another name for Margabandeeswarer- or Siva in the form of an eternal guide!
His consort in this temple is Marakathavalli Amman .
The temple is in the little village of Virinjipuram, 12 kms from Vellore, in Tamilnadu.
Have I been there? No. Wish to go sometime soon.
The story is- Virinji is another name for Brahma.
Remember how Brahma cheated in the contest, with Vishnu-, when each of them tried to reach one end of Shiva in his full form?
Vishnu is supposed to have travelled towards Shiva's feet, and Brahma towards his head. but could not reach it. Not wanting to accept defeat, he found a "Thazhampoo" floating down from Shiva's locks, grabbed it, and asked it to bear witness (false witness) saying he had picked it from Shiva's head. Of course, the truth came out and Brahma was shamed into not having any temple dedicated to him in the south, and Shiva said the thazhampoo shall never be used in any decoration for him!
However, Brahma's request for forgiveness was granted, when Brahma was born in this tiny village as Sivasarma.This child lived with the widowed mother, but their family was the heriditary priests of the temple. The relatives wished to usurp all their property, so the village leaders put forward a condition,that this child should perform all the puja's as per the agama sastra, in the temple on a special day, or forfeit their property and all rights.
Now this child was so small, his upanayanam had not yet been done.
Nevertheless, the child took the dip in the brahma thirtham of the temple on the appointed day. Miraculously, an old man appeared to perform the upanayanam. Soon the temple elephant came up and took the child on his back, and the procession reached the temple.
The gates opened on their own.
The child did all the puja's perfectly, but finally could not reach the Lingam's top to place the garland.
The lingam (Shiva) bent down to receive the garland, making up for Brahmas inability to reach his head once before!
So to this day the lingam in the temple is slightly bent forward.....
The sthala vriksham or holy tree is the palm tree here..(our state tree).
This deity safeguards all travellers and shows the way.Surely worth a visit.
Found this story in "amudasurabhi"deepavali malar by Sudha Seshaiyyan.
What a lovely tale.
I dedicate this story and my sketch to my friends Pradeep Chakravarthy and Priya Thyagarajan who helpmany of us enjoy these heritage trips...maybe we will all go there one day!
Nithya- Dec. 20th 2015.
