informing that this
place was much holier than Kasi
and instructed him to immerse the ashes here. As instructed, he immersed the
ashes in the Cheyyar river and fulfilled the wishes of his father. The
temple is ideal to perform rituals for ancestors (Pitru).
Mother
Parvathi became permanent part of Lord Shiva here:
Mother Parvathi wanted to be with Lord Shiva permanently.
To realize her wish, she requested Lord Shiva for the boon. He asked her to worship
him at Kadambar
Koil to get her wish fulfilled. Mother Parvathi left Kailasha
and worshipped Lord Shiva at Kedarnath,
Kasi,
Thiruvengadam,
Kalahasthi,
Thiruvalangadu,
and Kanchi
and eventually to Kadambar
Koil. He worshipped Lord Shiva here and her desire for being with Lord Shiva
forever got fulfilled.
Uthra
Vahini:
The Cheyyar river normally flows west to east but it flows
north to south (Uthra Vahini) at this
place. Similarly, Ganges also normally flows west to east but in Kasi
it flows north to south. Hence, this
place is considered equivalent to Kasi.
