Stories from

Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam

G. Sankaranarayanan
Divisional Signal & Telecom Engineer (Retd.)
Indian Railways
 CONTENTS
Episode
Introduction - ¶
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1 The story of how Indiran got rid of his Sin 1
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2 The story of how Airavatham, the white elephant
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3 The Story of the origin of the City of Madurai 6
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Printed and released by 4 The story of the holy incarnation of Goddess Umadevi
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on the occasion of the 6 Lord Sivan's dance at Velliambalam 12
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Manivizha 7 The story of how Gundodharan was fed 13
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of their parents 8 The story of appearance of pits full of rice and Vaigai River 14
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10 Reincarnation of Malayathu raja Pandian 16
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at Madurai 11 The Holy birth of UkkiraPandian 17
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12 The story of Ukkirapandian receiving Vel, Valai and Chendu 18
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13 The Story of how the sea was dried up by the vel 20
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14 The Story of how Indiran's Crown was shattered 21
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15 The Story of Ukkirapandiar hitting the Meru with Chendu 23
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(For private circulation only. Not for sale) 16 Lord Sivan enlightens the sages on the essence of Vedhas 26
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17 The story of Lord Somasundarar selling rubies as a trader. 28 34 The story of affixing His Rishabam Seal on the fortress 58
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18 The story in which Lord depleted the Ocean set off by 35 Lord Somasundarar providing a water kiosk in the battle field 60
Varuran on the city of Madurai 31 (
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Koodal Kaandam 37 The story of how Chola King was pushed in to a deep abyss 64
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19 The story of how Madurai Came to be known as 38 Lord Somasundarar grants an undepletable granary 65
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20 Lord Somasundarar comes as an Ommipotent Siddhar 33 litigation. (
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21 Statue of elephant chews Sugarcane 34 at Madurai
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22 The story of how Lord Somasundarar killed a rogue elephant 35 41 Lord Somasundarar comes as a firewood seller 70
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23 Lord Manifests himself as an Old man, Youth as well as 38 42 Lord Somasundarar's Letter of introduction addressed to 73
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24 Lord Natarajar Changes his dancing posture 40 43 Lord Somsundarar gifts a golden plank to Paanabhathran 75
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25 The Story of how lord helped averting injustice 42 44 Paanabhathrar's wife winning the musical contest 76
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26 The Story of how the great sins were Neutralised 45 45 Lord Somasundarar nurses the piglets 79
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27 The story of dismembering of limbs 47 46 The Piglets were made ministers of Pandian King 80
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28 The story of killing of a ferocious Serpent 49 47 Lord Somasundarar gives enlightenment to a Black Drango 81
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29 The death of the deceitful cow 50 48 A stork was bestowed with Mukthi 82
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30 Identifying men by pointing at them 51
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31 Undepleting pouch of gold given by Lord 53 49 A snake defines the boundaries of Madurai City 84
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32 The story of Lord Somasundarar Selling bangles 55 50 A war was won with the arrows of Lord Sundareswarar 85
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33. Lord teaches "Ashtamasiddhis" 56 51 Lord gifts a miraculous seat to Thamizh Sangam 86
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 Om Namasivaya
52 Gifting Dharumi a pouch of gold 88
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53 Nakkeerar gets rescued from the golden - lotus pond 90 THIRUVILAIYADAL PURANAM
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54 Nakkeerar was taught Thamizh Grammar 90 Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam is a magnificent work in Thamizh
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episodes in which Lord Sivaperuman had exhibited
55 Settling of the disputes among the Sangam Poets 91
His profound love and affection towards His devotees by donning different
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roles in order to alleviate their despair and grief. This He did through His
56 Removing the despair of the poet Idaikkadar 92
limitless powers. The Original work is a treat for those who can read and
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57 Lord Somasundarar manifests as a fisherman 93 sixty four stories in simple English for the benefit of the younger generation
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58 Lord Sivaperuman as Teacher enlightens 95 Thamizh either due to non-exposure to the beauty of the language or due to a
Thiruvathavoorar Spiritually default English-medium education. The narration has been limited to only
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59 Foxes Transformed into Horses 97 nuances. Every effort has been made to keep the language simple.
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60 Horses turned into foxes again and the flooding of Vaigai 98 Paranjothi Munivar, the author is considered to have lived in the
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61 Lord Somasundarar carries soil on his head 99 Sivaperuman he had been travelling to various shrines of Lord Sivan to
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62 Curing the mysterious fever of Pandian King 102 was instructed by Goddess Meenakshi to write this work for the benefit of the
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63 The execution of Jains 106 excellent job of it and his work is graded as one among the three great
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64 Calling Vanni Tree, well and the Lingam to appear 108
as witnesses The work is entirely of verses and of three major parts called
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Epilogue 111
These stories were said to have been narrated by Sage Agasthiar to a
group of sages. Now you are invited to read on please……

Acknowledgments

I thank the members of my family for their unflinching support in

this effort. I particularly thank my daughters-in-law who assisted me in
loading the manuscript into the system.

vi vii
 Madurai Kaandam
Episode 1 : The story of how Indiran got rid of his sin

One day, Indiran the head of Devas was in his Royal court at
Indiralokam. All Devas had assembled there including many sages.
Beautiful girls like Ramba, Urvasi and Menaka were presenting a
grand performance of songs and dance. The ambience was lovely and
enchanting. Every one was thoroughly enjoying it including Indiran.

At that time, Brahaspathi the guru of Devas came to Indiran's

court. Indiran who was totally lost in the mesmerizing performance of
the beauties, failed to take notice of his guru's visit. Resenting his
indifferent behavior, Brahaspathi left the place at once. From then on,
the beauty and prosperity of the Indiralokam started to decline. It was
due to the disrespect shown to one's guru. Realizing his blunder,
Indiran went about searching his guru to tender his apology. But he
could not locate his guru. Crestfallen, he approached Brahma the
Creator. Knowing what was going to unfold, Brahma advised Indiran
to go to a demon called Vichuva uruvan (Viswarupan in Sanskrit).
Vichuvauruvan was the son of Dhuvatta, a demon priest.
Vichuvauruvan always despised Devas. When Indiran approached
him, he said that a particular Yaaham had to be performed to restore the
past glory of the Indiralokam. Indiran readily agreed and made all
arrangements.

During the course of the Yaaham, Vichuvauruvan covertly

sought the welfare of the demons in his mind but pretended to seek the
welfare of the Indiralokam. Realizing this foul- play, Indiran became
very angry. In a fit of rage, he killed Vichuvauruvan. From that very
moment, Indiran was caught by brahmahathi dhosham (the sin of
killing unarmed person). Indiran was haunted by it day and night and
he was restless. Meanwhile Dhuvatta got the news about the death of
his son at the hands of Indiran. He was very upset and wanted to take
revenge. He conducted a big yaaham and from the homagumdam rose
a terrifying figure. It was Viruthirasuran a demon of huge size.

1
Dhuvatta ordered this demon to go and kill Indiran.
Viruthirasuran declared a war on Indiran. Indiran fought with
all his might but could not withstand the onslaught of the demon. He
ran to Brahma for advice. Brahma took him to Lord Vishnu. Lord
Vishnu said,"Indira! Your weapons are no match to Viruthirasuran.
You go to Sage Thatheesi. At the time of churning of the Ocean of milk
(Parkkadal), the Devas and Asuras were asked to deposit their
weapons with Sage Thatheesi. Subsequently no one claimed them
back for long. Fearing the possibility of them falling into the wrong
hands, the sage swallowed them all. Those weapons merged with his
spinal column. You request the sage to give his spinal column and
make a Vajrayutham out of it. He is a great soul who does not turn
down anybody's request".
Indiran thanked Lord Vishnu and went to Sage Thatheesi.
After hearing Indiran, Thatheesi agreed to sacrifice his life for the sake
of Indiran and other Devas. Through his yogic powers he separated his
soul from his body. He attained moksha leaving behind his mortal
remains. Indiran got a strong weapon (Vajrayutham) made out of the
spine of the sage. He then challenged Viruthirasuran and fought a
bitter battle. After neutralizing the demon's various weapons, Indiran
took his Vajrayutham. On seeing that Viruthirasuran lost his nerves
and ran for his life. He dived into the ocean and plunged to its
unfathomable depths. Indiran pursued him but could not trace him.
Indiran sought the help of Brahma again. Brahma advised to seek the
help of Sage Agasthiar.
Agasthiar listened to Indiran's plight and promised to help
him. He shrunk the ocean into a droplet of water and drank it. This
exposed Viruthirasuran who was sitting atop a hill and doing penance.
Without hesitation Indiran killed the demon with his Vajrayutham.
Though he vanquished his enemy, Indiran was caught by the
brahmahathi again. It dogged him and haunted him mercilessly. To
escape from its torture Indiran hid himself inside the stem of a lotus
flower in a pond. Without Indiran the Indiralokam lost its glory .
2 3
Meanwhile a king called Nakushan became eligible to the
throne of Indiran by performing a number of yaahams. He was
received by Devas with all festivities at Indiralokam. But the mean-
minded Nakushan desired to meet first Indirani, the beautiful wife of
Indiran-in exile. Lust blinded him. Being the head of Indiralokam, his
palanquin was carried by Saptharishis to the palace of Indirani.
Unmindful of this he ordered the rishis to go faster. His foolish
behavior irked the rishis and he was cursed to become a serpent.
Without a king to rule them, Devas were worried and they went to
their guru and represented this. Brahaspathi, with his divine insight,
understood the whereabouts of Indiran. He took the Devas to the pond
where Indiran was hiding inside the lotus and called out. Indiran came
out and fell on the feet of his guru, seeking apology for his mistake .
Guru magnanimously forgave him and asked him to go to earth and
worship Lord Sivaperuman at various shrines to get rid of his
brahmahathi.
Indiran obeyed and started off on a pilgrimage. After
worshipping at various places, he happened to reach Kadambavanam
in south. As soon as he entered that forest, his brahmahathi left him.
Pleasantly surprised, he consulted his guru and the guru said that it was
the place where his brahmahathi was destined to be removed.
Kadambavanam was a lovely place where Mother Nature was at her
pristine glory. There was greenery everywhere and the birds were
chanting Sivanamam. Thrilled by the ambience, Indiran asked his
men to explore the area. They came and reported that they had sighted
a naturally grown Sivalingam under a kadamba tree adjoining a
beautiful pond. Indiran rushed there and was overwhelmed by the
scene. He prostrated in front of the lingam and worshipped. He took
bath in the pond and looked around to gather the choicest flowers to
offer to Lord Sivan. Instantly there appeared numerous golden colored
lotus flowers in the pond. He collected them and ordered material from
the Indiralokam itself for performing a grand pooja. He asked
Viswakarma the craftsman of Devalokam to construct a fabulous
vimanam for the lingam. At once, a magnificent vimanam studded
with numerous gems and supported by eight elephants, two in each
side, descended from the heaven. Then Indiran performed a grand
pooja as per the scriptures to the lingam.
Pleased with his worship, Lord Sivaperuman appeared in front
of him and asked Indiran what he wanted. Gratitude filling his heart,
Indiran requested that he be granted the boon of worshipping Lord at
kadambavanam forever. Lord said," Worshipping me here on the full
moon day of Chitrai month every year (Chitra Pournami day) is
equivalent to worshipping me through- out the year. So you come here
on that day every year to worship and now you return to your
Indiralokam." Then He disappeared. Indiran worshipped again the
Golden- lotus pond (Potramaraikkulam) and the vimanam sheltering
the lingam. Then he returned to Indiralokam.
4 5
Episode 2: The story of how Airavatham, the white elephant got
salvation from the curse
Sage Dhurvasar was rewarded with a golden lotus flower by
Lord Sivan one day. The sage was very happy and carried that flower
to Devalokam. At that time, Devalokam was celebrating the victory of
Indiran over Asuras. Indiran was sitting atop his royal elephant, the
Airavatham, coming as part of a huge procession. Music, dance and
other festivities were on. Devas and rishis were there to greet Indiran.
Dhurvasar also thought it fit to greet Indiran with the golden lotus
flower he got from Lord Sivan. But when he offered the invaluable
flower, Indiran received it with one hand, still sitting atop his elephant.
As if this was not enough, he placed the flower on the head of the
elephant. When Indiran himself did not realize the value of that flower,
how elephant could? It took the flower with its trunk, threw it on the
ground and trampled over it.
Sage Dhurvasar became very angry and he exploded,“ Indira!
How dare you showed such a disrespect. That was the flower worn by
none other than Lord Parameswaran. He gave it to me and I gave it to
you. Your elephant further insulted by trampling over it. You
recklessly forgot that the position you enjoy was the boon given to you
by Lord Sivan. Let your head be shattered by a Pandian king and your
white elephant be turned into a wild elephant!” That curse made
everybody to tremble. All Devas pacified the sage and pleaded for
mercy. Dhurvasar relented and modified his curse thus: “The danger to
Indiran 's head will pass off shattering his crown only and the elephant
will regain its status after a hundred years.”
Airavatham was turned into a black wild elephant. It wandered
here and there for a long time and by chance reached the periphery of
Kadambavanam. By then hundred years had passed. At
kadambavanam it saw the golden-lotus pond and the magnificent
vimanam . Its good senses returned and it took bath in the pond. When
it got out of the water, it regained its colour and status. It had turned
into Airavatham again. Joy and humility filling its mind, it started to
worship Lord Sivan inside the Vimanam. Lord appeared and asked the

elephant what boon it wanted. Airavatham knelt down and pleaded,
“ Oh Lord! You have been so much merciful to me. Please permit me to
support your vimanam along with the other eight elephants”. Lord
smiled and said,” You are the Royal elephant of Indiran. Go and serve
him”
Airavatham was reluctant to leave the place. But then obeying
the orders, it went back to Indiralokam after creating a pond called
“Airavatha theertham” at kadambavanam.
Episode 3 : The story of the origin of the city of Madurai
The king Kulasekhara Pandian was ruling the Pandian
kingdom with Manavoor (situated east to kadambavanam) as his
capital. At Manavoor there lived a trader by name Dhananjayan. He
was very noble at heart. He was also a devotee of Lord Siva. By virtue
of his trade he used to travel a lot. One day at dusk he was returning
home. When he reached the fringes of the kadambavanam it had
become dark and he was sure that it would not be possible to cross the
forest in darkness. At that very moment, he sighted the beautiful
vimanam and the golden- lotus pond nearby. He rushed there and to his
immense joy, found Lord Sivalingam under the fabulous vimanam.
After worshipping the Lord, he decided to spend the night there itself.
That was a Monday. At midnight, what unfolded in front of his
eyes was stunning. All devas descended at the spot and started
performing elaborate sivapooja to Lord Somasundarar. Dhananjayan
was so lucky that apart from witnessing that pooja, he was assisting the
devas too. It was a great privilege bestowed on him because of his
devotion. The pooja went on throughout the night and the devas
disappeared at dawn. Dhananjayan returned home and he was
desperate to narrate the incident to someone.
6 7
He decided to share his experience with the king himself. The
king Kulasekhara Pandian was astonished and decided to visit the
kadambavanam on the following day. But that night itself he had a
wonderful dream in which Lord Somasundarar appeared as a siddhar
and ordered the king to construct a new city at the site where
Dhananjayan witnessed the rare sight.
Next morning the king along with his men went to
kadambavanam and worshipped Lord Somasundarar. He ordered to
clear the forest, level the ground and to prepare the area for the
construction of the new city. One day when the king was discussing
how to go about establishing the city, Lord Sivan himself came to the
king's court as the siddhar. As the king was already familiar with the
appearance of the siddhar, he welcomed him and paid tributes.
The siddhar then advised the king and others in-detail about planning
the city. Then he disappeared. The king followed the siddhar's
instructions meticulously. First, a beautiful temple was constructed
around the glittering vimanam, with separate sanctum sanctorum for
goddess and other deities as per Aagama sastras. Then, around the
temple wide streets and lanes were provided to house mandapams,
choultries, parks and ponds. There was a beautiful palace for the king
also.
When all the works were completed, the king prayed Lord
Somasundarar to bless the city. The Lord was amused and made a few
drops of the nectar (Amudham) be sprinkled from the crescent on His
head, over the city. The city was instantly purified and came to be
known as “Madhuranagar” (later became Madurai)
The king arranged to get Adhisaiva Brahmins from the city of
Kaasi, provided them with homes at Maduranagar and directed them
to perform daily pooja and rituals at the temple of Somasundarar. The
city flourished well and became a symbol of prosperity and divinity.
After Kulasekhara pandian, his son Malayathuvaja pandian
took the reins of the Pandian kingdom.
Episode 4 : The story of the holy incarnation of Goddess Umadevi his subjects. People were extremely happy.
as Thadaathagai Piraattiar
The baby girl was named Thadaathagai and as she grew, she
Pandian Malayathuvajan was a great scholar, noble at heart, became more and more beautiful. She quickly learnt whatever taught
compassionate towards his subjects and above all a true devotee of to her. She attained proficiency in Vedhas and other sastras. She could
Lord Somasundarar of Madurai. His wife, Kaanchanamaalai was the learn all the sixty four art forms very easily. The King arranged to train
daughter of the Chola king. The Royal couple was happily married. her in warfare too. She mastered the handling of weapons, horse ride,
But there was an undercurrent of sorrow in their lives, as they were not elephant ride and chariot ride. Thadaathagai's matchless beauty,
blessed with a child. Not having a successor to the throne worried the excellent wisdom, fine character and immense courage were the talk
king very much. So he decided to perform a number of of the Pandian Kingdom and beyond. People were very proud of their
Aswamedhayaahams. He completed ninety nine of them. In the event princess.
of him completing one more, that would have made him eligible to
become Indiran, the king of Indiralokam. This fact was not palatable Malayathuvaja Pandian was very much pleased by
to the then incumbent Indiran. He did not want a competitor to his Thadaathagai's achievements and decided to handover the throne to
position. So, he appeared in front of Pandian and said, ”Oh King! If her. All arrangements were underway. The city of Madurai was
you perform Puthrakameshti yaaham you will be blessed with a bedecked so nicely that it resembled Devalokam. Invitees poured in
child.” The king accepted his advice. He abandoned the 100th from all directions. On the auspicious day chosen, the princess
Aswamedha yaaham and started Puthrakameshti yaaham instead. Thadaathagai was crowned as the Queen of Pandian Kingdom. She
ruled the Kingdom admirably. All of the people were very happy. After
As the yaaham was in progress, one day there appeared some time, Malayathuvaja Pandian passed away.
suddenly a very brilliant light in the middle of the fire (agni) in the
homagundam. Everyone around including the king and the queen
watched in awe. To their utter surprise a beautiful girl of three years
stepped out of the flames. She went and sat on the lap of the queen. The
royal couple was overwhelmed by emotion. Their prayers had been
answered. Goddess Umadevi herself had willingly appeared as a child
to alleviate their sorrow. But, then there was a discomfort. The girl
child was having three breasts on her bosom instead of two. The king
and queen were upset over that. At that time, there arose a divine voice
from the sky. It said “ Oh King ! Do not worry. Bring her up and teach
her everything befitting an heiress. At the appropriate age, when she
meets her husband-to-be, the extra breast will disappear”. The King
heaved a sigh of relief and ordered to celebrate the arrival of the child.

He went to the temple with the queen and the child to worship
Lord Somasundarar. He showered gifts lavishly on everybody.
He ordered release of prisoners and abolished several taxes levied on

8 9
 Episode 5: The marriage of Thadaathagai Pirattiar
Under the rule of Queen Thadaathagai, the kingdom flourished
very well. Meanwhile she attained marriageable age. Her mother
Kaanchanamaalai, as every mother would, became concerned about
finding a suitable bridegroom for her daughter. But Queen
Thadaathagai had different plans. She wanted to conquer all other
kingdoms in the world. She led a huge army along with her trusted
ministers like Sumathi. Unable to withstand the power of her army, the
kings of other kingdoms either surrendered voluntarily or conceded
defeat after the battle. After defeating the kings on earth, she set her
eyes on Indiralokam. But Indiran ran away deserting his kingdom
even before the battle. Piratti grabed his riches.
Finally her majestic army reached Mount Kailash.
Nandhidevar, the chief of boothganam who guarded Kailash learnt
about the arrival of the queen. He ordered boothaganam to engage her
army. But the boothaganam could not stand for long against the valour
of the queen and her forces. This was conveyed to Lord Sivaperuman.
He smiled and said that He Himself would come to the battle field. A
little later, he stood there in the peak of his charm, facing Thadaathagai
Pirattiar. They looked at each other. Mother Goddess could not take
her eyes off Lord Sivan. At that very moment, Piratti's extra breast
disappeared. That sensation brought about a sea-change in her
attitude. The brave warrior in her gave way to wonderful feminine
personality, making her to blush. She blissfully surrendered to
romantic feelings. The elderly minister Sumathi who accompanied
her, recollected the message of the divine voice that arose at the time of
manifestation of Piratti from the homagundam. He informed her that
Lord Sivan who was standing in front of her was indeed her would-be
–husband. Those sweet words further melted her heart. Lord
Sivaperuman addressed her," Thadaathagai, I was closely watching
your victories ever since you left Madurai. I will come to Madurai on
Monday next, to marry you." Pirattiar reluctantly left His company
and returned to Madurai with her forces. Knowing what had
happened, Kaanchanamaalai was overjoyed.
10
Arrangements were underway for the marriage. Invitations
were sent out to various kings and dignitaries in all directions. They
were too happy to participate in the wedding and arrived in large
numbers. People of Madurai decorated the city in every conceivable
manner. They felt as if it was a marriage in their own household. It was
the most luxurious wedding arrangements ever made, befitting the
divine couple.
On the day of marriage, Brahma, Vishnu and Rudran
alongwith other devas arrived at Kailash. Nandhidevar announced
their arrival to Lord Sivan who was kind enough to welcome them.
Kuberan started the work of putting on the 'wedding make-up' for
Lord. Afterwards the bridegroom mounted the rishabam. Surrounded
by all devas, rishis and boothaganam, He reached the city of Madurai.
He was received with much fanfare and taken to the Royal palace.
At the door Kaanchanamaalai welcomed Him with a posse of maids
carrying auspicious things. Bowing at His feet, she expressed her great
desire of offering the hand of Thadaathagai Piratti to Him and
requested Him to take over the reins of Pandian kingdom as well.Lord
Sivan acknowledged and accompanied the royal staff to the
beautifully and tastefully decorated venue of the wedding.
Inside the palace, maids were busy putting on the bridal make
–up for Thadaathagai Pirattiar. Exquisite silk garments and fabulous
jewellary adorned her. Then she was escorted to the venue by
Goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswathi. On the wedding dais she sat
beside Lord Sivan. The scene of God and Goddess sitting together as
bridegroom and bride was a feast to the eyes of all. Words could hardly
describe the splendor and grandeur of it.
As Brahma conducted the marriage proceedings, Lord Vishnu
offered the hand of Thadaathagai pirattiar to Lord Sivan. Then Lord
Sivan tied the knot and the divine wedding was over, bringing great
glory to the city of Madurai, the Pandian kingdom and the people.
Lord Sivan took over the charge of Pandian kingdom as
Sundarapandiar.
11
 Episode 6: Lord Siva's dance at Velliambalam (Dais of silver)
As soon as his marriage with Thadaathagai Pirattiar was over,
Sundara Pandiar invited all those assembled for a grand feast.
Everyone took bath in the golden- lotus pond and returned. Among
them were the sages Pathanjali and Vyakrapathar. They bowed to Lord
and submitted that they were of the habit of taking food only after
worshipping Lord Siva's cosmic dance at Chidambaram. Pleased with
their devotion, Lord said, that he would perform the dance at Madurai
itself for their sake.
Everyone reached the temple.
There appeared a beautiful
elevated dais of silver with a
platform made of Rubies. On that
platform arose the dazzling figure
of Lord Sivan. Setting his right leg
on the back of Muyalagan and
lifting his left leg in air, He
performed the divine cosmic
dance. People couldn't take their
eyes off that wonderful event as
they watched.
Both the sages, on whose
behalf the great dance was
performed, were deeply moved by
the boundless mercy of the Lord.
They worshipped him singing hymns. The Lord asked them what they
wanted. They requested that the divine dance be there forever. Further
they pleaded that those witnessed the dance that day be granted the
boon of “no rebirth” in the world. The Lord conceded. Everyone was
immensly pleased and showered praises on the sages for their
matchless love and concern for others.
12
Episode 7: The story of how Gundodharan was fed
Thadaathagai Pirattiar had made elaborate arrangements for
the wedding feast. All those who assembled for the marriage were fed
to their satisfaction and they departed after greeting the divine couple.
However there remained a problem. There was a lot of food- stuff left
over even after feeding everybody. The cooks and the attendants
brought this to the notice of Thadaathagai Pirattiar. She reassured
them and went to her husband SundaraPandiar. She explained to Him
the strange incident of mounds of food left unconsumed.
Sundarapandiar smiled and decided to enact a divine drama.
He turned back and glnced at Gundodharan, a bootham who was
holding the royal umbrella. From that very moment Gundodharan
started feeling great hunger. There was virtually a flame inside his
stomach. Unable to bear its intensity, he fell on the feet of
Sundarapandiar and prayed to save him from the hunger. Lord
addressed Thadaathagai Pirattiar, "Thadaathagai, you may give a
handful of the left-over food to this starving Gundodharan." Pirattiar
ordered her attendants to take Gundodharan to the kitchen. On the very
sight of the food, Gundodharan ran towards it and started to swallow a
variety of food items. In no time the cooked items vanished into his
stomach. But his hunger did not subside. He then started to eat raw
vegetables, fruits, spices, milk, curds and ghee. Every one was
astonished. Some of the maids even felt a deep fear inside. They ran to
Pirattiar and reported what they witnessed. Pirattiar felt a little
uncomfortable and came to Sundarapandiar. He mockingly asked her
whether He could order some more boothaganam to consume
the food. Pirattiar said,” Sir, even after eating
every thing, Gundodharan's hunger is not
subsided. There is nothing left for anybody
else.” At that time Gundodharan came there
and said that hunger was killing him indeed
and pleaded for mercy. The poor bootham
was exhausted and spent up with his strange
predicament.
13
Episode 8: The Story of appearance of Pits- ful of rice and Vaigai River
Taking pity on the plight of Gundodharan, Sundarapandiar
thought of Annapoorani in his mind for a moment. In no time several
pits appeared on the ground in all directions. Each pit started to
overflow with cooked rice mixed with curds. Sundarapandiar
affectionately directed Gundodharan to eat the curds- rice as much as
he desired. Gundodharan dipped his huge hands into the pits of rice
and ate to his satisfaction. Soon his hunger disappeared but a great
thirst for water took over. He ran here and there and drank water from
wells, ponds and lakes till they dried out. His thirst was not subsided.
He ran back to Sundarapandiar and reported his new problem.
Sundarapandiar directed the river Ganges worn by him in his matted
hair to come as a new river to Madurai. Obeying him, Ganges
immediately started to flow as a great river towards Madurai. She
rolled forcefully bringing all wealths alongwith. As the flood reached
Madurai, Sundarapandiar asked Gundodharan to quench his thirst. He
immediately entered into the river and squated, stretching his hands
bothsides to block the flow of the floods. He then opened his huge
mouth and drank the water till his thirst was subsided. He, then
returned to Sundarapandiar and prayed paying rich tributes to him.
Sundarapandiar was pleased and made Gundodharan the chief of
boothganam.
The river Ganges which flowed to Madurai was named as
Vaigai and was known by various other names such as Sivagangai,
Vegavathi, Sivagnana theertham and Kiruthamaalai
14
Episode 9: The confluence of seven seas at Madurai
Lord Siva himself was thus ruling Pandian Kingdom as
Sundarapandiar. Everyday many sages, learned scholars and people of
wisdom kept visiting the palace to worship Sundarapandiar. One day,
sage Gouthamar visited Madurai. After paying tributes to
Sundarapandiar, he went to meet Kanchanamalai the elderly queen.
She welcomed him with all devotion and during their conversation,
enquired the sage about ways and means to get rid of the cycle of birth
and rebirth in this world. The sage replied, “Oh queen, you are so
fortunate and you must have performed great penance in your
previous births. As a result you have got Mother Goddess herself as
your daughter and Lord Sivan, as your son-in-law, in this birth.
However I will answer your question. Scriptures speak about of three
types of penance (Thavam). The Thavam performed by mind is called
“Maanatham”. It involves thinking of doing charity, speaking truth
alone, tolerating the wrong doings done to oneself by others, always in
union with Lord Sivan mentally and controlling the five senses. The
next Thavam is performed by mouth that is using mouth, called
“Vaasikam”. It involves chanting Panchaatcharam (Namasivaya),
mantras from Vedhas, upanishads and singing hymns and devotional
songs. The third is the Thavam done by one's limbs that is physically
done. It is called “Kaayikam' which includes performing pooja, going
to temples, punya shetrams, taking physical exertion in doing temple
renovation and construction. Finally, taking holy dip in Holy rivers. It
is much more special to take bath in seas because all rivers finally join
the seas”.
On hearing such elaborate explanation from sage Gouthamar,
Kanchanamalai became very much interested to take bath in the sea.
She conveyed her desire to her daughter, Thadathagai Pirattiar. She
inturn requested Sundarapandiar to help fulfilling her mother's desire.
The most benevolent Lord said, “Why one sea? All the seven seas will
be here at Madurai”. When God himself desires, can anything be held
back? The very next moment water of all the seven seas confluenced in
a big pond at Madurai. It was a great sight to behold. The multicolored
water rising and falling in waves made everyone to be astonished.
15
 Episode 10 : Reincarnation of Malayathuvaja Pandian
Sundarapandiar and Thadathagai Pirattiar came to the pond in
which all the seven seas had joined. The environment was so much
enchanting. The Lord turned to Pirattiar and said, “As per my order all
the seven seas have arrived to this place. You may invite your mother
to take bath”. She obliged and brought her mother.
Kanchanamalai consulted exponents regarding the rules of
taking bath in seas. They replied that rules demanded that a woman
should take bath in sea holding the hand of either her husband or son.
If it was not possible, she must take a dip holding the tail of a calf of
cow. On hearing those words, Kanchanamalai's heart sank. She was so
sad that she was left with no alternative except holding the calf's tail.
She didn't have a son and her husband was already dead.
Thadathagai Pirattiar became concerned at her mother's
despair. She went and conveyed it to Sundarapandiar. At once
Sundarapandiar thought of Malayathuvaja Pandian who was in
swargalokam. The moment he understood the Lord's desire, he came
down to earth in a divine Ratham. He was extremly happy to meet his
son-in-law and daughter. Unable to believe her eyes Kanchanamalai
also came nearby. Sundarapandiar advised his father-il-law to take
bath in the pond along with his beloved wife. Malayathuvajan and
Kanchanamalai took bath together happily. As soon as they took bath,
their wordly links were broken and they attained heavenly form with
the grace of Lord Sivan. At that moment, a glittering Ratham
descended from heavens and landed. Sundarapandiar directed
Malayathuvaja Pandian and Kanchanamalai to board the Ratham. As
they did so, the Ratham ascended to heavens. Who can match their
luck?
Thadathagai Pirattiar was very happy at the turn of events. She
said with great adoration, “Swami, my mother wanted to take bath in
the sea. You have arranged all the seven seas to come to this place. You
have fulfilled her desire by bringing back my father to take bath
together. Above all, with your grace, you have granted my parents the
matchless gift of viewing your Sivasoroopam and finally the
moksham.”
Lord acknowledged and smiled.
16
Episode 11: The holy birth of Ukkirapandian
Sundarapandiar's governance of the kingdom was a great boon
to all. The graceful Lord took the human form to marry Thadaathagai
Pirattiar and remained so to rule the Pandian Kingdom and brought
about a great legacy to the dynasty. With abundant benevolence he
wished that the dynasty should flourish further. His divine will made
Lord Murugan himself to manifest as an embryo within Thadaathagai
Pirattiar. Like anyother woman, Mother Goddess also experienced
changes in her body as the preganancy advanced. As per Royol
customs, everymonth various ceremonies were held. On an auspicious
Monday, combined with Thiruvathirai star, a baby boy was born,
accompanied by heavenly music and shower of flowers. Thadaathagai
Pirattiar embraced her son with great love and handed him to
Sundarapandiar.
Vishnu, Brahma and other Devas arrived with their consorts.
Kings of various other kingdoms also reached Madurai to have a look
at the child. Everyone was stunned at the looks of the beautiful child.
They talked among themselves and concluded that it was
Murugaperuman himself taken birth as the royal infant. The joy of
people of Madurai was boundless. On an auspicious occasion,
Sundarapandiar named the child as “Ukkiravarman”.
The baby grew and at the age of five, Sundarapandiar
performed “Upanayanam” for the child. As per his order, the
Devaguru Brahapathi himself performed the role of the Teacher. He
taught the Prince all sastras. He also trained him in handling of
weapons, horse ride, Elephant ride and riding of chariots. At the age of
eight, Ukkirapandian mastered whatever taught to him. His parents
watched happily his progress. As he turned sixteen, he was the most
handsome and brave prince, with unblemished character. There was
enough indications that one day he would be the greatest emperor,
famous for his bravery, benevolence, wisdom and virtues.
Sundarapandiar noticed all these with satisfaction. He decided to
perform marriage to Ukkirapandian first and then to crown him as the
King. He started consultations with his ministers and learned elite.
17
 Episode 12: The story of Ukkirapandiar receiving Vel, Valai and
Chendu
Sundarapandiar's ministers and statesmen went into a huddle
to choose a suitable bride. Their efforts were rewarded when they
unanimously concluded that the daughter of King Somasekharan was
the right choice. He ruled from Manavoor and his daughter
Kanthimathi was known to be very beautiful and a perfect match for
Ukkirapandiar in every count.
That night Somasekharan had a dream in which Lord Sivan
appeared and advised him to get his daughter married to the son of
Sundarapandiar. King Somasekharan was extremely happy. After due
consultations with his ministers on the following day, he started off to
Madurai along with his beloved daughter. He was accompanied by his
ministers and Royal staff. At the same time, Sundarapandiar's
ministers, men and the representatives of the Pandian family started
towards Manavoor. Both the parties met midway. Sundarapandiar's
ministers proposed the hand of Princess Kanthimathi to Prince
Ukkiravarman. Somasekharan readily agreed stating that he had been
instructed by Lord Sivan to do so. His consent was carried by
messengers fast to Madurai. Subsequently, Somasekharan and
Kanthimathi reached Madurai. Sundarapandiar welcomed them and
arranged for their stay in another palace. Scholars worked out the most
auspicious day for the marriage. Invitations were sent out to various
other kings. People of Madurai started decorating the city
enthusiastically.
As the day of marriage approached, kings from all directions
were reaching Madurai. Sages, scholars, poets and other exponents
arrived. Brahma, Vishnu ,Indiran and other devas came to witness the
marriage. Princess Kanthimathi's beauty was further enhanced.
Though her beauty was beyond words, Brahaspathi the Devaguru
described her beauty from her head to toes. Those who heard him were
mesmerised. Meanwhile Ukkirapandiar and Kanthimathi were being
adorned by a variety of ornaments, jewellery and clothings. They were
then escorted to the marriage dais. King Somasekharan with his wife
18
washed the feet of Ukkirapandiar, showered flower petals and offered
his daughtr's hand in marriage to Ukkirapandiar. Then with the
chanting of manthras homam was performed. Ukkirapandiar tied the
thirumangalyam around the neck of Kanthimathi. Afterwards there
was a grand procession of the couple through the streets of the city, to
facilitate the public to have a glimpse of the prince and the princess.
The couple went to the temple to worship Lord Somasundarar and
Goddess Angayarkanni. Sundarapandiar was gracefully present to
bid farewell to all the invitees later.
One day Sundarapandiar called Ukkirapandian and said,
“Dear son, in future, Indiran and sea god will become your enemies.
The great Mount Meru also will exhibit arrogance out of pride. At
those instances, use this, Valai (a kind of curved ring like weapon) to
shatter the crown of Indiran, use this vel(spear) to tease the sea and use
this chendu(club like weapon) to hit on the peak of Meru”. He handed
over the three weapons and blessed Ukkirapandian.
Subsequently, on an auspicious day, He crowned Ukkirapandian
as the King of Pandian Kingdom. He instructed the ministers and
others to safeguard Ukkirapandian at all times. He also advised his son
to follow the advice of his ministers and great persons while ruling his
Kingdom.
Then he renounced the Royal attire and went into the Temple
along with Thadaathagai Pirattiar. Truly following his father's advice,
Ukkirapandian was ruling the Kingdom in an exemplary manner.
19
 Episode 13: The story of how the sea was dried up by the Vel
King Ukkirapandiar's rule was a golden period. He performed
many yaahams for the benefit of his subjects. He completed ninety six
Aswamwdhayahams. Indiran was upset over this feat out of jealousy.
He surmised that it was the prosperity of the Pandian kingdom that
facilitated Ukkirapandiar's achievements. He summoned Varunan, the
sea-god and ordered him to rise as a deluge to destroy Madurai.
Varunan, without thinking of the consequences, rose as a great
tsunami and approached Madurai. It was midnight. People of Madurai
were fast asleep. Ukkirapandiar was also sleeping in his palace. Lord
Somasundarar appeared as a Siddhamoorthy in his dream and
said,”Pandia! The sea water is rising as a mountain and approaching
your capital city to destroy it. You go and throw your Vel on it and
defeat it.”
Ukkirapandiar woke up and thanked Lord. He immediately
summoned his ministers and proceeded to face the oncoming flood of
sea water. Siddhamoorthy appeared in person there and advised
Ukkirapandiar to use his Vel (given by Sundarapandiar) without delay.
Ukkirapandiar took his Vel and threw it on the waves. The moment the
tip of the Vel touched the water, the water started to recede, shrunk and
dried up. The sea lost its power. Indiran's plan met with defeat.
At that moment, the Siddhar disappeared. Instead, Lord Siva
appeared with Umadeviyar.Ukkirapandian worshipped with great
reverence. Lord then entered the temple. Ukkirapandian returned to
his palace. He offered a lot of fertile lands as donation to the temple.
20
Episode 14: The story of how Indiran's crown was shattered
During the rule of Ukkirapandian, once there was severe
drought. There was no rain. Not only the Pandian Kingdom but also
the Chola and Chera Kingdoms were facing the famine. People
suffered a lot. All the three kings decided among themselves to seek
the advice of sage Agasthiar. They went to his abode, the Pothigai hills
and met him. They explained the conditions prevailing in their
Kingdoms due to failure of monsoons. Agasthiar analysed the
planetary position obtaining at that period and then said, "Oh Kings,
the present position of planets is the root cause for the drought. There
will not be any rains for twelve more years. So, the best course for you
will be to approach Indiran who controls rains ".
The Kings asked the Sage how to go to Indiralokam. The Sage
advised them to perform “Somavaara vratham” through which they
could get the benevolence of Lord Sivan to help them reach
Indiralokam. He also explained in detail the method of performing
Somavara vratham. The Kings listened carefully and returned to
Madurai duly thanking the Sage for his guidance.
They took bath in the Golden- Lotus pond and worshipped Lord
Somasundarar and Angayarkanni ammai. Then, with great reverence
observed the Somavara vratham and reaped the benefits. It em-
powered them to travel in space on their way to meet Indiran. Knowing
their intentions, Indiran arranged three seats at a lower level than his
own in his court. He showed the seats and asked the Kings to be seated.
While Cheran and Cholan occupied those seats, Ukkirapandiar
climbed the steps and sat by the side of Indiran himself on his throne.
Though irked by that action, Indiran covered up his indignation and
asked the Kings their purpose of visit. Cheran and Cholan appealed to
Indiran for rains, explaining the despair of their subjects due to severe
drought. Indiran was quite pleased and promised them copious rains in
their Kingdoms. Cheran and Cholan happily returned.
After they left Indiran was surprised to note Ukkirapandiar still
sitting with pride and not requesting rains in his Kingdom. Indiran
21
wanted to hurt the pride of Pandian. He ordered a huge garland of
pearls. The garland was so heavy that it had to be carried by several
musclemen. Indiran asked Ukkirapandian to wear the garland
specially made for him. To everybody's surprise, Ukkirapandiar
effortlessly took the garland and wore it on his neck. Ignoring the
perplexed Indiran, Ukkirapandiar returned to Madurai.
As promised, Indiran blessed Chera and Chola Kingdoms with
rains. Pandian Kingdom continued to suffer from drought. One day
during the course of hunting wild animals on the slopes of Pothigai
hills, Ukkirapandian noticed four huge clouds namely
Putkalaavartham, Sankaaritham, Dronam and Kalamuki hovering
over the hills. They belonged to Indiran. Ukkirapandiar immediately
caught hold of them, chained them and brought to Madurai. There he
imprisoned them.
Learning what happened to his clouds, Indiran became very angry.
He was already fuming at the behaviour of Ukkirapandian who sat
equally with him, and the way he blunted the Indiran's plot to
submerge Madurai in sea water. Further, his mean attempt to
cowdown Ukkirapandian with the huge garland of pearls also failed.
As if these were not enough, Ukkirapandian had imprisoned the
heavenly clouds. Infuriated at these,Indiran decided to wage a war
with Ukkirapandian, and ordered his forces to surround Madurai.
Spies carried that information to the Pandian king.
Ukkirapandian roared like a teased lion. He led his men of valour
against Indiran. A fierce battle followed. There was heavy casualty on
either side. Indiran's forces could not face the onslaught of
Ukkirapandian and his army. They were forced to retreat. Indiran
decided to use divine weapons from his armoury against Pandian. But
Ukkirapandian easily neutralised them with his own divine weapons.
Finally Indiran threw his Vajrayutham. Pandian took out the Valai
given by his father and threw it forcefully on Indiran. The Valai
blocked Vajrayutham and went further to shatter the crown of Indiran.
Indiran was put to shame and embarrassed. He ran away from the
battle field, thanking Lord Sivan for saving his head from
22
Pandian's Valai.
Later, Indiran sent a messenger to Pandian to convey his
willingness to provide copious rains to Pandian Kingdom but
demanded in turn the release of the four clouds. Pandian suspected the
genuineness of the offer and declined to release the clouds. At that
time, a good samaritan who was also a close friend of Indiran offered
himself as a hostage until Indiran provided rains. On that
Ukkirapandian agreed to set free the clouds. Indiran also kept his word
and sent in rains to fill every pool, pond, lake and river in the Pandian
kingdom.Prosperity returned and the people of the kingdom were the
happiest lot again.
Episode 15:The story of Ukkirapandiar hitting the Meru with
Chendu (club like weapon)
Ukkirapandiar continued to observe the Somavara vratham as
directed by sage Agasthiar. As a result, Queen Kanthimathi became
pregnant and in due course delivered a baby boy. Ukkirapandiar was
very happy and named the child, as Veerapandiyan. He arranged to
teach his son in proper age, all sasthras including weapon handling,
warfare etc. befitting a prince. Veerapandian was very adept in
learning everything and Ukkirapandiar was glad to note his son's
progress.
Once again due to unfavourable planetary position, the
Pandian kingdom faced drought. The rains failed. All water bodies
were dried up. All forms of life were tormented by hunger.
Ukkirapandiar consulted the astrologers. They said that rains could
23
not be expected for another year. The king became so sad and went to
the temple to request Lord Somasundarar for his benevolence. He
made a tearful appeal to Lord to save his subjects. But Lord remained
silent. Crerstfallen, Pandian returned to his palace.
That night, he slept on the floor rejecting the comforts of the
cot and cushions. In his dream, Lord Sivan appeared as Siddha
Moorthy. He addressed the King, “Do not keep worrying about the
drought. Rains will not favour in near future. To mitigate the despair
and poverty of your citizens, you proceed to the great Mount Meru. A
voluminous treasure has been kept hidden in a cave there. Win over
Meru by striking at its peaks with your Chendu and ask to show the
treasure. Take the treasure as much as you want, close the cave and seal
it. Return to Madurai with the treasure”.
Ukkirapandiar woke up and recollected the dream. Early in the
morning he went to the temple to thank the Lord for his guidance. Then
he ordered his forces and set off on his long journey towards Mount
Meru. A huge army accompanied him. Enroute, he crossed Chola
kingdom, Thondai Naadu, Karunada Naadu, Telugu Naadu etc. and
reached Malava Naadu, then Virada Naadu. Going further he reached
the city of Kasi, took holy dip in Ganga river and worhsipped Lord
Viswanathar. From there he continued his journey and went past
Baratha Khandam to reach Himalayas. Travelling past Kimburada
Khandam, Yema Koodam, and Arivaruda Khandam, he reached
Ilaviruda khandam. Finally, there arose the glorious mountain of Meru
in front of him. There the river Sambu was flowing.
Ukkirapandiar went alone towards the Meru and called out,
“Oh Meru, the King of Mountains! You were the formidable bow in
the hands of my father Siva peruman. So great and tall you are, that
planets and stars go round your peaks. You are also the abode of devas.
Please come”. But Meru did not respond out of its pride and arrogance.
Pandian felt embarrassed and angered. He took out his Chendu given
by Sundara pandiar and dealt a severe blow with it on the peak of
Meru. It made the great mountain to tremble. Its peaks were blown off
and golden specs and gems flew in all directions. After receiving such
24
a blow, Meru appeared before Ukkirapandiar as a figure with eight
hands, four heads and with a white umbrella above its heads. Its pride
and vanity were gone.
Ukkirapandiar calmed down and asked why he (Meru) did not
respond to his call immediately. The Meru replied, “Oh King, I used to
worship Lord Soma sundarar and Angayarkanni ammai everyday. But
today, caught in the whirlpool of lust in the company of a woman, I
forgot my holy routine. As a punishment, I got beaten by you. Is there
anything I can do for you? Please tell”.
Pandiar said that his purpose was to get the treasure. Mount
Meru pointed to a place where the cave containing the treasure was
kept closed by a huge rock. Ukkirapandiar pushed the rock away and
collected as much of gold as he desired. He then closed the cave with
the rock and inscribed his name and the symbol of fish (royal symbol
of Pandian Dynasty) over the rock.
He then started his journey back. On the way he was welcomed
and greeted by the Kings of other kingdoms, congratulating him for
his great achievement. As he approached Madurai, he saw the temple
of Somasundarar. Immediately he climbed down from his Chariot and
prostrated on the ground.
Then he worshipped the Lord thanking Him for His grace. He
then distributed the mounds of gold he brought from Meru to his
subjects. Everyone was happy. Subsequently, due to re-alignment of
planets favourably, there was abundant rainfall restoring the
prosperity and glory to Pandian Kingdom.
After a few years, Ukkirapandiar crowned his son
Veerapandiar as King and then reached the lotus feet of Lord Soma
Sundarar.
25
 Episode 16: Lord Sivan enlightens the sages on the essence of
Vedhas
Once upon a time, there occurred the 'great deluge'. Everything
in the world was destroyed. Whatever lifeform that existed before,
merged and unified into the Supreme Power.Afterwards, through the
divine will of Lord Sivaperuman, the 'creation' started all over again.
At that time the mystic sound of 'Om', the Pranavam' took birth from
the Lord's mouth. Then, from the pranavam were born the four vedhas.
The great Rishis like Kanvar chanted those vedhas religiously but
were unable to understand the subtle meaning and the essence of
vedhas. That made them sad. One day the Sage Arabathar visited them.
He, with his intuition enquired them about the cause of their worried
looks. They said, “Oh Sage, we have been chanting the vedhas given
by Lord Sivaperuman for quite a long time. But till now we could not
find a Guru who would enlighten us on the inner meaning of vedhas”.
The Sage comforted them by saying that the Lord who gave the
vedhas would certainly be graceful enough to teach them the meaning
also. He further said that it would materialise only after doing
relentless penance, that too at a very sacred place. He pointed out that
such a sacred a place was Madurai only. He guided Kanvar and other
Rishis to proceed to the fabulous temple of Somasundarar at Madurai
and to sit in penance in front of Lord Dhakshinamoorthy there. He
concluded by assuring them that Dhakshinamoorthy himself would
enlighten them on the essence of Vedhas.
The rishis proceeded to Madurai, took bath in the Golden-
Lotus pond and worshipped Lord Somasundarar and Angayarkanni
ammai. Then they went to the sannidhi of Lord Dhakshinamoorthy.
The Lord was sitting under a cool banyan tree. His appearance was
stunning with white marble- like body with pink coral- like feet, lotus
coloured lips,and three eyes. He was holding Amudhakumbam
(pitcher of nectar), and Rudraksha maalai in his upper hands. With
palm leaves containing vedhas in lower left hand, He was displaying
the “chinmudra”by His lower right hand. Sitting in front of Him, the
rishis started chanting the Medhamanthram taught by Arabathar for
26
almost an year starting from a Karthigai Poornima to next Karthigai
poornima, following all rituals.
Afterwards, one day the Lord appeared as a boy of sixteen in
front of them. No words could describe the handsome Youth. He
radiated wisdom and grace. With unbound happiness the Rishis
worshipped the young Guru. He, with great affection asked them as to
what they wanted. They submitted, “ Oh Lord, please enlighten us as
well as others on the essence of vedaas”. The exemplary Guru took
them to the sanctum santorum of the Sivalingam, the Somasundarar.
He addressed them thus, “Oh Sages, the meaning of the vedhaas is
very subtle and secret. Trying hard to understand and disseminate it
paves the way to get immense benefits to one in this birth as well as the
next stage that is Moksham. This Sivalingam appeared on its own and
remaining as the symbol of all Thathvas, is by itself the meaning of
vedaas. Infact, it represents the vedaas as
well as their meaning or essence. It is He
who manifests as Brahma, Vishnu and
Rudhran. He creates by becoming
Brahma; He sustains whatever created in
his role as Vishnu and destroys in his form as Rudhran. Again, He is
supreme to all the three of them. In this shape of Sivalingam, its
bottom portion represents Brahma the Aanma thathvam, middle
portion Vishnu, the vidya thathvam and the top portion the Baanam
represents the Rudhran, the Sivathathvam. From among the three,
Ahaaram is born from Aanma Thathavam, Uggaram from Vidya
Thathavam and Magaaram is born from Siva Thathavam.The
confluence of Ahaaram, Ugaaram and Magaaram is the sound of Aum
(Om) the Pranavam. The Gaayathri Manthram takes birth from the
Pranavam. Gaayathri itself is of two parts, the Samatti and Viyatti.
These two parts gave birth to all the four Vedaas. Again, the alphabets
of the script was born out of Pranavam. Sivan the Lord has five faces.
All the Sivaagamaas appeared from his top face; His eastern face was
the source of Rig Vedaa; the southern face was the source of Yajur
Vedaa and the Sama Vedaa was born from His northern face.The
western face was the source of Adharvana Veda. Since the Vedhas are
27

four, the Varunams and Aasramams are also four. The Vedaas are the
source of Dharmaas and Karmaas. Further, the Vedaas branch into two
Kaandams, the Karmakaandam and Gnana Kaandam. The former
elaborately deals with the methods of doing puja to this Chokkalingam
and the latter the Gnanakaandam elucidates the Sachidhanantha
swaroopam of Him.
By Sivapooja, Gnanam is achieved. It leads to purity of mind
which again gives shanthi. By shanthi one achieves Ashtaanga yogam.
The religions which follow the path of Vedhas have Vedhas as their
mainstay. I have explained you the essence of Vedhas to remove the
misgivings in your minds. Let your minds be clear “.
Lord, who came as a young brahmin, thus enlightened the
Sages and then disappeared.
Episode 17: The story of Lord Soma Sundarar
selling rubies as a trader
King Veerapandiyan happily ruled Pandian Kingdom. Apart
from the Queen, he had many other wives. Though many childern
were born to his other wives, the Queen was not blessed with one. This
was a source of sadness for the royal couple. They worshipped Lord
Soma Sundarar and performed several rituals and vrathams. As a
result, they were blessed with a son. The King was pleased and he
brought up his son with great love and care. One day, during a hunting
session in the forest, Veerapandian was attacked by a fierce tiger and
was killed.
The sudden demise of the king made the royal family and
people of the kingdom to plunge into great despair. The king had died
and the prince was a young boy. Seizing this opportunity, the sons born
to the mistresses of the King plundered the wealth of the palace
including the King's crown and invaluable gems. Meanwhile the
28
ministers decided to crown the prince as the successor to the throne.
But alas! When they opened the treasury they found to their dismay the
disappearance of the crown and other treasures. There were not
enough gems to make a new crown either. Disheartened, the ministers
and the young prince went to the temple to plead to God for advice as
what to do next. Even as they approached the temple, they found a
jewel trader coming in the opposite direction who was none other than
Lord Himself in disguise. He was carrying a bundle of precious gems
and came towards the prince and the ministers. As if He had read their
thoughts, He enquired them of their worries. After hearing them, He
volunteered that He had a very precious collection of gems and said He
was willing to display them.
He then spread a black carpet on the ground and went on to
display big rubies, pearls, sapphires, emaralds, cat's eye, diamonds,
coral etc. He added that those gems were the body parts of an Asuran
called Valan.
To the bewildered ministers, the trader told the story of Valan
thus:Valan was a demon but an ardent devotee of Lord Sivan. Pleased
with his Bhakthi, Lord Sivan appreared in front of him and asked what
boon he wanted. The demon requested that he should not be killed in
wars; but if happened to die by destiny, his body should turn into
various navaratnas (gems). Lord Sivan granted his wish. Immediately,
the demon decalred a war against Indiran, the King of devas. Indiran
was defeated. Knowing the boon Valan got from Siva Peruman,
Indiran hatched a conspiracy in his mind and addressed Valan,
“O mighty demon! I congratulate you on your victory. Now ask what
you want.” Valan ignored Indiran's compliments and said, “Indira, I
received boons from Lord Siva Perman Himself. I do not want
anything from you. Instead, I will grant you whatever you want”.
Indiran was very happy to note that his trick had worked. He
said, “Valan, I'm planning to perform a big Yaaham at Mount Meru. I
want you to come there as the sacrificial cow”.Though stunned for a
moment, Valan agreed. He even thanked Indiran for giving him a
chance to die as the sacrificial cow in the yaaham.
29

Then Valan crowned his son and turned himself into a beautiful
cow to be offered in the yaaham. Indiran and other devas were
astonished at Valan's sincerity. Subsequently, that cow was
strangulated and offered to yaahagni (the fire of homagundam).
Because of the boon he desired, the cow's blood turned into rubies,
teeth into pearls, hair into vaidooryams, bones into diamonds, bile
juice into emaralds, fat into komedhagam (cat's eye), muscles into
corals, eye balls into sapphires and finally the mucus into
pushparagam.
Lord Soma Sundarar who came as the gems trader concluded
the story of Valan.
He further enriched the knowledge of his listeners by
describing in detail about the nine kinds of gems (Nava rathnams) as to
their places of origin, different types among them, their properties and
the benefits they bring to the wearer. His listeners were spellbound at
the voluminous information they acquired form the trader. The trader
then sat facing north, worshipped the gems he had spread out and then
gave them to the prince with His blessings. He said, “Make a new
crown for the prince using these gems and name him as 'Abhisheka
Pandian'”. The ministers agreed and offered to give whatever gold
they had as the price. But the trader disappeared and at the same time
Lord Siva Peruman appeared on the sky with Goddes Umadevi.
Everyone realised that it was Lord who came as the gems trader. The
prince and others went inside the temple and worshipped. They were
overhelmed by the grace of Lord.
Subsequently the prince was crowned as Abhisheka Pandian.
He vanquished his enemies and ruled his kindgom to the happiness of
his subjects. He traced the childern of the mistresses of his father and
got back the treasures looted by them.
30
Episode 18 : The story in which Lord depleted the Ocean set off by
Varunan on the city of Madurai
It was customary for Abishekapandian to perform poojai in
large scale to Somasundarar. On the day of Chithrai nakshatram in
Chithrai month every year. All types of abishegams were conducted
that day. On the very same day, Indiran also used to visit Madurai
temple to worship Lord Somasundarar. He took his turn after
Pandian's poojai was finished.
On one suchday, Varunan went to Indiralokam where he found
Indiran in not-so-cheerful mood. When enquired, Indiran lamented
that his poojai was delayed due to Pandian's poojai to Lord
Somasundarar. Varunan wondered why the lingam at Madurai
happened to be superior to lingams elsewhere. Indiran clarified, “It
was the Chokkalingam at Madurai salvaged me and my Iravatham
from the curses. I got rid of my Brahmahathi by the grace of that
Lingam “. Varunan questioned whether his own chronic pain in
stomach could be cured by the Chokkalingam. Indiran admonished
Varunan for doubting the power of Lord Chokkalingam and advised
him to understand it by himself.
Varunan, driven by his ill-fate, desired to verify the power of
Lord. He ordered the sea to destroy the city of Madurai. Varunan being
the deity of waters, the sea obeyed him and rose as a great deluge to
submerge Madurai. The people of the city were gripped by great fear.
The King Abhisheka Pandiyan was also stunned and he decided to
seek the mercy of Lord Soma Sundarar. He rushed to the temple and
prayed. The Lord appeared and ordered the four clouds worn by Him
on his locks of hair, to go and suck the sea water approaching Madurai.
They did so immediately. The sea was dried up. The people heaved a
sigh of relief and thanked Lord.
Madurai Kaandam Ends
31
 Koodal Kaandam
Episode 19: The story of how Madurai came to be known as
“Naanmaadakoodal”.
Varunan, who was defeated in his attempt to destroy Madurai
with sea-water, thought of another way. He called the seven clouds
under his control and asked them to suck sea –water and then pour as
heavy rains over the city of Madurai to submerge it. They immediately
sucked the sea-water and hovered over the city as dark thunder
clouds. Heavy lightning flashed across the sky and thunders rolled.
Heavy down pour lashed the city. People were frightenend.
Abhishekapandian, with his unfailing faith in Lord Somasundarar,
worshipped Him along with his subjects. Lord as before asked the four
clouds worn on his locks of hair to settle over the city in all four
directions as a mega roof. They did so descending over the city as a
great roof with the tall buildings of the city supporting them as pillars.
The torrential rains unleashed by Varunan became ineffective.
Varunan was embarrassed and put to shame. He realised the powers of
Lord Chokkalingar and he was gripped by fear. He cursed himself for
trying to test His powers.
Varunan repented and rushed to the Golden-lotus pond to take
bath before worshipping Lord. Good Heavens! Even as he was
approaching the pond, his stomach pain vanished. He took bath, wore
rudhraksham and vibhoothi and entered the temple. He worshipped
Lord several times and performed a grand poojai as per the methods
laid down in the Scriptures. Lord was pleased and asked Varunan
what was his wish.
Varunan was moved to tears. He said,”Oh God, I dared to test
your powers as a good-for –nothing fool. But you have showered
mercy on me. My severe stomach pain vanished in no time even before
I took bath in the golden-lotus pond. Please forgive me; please bear
with my audacity”. Lord blessed him. After worshipping again,
Varunan left for his place.
32
Madurai came to be known form then on as Naanmaadakoodal
because it was protected by the collective efforts of the four clouds in
all four directions.
Episode 20: Lord Somasundarar comes as an omnipotent Siddhar
In order to shower the benefits in this birth as well as the next
birth on Abhishekapandian and his subjects, Lord Somasundarar
manifested himself as a Siddhar. His appearance was captivating. He
wore his long hair into a 'jadamudi'. White sacred vibhoothi and
vermilion thilakam adorned his fore head. 'Yagnobaveedham'
(poonool), and rudhraakhams were on his chest. He carried a staff
similar to a magic wand on his hand. He wore the hide of a tiger on his
waist.
Wherever he went, people gathered around him. He played
unbelievable tricks to amuse people. He made a distant hill to move
closer and again made it to move far away. He playfully converted
young people to old and then back to young. He cured the disabilities
of the disabled. He converted ordinary metals into pure gold. He made
Vaigai River to be flooded and then made it to dry up. He threw his
magic wand in air, made it to stand still unsupported, put a needle on
top of it and then stood on the tip of the needle with one of his big toes.
Then, suddenly he would change his position, standing on his head.
People watched him, with open mouth and dropped jaws. They were
wonderstruck. The news about the magical activities of Siddhamurthy
reached the King. Abhishekapandian asked his men to go and escort
the Siddhar to Palace. They went but failed to return. They lost
themselves watching the activities of Siddhar.
Then Pandian sent his Ministers. They begged the Siddhar to
grace the palace of the King. But the great Siddhar declined their
request stating that he had nothing to gain from the King. The
Ministers reported back to the King. The King conceded that great
Yogis like Siddhar might not care even Devas and no wonder that he
did not honour King's invitation.
33
 Episode 21 : Statue of elephant chews Sugarcane
The King was restless. He was remorseful for sending word for
Siddhar. He thought it was proper for him to go to the Siddhar in
person and worship him.
He went to the temple. It was the first day of 'Thai' month-
Makarasankranthi. Knowing that the King would come, the great
Siddhar was seated at the north- west side of the Vimanam inside the
temple. Pandian, after worshipping Lord Somasundarar, came around
the Vimanam. His bodyguards, who were a little ahead of him, started
persuading the Siddhar to leave the place in view of King's visit.
Meanwhile Pandian reached him and addressed, " Oh Sage, which
place do you belong and what are you capable of ".
Siddhar replied, "I am from Kaasi. Lord Siva's devotees are my
kith and kin. I came to exhibit my powers to the people of Madurai. I
don't expect anything from you, oh King" .
The King desired to test Siddhar's capability. At that time a
farmer presented a well-grown sugarcane to the King. The King took
it, turned Siddhar and said, "Oh great Yogi, if you are capable of all
arts, will you make this stone statue of elephant to eat this sugarcane ?
If you do it, I will reward you handsomely ".
Siddhar smiled and set his eyes on the granite statue of
elephant neaby. At once, the Statue became alive. It extended its trunk
and pulled the sugarcane from the hand of Pandian. Then it started
chewing the cane with cane juice dripping from its mouth. Everyone
around was wonderstruck.
Then, Siddhar looked at the elephant again. It immediately
grabbed an ornament of gems worn by the King on his neck and in no
time swallowed it too. This made the King angry and his bodyguards
pounced close to the elephant to attack it as well as Siddhar. Siddhar
simply said, "stop". The body guards froze and turned into stone
statues.
34
The King was takn aback and realised his mistake. He fell on
the feet of Siddhar and prayed,"Please forgive me and my ignorance".
Siddhar asked him what was his desire. Pandian requested that he be
blessed with a son of all good qualities. Siddhar granted it.
Then Siddhar touched the elephant. It returned the ornament
back to the King. At that very moment Siddhar disappeared. The
elephant also became a statue again while the body guards got back
their life. The King understood that it was none other than
Somasundarar who came as Siddhar. As per the words of Siddhar,
Pandian was blessed with a male child. He named the child as
Vikraman and brought him up as a brave prince. Then he crowned him
as the Pandian King. After sometime, Abhishekapandian breathed his
last.
Episode 22: The story of how Lord Somasundarar killed a rogue
elephant with arrow
Vikrama pandian was ruling his Kingdom very well.The
Saivism grew from strength to strength during his rule.He built a
shrine for Siddhar on the northern side of the Vimanam in the temple
and worshipped Him with true devotion.
On those days, a Chola king was ruling with Kanchipuram as
his capital city. He was jealous of Vikramapandian and disliked him.
He was patronising Jainism in his kingdom whereas Vikraman was not
allowing Jainism to take root in Pandian kingdom. This had fanned the
hatred of Cholan further. Vikraman was very powerful and strong. So
Cholan could not wage any war against him. Instead he decided to
eliminate Pandian in a clandestine manner.
He sent word for religious heads and priests of Jainism living
in various parts of the country. All of them, eight thousand in number,
congregated at Kanchipuram and Cholan outlined to them their
mission. He directed them to perform “Aabisaara homam”, seeking
35
the end of Pandian. Such a homam was performed in those days with remained at the spot as Lord Nasingamurthy for everyone to worship.
evil intentions. Poisonous materials were used in it and evil spirits Sage Uromasar worshipped Him and received His blessings.
were invoked. Jains started the homam with wicked intentions. So Prahalathan also came there and did penance.
there arose a ferocious elephant from the homagundam. It resembled a
huge mountain in size. Jains ordered it to proceed to Madurai and kill
Vikrama Pandian and destroy his beautiful city. The vicious elephant
roared off towards its target. The Jain priests and the soldiers of Cholan
followed it. It travelled fast, trampling on every thing on its path. Its
huge ears created tempests by their sway. It left a trail of destruction on
its way.

The news about the charging elephant reached Pandian. He

went to the temple and prayed to Lord Somasundarar to get rid of the
menace approaching Madurai. At that time a divine voice rang from
the sky saying,”Pandia! Do not worry. I will tackle the elephant. You
get an attalai mandapam erected just outside the city.” The king did so
in no time.
Lord Somasundarar manifested himself as a hunter. The
youthful hunter was so handsome to look at. He carried a big bow and
arrows. A deadly sword hung from his waist. He climbed over the
mandapam erected by the king and waited to sight the elephant. On
seeing the elephant at a distance, he took his bow and fixed on it a
lethal arrow called 'Narasingaasthram”. He pulled the bow string and
released the arrow. The arrow travelled with unimaginable speed, hit
the elephant on its forehead and pierced through. The elephant
trumpeted wildly and fell on the ground like a huge dark cloud.
Bleeding profusely from the wound, it died.
Vikramapandian was very happy. He ordered his army to
engage the soldiers and the Jains who followed the elephant. He saw
the brave hunter seated in the mandapam. He went and paid rich
tributes to him. He requested the hunter to stay there forever and grace
the city. Cholan's soldiers and the Jains were chased away by the
Pandian soldiers. Pandian's unfailing faith on Lord resulted in the birth
of a male child to him and he named the child as Rajasekharan.
The Narasingaasthram which killed the rogue elephant

36 37
Episode 23 : Lord manifestsHimself as an oldman, youth as well as
a little baby boy.
During the rule of Vikrama Pandian, there lived a Brahmin by
name Virubaakshan at Madurai. His wife was Subavirathai. She was a
very virtuous lady. The couple was not blessed with a child. That made
them sorrowful. But they did several acts of charity and performed
many virathams. As a result, a babygirl was born to them. They were
very glad and named the child as “Gouri”.
When Gouri was just five years old, she asked her father one
day, “Father, which mantra to be chanted to get rid of the cycle of the
repeated births?“. Virubaakshan was astonished at her question. Was it
a question expected from a child? However, he gladly taught her the
Mantra of Paraasakthi. Gouri listened with great attention and then
started to chant the mantra regularly. Meanwhile she grew into
marriageable age. Virubaakshan started looking for a suitable youth
with all virtues including unfailing bakthi on Lord Sivan.
One day a young vaishnavite from a distanct place, came to
Virubakshan's house, begging for food. On seeing him, Virubakshan
decided to give his daughter Gouri in marriage to the youth. His wife
and other relatives regretted his hasty decision. He did not bother to
enquire about the lineage, antecedents, education and other important
aspects of the youth. However enquiries later revealed that all other
aspects were good, except that the groom belonged to a Vaishnavite
family. This did not deter Virubhakshan and he went ahead with the
marriage. The groom was really lucky. The poor youth going from
house to house seeking food was married to a beautiful girl of
prosperity. After the marriage, Virubhakshan sent his daughter and
son-in-law to their place with customary gifts and other things.
When the Vaishnavite Brahmin took Gouri to his home, his
parents were pleasantly surprised. However, being staunch
Vaishnavites, they could not tolerate a Saiva girl becoming their
38
daughter-in-law. They harboured hatred towards her and never missed
a chance to insult her. One day they had to attend a wedding in another
village. All of them left for the wedding leaving the poor Gouri alone
in the house. Not only that, but also they locked the house.
Gouri's heart wept as she could not see and worship even a
single devotee of Lord Sivan that day. She cursed herself for her
inability to do service to the devotees of Lord Sivan. His merciful Lord
Somasundarar took heart to dispel Gouri's despair. He manifested
himself as a very oldman. His hair was very white. He was wearing
Rudrakshams on his head, neck, bossom, ears and hands. Sporting the
form of an ardent devotee of Lord Sivan, He visited Gouri's house.
Gouri's happiness was so great, that she welcomed him with
enthusiasm. But at the very next moment her joy vanished, because the
house had been locked, disabling her from providing food to the tired
and aged visitor.
Seeing her predicament, the oldman said, “Gouri, you just
touch the lock and it will open “. She did so and the lock gave way. She
went to the kitchen and started preparing a full course of meal for the
Sivanadiyar. After cooking the food items, she invited the
Sivanadiyar, washed his feet, showered flower petals, made him
seated and then served the food. The old Sivanadiyar ate with full
satisfaction. At that time, a miracle happened.
The oldman turned into a handsome youth. The Rudrakshams
turned into golden oranaments and the Vibhuthi turned into sandal
paste. Gouri, an embodiment of chastity, was frightened to be infront
of an youthful stranger. Her whole body shivered. At that very
moment, her mother-in-law and othes returned. Instantly another
miracle happened. Lord Somasundarar who was in the form of a
handsome youth, turned into an infant. The baby boy was crying and
Gouri's mother-in-law was surprised to see a child in the house. She
inquired Gouri about it. Gouri replied to save the situation, “Some one
by name Devadathan came with his wife and this child. They asked me
39
to take care of the child (babysit) for sometime “. Her mother-in-law
and father-in-law had not taken kind to Gouri's action. They asked her
to leave the house along with that child. Driven to the street, Gouri's
prayed to Lord Somasundarar. She wept for the child.
At that time, the child disappeared and Lord Somasundarar
appeared on the sky with Umadeviyar. Gouri was overwhelmed by
boundless joy and worshipped her Lord. Gouri who had been chanting
the mantra of Parvathi Devi since her childhood was transformed into
Umadeviyar's form and Lord Somausundarar took her along and
disappeared.
Episode 24: Lord Natarajar changes his dancing posture.
After the demise of Vikrama Pandian, Rajesekharan ascended
the throne. He learnt and mastered sixty three out of the sixty four arts.
He did not attempt to learn 'Bharathanatyam' because he thought only
Lord Natarajar was the supreme dancer and it would amount to be
disrespect to practice that art form. It was his bhakthi towards Lord
Siva made him to think like that.
During his rule, the Chola Kingdom was being ruled by
Karikaal Cholan. Not only he was a great King but also a lover of all
fine arts.he himself had learnt and mastered all the sixty four arts
which included Bharathanatyam also. One day a poet from
Karikaalan's court visited Rajasekhara Pandian. After paying tributes
he said that his King was a master of all sixty four arts where as the
Pandian knew one less. His words appeared to be an insult to Pandian.
But he quickly realised that it was probably God's will that he must
learn Bharathanatyam as well.
Rajasekhara Pandian started to learn Natyasastram through
eminent Gurus. Sooner he found that natyam- practice made him
40
physically exhausted. He wondered, “Would it not be tiresome to Lord
Natarajar who is dancing since ages that too with his left leg always
lifted”. It was his abundant love and boundless bhakthi for the Lord
made him to think like that. Normal reasoning power had taken a back
seat in his mind. He spent sleepless nights worrying how badly it
would hurt the Lord to dance perennially in one posture.
One day, he took a firm decision and went to temple. That day
happened to be the Sivarathri. He arranged for elaborate poojai for
Lord Somasundarar throughout the night. Then he came to the
Velliambalam where Lord Natarajar was performing the eternal
dance. With a heart melting out of Bhakthi and his eyes welled with
tears he submitted, “Oh my beloved Lord, you are dancing since ages
with one leg on ground and one leg lifted in air. Will it not hurt you? So,
please change your posture by setting left leg on ground and right leg
on air. It may bring solace to my heart. If your Merciful do not oblige
me, I will kill myself right here in front of you”. With these words, he
unsheathed his sword and was about to kill himself with it.
At that very instant, merciful Lord Natarajar changed his
posture. He set his left leg on ground and lifted his right leg. Pandian
found himself in a sea of ecstasy. He was simply overwhelmed by the
mercy of Lord. He further requested the Lord to exhibit his changed
posture forever at Velliambalam for the benefit of the people. Lord
Natarajar granted his wish and remained so. We worship him in that
posture at Madurai even today.
41
 Episode 25 : The story of how Lord helped averting injustice
After some period, Rajasekhara Pandian crowned his son
Kulothungan and left for the heavenly abode of Lord Sivan.
Kulothungan had several wives and a large number of children.
Among them the eldest was Ananthagunan. He was wise, brave and
mastered several arts. He grew well into becoming a prince worthy of a
great Kingdom.
During the rule of Kulothunga Pandian there lived a Brahmin
at Thirupputhur. One day he started off to Madurai with his wife and a
very young baby. The poor Brahmin family was travelling on foot and
while passing through the jungle near Madurai, the Brahmin's wife
was suffering from thirst for water. The Brahmin made her and the
child to rest under a very huge banyan tree and went in search of
drinking water. Being very tired, his wife slept away lying under the
tree. The baby was by her side. The gentle wind which was blowing
suddenly grew stronger. Due to the strong winds, an arrow which was
stuck up on the branches of the banyan tree in the past, fell right on the
stomach of the woman and pierced her. She died instantly. The
Brahmin returned with water. To his horror he found his beloved wife
dead in a pool of blood. He cried his heart out and started looking for
the murderer. At that time an old hunter was sitting on the other side of
the banyan tree with bow and arrow on his hands. The Brahmin firmly
believed that the hunter must be the murderer. He caught the hunter by
hand and yelled, “You are the killer of my innocent wife. By the name
of our King, come with me to the King's court”. The pleas of the hunter
that he was in no way responsible for the death of the lady fell on deaf
ears. The Brahmin lifted his wife's body onto his shoulder and carried
the body on his hip. He compelled the hunter to follow and reached the
palace of Pandian.
The Palace guards reported the King about the arrival of a
Brahmin in despair with a dead body and his allegation that the
accompanying hunter was the killer of his wife. The Pandian could not
42
believe his ears as he never dreamt that such a dreadful thing could
happen under his rule. He came to the Palace gates and enquired the
Brahmin as to what had happened. The Brahmin maintained his earlier
allegation that the hunter had killed his wife. The hunter pleaded
innocence and said he was under the banyan tree only to take rest. He
further said neither he did the offence nor did he see the killer. The
Ministers felt that unless punished, the hunter might not tell the truth.
The King agreed and the guards took away the hunter. Despite severe
torture meted out to him, the hunter continued to plead innocence. The
King also started to feel slightly uncomfortable as to whether it was
correct to punish, if the hunter was really innocent. The King ordered
to imprison the hunter and asked the Brahmin to return after per-
forming the last rites to his dead wife. He gave enough money to do it.
The King was restless, being not able to find the truth. He went
to the temple and worshiped Lord Natarajar at Velliambalam, “Oh
Lord! Who could have killed the Brahmin's wife- the hunter or
someone else? I could not get at the truth by any means. I trust your
Merciful and I request you to please guide me”.
At that time, a divine voice called out,“Pandian, there going to
be a wedding ceremony in this city tonight. You be there to witness it
along with the brahmin who lost his wife. You will come to know the
truth “. The King accordingly went in disguise to that wedding, taking
the brahmin with him. The marriage rituals were in progress. The
bridegroom was seated on the dais. Suddenly the King and the
brahmin heard a conversation between two persons. By the grace of
Lord Somasundarar, the King and the brahmin alone could hear the
conversation and not anyone else.
The conversation was among two of the men sent by Yaman
there. One said, “We have been ordered to bring the life of this
bridegroom now. How to take his life out? He looks healthy”. The
other replied, “My friend, today did we not take the life out of the
Brahmin lady by forcing the stuck up arrow to fall on her? We just
43
created a heavy wind which made the stuck up arrow to fall on the lady
from the tree. Like wise, we will use the cow tied to a post just outside
this house. A short while from now, there will be a lot of noise of
drums, trumpets, bells and other things. We will make the cow
frightened by the noise. It will break free from the tethers and run
amuck. It will kill the bridegroom with its horns.”
The king and the brahmin were frozen on hearing that
conversation. The king asked the brahmin,” Did you hear?” The
brahmin said, “If this bridegroom dies that way, I will believe my
wife's death too”. At that time the climax of the marriage was
approaching. Several musical instruments were played aloud. That
noise made the cow to panic. It struggled and broke the rope it was tied
with. It galloped towards the dais and pierced he chest of the
bridegroom with its horns. The groom died on the spot.
A pandemonium prevailed. People ran here and there. The
relatives of the groom cried and wailed. The king and the brahmin left
the place quietly. The brahmin was remorseful for blaming the hunter
for the death of his wife. The king consoled him, gave him gold coins
and advised him to marry again. He the hunter free duly regretting the
punishments meted out to him. He gave him gifts and sent him away.
Afterwards Pandian went to the temple and prayed,”Oh
Merciful Lord! You have saved me from the sin of punishing an
innocent man by enlightening me. I will remain thankful to you
forever.”
44
Episode 26: The story of how the great sins were neutralised
Kulothunga Pandian was ruling with great efficiency. During
his rule, there lived a brahmin in the city of Avanthi. His wife was very
beautiful, but she was not of good character. She gave birth to a son. He
grew up to an youth. He too did not have good character. He was an
embodiment of all evils. Above all he had an uncontrollable lust for
women. His lust was so bad that he wanted his mother to share his bed.
That lady, as a true mother should have advised her son properly and
prevented him from doing such a sin. Instead she yielded to her son's
desire and thus committed a grave sin. Her son too became a horrible
sinner. His father came to know their treacherous behaviour. Though
shocked, he did not do anything out of hatred towards them. This
emboldened his son further and one day he decided to kill his father.
His mother, with a little wisdom still left in her, advised her son not to
multiply his sins by killing his father. But alas! Lust blinded him and
he murdered his father.
Afterwards, he left the city of Avanthi, taking his mother
along. But while passing through a dreadful forest, they were
surrounded by robbers. The robbers looted his belongings and took
away his mother also. He wandered here and there but wherever he
went, the sin of killing his father haunted him. It did not allow him to
be peaceful. It did not allow him to seek redressal for his sins. It did not
allow him to go to holy places and hear teachings of holymen. He
suffered from countless miseries. Then at last the day of salvation for
him approached due to the abundant mercy of Lord Somasundarar.
Without his knowledge, the worst sinner reached the city of Madurai.
At that time, Lord Somasundarar manifested himself as a
hunter and Mother Goddess Meenakshi manifested herself as the
hunter's wife. Both of them sat beside the temple and playing a game of
dice. The sinner from Avanthi came there. The Lord said to Goddess,
“Look! The man who committed unthinkable sins is coming. Without
controlling his lust, he had been reduced to this state. It is lust which
45
leads a person to commit all other sins and push that person finally into
hell”. Then the Lord asked the sinner as to why he was in so much
despair. The very moment Lord's sight fell on him, a portion of his sins
disappeared. The wretched brahmin narrated his story of indecent
behaviour, the sexual relationship he had with his own mother and of
killing of his father. Crying unconsolably he told about the endless
suffering he was undergoing due to his sins. The most benevolent Lord
Somasundarar advised thus: “Your sins will be wiped out only at this
place and nowhere else. Taking pity on you, I will tell you the means of
getting rid of your deadly sins. You must go begging for food and eat
only once a day. You must do service to Sivanadiyars. You must get up
before sun rise and feed the cows with fresh grass. You must go around
the temple by rolling on the ground (Angapradakshinam) at least 108
times, daily. You must bath three times a day in the Abhisheka
Theertham (the water collected at the tub outside the sanctum
sanctorum of Lord Sivan in the temple). If you do all these regularly,
then you will get salvation.”
On hearing these words of Lord, Goddess who was in the guise
of the wife of the hunter asked, “This brahmin's sins should land him in
the severest of the hells. But your merciful has shown him the ways for
salvation. May I know why?” The Lord replied, “Though he had
committed worst sins, now he has no hope and scope of getting
himself extricated from the effects of his wrong doings. He is sure to
be destroyed. If I let him down, who else can save him?” How loving
and merciful the Lord is! The Goddess endorsed the Lord's soothing
words and they disappeared.
The hopeless sinner followed the Lord's advice with great care
and within three months he got rid of his sins. He submitted to Lord
Somasundarar several hymns composed in Sanskrit and reached the
Lotus feet of Lord subsequently.
The Abhisheka Theertham of the Sivan's temple could bring
about salvation to a person of grave sins and led him to heavens. If so,
46
will it not relieve people from diseases? It certainly does. This incident
of relieving the brahmin of his sins reached the King Kulothungan's
ears also. He was overwhelmed by the mercy of the Lord and
worshipped him with tearful eyes.
Episode 27: The Story of dismembering of limbs
While Kulothunga Pandian was ruling, an old man belonging to
another country came to Madurai with his wife. He was good at
handling swords at fights. So he set up a school to teach the art of using
swords to the youth of Madurai. His school became popular day by
day. He was also an ardent devotee of Lord Somasundarar of Madurai.
In due course, several of his students became excellent swordsmen.
Among them was a youth called Chithan. Becoming an ace-
swordsman made him to feel proud of himself. Vanity blinded him and
he too started a school and became a competitior to his guru. This
apart, he frequented the house of his guru and started misbehaving
with the wife of his guru whenever she was alone. She hated him and
ignored his advances. But one day Chithan crossed all limits and
dragged her by hand. She was frightened and somehow pushed him
out and shut the door. Out of her modesty she did not disclose it to her
husband. But she pleaded to Lord Somasundarar to protect her.
Lord Somasundarar decided to punish Chithan for his blunder.
He took the form of the old teacher of swordfight. He went to Chithan
and said, “Chitha! You are young and I am old. Still let us decide who
among us is better. I challenge you for a duel tomorrow morning
outside this city.” Chithan accepted the challenge without knowing
that the man infront of him was none other than Lord Himself. Rather
he was elated with the thought that he could easily defeat his guru and
thereby could become more popular and wealthier.
Next day Lord Somasundarar was present at the appointed
47
place, in the guise of the guru of Chithan. Chithan also arrived. A fierce
duel started. Chithan exhibited all of his skills and Lord Somasundarar
matched him in every aspect. Soon a crowd gathered. The people were
astonished at the sight of the fight between the guru and his deciple.
The sword fight went on for a long time. Finally Lord called out, “Oh
Chitha, save your body parts if you can. Save the eyes which looked at
the guru's wife with lust. Save your tongue which spoke indecent
words to her. Save your hands that touched her”. Speaking these words
Lord Somasundarar, cut off the limbs of Chithan and then chopped off
his head.The crowd was aghast. There were a few disciples of the
teacher. They reached the house of the guru but could not see him. The
guru's wife said that he had gone to the temple. Soon the guru returned.
His disciples appreciated his valour in the fight with Chithan and
complimented him for his victory over Chithan. The guru was
speechless. He said that he did not engage Chithan in any fight and did
not kill him either. At that moment his wife disclosed to him the
indecent words spoken to her by Chithan and also about his
misbehaviour. The disciples confirmed by repeating the words of
Chithan's opponent while chopping of his limbs. The guru and his wife
were by now sure that Chithan's opponent was Lord Somasundarar
Himself. They were so much thankful and they went to temple with the
disciples and others to offer their profound gratitude to Lord. As the
news about the incident reached the King, he was moved by the grace
of Lord Somasundarar. He arranged for a grand procession and in that,
he made the guru and his wife sit atop a bedecked elephant. The
procession took them through the streets of Madurai.
King Kulothunga Pandian later crowned his son Ananthaguna
Pandian. He adhered to the righteous path of Saivam and reached the
holy abode of Lord Sivan.
48
Episode 28: The story of killing of a ferocious serpent.
Ananthaguna Pandian also had great reverence to Lord
Somasundarar. Following the foot steps of their King, the people of
Pandian Kingdom were also ardent devotees of Lord Sivan. Saivism
flourised in their Kingdom. This was not palatable to the Jains whose
earlier sinister attempts were met with utter failure. Hence they hatched
another plot and accordingly they started a homam with evil intentions.
From the homagundam rose a fierce looking demon. He demanded to
know what he was expected to do. The Jains ordered him to destroy
Pandian along with the city of Madurai.
The demon immediately took the form of a ferocious serpent. It
had a huge body, blood shot eyes, cave-like mouth and poisonous fangs.
Spitting fire, it burnt the crops and vegetation while on its way to
Madurai. The people of Madurai were freightened and they ran to the
King to report. King Ananthaguna Pandian decided to boldly confront the
deadly snake. However, he worshipped Lord Somasundarar and
requested Him to grant him the necessary strength to kill the snake.
Then he armed himself with bow and arrows. He confronted the
huge serpent approaching the city. He shot several arrows on the serpent.
But the demon in the shape of the serpent took a bite on those arrows and
spat them. Pandian then selected an arrow with the head like a crescent.
Praying Lord Sivan, he targeted the serpent and cut its body into pieces.
The demon roared, fell on the ground and died. Before dying he spat a
flood of deadly poison. That poison spread all over the city of Madurai.
People were suffocated by the cloud of venom. It affected their senses and
rendered them weak. Pandian was worried and he rushed to the temple
and prayed to Lord, “Oh Lord, you have saved this city and the people
several times before. Please show your mercy this time too, to protect us
from the poisonous cloud engulfing this city”.
Lord Somasundarar conceded his request. He spilt a few drops of
the Nectar (Amudham) from the moon's crescent he wore on his head.
Those drops neutralised the poison and retrieved the city and its people.
They also purified the city. The king and his subjects were very happy and
worshipped Lord Somasundarar.
49
 Episode 29 : The death of the deceitful cow
Tasting defeat again, the Jains became restless. They put their
heads together and came up with the idea of sending a big cow so that
Pandian might not attack and kill a cow. They got into bussiness and
performed an evil yaaham. From the homaagni emerged a wicked
demon in the form of a raging cow. The Jains ordered that cow to attack
the city of Madurai. The ferocious-looking cow did a lot of harm to
people as it charged towards Madurai. People ran helter-skelter. The
information reached the King. He immediately went to temple along
with his men and prayed to Lord Somasundarar. He paid tributes to
Lord and Lord's mercy greeted him. Lord Somasundarar ordered
Nandikeswarar, “Nandhi, you go and vanquish the cow let loose by the
Jains”.
As soon as he got the orders from Lord, Nandhi, the bull
started off to engage the deceitful cow. It was in hot pursuit of the cow
and chased it wherever it went. With its horns the bull lifted the cow up
and threw it on the ground. It tortured the cow in several ways and then
finally decided not to harm the cow anymore. Instead, it showed its
masculine beauty to the cow. The cow at once fell for it and out of
sexual desire it lost all its strength and virility. Thus it ended up losing
its life and its lifeless body became a hill. The people of Madurai and
the King were extremely happy. The vanquished Jains ran away out of
shame.
The bull too left its body in the form of another hill and
reached the Lord's abode. King Ananthaguna Pandian was blessed
with a son by name Kulabhooshanan. At the appropriate time, the King
handed over the Kindgom to his son and reached heaven.
50
Episode 30 : Identifying men by pointing at them
Kulabhooshana Pandian was ruling the kingdom to everyone's
happiness. His army commander was a brave man called Soundara
Saamanthan, who was by nature a devotee of Lord Sivan. He treated
Sivanadiars as Lord Sivan Himself and served them. Those days, there
lived a hunter by name Sethiraayan who was the Chieftain of the
hunter's community. He was a terror and the victories he earned made
him turn arrogant. He even planned to wage a war against Pandian. But
Pandian's espionage network sensed this and the word reached the
King. The King called Soundara Saamanthan and ordered him to
recruit as many new soldiers as possible and gave him the freedom of
drawing the required money from the Royal treasury.
Due to some strange phenomenon, Soundara Saamanthan's
mind was totally absorbed in the service of Lord Sivan and sivanadiars
rather than in his duty to the King. So, he started spending the gold and
other treasures taken from the King's Treasury in activities dearer to
his heart ie., service to Lord Sivan. These activities were promptly
reported to the King by the spies. Not to arouse suspicion in the King's
mind, Saamanthan put up an act of being busy recruiting men for army.
He sent out fake messages to various other kingdoms, encouraging
soldiers to come and join Pandian's army. But he knew that those
messages would never reach their destinations. As a result no one
turned up to join the army. Suddenly one day Pandian called
Saamanthan and said, “I want to see the new recruits by tomorrow
evening. Call them all to be present”.
Soundara Saamanthan felt that he was cornered. Without
knowing what to do, he went to temple and fell on the feet of Lord
Somasundarar. He pleaded, “Oh Lord, you got me spend the King's
treasures in the services of your Merciful and your devotees. Now the
King wants to see the recruited soldiers. What am I to do?” At that time
arose a voice from heavens,”Saamantha, do not worry. Tomorrow I
will appear along with soldiers. You go to the King's court and await
51
my arrival”.
Saamanthan was totally relieved. Thanking Lord, he went to
bed awaiting the dawn. At the daybreak he went to the temple, took
bath in the golden- lotus pond and worshipped Lord Somasundarar.
Then he reached the King's court and announced the arrival of the
soldiers. There approached Lord Sivan in the guise of a horse-riding
knight with a lot of soldiers following him. The soliders were actually
Lord Sivan's army at Kailash (Boothaganam). By the will of the Lord,
they turned into soldiers. The soldiers were in glittering armour,
carrying all sorts of weapons.
King Kulabhooshanan came to the front entrance of his palace
and from an elevated place he surveyed the huge unit of soldiers
approaching. He was very glad and asked Soundara Saamanthan to
explain the origin of the new soldiers. Saamanthan grouped the
soldiers and explained their nativity, by pointing his finger at every
one. He further humbly submitted that it was all possible because of
spending a huge fortune from the King's treasury. The King pointed to
the lone horse borne knight and asked who he was. He asked to present
the knight close to him. Then he gifted the knight gorgeous clothings
and ornaments. The knight who was none other than Lord
Somasundarar Himself, exhibited his horse- ride in five different
speeds such as walk, trot, gallop etc. Then he joined his soldiers.
At that time, one of the King's spies came fast and informed the
King that Sethiraayan, the Chieftain of the hunters, was killed by a
tiger during hunting. Pandian was very happy and advised
Saamanthan to direct the new soldiers to go back to their native
Kingdoms. Saamanthan pretended to bid farewell to the soldiers. All
of a sudden, the horse borne knight and his soldiers disappeared.
Pandian was thrilled and quickly understood that it was an act
of Lord Somasundarar Himself. Then, learning from Saamanthan
whatever happened, he was very much impressed. He expressed, “If
52
Lord Somasundarar could become so merciful towards you,
Saamantha, then you are the God to me”. Then the King rewarded
Soundara Saamanthan further and ruled the Kingdom without any
worries.
Episode 31: Undepleting pouch of gold given by Lord
Kulabhooshanan, the Pandian king was a noble person. He
was faithfully observing virathams including Somavara viratham.
Being proud of himself, he slowly started showing disrespect towards
the brahmins who chant Vedaas and perform various yaahams. As a
result, there was decline in rain- fall in Pandian kingdom which
affected the farming activies. People were in the grip of poverty. The
brahmins were no exception. They could not perform the yaaham and
rituals. Worried about their livelyhood, they started to migrate to other
kingdoms.
Pandian was unhappy over these developments. On a Monday,
he went to the temple, took bath in the golden-lotus pond, worshipped
Siddhi Vinayagar and then prayed to Lord Somasundarar,”Oh my
Lord! You are all-pervading; you remain in every form of life. Now all
these life forms are suffering from hunger. I have spent all my
treasures in your service. It is upto Your Graceful to alleviate our
sufferings.”
Lord Somasundarar was not ready to over look Pandian's
mistake of ignoring the priests who practise Vedaas and perform Vedic
rituals. So he did not respond to the king's pleas. With his heart sinking,
Pandian returned to his palace. He rejected food and slept on the bare
floor. In his dreams Lord appeared as a Siddhar and addressed him,”
Pandia! Though you are devoted to me, you did a mistake. You ignored
the people who perform yaahams and Vedic rituals. That was the
reason for the failure of rains in your kingdom. Vedaas are closer to my
53
heart. Vedaas enlighten the humans, remove their ignorance and beget
salvation. The brahmins who chant vedaas are therefore need to be
respected and protected. If you do that, your kingdom will receive
copious rains and become prosperous again. Now I will give you a
pouch of gold which never gets depleted. With that you drive away the
poverty and sufferings of your people.” With those words, Siddhar
gave the pouch to Pandian and disappeared.
Pandian woke up and to his great surprise found the pouch on
his hands. He was thrilled and overwhelmed by the grace of Lord. He
showed the pouch of gold to his ministers and others. He kept that
pouch on his throne and performed extensive pooja to it. Then he
opened it and gave the gold to brahmins, asking them to, resume their
vedic activities. He himself got several yaahams performed. He
distributed the gold to his subjects. To his astonishment, he found that
every time he took gold out of the pouch, it got replenished
automatically. He spent the gold in renovating the temple also.
Because of his noble deeds, rains favoured his kingdom and prosperity
returned multifold. Brahmins, scholars, artists, artizans and general
public lived happily ever after.
54
Episode 32: Story of Lord Somasundarar selling bangles
Once upon a time, in the jungles of Dhaarugaavanam, there
lived many rishis. They performed several yaahams and rituals. They
were ably assisted by their wives in their daily routine. But undesirable
pride and vanity ruled their minds. Lord Sivan intended to correct their
mind set by uprooting their pride. He took the form of a handsome
youth. He was wearing only a piece of cloth on his groin, a thick coat of
vibhuthi all over his body and a pair of foot wear on his feet. He, in this
form, visited the homes of the rishis. At that time the rishis were away
from their homes. Their wives came out and at once were captivated
by the enchanting looks of the visitor. Overcome by lust, they rallied
around him. The youth was holding a bowl and was seeking food. But
the rishipathnis dropped their bangles into it. In fact, out of their
emotional meltdown due to Cupid's arrows, their bangles became
loose and fell into the begging bowl. Without their knowledge they
were at the brink of damage to their chastity. The rishis returned at that
time. Though confused to see their wives in that condition, they
quickly realised what had happened through “Gnanadhrishti”( power
of knowing past,present and future). They were ashamed of the
behaviour of their wives. They cursed their wives to take birth in the
community of merchants in the city of Madurai. Saddened by the
development, their wives demanded to know about the salvation from
the curse. The rishis replied,” You will get salvation when touched by
Lord Somasundarar”.
As per the curse, those women took birth in the community of
merchants in the city of Madurai. They grew into beautiful maidens.
At that time Kulabhooshana pandian was ruling the Pandian kingdom.
The time was ripe for the salvation of the rishipathnis from their curse.
So, Lord Somasundarar manifested as a young Bangle-seller.
Carrying bundles of bangles of various colours and sizes,he walked
down the streets where those maidens lived,as if to return their bangles
he acquired from them at Dhaarugaavanam. In a sonorous voice, he
called the maidens to come, see and buy the beautiful bangles in his
55
possession. The maidens almost mobbed him competing with one
another in their eagerness to be touched by the young bangle-seller.
They stretched their hands in front of him and he deftly slipped the
bangles of their choice, on their hands. His touch mesmerised them
and melted their hearts. Many of them broke the bangles worn already
and came seeking fresh ones only to get his touch again and again .
They said that they never had the experience of that sort and invited the
bangle-seller to come the next day too. He agreed and disappeared but
only to reappear as Lord Somasundarar for every one to see. People
realised that it was He who came as bangle-seller. They danced with
joy. The girls who were touched by Lord became pregnant and
delivered attractive baby-boys in due course. Those boys grew into
brave youth. After some time, their mothers who were rishipathnis in
their previous birth, reached the lotus feet of Lord Sivan.
Episode 33: Lord teaches 'Ashtamasiddhis”
Once upon a time Lord Sivaperuman was seated under a tree at
mount Kailash. Goddess Umadevi was by his side offering
'thaamboolam'. Lord was enlightening the sages viz.,
Thirunandhidevar, Bhirungi, Mahakaalar, Sanagar, Sanaathanar,
Sananthanar and Sanarkumarar on various subjects. At that time, the
six Karthigai women who nursed Lord Murugan during his infancy,
came to worship Lord Sivan. They requested that they be taught the
Ashtamasiddhis, the eight mystic powers. Lord pointed to Goddess
Umadevi and advised the karthigai women to worship Her to realise
those powers as Ashtamasiddhis were sub-servient to Her.
But alas! The Karthigai women, driven by their ill-fate,
neglected Goddess. This blunder enraged Lord Sivan. He cursed them
to become rocks and lie under a banyan tree at a place called
Pattamangai. Shell-shocked, the women regretted their blunder and
requested Lord for salvation from the curse. Taking pity on them, Lord
56
said,” You are destined to lie there as rocks for one thousand years.
Afterwards I will come there to give you salvation. You will also be
taught Ashtamasiddhis at that time.”
As aresult, the six women were lying as granite rocks at
Pattamangai for long. In due course,they were covered by leaves and
foliage. When the time for their salvation approached, Lord
Somasundarar of Madurai appeared in front of them. The moment His
merciful glance fell on them, the rocks turned into their original form
of women. They had shed their ego and arrogance. They fell on the feet
of Lord. He blessed them and enlightened them on the Ashtamasiddhis
thus:
“ Ashtamasiddhis are Animaa, Mahimaa,Lahimaa,Karimaa,Praathi,
Prakaamium,Eesathvam and Vasithuvam. These are gained and
practised by enlightened souls (Gnanis) and Yogis.
Animaa is the act of becoming the minutest part of even the minutest
living organisms.
Mahima is the act of encompassing all the 36 Thathvas from the
thathva of earth to Sivathathva.
Lahimaa is the surprising weightless –ness of the yogi, if he wants to
become.
Karimaa is the power of making himself heavier than a hillock if the
yogi wishes.
Praathi is the capacity to hover between various lokams such as
Brahma lokam, Paathala lokam etc.,
Prakaamium is moving the soul from one body to another and to get
whatever one wants at the very place where he stays.
Eesathvam is the capacity to create,protect and destroy. It also elevates
the yogi in such a way that he could command all the nine planets.
Vasithuvam is the power to mesmerise and captivate all forms of life
like humans, animals, birds etc and also Asuras, and boothams. Yogi
can entice even the captains of all the eight directions like Indiran,
Varunan, Vaayu, Agni, Kuberan and Yaman.
Though gnanis are capable of all these siddhis,their minds rarely
57
indulge in using them because their primary objective is to be in union
with me.”
After imparting the above knowledge to the six women, Lord
disappeared. The women then meditated on Goddess umadevi and
attained the Ashtamasiddhis.
Episode 34: The story of Lord affixing His Rishabam seal on the
fortress
Once upon a time, a Chola king was ruling his kingdom with
Kanchipuram as his capital. He was called Kadu Vettia Cholan. He got
this name because, he cleared thick forests and established the city of
Kanchipuram there. He was a faithful devotee of Lord Sivan. He
preferred to wear vibhuthi and rudhraksham rather than royal
ornaments. He was a learned person, having proficiency in vedaas and
puranams. He heard about the various 'Thiruvilaiyadals' performed by
Lord Somasundarar at Madurai and developed a great desire to visit
Madurai to worship Him. But he was deterred by the old enmity
between Cholas and Pandias.
One day in his dreams Lord appeared as a Siddhar and
said,”Chola! Give up your worry. You disguise yourself and come to
Madurai alone. You can worship me and return.” Cholan got up from
sleep and decided to leave for Madurai at once. As instructed by Lord,
he started off alone and reached the banks of river Vaigai. To his
dismay, the river was in spate. He was engulfed by sorrow because his
58
attempt was being thwarted by the swollen river. He could not waste
any time, lest he was identified by the Pandian soldiers at the day
break.
At that instant, Siddhar appeared in front of him. He shot a
glance at the river and the river water receded immediately. He led the
king to the fort of Madurai. With His divine will he got the northern
gate of the fortress opened by itself. He took Cholan to the temple. He
made him to take the holy dip in the golden-lotus pond and then led
him to the Sanctum sanctorum of Lord Somasundarar and Goddess
Angayarkanni. Cholan's bliss was boundless on finding his dream
coming true. He was overwhelmed by the mercy of Lord.
Siddhar advised Cholan to hurry up so that his presence was
not detected by the pandian forces at the dawn. He led him
back,crossed the river, blessed him and bade him farewell. He then
returned to the fort, closed the northern gate, affixed His Rishabam
seal(emblem) on it and entered the temple.
In the morning when the guards came to open the northern
gate, they were taken aback by the Rishabam seal on the locks instead
of the 'Fish' emblem of the Pandian Kingdom. They quickly went to
the other three gates and found the 'Fish' emblem in tact. Perplexed by
that, they rushed to the Pandian king and informed what they found.
Kulabhushana Pandian personally visted the northern gate and found
the Rishabam seal. He was at loss to know who might have done it. His
mind was restless and that night, he rejected food and slept on the bare
floor.
In his dreams Lord Sivaperuman appeared and said,”Pandia!
Kadu Vettia Cholan is my ardent devotee. Because of his 'bhakthi', he
wished to worship me here at Madurai temple. I facilitated him to
worship me here by entering through north gate. After worship, I led
him back, locked the gates and affixed my Rishaba seal”.
Kulabhushanan woke up from sleep and was moved by the
benevolence shown by Lord towards His devotees. He conveyed that
59
incident to all and they all were equally moved by His grace.
Subsequently, Kulabhushana Pandian arranged for the
coronation of his son Rajendran and then left for the heavenly abode.
Episode 35: Lord Somasundarar providing a water kiosk in the
battle field
While Rajendra Pandian was ruling, Kadu Vettia Cholan
wanted to visit Madurai unhindered to worship Lord Somasundarar.
He desired to have friendly relationship with Pandian to achieve it. So,
he sent fabulous gifts to Pandian and Pandian reciprocated it by
sending several other gifts to Cholan. To firm up his relationship
further, Cholan offered to give his daughter in marriage to Rajendran.
Rajendran had a younger brother by name Rajasingan. He was
shrewd and cunning in nature. He crafted a sinister design to marry the
daughter of Cholan and through that planned to dethrone his brother
Rajendra Pandian. He made a secret visit to meet Cholan and
explained his plan. Unfortunately Cholan yielded to Rajasingan's
scheme and got his daughter married to him. Subsequently Cholan
decided to secure the Pandian kingdom to his son-in-law. He along
with Rajasingan declared a war with Pandian king. His huge army
reached the outskirts of Madurai.
Rajendran went to the temple and prayed,”Oh Lord, Your
Merciful helped Kadu Vettia Cholan to worship you here. Then he
sought to have my friendship and I readily agreed. Now he became
ungrateful and had come with a huge army to attack this city. Will Your
Meciful help him this time too?” At that time a divine voice addressed
him,” Rajendra! Go to battle field tomorrow and engage your enemy.
The victory will be yours.” Pandian was very happy. He ordered his
60
forces to be ready for the battle the next day.
Next day Pandian's comparatively smaller army engaged
Cholan's army .It was a fierce battle. As it went on, the day was getting
hotter and hotter. The soldiers, horses and elephants were unable to
bear the scorching sun. All of them suffered from severe thirst for
water but there was not enough water to quench their thirst. Without
water both the armies became very tired and weak. At that time Lord
Somasundarar created a water-dispensing kiosk amidst the Pandian's
forces. Lord Himself sat in it in the form of a sage and dispensed cool
and sweet water to the forces of Pandian. Once their thirst quenched,
the men, horses and elephants regained their strength and attacked
Chola forces with renewed vigour and valour. The Chola army could
not withstand that onslaught and was defeated. Kadu Vettia Cholan
and Rajasingan were taken as prisoners. They were produced in the
presence of the Pandian. Pandian took them to the temple and prayed
to Lord to indicate the punishment they deserved. Lord responded
through a divine voice from heavens,”Rajendra! You know all ethics
and the contents of the sciptures. Do as you wish.” Rajendran
worshipped Lord and decided to let go Cholan with a small contingent
of his men and horses. He confiscated the wealth of his unruly brother
and made him to live aside. He continued to rule the kingdom caring
for his subjects and was hailed as a very good king.
61
 Episode 36: Lord becomes an alchemist
Near Madurai, there is a small town called 'Thirupoovanam', on the
banks of the river Vaigai. There is a famous temple dedicated to Lord
Siva in that village.
and then asked Ponnanaiyaal to put those vessels on fire that night to
melt them. He said that all of them would turn into gold. He blessed
Ponnanaiyaal and disappeared, stating that He was a Siddhar from
Madurai. She realised that the Siddhar was none other than Lord
Somasundarar of Madurai.

In olden days, girls from a particular community dedicated
their life to the temple-service. They used to sing and dance in praise of
the God and Goddess of the temple. At Thirupoovanam also, such girls
were there and one among them was by name Ponnanaiyaal. Not only
was she extremly beautiful but also was a great exponent in music and
dance. Over and above, she was very kind-hearted and she loved to
feed and serve sivanadiyars, out of her devotion to Lord Sivan. She
was spending all her income in providing sumptuous food to
sivanadiyars everyday. She nurtured a desire of getting the image of
Lord Sivan cast in pure gold, for the temple. But, that desire to
materialise, she required a lot of gold which she did not have. All her
earnings went to the service of providing food to sivanadiyars.
That night she got those vessles of different metals melted and
to her great joy, all of them turned into gold. She used the gold and got
the statuette of Lord Siva cast. The statuette turned out to be extremly
beautiful. On seeing that, she broke into ecstasy and nibbled on the
cheek of the statuette and exclaimed, "How beautiful you are, my
Lord! ". The mark of her fingernail on the cheek of the Lord's statuette
remained for everyone to see as a proof of Ponnanaiyaals boundless
love. She then got the image installed in the temple at Thirupoovanam
and consecrated it. Even today, this incident remains depicted as a
carving on one of the granite pillars of the temple mandapam.

Knowing her desire, Lord Sivan decided to make her devotion

and dedication known to the world. Soon, He disguised Himself as a
Siddhar and reached the house of Ponnanaiyaal. Without going inside
the house where Sivanadiyars were eating, he sat beside the entrance.
The maids of Ponnanaiyaal noticed him and reported it to their
mistress. By then all other Sivanadiyars had left. Ponnanaiyaal came
to the doorway, worshipped Siddhar and requested Him to grace the
home and dine. But Siddhar smiled and enquired what bothered her
mind which visibly showed on her face.

Ponnanaiyaal replied that everything was fine except her

heart's desire to cast the Lord's statuette in gold was not fulfilled. She
said that she did not have the gold required for the project. Lord smiled
again and asked her to bring whatever vessels she had at home, be they
made of brass, bronze, copper, silver or lead. She did as she was told.
Lord Sivan, in the guise of Siddhar sprinkled vibhuthi on those vessels

62 63
 Episode 37: The story of how Chola king was pushed into a deep
abyss of water
After Rajendra Pandian, four more kings succeeded him.The
fifth one was Sundaresapaatha sekharan. He was a very faithful
devotee of Lord Somasundarar. He shrunk his army to a minimum
required size and thus curtailed the expenditure. Whatever could be
saved by that exercise was earmarked by him for the developmental
work at the temple. The then- Chola King came to know about the
shrunken army of Pandian and decided to invade Pandian Kingdom.
Pandian's spies carried this information to Sundaresa Pathasekharan.
Though taken aback, he rushed to the temple to seek help from Lord
Sundareswarar. Lord reassured him through a divine voice. Pandian
regained his confidence and set off with his small army to engage the
Cholan's forces.
In the battle field, the small army of Pandian appeared to be
very big for Chola's forces by the miracle enacted by Lord
Somasundarar. Not only that, but also He manifested Himself as a
brave hunter, mounted on a horse and appeared at the leading file of the
Pandian army. He confronted the Chola King, and waved his spear left
and right. His looks, bravery and the manner in which He handled the
deadly spear frightened Cholan, making him to flee from the battle
field. At that instant, Lord disappeared. The Pandian King chased the
fleeing Cholan. After sometime Cholan looked back and did not find
the hunter on his trail. He regained his valour and turned around to
chase the Pandian King. To escape from Cholan, Pandian King
jumped into a deep abyss of water nearby. The Cholan, riding on his
horse also plunged into the abyss. While the Pandian King managed to
swim ashore, the Chola King died by drowning. This was the will of
Lord. Sundaresa Paathasekhara Pandian emerged victorious and he
grabed the remaining forces of Cholan. He then ruled peacefully,
continuing his service to Lord Somasundarar.
64
Episode 38 : Lord Somasundarar grants an undepletable granary
In the city of Madurai there lived a farmer by name Adiyaarkku
nallan. His wife Dharmaseelai was a very noble lady. Adiyaarkku
nallan carried out his farming activities and spent all of his earnings in
providing food to sivanadiyars. His sivapunniam grew this way
leading to further prosperity. But Lord Somasundarar's will was
different. His wish was to show the world that Adiyaarkku nallan
would continue to feed sivanadiyars even in abject poverty. So he
caused the yield from the fields of Adiyaarkku nallan to dwindle. That
made Adiyaarkku nallan to struggle to keep his service going. He
raised loans from others and managed to feed sivanadiyars for some
time. After a few days, people refused to give him loans knowing his
impoverished state. Grieving over his inability to feed sivanadiyars,
Adiyaarkku nallan went to the temple along with his wife and
pleaded,"Oh Lord! My fields have become barren and I do not find
anybody who is willing to give me loan. Unless you show me a way
out to continue my service to sivanadiyaars, I do not have any option
except ending my life."
At that instant, there arose a divine voice. It said,” Do not
worry. Today, a granary will appear in your home. You can draw any
amount of rice from it and it will never get depleted.” Adiyaarkku
nallan was thrilled and overwhelmed. He reached home, found the
granary and with the help of it he continued to feed sivanadiyaars and
other poor people.
By the will of Lord, he then reached the lotus feet of Him.
65
 Episode 39: The story in which Lord appeared as the uncle of a
boy in litigation
In the great city of Madurai, there lived a wealthy merchant by
name Dhanapathi. Suseelai was his wife's name. They were not
blessed with a child and were very sad about it. So Dhanapathi adopted
his nephew (the son of his younger sister) as his son and brought him
up with great affection. Sooner there were skirmishes between his
house hold and his sister. Taking sides with his wife, Dhanapathi
started quarrelling with his sister often.
One day his sister said,” Oh my brother, you are cursed to be
childless. It is because of my son you are going to get salvation.”
Dhanapathi was hurt by these words. He felt ashamed and decided to
renounce everything and do penance so that he would be blessed with
a child at least in his next berth. So he made his adopted son as the heir
for his huge wealth and left with his wife to far away places. Taking
undue advantage of his absence, some of his unscrupulous relatives
foisted false litigations and grabbed the wealth from the boy and his
mother. As a result the boy and his mother were reduced to penury.
who did not expect him to come there at that time. In the court
Sivaperuman in the guise of Dhanapathi comforted the woman and the
child. Moved to tears by their state of poverty, He pleaded for justice.
He turned towards the direction where the temple stood, and requested
God to restore the properties to the child. The learned judges heard
both sides and came to the conclusion that the relatives of Dhanapathi
were guilty of misappropriation. But those relatives argued that the
person present at the court was not Dhanapathi at all. Lord in the guise
of Dhanapathi smiled and addressed every one of those relatives by
their name, listed their lineage and mentioned the names of their close
relatives too. On that the court was convinced that He was real
Dhanapathi. The evil- minded relatives realized that their case was lost
and they started leaving the court one by one on some pretext or other.
The court ruled that the properties of Dhanapathi should be restored
back to his adopted son. At that time Lord disappeared. Every one
realized that it was Lord Himself who appeared as Dhanapathi and
won the case in favour of the child. The king also came to know of this
incident and showered a lot of gifts on the child. He also renovated the
temple of Madurai.

Being in the grip of poverty, Dhanapathi's sister went to the

temple with her son. She worshipped Lord Sundareswarar and wept
her heart out, requesting His Merciful to rescue her from her plight.
Exhausted both physically and mentally, she fell asleep. In her dream,
Lord Somasundarar appeared as a Brahmin and advised her to drag
those relatives to the court of justice the next day. He assured her that
He too would be present there and win the litigation in her favour.

The woman was surprised at the dream but did exactly as she
was told. Those relatives initially heckled at her but relented when she
invoked the King's name and order. In the court she explained how her
son was duped and tricked by those relatives who plundered the wealth
of Dhanapathi. At that instant, Lord Somasundarar came to the court in
the guise of Dhanapathi. His sudden appearance stunned the tricksters

66 67
 Episode 40: Varaguna pandian was shown Sivalokam at Madurai.
King Sundaresa Patha Sekharan performed coronation for his
son Varagunan and then reached the lotus feet of Lord Somasundarar.
During his regime, Varaguna Pandian went for a hunting expedition in
the forests. After hunting several animals, he was returning to the
palace in the dusk. He was riding on his horse through the forest. At
that time he failed to notice a human form lying on his way. His horse
trampled over the person, resulting in his death. He was a Brahmin
fainted and fallen on the ground some time back. Unaware of the
incident, Pandian reached his palace. The relatives of the Brahmin
brought his body to the front gate of the palace. The palace guards
informed the king. Varagunan felt very sad on what had happened and
he gave a lot of money to the relatives of the Brahmin to get the body
cremated in a fitting manner. But the sin of killing the
Brahmin(Brahmahathi) caught hold of the king.
Varagunan was haunted by the brahmahathi and it did not
leave him despite several ritual performed by him as per the scriptures.
Some of the learned scholars suggested that the king might be relieved
of the sin if he went around the Sanctum sanctorum of the temple 1008
times a day. The king readily accepted and as he was going around the
Sanctum Sanctorum, a divine voice called out,” Oh king! I am pleased
with your endeavour. Your one step around this Sanctum Sanctorum
will yield the benefit of performing an Aswamedha yaaham. Listen
now. There is a way to get rid of your brahmahathi. Chola king will
try to invade your kingdom. At that time you fight him. He will be
defeated. Chase him up to his border and you will reach a place called
Thiruvidaimarudhur where I do pooja to myself in the temple. When
you enter that temple your sin will leave you.”
Varagunan was greatly relieved. After sometime, as predicted,
the Chola king waged a war. In the battle field, Cholan was defeated
and he fled. Pandian chased him and reached Thiruvidaimarudhur on
the southern banks of river Kaveri. VaragunaPandian entered the great
68
temple of Lord Sivan there through its Eastern entrance. At that very
instant, the brahmahathi left Varagunan as it could not enter the
temple. It waited there to catch Varagunan when he came out. But Lord
Marudhavanar , the presiding deity of the temple advised Varagunan
to leave the temple after worship through the western entrance so that
the brahmahathi might not catch him again. Varagunan did exactly as
was told. The brahmahathi is still awaiting him even today at the
eastern entrance of Thiruvidaimarudhur. Varagunan renovated the
western tower of the temple and then reached Madurai worshipping
Lord Sivan at various temples enroute.
Overwhelmrd by the mercy of Lord, Varagunan's bhakthi grew
day by day and he devoted more and more time hearing the greatness
of Lord Sivan. He nurtured a desire to see the Sivalokam in all its
grandeur. One day he went to the temple and during his worship he
expressed his desire to have the 'dharshan' of Sivalokam. Lord
Somasundarar decided to concede the king's request. He ordered
Nandhi the chief of Siva's forces to guide through the Sivalokam
which appeared instantly at Madurai itself by the will of Lord.
Nandhi invited Varagunan and showed him the various
locations of Sivalokam. There the divine music filled the air . The
ambience was one of beauty laced with serenity. There were glittering
golden structures criss-crossed by streets sprinkled with gems. All
these were surrounded by a formidable fortress. There were separate
places of living for various Devas. Nandhi showed the places of
Brahma, Vishnu,Rudhra and that of the guardians of the eight
directions. He also showed the places where yogis, sages and
sivanadiars lived. Then Nandhi led Varaguna Pandian to the sacred
court –yard of Lord Sivaperuman. There Lord was seated with
Goddess Umadevi. Lord Ganesh, Lord Subrahmaniar and
Veerabhadrar were standing beside. Lord Vishnu and Brahma were in
attendance. Pandian was thrilled beyond what words could express.
He drank that scene with eyes as much as he could. He was spell-
bound. He worshipped several times. All of a sudden the Sivalokam
69
disappeared and the temple of Madurai with Lord Somasundarar and
Angayarkkanni ammai remained in front of him.
This wonderful episode was narrated by Sage Agasthiar to
other sages. They put forwarded a question: While the deadly sins of
the Brahmin from Avanthi ( ref. Episode 26) were neutralized at
Madurai, why Lord wanted Varagunan to go to Thiruvidaimarudhur to
get rid of his brahmahathi ? Agasthiar replied that it was to deter the
people of Thiruvidaimarudhur from committing grave sins like
murder.
Episode 41: Lord Somasundarar comes as a firewood seller.
During the regime of Varaguna Pandian, a famous musician
from north visited Madurai. His name was Aemanathan and he show
cased his musical prowess in the court yard of the king. Every one
including the king was mesmerized by Aemanathan's music and the
king gave away a lot of gifts to the musician. Consumed by the
wonderful treatment he received from the king, Aemanathan's pride
soared and he considered himself very great. He boasted that there
could be no one in the Pandian Kingdom to match him. The king learnt
about this and he sent word for Paanabhathran, a court musician. He
asked whether he could compete with Aemanathan in musical talent as
the prestige of the Pandian Kingdom was at stake. Paanabhathran
agreed and a competition was fixed next day.
Meanwhile the disciples of Aemanathan roamed the streets of
Madurai, displaying their musical skills at crowded public places. On
hearing their music, Paanabhathran became a bit nervous. He thought
that if the disciples could sing so well, what would be the magnitude of
Aemanathan's capacity. He was worried about the outcome of the
competition the next day. He went to the temple and pleaded to Lord to
come to his rescue and then returned home.
70
Lord Somasundarar decided to help his devotee
Paanabhathran. He took the form an old wood cutter. Draped in rags,
His elderly figure stumbled along the streets of Madurai that evening.
He was carrying a bundle of fire wood on his head and a battered
'yaazh'( a stringed musical instrument of those days) on his shoulder.
He reached the house where Aemanathan was staying. He kept aside
the bundle of fire wood and sat outside the house. A little later, he took
his yaazh, tuned it and started to sing a melodious song. On hearing
that Aemanathan came out of the house. He enquired the wood cutter
as to who was he singing so nicely. The old wood cutter said that he
was the underdog of Panabhathrar, the great musician of Madurai. He
further said that Panabhathrar had considered him unfit to learn music
any longer because of the woodcutter's advanced age and that was why
he happened to eke out a living as a wood cutter.
Aemanathan was totally surprised. He requested the wood
cutter to sing again that song he just heard. The wood cutter obliged.
That song was set to the tune (Raagam) ' Naivalam'. As Lord
Somasundarar in the guise of the wood cutter sang, it captivated not
only the human beings but also other forms of life. Even the breeze
stopped awhile; waves of the oceans stood still. No wonder the music
of Lord moved the heart of Aemanathan. He was stunned. He could not
believe his ears. He no longer considered himself great. He thought, if
a person who was considered unfit could provide such a divine
musical treat, what would be the caliber of Paanabhathrar. It became
clear to him that he would be defeated in the competition with
Paanabhathrar on the following day. He packed and left Madurai that
night itself without telling anybody.
Lord Somasundarar disappeared but narrated the incident to
Paanabhathrar in his dream. Paanabhathrar woke up from sleep and
was moved to tears by the mercy of Lord. In the morning he went to the
temple and worshipped several times. He then went to the king and
explained every thing that happened. Pandian counter -checked by
sending his men to the house where Aemanathan was staying the
71
previous day. They returned and reported that Aemanathan indeed
had left Mdurai. The king was overwhelmed by the grace of Lord who
walked down the streets carrying fire wood on his head for the sake of
Paanabhathrar. He felicitated Paanabhathrar in many ways and
decreed that Paanabhathrar should serve only Lord Somasundarar
with his music thereafter and not to work as a musician of royal court.
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Episode 42: Lord Somasundarar's letter of introduction addressed
to Chera King.
As per the instructions of Varaguna Pandian, Paanabhathrar
quit the King's court and devoted his time only in the service of the
Temple. As a result his earnings dwindled and soon he was in the grip
of poverty. Lord Somasundarar took sympathy on him and made an
arrangement. He started giving him gold coins or ornaments or
clothings taken surreptitiously from the treasury of the king.
Paanabhathrar could mitigate his poverty with that help. But all of a
sudden Lord stopped his gesture and Paanabhathrar slipped into
poverty again. One day Lord appeared in the dream of Paanabhathrar
and said,” Paanabhathra, I was giving you wealth taken from the king's
treasury. If I continue, the king will eventually find out one day. With
suspicion, He might punish the guards for dereliction of duty. So, I will
give an introductory letter addressed to Chera King. Take it to him and
he will give you enough wealth.”
The letter of Lord was in the form a verse in chaste Thamizh. It
introduced Paanabhathrar as a true devotee like Cheran himself and
advised Cheran to give ample wealth to Paanabhathrar and send him
back to Madurai. Paanabhathrar was extremely happy and set off
immediately to Chera kingdom. He reached the city of Thiru
vanjaikkalam from where Cheran was ruling. That night, Lord
Somasundarar informed Cheran about the arrival of Paanabhathrar
with His letter of introduction. The king was very happy and sent his
men to locate Paanabhathrar in the following morning. They found
him and informed the king. He personally went to the place where
Paanabhathrar was staying and greeted him. He received the letter
given by Lord with great reverence. After reading it he was
overwhelmed by ecstacy. He made Paanabhathrar to sit on the royal
elephant and he himself sat behind him. He took his visitor to the
palace and fed him with the choicest cuisine. He then got his treasury
opened and asked Paanabhathrar to take whatever he wanted.
Paanabhathrar politely said that anything the king gave would be
73
sufficient for him. The king gave him a lot of wealth and saw him off. Episode 43: Lord Somasundarar gifts a golden plank to
Paanabhathrar returned to Madurai and worshipped Lord Paanabhthrar
Somasundarar. He distributed the wealth to his kith and kin and lived
happily serving Lord at His temple. As seen in the previous episode, Paanabhthrar was regular in
attending the temple three times a day to play his 'yaazh' and sing.
After receiving a huge fortune from the Chera king at the instant of
Lord Somasundarar, his devotion to Him grew multifold and he
decided to sing devotional songs at the Arthajama poojai at night as
well. He started to attend the temple at nights and sang hymns when
Lord was put to sleep with the Goddess. Lord Somasundarar was
pleased at his devotion and decided to show the world that
Paanabhathrar would adhere to his schedule at any cost.

He made heavy rains to lash the city one evening. There was no
let up in the rain and the city was getting flooded. As the time for the
Arthajama Poojai approached, Paanabhathrar left for the temple
unmindful of the down pour. He stood in rear of the Idabadevar in open
as usual, and started to play his yaazh. He was drenched in rain and his
body shivered. Due to the moisture his yaazh was getting mistuned.
However he did not stop singing. His feet were submerged in the slush
and mud beneath.

At that time a devine voice called out, "Paanabhatra! I will give

a plank. You sing standing on it." Instantly a golden plank studded with
gems appeared on the ground. Obeying Lord's instructions,
Paanabhathrar climbed on it and continued his music and completed it.
Then he went home. The sky also cleared and the rains stopped.

In the following morning, Varaguna Pandian came to know of

this episode. He rushed to Paanabhathrar's house, made him to sit on
the golden plank given by Lord and felicitated him. He gave him gold
ornaments and fertile lands. After sometime, Varagunan's life came to
an end and he reached Sivalokam.

74 75
 Episode 44: Paanabhathrar's wife wins the musical contest
After Varaguna Pandian, his son Rajaraja Pandian ascended
the throne. Apart from his queens, he had several other concubines.
One among the concubines was very close to the king's heart as she
was a great exponent in music too. There was a running feud between
her and the wife of Paanabhathrar regarding the supremacy in musical
talents. She was nursing hatred towards the wife of Paanabhathrar and
was looking for a chance to malign her. She hatched a plan and
obtained the consent of the king to invite a lady-musician from the
country of Eelam (Srilanka) to be propped against the wife of
Paanabhathrar.
The woman from Eelam performed in the king's court. The
king admired her very much and said,” Oh woman! You challenge the
wife of Paanabhathrar to compete with you when I call her here. Do
not leave her even if she back tracks”. Then he sent word for the wife of
Paanabhathrar. When she arrived, the king said to her,” A woman from
Eelam is here throwing a challenge to match her musical talents. Can
you accept the challenge?” Paanabhathrar's wife humbly
submitted,”Oh great king! Being the blemish –less wife of
Paanabhathrar, I accept and hope to win with the grace of Lord
Somasundarar.”
Next morning the king arranged for a competition among the
two women. The lady from Eelam at first reeled out the technical
aspects of music and teased the wife of Paanabhathrar by asking
whether she knew them at all. The latter responded,”I am here to
match your music and not to debate the technicalities.” The king
intervened and asked them to start the contest. He also declared that
the loser would become the slave of the winner. The contest started.
First the lady from Eelam presented her soul-stirring music and song.
Then followed the musical treat from the wife of Paanabhathrar. Those
present in the court nodded in unison and thougt her music to be
supreme. But the king deliberately appreciated the music of the Eelam
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national. This he did to please his concubine. The audience faithfully
endorsed his view taking care not to incur the wrath of the king.
However Pandian said that it might not be possible to judge them at
one sitting alone. So he asked them to present their talents the next day
too and dispersed the court.
The woman from Eelam was very much pleased with the
king's admiration and her ego soared further whereas the wife of
Paanabhathrar was very sad. She went to the temple and pleaded to
Lord about the partisan attitude of the king towards her. At that time a
divine voice comforted her and assured of her victory the next day.
When the contest was in progress the next day, the king and the
audience were in favour of the woman from Eelam again.
Paanabhathrar's wife was upset and she made a request that the contest
be held iin the temple in front of the sanctum sanctorum. She further
said that she would accept defeat even if one person in the audience
decided in favour of the woman from Eelam. The king agreed and he
led every body to the temple of Lord Somasundarar. Lord also was
present among the crowd in the guise of a poet, unnoticed by anybody.
As before, the woman from Eelam sang first. There was no reaction
from the crowd. Then the wife of Paanabhathrar began to sing praising
the mercy and grace of Lord, in a blemish-less voice to the
accompaniment of the melody of her yaazh. The audience was thrilled
including the king. His biased attitude changed and he declared that
the wife of Paanabhathrar was the winner. He directed that she must be
seated on the shoulders of the woman from Eelam. At that instant,
Lord in the guise of the poet shouted,” It is wonderful and marvelous”
and he disappeared. Everyone realized that it was none other than Lord
Somasundarar who appeared as a poet.
Rajarajan gifted a lot of ornaments and clothes to the wife of
Paanabhathrar. He also gave some gifts to the woman from Eelam and
sent her back. Subsequently, Rajaraja Pandian was blessed with a son
called Suguna Pandian.
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 Episode 45: Lord Somasundarar nurses the piglets.
Near Madurai there was a village called Guruvirunthathurai (
Kuruvithurai of today ) south of river Vaigai. There lived a wealthy
farmer by name Sugalan. His wife was Sugalai. They were blessed
with twelve sons. Out of affection and their wealthy status they
pampered their sons very much but failed to bring them up as good
children. By fate, Sugalan and Sugalai passed away one after the other.
With no one to control them, the behaviour of the sons went from bad
to worse. They joined with the children of the hunters and wandered in
the forests nearby.
Oneday they spotted a sage doing penance amidst thick shrubs.
He was Guru Bahavan the Devaguru. Being ignorant of good values in
life, the sons of Sugalan started teasing the sage by raining stones and
pebbles on him. Guru's penance was disturbed and he opened his eyes.
With his gnanadhrishti, he identified who they were. He cursed them
to take birth as piglets. Repenting and remorseful, Sugalan's sons
pleaded to forgive them and requested Guru about the salvation from
the curse. Guru took pity on them and said,” The curse willtake effect
but you will be nursed by Lord Somasundarar of Madurai. He will
make you ministers and at the appropriate time He will give you
Mukthi”.
As per the curse the twelve sons of Sugalan took birth as
piglets. They were born to the king of pigs lived in the forest. One day
the Pandian king went for a hunting expedition in that forest. He
entered the forest with hunters, their dogs and a group of soldiers.
They killed several animals. As they approached the area where the
king of pigs lived, a pig ran and informed their king about the
Pandian's foray. The king of pigs jumped to his feet and ordered his
army of pigs to get ready to fight Pandian and his men. He asked his
Queen pig to take care of their young ones as he might get killed in the
fight. But the queen of pigs refused to let go her husband without her.
She vowed to fight the men side by side with her husband.
78
The pigs under the leadership of their king, attacked the
hunters ferociously. But they could not withstand the rain of arrows
from the men and got killed. At that time the queen of pigs suggested to
her husband to run away in order to save their lives. But he refused
stating that it would be unbecoming of a warrior like him to run away.
He charged upon Pandian himself with renewed energy and killed his
elephant and horse. He destroyed the chariot of Pandian. Pandian was
infuriated at that and killed the king of pigs with a stout iron club. The
queen of pigs was shocked at the loss of her husband but nevertheless
attacked Pandian. At that time one of the hunters killed her too. At that
time there was a shower of flower petals from the sky on the bodies of
the slain king and queen of pigs. They both rose to heavens. Their dead
bodies turned into a hill. Several sages and hermits stayed on that hill
and did penance in later years.
When sage Agasthiar narrated this story to other sages, they
asked, why sages preferred to do penance on that hill. Agasthiar said,”
Once upon a time Sage Pulasthiar's penance was disturbed by a
Vichadharan who was playing music in his yaazh. Pulasthiar cursed
him to become a pig. When he asked about his salvation, the sage said
that Vichadharan would regain his form when killed by a Pandian
king. It happened as told in the above story.Since the hill was the body
of the very same pig, sages preferred to do penance there”.
After the death of their parents, the twelve piglets were
orphaned. They ran here and there searching for their mother to
quench their thirst and hunger. Unable to find her they plunged into
despair. On seeing their plight, Lord Somasudarar, with profound
sympathy, took the form of their mother-pig and approached them.
The piglets were very happy to see their mother again and rushed
towards her. Somasundarar in the form of mother-pig, fed them with
milk and nursed them to their satisfaction. With his boundless love he
enriched their wisdom and knowledge too. All of them turned into
human form except for their heads which remained that of pigs with
the divine will of Lord.
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 Episode 46: The piglets were made the ministers of Pandian king.
The twelve piglets who turned into human beings except for
their pig-like heads became very intelligent and well educated.
Oneday Goddess Parvathi asked Lord Sivaperuman as to what was the
reason for Him to turn those piglets into human form and impart
knowledge and wisdom to them. Lord replied that all living beings
were equal in his view and He did not differentiate between them
while bestowing His mercy on them. He also said that He nursed those
mother-less piglets when they were in the grip of thirst and hunger
under scorching sun. He said that they would grow into wise men to be
employed by the Pandian and finally were destined to become
Sivaganam.
That night He advised Pandian king in his dreams to employ
those twelve youth as ministers. Pandian gladly accepted them as
ministers. He also got the daughters of the other ministers married off
to them. All the twelve remained as assets to the king because of their
wisdom and efficiency. They were exemplary role-models as
ministers performing their duties as laid down in Thirukkural. Finally
they reached Sivalokam. Subsequently Rajaraja Pandian also reached
the heavenly abode.
80
Episode 47: Lord Somasundarar gives enlightenment to a Black
Drango (Karikkuruvi)
During the regime of Suguna Pandian, there lived a frail little
karikkuruvi. In its previous birth it was a noble man righteous in many
ways but he happened to do a little sin too. That sin made him to take
birth as karikkuruvi. That poor bird was haunted by other stronger
birds like crows, ravens and eagles. It had to lead a miserable life in the
city of Madurai. So it had migrated to the forest near by and was
perched on a tree in a sorrowful mood one day. At that time a
sivanadiar came there to take rest under th cool shade of that tree. He
was on a tour, visiting various shrines of Lord Sivan. There were some
more people under the tree. The sivanadiar started explaining to others
the greatness of Lord Somasundarar of Madurai. He said that Madurai
was considered unparalled in three aspects viz., Lord, the golden-
lotus pond and the very location of Madurai. He further said that Lord
Somasundarar was the only one to bestow all boons to His devotees
then and there.
Listening to these words of sivanadiar, the Karikkuruvi got
enlightened and it could recollect the details of its previous birth. It
became clear in its mind that worshiping Lord Somsundarar alone
could relieve one from the endless cycle of births and deaths. It flew
back immediately to Madurai. It took bath in the golden-lotus pond
and worshipped Lord Somasundarar in the temple. Goddess
Angayarkkanni was surprised at the soulful worship of the bird and
asked Lord about it. Lord narrated its story and then imparted the
Mrithyunjaya manthram to the bird.
As soon as it listened to the Mrithyunjaya manthram its
wisdom blossomed and it started praising Lord's unfathomable mercy
and grace. It then requested two boons from the Lord. First, to make its
race, the Karikkuruvis stronger than other birds and the second, to
grant the wisdom of chanting the Mrithyunjaya manthram to every
Karikkuruvi. Lord granted those boons. From then on, Karikkuruvis
81
came to be known as 'Valiyans' meaning 'Strong ones'. Is it not
wonderful that a small bird could achieve benefit not only to itself but
also for its entire race!
Episode 48: A stork was bestowed with mukthi.
Once there lived a stork in a village situated in the southern
part of the Pandian kingdom. It depended on a pond for its food, the
fish. As the time for the salvation of the stork approached, the pond got
dried up slowly. The starving stork left that pond searching for food
and it reached a fertile area. There was a pond surrounded by thick
vegetation. The pond itself was large, full of fresh water and it was the
place of stay for several hermits. The stork was very happy to stay
there. As it watched, the hermits got into the water to take bath. Every
time they took a dip, several fish got entangled in their locks of hair
and the fish then jumped back into the water.
thought. It considered it to be improper to eat the fish of the sacred
pond and decided to remain hungry rather.
At that time Lord Somasundarar appeared in a form as perceived by
the stork in its mind and asked what it wanted. The worshipped Him
several times and pleaded,”My Lord, please relieve me from this birth
and grant me a place in your Sivalokam. I desire another boon too;
please make this golden-lotus pond devoid of any fish so that birds of
my own race and other races might never eat fish from this pond as it
would be a great sin.” Lord granted those boons. The stork was
elevated to Sivalokam. The golden-lotus pond also became devoid of
not only fish but also of other forms of life that live in water. It remains
so even today. How wise that stork happened to be ! It strived for its
own salvation and helped for the salvation of other birds as well.
After some time Suguna Pandian reached the feet of Lord.

The stork thought that those fish must be very fortunate to

touch the body of the hermits. So it considered those fish to be sacred
and decided not to eat them. After their bath the hermits sat on the
banks of the pond and read passages from the “ Koodal Puraanam”,
which eulogized the holy city of Madurai, its golden-lotus pond and
Lord Somasundarar. “ Lord was the most benevolent and merciful', the
Puraanam hailed. Listening to those sermons , the ignorance of the
stork vanished. Its heart swelled with the love for Lord Somasundarar.
A great desire rose in its mind to go to Madurai and worship Him.
Koodal Kaandam Ends
It reached Madurai, took bath in the golden-lotus pond and
worshipped Lord. It meticulously followed this ritual daily for fifteen
days. Next day when it came to the golden-lotus pond it was very
hungry. On seeing the fish in the pond, a thought crossed its mind to
catch them and eat. But at the very next moment it felt ashamed of its

82 83
 Thiru Aalavaai Kaandam
Episode 49: A snake defines the boundaries of Madurai city.
After SugunaPandian, twenty two kings of Pandian dynasty
ascended the throne one after the other. The twenty third king was
KeerthiBhushana Pandian. During his regime there occurred a great
deluge. All the seas and oceans rose and engulfed the land mass. Every
living thing was washed away as well as inanimate things. Those
withstood the onslaught of the nature were the the temple of
Angayarkanni,the divine Vimanam of Lord Somasundarar, the
golden-lotus pond and the hills around Madurai which came into
being because of Lord's Thiruvilayadals viz., Idabamalai,
Pasumalai,Yaanaimalai,Nagamalai and Pandrimalai (Varahamalai).
Lord Sivaperuman started the Creation again. He created all
living beings including humans. He also created the three Thamizh
Royal dynasties, Chera,Chola and Pandias. The Pandian dynasty saw
Vangiasekhara Pandian as the ruler. He established a small city around
the temple of Madurai. As the years passed by, the city grew in size
because of ever- increasing population. The king oneday went to the
temple and prayed to Lord thus: “Oh Lord, this city is too small to
accommodate the present size of population. I am unable to know
what was the boundaries of the erstwhile city of Madurai. Only you
can help me out. Please help me.”
Lord, His merciful decided to help. He came as a Siddhar like
in previous instances. This time every thing in his person was of
snakes. His loin-wear, sacred thread, ear rings,garland,wrist-wear and
anklets were all of snakes of different types. He ordered the snake He
wore on his wrist to show the boundaries of erstwhile city of Madurai.
The snake obeyed but put forth a request. It requested that the new city
be named after it. Lord granted its wish. It immediately went to eastern
side and laid its body along the periphery of the erstwhile city until its
own tail touched its head, thus showing the boundaries to Pandian.
84
Then it went back to the wrist of Siddhar who disappeared forthwith.
The king got a great boundary wall constructed and expanded
the city bound by it. The new city came to be known as Thiru Aalavaai.
(Aalavaai – a synonym to snake in Thamiz ).
Episode 50: A war was won with the arrows of Lord
Sundareswarar.
Vangia sekhara Pandian's regime saw all round growth of
prosperity in Pandian kingdom. But those peaceful times were
disturbed by his contemporary Chola king by name Vikrama Cholan.
He decided to wage a war with the Pandian. He mustered the support
of a few kings of northern states and approached the Pandian kingdom
with a huge army. Pandian learnt about the size of the enemy's army
through his spies. He was worried about the miniscule size of his own
army which was not a match to enemy's army. He thought that his
saviour could be only Lord Somasundarar. He rushed to the temple
and pleaded to Lord for help. At that time a divine voice from heaven
reassured him and advised him to go and face the enemy. It said that he
would get timely help.
Pandian was happy and he engaged the enemy with his army. A
fierce battle started. Simply because of the numbers, the Chola's army
out-performed Pandian army. The defeat of the Pandian was
imminent. At that time Lord Somasundarar appeared in the battle field
as a hunter and assumed the leadership of the Pandian army. He shot an
arrow carrying a super-scription of His name “Sundaresan“ on it. It
multiplied several hundred times and attacked the Cholan's army.
Several hundred men fell at a time. Vikrama Cholan was astonished.
He sent for one of those arrows and was stunned to see the the name
“Sundaresan” super-scribed on it. He immediately understood that
Pandian was being assisted by Lord Sundareswarar Himself. Gripped
85
by fear, he decided to withdraw from the battle field. But the kings of
northern states admonished Vikrama Cholan and boosted his morale.
With renewed vigour Cholan fought back. But Lord in the guise of the
hunter was too much for Cholan and his forces. Hundreds and
thousands of arrows from the hunter's bow totally destroyed Cholan's
army.
Vikrama Cholan was defeated. Lord also disappeared.
Pandian celebrated his victory and arranged a grand pooja for Lord
Sundareswarar at the temple. He got a bow and arrow made of gold
with the name “Sundaresan” engraved on the arrow. He submitted
them to Lord with great reverence and continued to rule the kingdom
efficiently.
Episode 51: Lord gifts a miraculous seat to Thamizh Sangam
As Vangiasekharan was ruling Madurai, Brahma the Creator
Performed ten Aswamedha yaahams at kaasi. At the end of the tenth
yaaham, Brahma went for a holy dip at river Ganges with his three
wives, Saraswathi, Savithri and Gayathri. On the way, Saraswathi's
attention was drawn by the song of a celestial woman passing across
the sky. She stayed awhile listening to the song. Others reached the
Ganges. Brahma, after waiting for some time, took bath with his other
two wives leaving Saraswathi behind. Saraswathi was annoyed at his
act when she reached Ganges belatedly. She questioned Brahma as to
why he did not wait for her. Saraswathi's anger infuriated Brahma and
he cursed Saraswathi to take birth as forty eight humans on the earth.
Saraswathi pleaded should it happen to her, his beloved wife.
86
Brahama consoled her stating that those forty eight people would be
none other than the forty eight letters of the Sanskrit script. He further
said that they would become great poets in Thamizh and Lord Sivan
Himself would lead them. Brahma thus modified his curse. (Sarawathi
being the very personification of manthras, the Sanskrit letters
represent her.)
Those forty eight poets, born at various places, achieved great
fame for their poetic skills and they congregated at Madurai. They met
the Pandian king, who acknowledged their excellence in Thamizh. He
founded a Thamizh Sangam and made those poets meet there and
pursue their literary endeavour. Driven by jealousy, many other poets
and scholars competed with those forty eight but ultimately had to bite
the dust.
Oneday all the forty eight poets went to the temple and pleaded to Lord
thus: “Oh Lord, many poets and scholars challenge us in literary
genius and poetic excellence. So, please give us a means of judging
their skills”. At that time Lord Somasundarar appeared as a poet in
front of them. He gave them a seat of about one foot by one foot and
said that it was a miraculous seat which could accommodate poets of
real excellance by expanding in size but it would reject people of poor
knowledge. The poets were extremely happy. They decorated the
divine seat with flowers and performed pooja to it. The great poet
Nakkeerar sat first on the seat followed by poet Kabilar and Baranar.
Then climbed on it the rest of forty five poets. The miraculous seat
accommodated all of them by growing in size.
As the days passed by, the fory eight poets wrote several
literary works. Being poets of great caliber, sooner it became difficult
to tell one's work from that of other due to sheer excellence. At that
time Lord again appeared as a poet, segregated their work and
compiled them properly. The poets were astonished at that feat and
requested Lord in the guise of the poet to climb the miraculous seat. It
grew in size and accommodated Him too. He sat in the centre
surrounded by the forty eight poets. Thus Lord Himself was a poet in
Thamizh Sangam. After sometime Vangiasekhara Pandian conducyed
coronation for his son, Vangia Soodamani and then reached heavens.
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 Episode 52: Gifting Dharumi a pouch of gold
Vangiasoodamani Pandian got a beautiful garden made where
a number of flowering plants were grown. Flowers from there were
offered to Lord Somasundarar daily. Lovely Shenbagam flowers from
the garden were used in the garlands that adorned Lord. The king was
particular in getting Lord adorned with Shenbagam flowers. So he
came to be known as Shenbaga Pandian as well.
In one spring season, Mother Nature was at her best. The trees
and bushes were in full bloom. The people of Madurai were enjoying
the beautiful ambience. It was a perfect setting for the young men and
women to indulge in romantic escapedes. The king was also enjoying
the beauty of Nature with his queen in the palace –garden. At that time
he suddenly felt a very sweet fragrance in the gentle breeze. It was
hitherto unknown to him. After looking around for the source of that
fragrance, he found that it emanated from the hair of the queen sitting
beside him. He was fascinated but was confused also. A doubt arose in
his mind- “could the tresses of women have natural fragrance or was it
the result of various perfumes they use?” He couldn't come to a
conclusion. So he decided to pose that question to scholars and elite
persons. He ordered to hoist a pouch of one thousand gold coins at the
gate of the Thamizh Sangam and got it announced that any one who
could dispel the doubt in the king's mind would deserve that pouch of
gold. Several scholars and poets including the forty eight poets of
Sangam tried their hand but they could not clear the doubt of the king.
There lived in Madurai a bachelor Brahmin by name Dharumi.
He intended to get married but could not because of his poverty. His
parents were also no more. He went to the temple and pleaded to Lord
to help him get the pouch of gold. Lord took pity on him and gave him a
palm leaf containing a poem in Thamizh written by Lord Himself.
Lord asked Dharumi to present it to the king and claim the pouch of
gold. Dharumi was extremely happy and carried that poem to the king.
The king was very much pleased as the subtle meaning of the poem
88
effectively cleared his doubt. It claimed that the locks of hair of
beautiful women did possess natural fragrance. As that idea was
appealing to him, the king ordered that Dharumi be awarded the pouch
of gold. But alas! Dharumi's happiness was short-lived. Poet
Nakkeerar raised an objection. He said that the poem of Dharumi had a
flaw in it. Dharumi felt deprived. As he was not a Thamizh scholar, he
could not face Nakkeerar. He rushed back to the temple and prayed,”
Oh Lord, the fortune which was within my reach had slipped away.
Even that did not bother me. But there is some one to find fault with
you and criticize your own poem.”Suddenly Lord appeared in front of
him in the guise of a poet. Taking Dharumi with Him, He reached
Thamizh sangam.
There He demanded to know the person who found fault with
the poem. Nakkeerar came forward and said fearlessly that he was
indeed the person who found the poem unacceptable. Lord asked him
what the flaw was. Nakkeerar replied that the purported meaning of
the poem was not correct because no woman could have hair of natural
fragrance and the fragrance was the result of using various scents,
perfumes etc. Lord in the guise of the poet asked,” Is it true with the
hair of women of great lineage and that of celestial girls too?”
Nakkeerar maintained his stand. Then Lord asked with indignation,”
Do you mean that Goddess Parvathi you worship everyday too does
not have hair of natural fragrance?” Nakkeerar stuck to his guns and
replied that even Goddess Parvathi was no exception. Upon this
arrogant reply Lord opened His third eye on His forehead slightly.
Nakkeerar realized who was standing in front of him. Neverthe less he
did not relent. But unable to bear the heat directed on him by the third
eye of Lord, he ran towards the Golden-lotus pond and plunged into
the water. Lord too disappeared.
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 Episode 53: Nakkeerar gets rescued from the Golden-lotus pond
Scorched by the third eye of Lord, Nakkeerar suffered much
and could not think of coming out of the pond. All other poets and the
king felt very sad. The Sangam without Poet Nakkeerar lost its charm.
So the poets went and prayed to Lord Somasundarar to forgive
Nakkeerar. Lord too took pity on Nakkeerar and appeared on the banks
of the Golden-lotus pond along with Goddess Angayarkanni. With His
boundless mercy, He extended a helping hand to pull Nakkeerar out of
the pond. At that very instant Nakkeerar was relieved of the effects of
the third eye of Lord. Repented for his folly of arguing with Lord and
showing disrespect to Goddess, Nakkeerar fell on the feet of Lord and
asked Him to forgive his action. Praising Lord Somasundarar,
Nakkeerar composed a litteray work of verses called “Kailai pathi
Kalathi pathi”. Lord was pleased and asked Nakkeerar to be present at
the Thamizh Sangam as before. Dharumi who narrowly missed the
pouch of gold was later awarded with that by the king.
Episode 54: Nakkeerar was taught Thamizh Grammar
Poet Nakkeerar, after the above incident was worshipping
Lord Somasundarar with great reverence. Lord with his divine will felt
that Nakkeerar's knowledge in Thamizh grammar was wanting in
certain aspects. Sensing His thoughts Goddess Parvathi suggested that
Poet Nakkeerar be taught Thamizh grammar by Sage Agasthiar. Lord
approved Her suggestion. This was because Sage Agasthiar learnt
Thamizh and its grammar directly from Lord Sivaperuman.
Accordingly Lord directed Sage Agasthiar to go to Madurai. Sage
Agasthiar reached Madurai with his wife Lobamuthrai and
worshipped Lord Somasundarar at the temple. Poet Nakkeerar was
also available by his side at that time.
Lord directed Agasthiar to teach Nakkeerar the various aspects
of Thamizh grammar in detail. Nakkeerar was pleased to be the
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disciple of Agasthiar and learnt Thamizh grammar in depth. Later
Lord conceded to the wish of Agasthiar to return to his place. Goddess
was curious to know why Lord Himself did not prefer to teach
Nakkeerar. Lord said that it was due to Nakkeerar's jealousy to wards
Dharumi. Nakkeerar with his newly acquired knowledge, went
through his earlier works and rectified his own mistakes and errors. He
was moved by the mercy of Lord and worshipped Him with even more
piety and humility.
Episode 55: Settling of the disputes among the sangam poets
Many literary works were born at Thamizh Sangam. But every
poet considered his or her own work superior. Though the competition
was considered healthy, at times it led to disputes, claims and counter-
claims. So the poets pleaded to Lord Somasundarar to show them a
way out. Lord appeared as a poet in front of them and said,” There is a
merchant by name Dhanapathi in this city. His wife is Gunasalini.
Lord Murugan has born as a child to them. But the boy is dumb. You
read out your works to him. He will decide which of your works are
superior.” The poets sought to know how a dumb boy of a merchant
could decide about the greatness or otherwise of a literary work. For
that Lord replied ,” Whenever the boy feels a particular work is rich in
poetry and substance, he will react by nodding his head and showing
expression of great delight on his face.”
The poets found Dhanapathi and brought his son to the
Thamizh Sangam. Every poet read out his/her work in turn to him. The
dumb boy expressed great delight while listening to every stanza of the
works of poets Nakkeerar, Kabilar and Baranar. So it became clear that
the works of those three poets only were superior and thus the dispute
was settled once and for all.
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 Episode 56: Removing the despair of the poet Idaikkadar.
After Shenbagamara Pandian, several kings of Pandian
dynasty ruled the State. During the rule of Kulesa pandian, he was
famous for his literary genius. At that time, a poet by name Idaikkadar
came visiting Pandian with a literary work he made. He was a friend of
Poet Kabilar too. But when Idaikkadar read out his work, Kulesa
Pandian did not show any expression of appreciation or delight though
the work deserved recognition. This behaviour of the king saddened
Idakkadar. His self-respect was hurt. With a heavy heart he went to the
temple and prayed to Lord,” Oh Lord, I heard that Kulesa Pandian is a
scholarly poet and a member of the Sangam. So I came with great
expectations to present my work in front of him. But he disregarded
me and my work by putting up an expression-less face. He had not
only insulted my work but also insulted you, the very embodiment of
words and their meaning.”
Idaikkadar's despair echoed as an unbelievable development.
Lord Somasundarar who was present as the Sivalingam in the sanctum
sanctorum disappeared at night from there and appeared as a new
Sivalingam* on the southern banks of river Vaigai. Next morning
when the priests opened the Sanctun Santorum, they were stunned by
the absence of the Sivalingam. With fear gripping their heart, they
rushed to the palace to inform the king. On hearing the incident,
Pandian's mind was paralysed. At that time some of the citizens came
running and informed the king that a new temple had sprung up on the
southern bank of the river with the God and goddess in it. Still
confused, Pandian ran towards the new temple and found Lord
Chokkanathar and Angayakanni ammai enshrined in it. He fell on the
ground and worshipped Lord. He pleaded to know what went wrong to
cause Lord to leave the main temple.
At that time a divine voice rose in the sky which said,” Pandia!
Though there are countless places known as Sivasthalams, sixty four
among them are great. Among the sixty four, eight are even more
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important because the lingams there were worshipped by Devas
guarding the eight directions. Among the eight, this lingam was
worshipped by Kuberan. I moved into this lingam out of my own will.
Still there is a reason for the disappearance of the lingam at the main
Temple. It is because you showed disrespect to Idaikkadan.”
Pandian realized his blunder. He begged to be pardoned. He
invited Idaikkadar and received him with all reverence at his palace.
He listened to his work, appreciated it and awarded Idaikkadar
sumptuously. Lord reappeared in the santum santorum of the main
temple. After Kulesa pandian, Arimarthana pandian ascended the
throne. (* This temple is called Aadhi Chokkanathar temple these days and situated
at Simmakkal).
Episode 57: Lord Somasundarar manifests as a fisherman
One day Lord Sivaperuman was in the process of teaching the
substance of Vedhas to Goddess Parvathi in private. For some
unknown reasons Goddess could not concentrate Her thoughts on it.
Angered by Her indifferent attitude, Lord condemned Her to take birth
among the fishing community on earth. Mother Goddess, with great
anguish pleaded that She could not live without Lord. His merciful
Lord comforted her and said that He would come to Her and marry Her
at the appropriate time. Coming to know what happened to his mother,
Lord Ganesh was upset. He rushed to the place where lord Sivan was
teaching and threw away the manuscripts of Vedhas into the ocean
attributing them to be the cause of what befallen his mother. Lord
Murugan was equally angry and he snatched the manuscript from the
hands of Lord and threw it also into the ocean. Annoyed at their action,
Lord summoned Nandhi and admonished him for letting the children
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into the place where He was teaching Vedhas to Goddess. He cursed
Nandhi to become a shark for dereliction of duty. He also cursed Lord
Murugan to take birth as a dumb child at Madurai. He spared Lord
Ganesh as cursing him would be a backlash on Himself.
With the curse taking effect, Goddess Parvathi was found as an
infant by the chieftain of fishermen in a coastal village of Pandian
Kingdom. The chieftain who was child-less till then, was over joyed to
find the beautiful baby-girl and brought her up in his household. She
grew up into a lovely maiden and at that time Nandhidevar also
reached the sea as a ferocious shark as per Lord's curse. That shark
proved to be a menace to the fishermen of the village. It used to attack
their boats,toss the boats like toys and cut the fishing nets to pieces. No
one was able to catch it. The chieftain announced that he would give
his lovely daughter in marriage to any youth who could catch the
shark.
Lord Somasundarar thought that the time had ripened to keep
His word given to Goddess. He appeared as an youthful fisherman.
The chieftain asked the youth his antecedents. The youth replied that
he was the son of the headman of fishing folk of Madurai. He also
claimed that he was capable of catching any type of fish. The chieftain
asked him whether he could catch the deadly shark ravaging their seas.
The youth agreed.
Lord in the guise of fisherman, boarded a boat, went into the
deep sea and cast his nets. The notorious shark which evaded other
fisherman, was caught by Lord. He brought it ashore to the great
astonishment of the fishing folk. The chieftain was extremely happy
and kept his word by giving his daughter in marriage to the youth. At
that instant, Lord and Goddess appeared in their true form in the sky.
The shark was also transformed into Nandhidevar. The chieftain and
his folk were overwhelmed at that sight. Lord said,” Taking pity on
your agony of being child-less I gave Goddess Herself as your
daughter and married Her now. You will enjoy all prosperity and then
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will reach my abode.” With these words He disappeared.
Afterwards Lord taught Goddess all Aagamas at
Utharakosamangai. Sixty thousand devotees of Lord were also
present to listen to Him at that time.
Episode 58: Lord Sivaperuman as Teacher enlightens
Thiruvathavoorar spiritually.
There was a beautiful and fertile village called Thiruvathavoor
on the banks of river Vaigai. In that village a baby boy was born in the
community of Amathya Brahmins. His childhood name was
Vathavoorar. He grew up into a very intelligent boy mastering Vedhas
and other art forms within his sixteenth year. Learning about this boy
the then king, Arimarthana Pandian sent word for him and after
witnessing the boy's deep knowledge and wisdom, made him one of
his ministers. Soon he was elevated as chief of ministers. The king also
conferred on him the title of “Thennavan Brahmarayan”. Thennavan
Brahmarayan's performance was to the full satisfaction of the king and
king was pleased at his choice.
Oneday in the court hall, the official-in –charge of the war
horses submitted to the king that the horses in the stables were either
very old or sick. The king at once asked Vathavoorar to arrange to buy
new horses. He authorized Vathavoorar to take as much gold as
required for the purpose. Vathavoorar knew that horses of foreign
breed used to arrive at the sea-ports for sales. He set off towards the
coast with huge quantity of gold drawn from the king's treasury,
guarded by men. Vathavoorar, though holding an envious position,
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was having a mind set of a hermit. He did not indulge in earthly
pleasures. There was a perennial search within him to meet his
spiritual Guru who could show him the path for salvation.
Lord Sivan was aware of the matured mind of Vathavoorar. He
thought that the time had come to transform Vathavoorar into a
spiritually elevated person. He manifested Himself as a Brahmin Guru
and was sitting under a Kuruntha tree at a small village called
Thirupperunthurai. As he was approaching the village Vathavoorar's
heart galloped with hitherto unknown glee. Soon he reached the
Temple and beside the temple he found that captivating scene of a guru
seated with his disciples under the Kuruntha tree. Instantly his inner
self realized that He was the guru his heart and mind sought to meet.
He rushed towards the guru and fell on His feet. The guru set His lotus-
feet on the head of Vathavoorar, gently fondled him and met his eyes
with His own eyes, thus granting him Dheekshai (Thiruvadi
dheekshai, Sparisa dheekshai and Nayana dheekshai). At that very
moment Vathavoorar became a very new person, spiritually elevated,
renouncing earthly ties and found himself one with The Supreme
Power. Gnanavani gracefully sat on his tongue and he started singing
the hymns called 'Thiruvasagam' spontaneously. As if to enjoy his
soul-stirring hymns further, the guru advised him to stay on there and
then disappeared. Before that Lord christened Vathavoorar as
'Manikkavasagan' a name, eternally became synonymous with his
work Thiruvasagam.
Manikkavasagar almost forgot the purpose of his journey from
Madurai and was totally absorbed in his prayers at the temple of Lord
Sivan. Meanwhile Manikkavasagar sent a message to the king that
horses of excellent breed were shortly expected and they would reach
Madurai in the month of Aadi. He started spending the huge amount of
gold in constructing a fabulous shrine for Lord Sivan at
Thirupperunthurai and in feeding Sivanadiyars. As the month of Aadi
passed, King Arimarthana Pandian sent a reminder to
Manikkavasagar who in turn pleaded to Lord Sivan. That night, Lord
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appeared in Vathavoorar's dreams and assured him of bringing the
horses. He directed Vathavoorar to return to Madurai in advance.
Vathavoorar went back and informed the king that the horses would
come soon. Vathavoorar's relatives and friends were concerned at his
mental make-up of having renounced worldly ties. He comforted them
by explaining the balanced attitude he had acquired by the grace of
Lord.
Episode 59: Foxes transformed into horses.
King Arimarthanan wanted to know why the horses did not arrive yet.
Manikkavasagr assured him that they would come in three days. But
the horses did not arrive even after three days. The king became very
angry and ordered his men to punish Manikkavasagar and get back the
gold from him. The guards made Manikkavasagar to carry a big stone
on his head, tied his hands and legs and tortured him. He silently
endured praying Lord Somasundarar. As the night fell
Manikkavasagar was thrown into the prison.
Lord couldn't bear to see His devotee suffer. He called
Nandhidevar and asked him to convert the foxes in the jungles into
horses and lead them to Madurai. He further said that He too would
join them. As per His orders Nandhidevar and his captains of
Sivabhoothaganam rode into Madurai with the 'horses' which were
actually foxes. King Arimarthanan was very much happy to know that
the horses had reached. Lord Somasundarar in the guise of horse-
trader was riding a magnificient horse. Lord's appearance was
captivating. The citizens of Madurai were indeed rewarded with a
great visual treat of the procession of horses. Pandian came out of his
palace to receive the horses. The horse-men exhibited the outstanding
qualities of the horses to the satisfaction of the king. Pleased to the
core, the king asked who among them was the leader. They pointed
towards The Lord and He stepped out. He addressed the king “Oh
king, your Minister paid us a great fortune of gold and in turn we are
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giving you the horses of the best breed. You can take them over and the
deal ends with it.” While handing over, Lord described in detail the
breed of various horses, their special features and their capabilities.
(The author Paranjothi Munivar's in-depth knowledge about the war
horses as envisaged in 'Asuwa Sasthram' is sure to enthrall the
readers.) At the end, Pandian was extremely pleased and offered Lord
in the guise of horse-rider, a white cloth of silk as a mark of respect.
Lord got down from His horse, accepted it and wore it on His head.
The king felicitated other horse-men too. As Pandian ordered to take
the horses to the stables, Lord and His men disappeared. Meanwhile
Vathavoorar who was released from the prison, also went home.
Episode 60: Horses turned into foxes again and the
flooding of Vaigai.
Recounting the incidents, Vathavoorar was overwhelmed by
the Grace of Lord who, as promised, brought excellent horses and
handed them over to Pandian. But the divine will of lord was different.
That night He turned those horses back into foxes. Those foxes
wrecked havoc in the King's stables. They pounced upon the existing
horses, killed a few of them and ate their flesh. The howl of the foxes
and the terrified neighs of the horses woke up the guards. They found
to their dismay that the new horses had become foxes which had killed
a few horses too. By then the foxes had sprinted away into the forest.
At the day break the guards informed the king. He was
infuriated and asked the guards to torture Vaathavoorar again.He was
unable to come to terms with what happened. His trusted minister had
betrayed him. He was simmering with anger. The guards made
Vaathavoorar to stand bare-footed on the hot sands of river Vagai
under the scorching sun. He was made to carry bricks on his fore head
and hands. The helpless devotee could only pray to Lord
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Somasundarar. Lord's divine will had other plans. The time was ripe
for the salvation of Vanthi, an elderly woman of Madurai. She lived a
lonely life and sold rice-pudding to eke out a living. But she was an
ardent devotee of Lord Somasundarar.
Lord ordered river Vaigai to become flooded. The raging river
wrecked the bunds and started to inundate the city of Madurai. The
river was rising menacingly and the people ran helter-skelter. The
guards who were torturing Vaathavoorar also ran away to save their
houses. Vaathavoorar went to the temple and sat meditating on the
Lord as if nothing had happened.
Episode 61: Lord Somasundarar carries soil on his head
Arimarthana Pandian learnt about the floods and immediately
called his ministers. He ordered them to take urgent steps to control the
floods. They rushed to the river and inspected the breaches. They got it
announced that every citizen of Madurai should arrange to close the
portion of the breach allocated to him/her. The bund was measured and
each citizen was allotted a portion to be attended. Being a royal order,
people thronged the river side and started to attend the breaches. In the
souh-east part of the city, there lived an old lonely woman called
Vanthi. She prepared and sold rice-pudding to make a living.
Everyday before starting the sales, she used to offer the pudding to
Lord Sundareswarar as naivedyam with great affection. On hearing
the king's orders, she was worried. She was clue-less about what to do
to close the portion of the river bund allotted to her. She prayed to Lord
putting forth her plight.
His Merciful Lord's divinity took pity on Vanthi. He
manifested Himself as a young labourer. A dirty piece of cloth adorned
His waist. He carried a basket on the head and a Mumty (shovel) on
His shoulder. He walked down the street where Vanthi lived, calling
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out loudly, “Is there anyone to hire me, paying me wages?” His voice
was music to the ears of the old woman Vanthi. She rushed out of her
house, invited the youth and enquired whether He would attend to the
portion of the river bund allocated to her. He agreed but asked what
would be paid as wages. The poor woman said that she could give Him
only the pudding. The youth requested to feed him first. Vanthi gave
Him the pudding. He ate a little and packed the rest in a cloth. He went
to the river bund, got enrolled Himself as the representative of Vanthi.
But instead of working seriously He indulged in playful activities. He
dug the earth, carried the soil and dumped it over the breach for a
while. As if He became tired, He sat on the ground to eat the pudding
He packed earlier at vanthi's home. Then He left the spot itself, went to
Vanthi and asked her to feed Him some more pudding.
Thus when everybody's portion of the bund had been attended
to, Vanthi's portion alone remained unattended and because of that the
flood waters stared to breach the adjacent portions too. The king's men
though enraged could not punish the youth as they were mesmerized
by the handsome looks of Him. The word soon reached the king. He
decided to have a look for himself. As he was inspecting the work done
by the citizens he was angered by the unfinished work at the point
allotted to Vanthi. To his query his men brought the youth who was
supposed to work on behalf of Vanthi.
In a fit of rage, Pandian took a cane and dealt a blow with it on
the back of the youth. The very next moment the youth disappeared
after dumping a small quantity of soil at the spot allocated to Vanthi.
As a great astonishment, the blow that fell on the back of the youth was
indeed felt by everyone! Pandian felt it; his wives felt it; every man,
woman and child felt it. It fell on sages, devas, animals, birds and on
every living species. It also fell on trees, bushes and grass. It was Lord
who received the blow; but He lived in every living-being. So the blow
was experienced by every living -being. They were all confused as to
who had hit who. It was a miracle of sorts. Not only that, but also the
small amount of soil dumped by Lord grew in size and became taller
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than the rest of the bund. Thus He fulfilled His commitment of filling
the portion of the breach allotted to Vanthi.
At the same time, a craft decended from the heavens, occupied
by sivaganam (Attendants of lord Sivan). They invited Vanthi to board
the craft. Then the craft ascended to heavens with Vanthi. A
bewildered King was addressed by a Divine voice,” Oh, Noble King!
All of your tresures were earned in proper way. So they were spent in
the service of sivanadiyars. But you chose to torture Vaathavoorar.
Hence I transformed the foxes into horses and handed over them to
you. But they returned to their original self. You punished your
minister. To save him I made Vaigai to get flooded. At the same time I
came as a labourer on behalf of Vanthi who exhibited motherly love
for me and then granted her salvation. Now you might have realized
the greatness of Vaathavoorar. Leave him on his way”.
Pandian was absolutely stunned. He searched for Vaathvoorar
and found him in the temple. He requested Vaathavoorar to forgive
him for whatever wrongs done to him. He offered Vaathavoorar the
Kingdom of Pandias. Vaathavoorar who had renounced everything,
declined his offer and said that whatever the spiritual benefits accrued
to him were due to the king's initiative. He requested the king to
relieve him to go to Thillai as per the orders of Lord Somasundarar.
Arimarthana Pandian bade him farewell half-heartedly. Later
Arimarthanan was blessed with a son who subsequently ascended the
throne.
Vaathavoorar who became popularly known as
Maanikkavasagar reached Thillai, worshipping Lord Sivan at various
temples enroute. With great devotion, he composed several hymns of
Thiruvasagam. During his stay at Thillai, some Bhuddhists from
Eelam dragged the three thousand Brahmins of Thillai for a debate on
the subject of superiority of the religions—Bhuddhism or Saivism.
Lord Natarajar of Thillai appeared in the dreams of the Brahmins and
advised them to enlist the support of Maanikkavasagar for them.
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Maanikkavasagar defeated the Bhuddhists and established that the
Saivism was superior.
A Chola king who was ruling Eelam heard about that. His teen-
aged daughter was dumb from birth. He reached Thillai with his
daughter and posed a challenge to the Bhuddists as well as
Maanikkavasagar to make his daughter speak. While the Bhuddhists
failed, Maanikkavasagar made the girl to speak. He simply posed
questions to the girl who replied them spontaneously. Cholan was
extremely happy and embraced Saivism. (Maanikkavasagar's querries
and the Princess's answers are contained in the Chapter called
“Thiruchazhal” of Thiruvasagam.) Maanikkavasagar continued
worshipping Lord Natarajar. He composed several other hymns and
then became one with Lord himself.
Episode 62: Curing the mysterious fever of Pandian King.
After Saghanatha Pandian, several kings ruled Pandian
Kingdom. During the regime of Koon Pandian (He got this name
because he was hunch-backed), He defeated Cheran and Cholan kings
of his time and brought their kingdoms also under his rule. Cheran got
back his land by giving Koon pandian a lot of treasures. Cholan gave
his dear daughter Mangayarkarasi in marriage to Koon pandian and
got back his kingdom. After the marriage he sent voluminous gifts to
the couple. He also sent a noble and learned person called
Kulachiraiyar to the court of Pandian. Pandian soon acknowledged the
exemplary character, deep knowledge and worldly wisdom of
Kulachiraiyar. He made kulachiraiyar his minister. Unfortunately
Koon Pandian embraced Jainism which had taken root at Tamizhnadu
of those days. People also followed suit and took to Jainism which
eclipsed matchless Saivism. This saddened Queen Mangayakarasi
and Kulachiraiyar. They were devout Saivaites. They were unable to
profess their religion openly for the fear of inviting the wrath of the
king.
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One day they both went to the temple and prayed to Lord
Somasundarar, requesting Him to root out Jainism from their land.
Their fervent plea was the renaissance of Saivism back in the Pandian
kingdom. At that time a Brahmin who had come to worship Lord was
spotted by the Queen and Kulachiraiyar. As he appeared to be from a
different land, they called him and enquired about his nativity. He
replied that he belonged to Chola kingdom. Queen further asked
whether there was anything new happened in Chola kingdom recently.
To that he replied thus: At Sirkazhi, a Brahmin by name Sivapatha
Iruthayar was blessed with a son. That child at the age of three, was fed
with milk by none other than Goddess Parvathi Herself oneday. By
drinking her milk, the child instantly acquired Gnanam and became an
exponent in Vedhas, Aagamas, various forms of arts etc., He started
composing well-meaning hymns in praise of Lord Sivan and
MotherParvathi. ( These hymns became part of Thevaaram later). He
was the star of attraction wherever he went and was fondly called
“Gnanasambandhar”. He went from temple to temple, singing hymns
in praise of Lord Sivan enshrined in those temples. He had a huge
following and the saivisim was more vigourously pursued, embraced
and practiced in those areas.
On hearing these anecdotes, the Queen and the minister were
very much impressed and were eager to invite Gnanasambandhar to
Madurai for reviving Saivisim. They sent a letter through the Brahmin
to Gnanasambandhar requesting him to visit Madurai. The letter was
delivered by the Brahmin. In that letter, kulachiraiyar had explained
that the Pandian Kingdom had been engulfed by the darkness of
Jainism and he had requested Gnanasambandhar to come and remove
it. He pleaded that Koonpandian be won back to Saivisim.
Gnanasambandhar at once decided to proceed to Madurai. But
Thirunavukarasar, another Saivaite saint, who was with him, advised
Gnanasambandhar not to go citing the unfavourable position of the
planets at that time. Gnanasambandhar said that ill effects of the
planets would never harm devotees of Lord Sivan and then took leave
of Thirunavukarasar.
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 Gnanasambandhar reached Madurai accompanied by a large the ashes from the kitchen of the temple of Lord Somasundarar.
group of devotees. On the way he was stopped by some Jain monks Guards rushed to the temple and brought it. Gnanasambandhar
who heckled at him. Gnanasambandhar ignored them and went to the composed a Thevaram and sang as he applied the Ash on the right side
temple to workship Lord Somasundarar. He requested Lord to guide of the King's body. Lo! The fever immediately subsided and the king
him in his efforts to vanquish Jains. That night, the wicked Jains, eight felt the soothing coolness on his right side, whereas his left was
thousand in number, performed a yaham and instructed Agni to blazing like fire even more. He begged Gnanasambandhar to cure his
destroy the place where Gnanasambandhar was staying. Agni left side also. As before, Gnanasambandhar meditated on Lord
declined. So the Jains went personally and set the place on fire. Somasundarar and applied the ash on the Kings left side and gently
Gnanasambandhar prayed to Lord and wished that the heat due to the fondled the body. A miracle happened. Not only the fever was cured
fire be manifest as fever on the King Koonpandian slowly. It but also the Hunch on the King's back vanished. Gnanasambandhar's
Happened. eye contact, touch and his divine voice bestowed immense benefits
both physically and spiritually to Pandian. Koonpandian became
Pandian suffered rising temperature on his body and soon was Soundarapandian, a term meaning “Handsome Pandian”.
writhing in unbearable heat. The Queen and the other members of
Royal family were aghast. Whatever done to reduce the fever had
exactly the opposite effect. A desparate King ordered to summon the
Jain monks. They came but could not relieve the king of his agony.
They chanted their mantras and tried their medicines but in vain. Their
remedies only served to aggravate the King's sufferings. The queen
was worried but quickly understood that it was the misdeed of the
Jains who set fire to the place of stay of Gnanasambandhar happened
to be the cause of the Kings malady. She told the king about
Gnanasambandhar and convinced him that he only could cure the
disease. The King agreed and Kulachirayar at once went and requested
Gnanasambandhar to relieve the King from the cruel fever.
Gnanasambandhar aceepted and reached the Palace. The moment
Pandian saw Gnanasambandhar, he had an awakening within and he
pleaded to cure his problem.

The Jains who were there already intervened and asked the
King to allow Gnanasambandhar to cure the right side of the body of
the king while they took care of his left side. Gnanasambandhar
accepted it with a smile and was about to take Vibhoothi from his
pouch. The Jains again intervened saying that it could be some powder
of Black magic. Gnanasambandhar took it in his stride and asked for

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 Episode 63: The execution of Jains.
Mangayarkkarasiyar the Queen and Kulachiraiyar the
minister thanked Gnanasambandhar for curing Pandian's disease and
for removing the hunch on his back. They put forth their request of
rescuing the Pandian kingdom from the clutches of Jainism.
Gnanasambandhar sought the divine help of Lord Somasundarar and
he was granted so. Meanwhile all the eight thousand Jain monks
gathered at a place and hatched a plan to drag and defeat
Gnanasambandhar in a religious war of words. But they were
discouraged by their wives. Their women said that they had a bad
dream spelling disaster to all of them. They also cited the fate of the
earlier Jain- attempts of sending a mad elephant, ferocious serpent and
a cow to destroy Madurai. The monks ignored the advice of their wives
and went ahead with their plan.
They met Gnanasambandhar and said,” Oh young child! Don't
be proud because you cured King's disease. Now let us establish
whose religion is greater. You write your mantra in a palm-leaf; we
will write ours. We shall drop both the leaves in the fire, and find out
whose leaf remains unburnt.” Gnanasambandhar accepted the
challenge. Every body including the King, Queen and Kulachiraiyar
gathered in front of a pit of fire. The jains wrote several of their
mantras on fresh green palm leaf and dropped it in the pit of fire. Alas!
It was charred and reduced to ashes. Gnanasambandhar took a leaf
containing his Thevaaram he sung at Thirunallaru and dropped it in the
fire. It remained green unaffected. The King and Queen hailed
Gnanasambandhar. The place where this happened was later known as
Sambandha Natham( Samanatham of today).
Though defeated, the Jains didn't want to concede it. They
proposed one more test in which both the parties should drop their
palm-leaves in the swirling waters of river Vaigai. The one which was
not washed away must be declared supreme and the defeated lot
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should become slaves to the winner. But Gnanasambandhar said that if
defeated the Jains must voluntarily get executed on the stakes. (A stake
is a pole, planted on the ground with its top end sharpened like a spear.
In those days criminals were executed on the stake in such a way that
the sharp end pierces through the body of the person executed). As
their fate had it, the Jains agreed to that condition. But
Gnanasambandhar emphathised with them and suggested that they
embrace Saivism and live longer. Infuriated at that suggestion, the
Jains turned it as cowardice on the part of Gnanasambandhar. They
went ahead and left a bunch of palm leaves inscribed with their
manthras in the waters of the river Vaigai. Gnanasambandhar wrote a
verse invoking Lord Sivan's mercy, on a plam leaf and put it in the
river. Good Heavens! That leaf not only withstood the flow of the river
but also started to move upstream. The leaves of the Jains were washed
away to oblivion. People hailed Gnanasambandhar and there was a
shower of flower petals from the Heavens. The Jains stood there with
hung heads.
Gnanasambandhar advised them again not to lose their lives
unnecessarily on false pride and encouraged them to embrace
Saivism. But those among them who considered their self-respect
dearer than life willfully got up the stakes and lost their lives. Others
embraced Saivism.
Pandian sought to know what happened to the palm leaf of
Gnanasambandhar. Gnanasambandhar led everybody and walked
along the river towards west. He prayed to Lord Somasundarar to give
back that palm leaf. Lord appeared as a Sivalingam on the banks of the
river. Lord came out of that Lingam in the guise of an elderly Brahmin
and met Gnanasambandhar who recognized Him instantly. He
requested the old Brahmin to give back the palm leaf in case he found
it. The Brahmin blessed him, prompting him to compose Thevaram at
every other shrine he visited and returned the palm leaf.
The king got a beautiful temple constructed at that place which
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came to be known as Thiruvedagam. The lingam which appeared there
was in fact wosrshipped by Lord Vishnu in Kruthayugam, by Garudan
in Thrithayugam and by Adhiseshan in Dwaparayugam. It was
worshipped by Pandian in this yugam.
Gnanasambandhar took leave of Pandian after establishing Saivism
in Pandian kingdom and reached Chola kingdom.
Episode 64: Calling Vanni tree, well and the Lingam to appear as
witnesses
In a coastal town there lived a rich trader. He was childless for a
long time and then was blessed with a girl child. That child grew into a
very beautiful girl. The trader wanted to marry off his daughter to his
nephew living at Madurai. But his nephew was already married. The
trader could not fulfil his wish because of his untimely death. His wife
also died subsequently leaving their daughter alone. All this
information reached his nephew. He was engulfed by sorrow and
despair. He started off immediately and reached the coastal town and
through their relatives understood his uncle's desire of giving his
daughter's hand in marriage to him (the nephew). In order to fulfil the
desire of his departed uncle, he agreed to marry the girl at Madurai in
the presence of his own relatives. After settling things at the coastal
town he started off to Madurai along with the daughter of his uncle and
a few of his people.
On the way they reached a place called Thiruppurambayam at
dusk and decided to spend the night at the temple of Lord Sivan there.
They took bath in the well-water there and ate their dinner under a
Vanni tree. All of them went to sleep after worshipping the Lingam
there. That night, the nephew was bitten by a deadly snake and he died
instantly. To the girl, this incident became a bolt from the blues. She
was submerged in a sea of despair. Since they were not married yet, she
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couldn't even go and touch the body of her would-be husband. The
men and women who accompanied them tried to console her and the
word about the unfortunate incident spread.
As a coincidence, Thirugnanasambandhar was staying at
Thiruppurambayam. The news about the death of the young trader and
the misery of the girl reached him. He immediately went to the place
accompanied by sivanadiyars and the people of the village. Taking
pity on the grieving girl he enquired her about the incident. She
narrated the untimely death of her parents and their resolve to get her
married to their nephew. He had been robbed by death that night on
their way to Madurai, leaving her as an orphan. On hearing her heart-
rending narration, Gnanasambandhar came near the dead body and set
his merciful eyes on it. Good Heavens! The dead man got up as if he
was awakened from sleep. The girl's heart jumped with joy.
Gnanasambandhar advised the trader to marry the girl then and
there. But he hesitated stating that it might not be proper for him to
marry her without the presence of his own relatives as witness for the
marriage. Gnanasambandhar comforted him by saying that it was
well-known to his relatives that the girl was proposed to be his wife. So
he advised the trader again to marry her in the presence of the Lingam,
the well and the Vanni tree as the witnesses for the marriage. The trader
paid tributes to Gnanasambandhar and married the girl accordingly.
He then took leave of Gnanasambandhar and went away to Madurai.
He lived happily with his first and second wives.
The trader had sons through his first wife and he was blessed
with another son through his second wife also. The children of his first
wife were very naughty and one day they started quarrelling with the
son of the younger wife. They had beaten him too. The second wife
scolded them and that led to a wordly duel between her and the first
wife. The first wife abused the second wife and called her a
concumbine of her husband and not a legally married wife. Hurt by her
words, the second wife said that her husband married her at
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Thiruppurambayam in the presence of the Vanni tree, the well and the
Lingam. The first wife challenged whether those three things would
come to Madurai to prove the marriage. The second wife was very
much disturbed and she kept on weeping without food and sleep that
night.

Next morning, she took bath in the Golden-Lotus pond and

pleaded to Lord Somasundarar to save her from the incriminating
words of the first wife, questioning her modesty, chastity and self-
respect. She requested Lord to make the witnesses of her marriage to
manifest at Madurai in order to prove her legitimate marriage and to
shut the blaming mouth of the first wife. His Merciful Lord
Somasundarar's divine will made the three things namely, the Lingam,
the well and the Vanni tree of Thiruppurambayam to appear at the
Northeast corner of the temple. Everybody was astonished. The Epilogue
younger wife took the first wife there and showed her the three
witnesses and thus proved her chastity. The first wife faced the wrath I thank you for reading this presentation of the holy
of the relatives for her shameful actions and her husband also was Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam. I trust that your experience was one of delight.
ready to shun her relationship. At that time the younger wife
intervened and said that but for the first wife, her own chastity would A word to excite you more. All these Thiruvilaiyadals have
not have been proved by the Lord's mercy. She prayed to her husband been depicted as sculptures on the external walls around the Sanctum
not to punish his first wife. Then they all lived happily ever after. Sanctorum of Lord Sundareswarar in the Meenakshi Temple of
Madurai. Please do not miss them during your next visit to that temple.
Thus, the Sage Agasthiar narrated all the sixty four episodes in
which Lord Sivan exhibited His unbound mercy towards His devotees
by manifesting Himself in various roles at Madurai, a matchless city
on Earth.

Thiru Aalavaai Kaandam Ends Niravu

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