Monday, August 9, 2010

Brahmapureeshwar Temple--- where the Destroyer Resuurected the Creator !


I heard about the immense power of the temple for Lord Brahma in Tirupattur. Like we all know there are a very few temples for Brahma in India.But this temple has a very interesting mythological tale to it. More on that shortly. We left for Tirupattur from Woraiyur, Trichy. The journey was about 30 kms and the fresh morning breeze made our drive very enjoyable.The NH-45 to chennai was scarecely with any traffic and we reached the toll gate before samayapuram very easily. After paying the toll amount, the man in the booth directed us to stick on the highway till the next place siruganur. 8-10 kms on the road saw us reach siruganur. A government school was on the left of the road and a small road in left directed us to Tirupattur. There was a board indicating 5 kms more to the temples. The road was quite narrow and the place was littered with dirt and dust. There was also a graveyard and we saw a body still burning. We reached the temple shortly and place was abuzz with quite a crowd. There were a few shops at the entrance selling lamps, flowers and other pooja stuff. The lamp stall had a board asking the devotees to light lamps according to their wish. Armed with flowers, archanai thattu and lamps we entered the sanctum. 

The main deity was Lord Shiva as Brahmapureeshwarar. The story goes that Lord Brahma had 5 heads and and started acting superior. This angered Lord Shiva and he destroyed one head and also rendered him powerless. Lord Brahma realised his folly and prayed in this place by installing 12 lingas. Shiva in turn blessed Brahma and gave him back his lost powers of creation.He also blessed Brahma with changing the fortunes of people who come praying to Him in Tirupattur. So the Brahma shrine is considered as a fortune turner and people of this place genuinely believe that there will be a turning point if any devotee has a darshan.
In the temple we immediately were drawn to the crowd thronging the Brahma Idol. An abhishegam was just getting started and the place was packed. We managed to light the lamps and get a foothold before the idol and witnessed the entire abishegam. Lord Brahma was bathed in Milk, curd , sandalpaste. We took a quick round of the temple while waiting for the gurukal to decorate the Lord. We saw 2 more shiv lingas other than the Brahmapureeshwara himself. We came just in time for the gurukal to collect our archanai plates. He made everone sit on the floor and explained the facts about the place and the Lord Himself. He also asked everyone to have a darshan of the Lord eye to eye and not sideways. This he said was to get proper blessings of the Lord. Then admidst the chanting of mantras and the tolling of bells Lord Brahma was unveiled after the Alangaram. It was a sight to behold. Lord BRahma with his four heads in a sitting postrurewas completely smeared with turmeric powder and decorated with garlands . After the grand aarthi prasadam of the turmeric paste from his body was distributed. We sought blessings from the lord and did'nt want to leave his arresting presence. With a promise to come back again soon we came out of his sanctum and proceeded to the shrine for Brahmanayagi where another one of the 12 lingas was there. After her darshan we took a pradakshina of the temple compound which was scattered with the rest of the 12 lingas. The lingas are:-
Sri Bhramapureeswara,
 
sri pazamalainathar,
 
sri pathala eswarar,
 
sri sudharaneeswarar,
 
sri thayumannar,
 
sri sabthagereswarar,
 
sri kalathinathar,
 
sri jambukeswarar,
 
sri kailasanathar,
 
sri arunachaleeswarar,
 
sri ekambreswarar,
sri manduganathar
 

Each and every linga was inside a small structure and looked very deserted and wornout.
 
Some devotees were distributing Chakarai pongal and puliyodharai which we devoured .

The temple also has a meditation area which doubles up as the samathi of Pathanjali Munivar. Even after coming out of the temple the images are still fresh in memory and i am resolved to go there as soon as possible

No comments:

Post a Comment