Thirupariyalur

THIRUPARIYALUR (104/276)

Name	Thiru Pariyalur
Other Names	Dakshapuri Daksheshwaram
Vernacular name	Keezha Parasalur
District	Nagapattinam
State	Tamilnadu
Devaram	Thiru Gnana Sambandhar
Position	South of Kaveri – 104/276
Sivan	Veerateswarar Dakshehwaram Udayaar
Utsava Moorthy	Yaaga Samhara Moorthy Veera Bhadrar
Shakthi	Ilankombanyaal Balambika
Devaram	Thiru Gnana Sambandhar
Speciality	One of the Atta Veerataanangal (8 acts of Valour)
Sthala Vriksham	Jackfruit (Palaa)
Theertham	Utthira Vedhi Theertham (Yaaga Gundam)
Must See	Yaaga Samhara Moorthy
Temple timings	Don’t go by the board. (7AM to 12PM, 4PM to 7PM) Call the priest a day prior and find out when the shrine will be open for darisanam
Contact details

LORE:

The presiding deity of this shrine is Veerateswarar. The Utsava Moorthy is Yaaga Samhara Moorthy – Veerabhadrar. This is the fourth of the Atta Veerataanangal (The eight acts of valour performed by Shiva.

Why is the village called Thiru Pariyalur?

Eons ago, the Devas were being tormented by a demon called as Dharukan. He was apparently invincible because of his wife’s austerities and Devi bhakti. The devas suffered a lot under his terror. They came to this village under the advice of Lord Brahma and prayed to Shiva. He appeared to them and told them that their suffering was a result of their ego and that He snatched (Parithal) it away from the now deeming them worthy to be saved. He then asks Kali to relieve the world of Dharukan’s reign of malice. Kali succeeds in killing him, after She makes his wife realise the folly of protecting such an evil man who disrespects women and is a tyrant.

As the Devas ego was snatched from them here and they were rendered humble by Shiva, this village came to be called as Pariyalur. (Parithadhaal Pariyal)

An alternative version of the tale gives the etymology of the village in a different account. Shiv ‘snatched’ the blessings of Daksha Prajapati as he was responsible for the death of Shiva’s then wife, Devi Sati.

The village is also called as Dakshapuri/Daksheshwaram because this was the site chosen by Daksha Prajapati for his Maha yaagam.

What is the speciality of the Atta Veerataanangal?

Shiva is the Destroyer. In his Sadashiva form, He performs all the five acts of Karma. Creation, Sustenance, Destruction, Annihilation and salvation. His acts of strength, gallantry and fortitude are innumerable. Yet, there are eight special occasions where Shiva’s valour was so astoundingly heroic that they were glorified and praised as a unique collective octet.

These eight acts of bravery are called as Atta Veerataanangal (Atta – eight, Veera – Valour, Sthanam – place)

Pooman Sirakandi Andhagan Kovil Puram Adhigai

Maman Pariyal Chalandharan Virkudi Maa Vazhuvoor

Kaaman Kurukkai Yaman Kadavoor Ikkasiniyil

Themandru kondrayum thingalum Soodithan Sevagamey

This verse beautifully describes the eight acts of valour of Shiva. Seven out of the eight are Devara Paadal petra Sthalangal

• Brahman Siram Koidhadhu – Thirukandiyur (75/276)
• Andhangan azhithadhu – Thirukovilur (64/76)
• Muppuram erithadhu – Thiruvadhigai (218/276)
• Dakshan yaagam nalindhadhu – Thirupariyalur (104/276)
• Jalandharan vadaithadhu – Thiruvirkudi (137/276)
• Yaanaiai urithadhu – Vazhuvoor
• Kaamanai Kaaindhadhu – Thirukorukkai (26/276)
• Yamanai etriyadhu – Thirukadavoor (110/276)

What does the name of Ilankombanayaal mean?

Ilam+Kombu+Anayaal = Ilankombanayaal. Devi is as svelte and willowy as gracile sprig with verdant and bountiful plumules. The name might be misleading, coz Devi is the only one who has the audacity and the guts to defy Shiva, The Supreme one, time and again.

During the Samudra mandhan, the great milky ocean was being churned with the mandara mountain, to obtain amudham. Vasuki, the king of serpents, was used as the rope for churning. As the belly of the snake rubbed along the mountain, the friction caused Vasuki to spill the most dangerous venom in the cosmos called a Halahalam.

Because of the ill-effects of the poison, the whole of creation suffered. There was widespread devastation of the world. This reflected in the visage of Devi Shakthi as She is Prakriti, the embodiment of Nature Herself. Her countenance became fatigued and wary and her sprightly demeanour became doddering. She came to this shrine and prayed to Shiva and He is said to have removed the dastardly ill effects of the poison from the world and restored the appearance of Devi to become Balambika (The jaunty and nimble young one)

What is the heroic deed done by Shiva at this shrine?

The story takes us back to the time of creation. Shiva is Mahadeva. The Aadhi Purusha. His Shakthi, His half, His Devi is Prakriti. The personification of creation itself. Being the essence of energy itself, She had to get detached from Shiva for the benefit of the cosmos to pervade in each and every atom. Thus, Shiva became a hermit, an ascetic. A Vairagi, who had renounced all worldly pleasure and abhorred companionship.

But the union of Shiva/Shakthi was inevitable. The essence of Aadhishakti was drawn to Her Shiva. So, she decided to attain Him. She was born as the eldest daughter to Daksha Prajapati who named Her as Sati. She was always daddy’s-little-princess and hence also revered as Dakshayani (She who follows Daksh)

Daksha was the son of Brahma Dev. He was the Prajapati who laid down the rules and norms of living a dutiful and productive life for all human beings. He had two wives, Prasuthi and Veerini. Together they had 62 daughters, of which Sati was the eldest.

As the days passed, Sati was drawn to the pull of Shiva and fell in love with Him. Daksha who was a staunch devotee of Mahavishnu, strongly disapproved of the love Sati had for Shiva. He was under the impression that a nomad, a crematorium inhabitant, a serpentine lover, an ash smeared aloof abomination like Shiva didn’t deserve his respect.

His hatred also stemmed from the fact that Shiva in his first act of valour, had beheaded one of the five heads of Brahma, Daksha’s father, in Thirukandiyur.

He arranged a swayamvara for Sati. He had invited all eligible suitors except Shiva. When the learned elders questioned this, Daksha made a statue of Shiva and kept it in the palace courtyard. Sati instinctively garlanded the statue and to her delight, Shiva materialised out of the statue and whisked her away to Kailash.

Daksha was so enraged that he renounced his daughter and ordered her funeral rites to be done. He was in no mood to accept Her. But Shiva and Sati were in their own blissful bubble. But the wheels of fate turned slowly, and trouble brewed.

Brahma Dev had arranged for a Maha yaagam and had called everyone to attend it. Shiva and Sati were specially honoured as they were the Divine Couple of the hour. Daksha came late to the altar and everyone rose to greet him obeisance. Shiva dint rise as He was present there as Mahadeva, The presiding God of the Yaagam and not as Daksha’s son-in-law. This infuriated Daksha a lot and he vowed to take revenge.

Daksha too organised a Maha yaagam, for the welfare of the world, just like Brahma did. He invited everyone, high and low. But he deliberately didn’t send an invite to Shiva ad Sati. When Sati came to know of this, she felt heart broken. She was upset two-fold because Her dearest father still hated Her, and Her husband was being insulted by being deliberately uninvited.

She decided to go to the Maha yaagam and convince her father to invite Shiva and to make amends to their broken relationship. Shiva refused to let Her go. He cited that it is never polite to go anywhere without being invited. Sati is in no mood to listen. She is adamant that She will go.

Shiva tried to reason with Her. He tells Her that she was no ordinary human princess and that She is Prakriti, Aadhi Shakthi Herself. And that she had to realise that and waken Her aura. He promised to accompany Her to the Maha yaagam if She did that. Shiva also told that if Sati doesn’t go to the Maha yaagam as Aadhi Shakthi, then a great calamity will befall on Her.

Sati could not bear this any longer. In a fit of rage, She shrieked at Him and said that if any harm would befall on a daughter who went to her father’s home, then let it happen. She also bound Shiva with Her words and said that He could come only after the impeding Catastrophe He predicted had happened.

Shiva sent Nandi and his entourage of Shiva-ganas as protection and went into meditation fearing the consequences of Sati’s action for Her own sake.

Sati reached the venue of the Maha Yaagam and called out to Her Father who insults Her for coming without an invitation. She tried to reason with Him and pacify Him, but to no avail. Her efforts as Dakshayani failed to rationalise with Daksha. Sati, as the wife of Shiva, tried to demand respect for her husband.

Daksha seized the opportunity and continuously flung a flurry of poisoned words at hapless Sati and hurled abuses on Her about Shiva. Sati begged him to stop. But Daksha, in his arrogance continued to speak humiliatingly about Shiva in derogatory terms.

Out of despair, Sati reached out to the elders at the altar and questions them on their silence to the injustice meted out by Daksha and his vile words against Shiva. All she received was a meek silence in reply.

An enraged Sati erupted as Aadhi Shakthi and in Her Viswaroopa, She told Daksha that She is Prakriti Herself and was born as Her daughter with the sole intention of Marrying Shiva. But in his arrogance, Daksha had insulted Her and Her husband. She felt saddened because She came blindly ignoring all the warnings of Shiva only to hear the derogatory words by Daksha.

She then decided that She is unfit to be Shiva’s wife as Dakshayani. She summoned Her own Yoga Agni and self-immolates Herself. Before incinerating Her mortal body, She warned Daksha about the consequences of his dastardly deeds. As Shiva has lost His wife, Daksha and the whole world will have to suffer. With that, the essence of Aadhi Shakthi again returns to Prakriti (Nature) and the cindered charred body of Sati falls into the altar in a conflagrated heap.

Nandi and the Shiv-ganas rushed to Shiva to tell Him of the diabolical vindictiveness of Daksha and the untimely demise of Sati. Shiva wakes up from his meditative trance and performs the pralaya Thandava. He is so enraged that the entire cosmos feel the ripples of His anger. He then unwinds his matted locks and tears a tuft of hair and creates a fierce eight-armed Avatar of Himself, Veera Bhadra. From another tuft of hair, He creates the fierce and gruesome to behold Bhadrakali. Shiva then tells them to go and decimate the Maha yaagam of fool-hardy Daksha and to kill him.

Veerabhadrar and Bhadrakali arrive at the altar and weave a storm of destruction raining blows to everyone who stood still during Daksha’s Shiva nindhanai and Sati’s self-immolation. A covering Daksha tried to escape but is caught by Veer Bhadra who trampled him beneath his feet, snatched all the beneficial boons bestowed on Daksha. In a single slice, He then proceeds to behead Daksha and flings the head into the same sacrificial altar that Sati chose to burn Herself. The Shiva-ganas and their leaders Veera Bhadrar and Bhadrakali returned victoriously to Mount Kailash after avenging the death of Devi Sati.

A heart-broken Shiva came to the altar and weeps for the loss of His wife, Sati. The whole world wept with Him. He carried the charred body of Sati and roams around the world in a gloomy misery. He forgot that He is Adhi Purusha, Mahadeva. He aimlessly wandered the cosmos with the ashen burnt body of Sati.

Mahavishnu decided that the only way to make Shiva come to His senses was by releasing the remains of Sati from Him. So, Mahavishnu flings his discus at the body of Sati which gets cut into 51 pieces. The pieces (pindam) fall on 51 places all over the land. Being the essence of Sakthi, they get consecrated at places of Devi worship and are venerated as Shakthi Peedangal today.

Shiva realised that He is Mahadeva, yet even He succumbed to the pain of losing His Lady Love. So, He retired to the Himalayas and vowed never to fall in love again and went into a meditative trance that would only be disturbed in the next Veeratanam – Thirukurukkai, where He incinerated Kaaman for trying to disturb His meditation.

Thiru Pariyalur is said to be the site of the Maha Yaagam which gets destroyed by Yaaga Samhara Moorthy and the beheading of Daksha by Veera Bhadrar.

What is the speciality of the Theertham of this shrine?

The present-day lily-filled temple tank is said to be the original Sacrificial altar, the Yaaga Gundam of Daksha’s Maha yaagam. It is the pit where Sati immolated Herself. Even now, the altar can be seen when the water recedes in times of drought.

What happened to Daksha after being beheaded?

In an act of benevolence on hearing the cries of Prasuthi and Veerini, Shiva agrees to revive Daksha. The head has been burnt to ashes in the sacrificial altar. So, He decides to replace the head of Daksha with that of a goat’s head.

Then Daksha goes to many Shiva shrines and finally reaches another Paadal Petra sthalam called Thiruvooral (245/276). He languishes and laments and shouts (olam) there to get his human head restored. Thiruvooral is also called as Thakkolam – “Thakkan Olam ittadhaal Thakkolam”

Chalanaadeeshwarar of Thiruvooral (245/276) blesses Daksha by restoring his human head.

What is the other fascinating lore about this shrine?

The Daksha Maha Yaagam and its destruction is a very key event in all puranas that speak of Shiva. The site of Yaaga Samharam has been adapted by people across many states into their own local lore. The following are a few of the places where the Maha Yaagam is said to have happened.

Thiru Pariyalur – Tamilnadu

Draksharamam – Andhra Pradesh

Kootiyor – Kerala

Kankhal – Uttarakhand

Chapra – Bihar

What is the speciality of the Yaaga Samhara Moorthy in this shrine?

The Utsava Moorthy is Veera Bhadrar who is also revered to as Yaaga Samhara Moorthy. He is truly a sight-to-behold.

He has eight arms, carrying weapons of all sorts in each of them. He wears a calm expression on his face as He has killed the man who caused the death of Sati. Beneath the feet of Veera Bhadrar lies a covering Daksha begging for mercy.

On either side of Him are the resurrected goat-faced Daksha and Prasuthi.

Beneath the Moorthy is a mural depicting the Daksha Yaagam with Brahma pouring ghee into the Yaagam and Daksha overseeing it.

The detailing is amazing, and the craftsmanship is beyond comparison.

One will get frozen-in-time upon gazing the divinely exquisite Veera Bhadrar.

Our Experience:

From Thiru Vizhal Nagar (103/276), we drove to Thiru Pariyalur. We crossed Sempon Palli (105/276) and went to Thiru Pariyalur as the former was in a bigger town and would be open till the stipulated time whereas the latter is a very small hamlet.

We got flowers for the deities and fruits which we had bought from home and drove to the shrine. It was drizzling and we reached at around 10.20AM. The temple is newly renovated and is spotless. The Raja gopuram has 5 tiers. There are two corridors and the gopuram of the second corridor is 3 tiered. We went inside wit so much excitement and were totally dismayed when we saw that the sanctum sanctorum was closed with a solid gate that we couldn’t even see through the grills.

We were in a fix. We thought of going to Sempon Palli (Sembanaar Koi) and returning to Thiru Pariyalur, but we were reassured by the temple keepers that the priest will come and open the sanctum sanctorum in another half hour. We waited in hope and we were rewarded.

The priest came fully decked in rain-proof gear on his scooty. he opened the shrine and was tidying up for the morning Pooja. Our monkey-brains had the brilliant idea to photograph the murals on the wall in the sanctum sanctorum. The priest who saw this gently pointed us to a board and asked us to read it. “no pictures allowed” (sic!).

But he dutifully showed us an amazing aarthi of The main deity, Ambal and The Man—of-the-hour, Veerabhadrar. The google pictures don’t do justice to his resplendence at all. We saw Him in the light of 8 lamps lit by the priest and we were exalted beyond words. Do go to the temple with flowers and ghee (too small a hamlet to have vendors thrive in it) and immerse yourself in the grace of Veera Bhadrar like we did.

From there we decided to go to Sempon Palli (Sembanaar Koil – 105/276) for the next temple in our list. Our trails meandered along the way and took a few interesting twists and turns. Stay tuned for our trip to the next Paadal Petra Sthalam – Sempon Palli

Loads of love,

Rahul and Karthick