Srimushnam

This time I am going to write about a temple which is far away from Madras. I had been to Neyveli in connection with a family function this weekend. So on saturday, due to the insistence of my brotherinlaw we went to this temple after having visited Vallar's place of Siddhithi. I write about it separately in my next blog.

Srimushnam, which has the temple of Bhuvaraghava Perumal, a Vishnu temple, is located just 20 kms from Virudhachalam where from you get lot of buses coming into the town. To list the importance of the place one by one here it is

• This is one of the 108 Divya (sacred places) Sthalams for the Vaishnavities
• one of the eight Vaishavas shrines where the idol is Swayambu (found as such)
• The idol represents the Varaha Avatar ( the 3rd avatar of the 10 avatars of Vishnu). It represents the Boar form. The body is that of a man and the head is of boar form
• While the temple itself is so huge, the main idol of the Lord is such a small one.
• It is believed that Vishnu brought back Goddess Earth after killing Asura Hiranyaksha who had folded the earth and taken it to the underworld.
• This a temple in which people pray for getting a child. It is believed that after taking bath in the temple tank and going round the Arasa tree and praying to the God, will make the childless people to get children.
• There is a the Saptha Kannigai temple in here, who as close friends of Goddess Amrithavalli came along with her when she got married to the Lord. The Lord granted the wish of his wife and has provided them with a separate sanctum sanctorum.

The story of the temple

Hiranyaksha, the brother of Hiranyakashipu, rolled over the earth and took it into the nether world, from where he ruled. Bhoo Devi undertook penance seeking help from Lord Vishnu to free her from captivity. Lord Vishnu took the form of Varaha (a boar), went into the sea and killed the asura. He brought back the earth on his Adisesha and appeared here as a Swayambu idol. It is believed that the temple tank or Pushkarani was formed with the sweat emanating from his body after his battle with Hiranyaksha. On his death bed, Hiranyaksha prayed to the Lord and as his final wish wanted the Lord to turn to his direction. Accordingly, Lord Vishnu turned his face in the seen turned in the direction of the asura towards the South. That is why while the body faces west in the direction of West while the head is turned towards South.

More than anything, the grandeur of the temple, the beauty of the Boar shaped Lord and the attention capturing Lord’s Utsava idol the Yagya Varahaswamy with conch and chakra. ( Goddess was worried that people may turn away from here because of the Lord’s pig face. Hence, she undertook penance and requested him to display his handsome stature. and so the story goes for the existence of utsava murthy) and the peaceful nature are all a must for anybody to see and enjoy.

You really become one with nature and enjoy the goodness or blessings of the Lord hear.

Happy journey to this town of peace.