Hara Saabha Vimochana Perumal Temple, Thirukkandiyur
Thirukkandiyur
Photo: Jamstechs · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Associated with relieving Shiva of the Brahmahatya curse.
Sthala Purāṇam
Thirukkandiyur, near Thiruvaiyaru, is celebrated as one of the rare kshetrams where the Hindu trinity, Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva, are enshrined together. Its sthala puranam, drawn from the Brahmanda Purana, recounts the redemption of Shiva from the grievous sin of Brahmahatya. Brahma and Shiva both bore five heads; when Parvati, confused by the resemblance, mistakenly worshipped Brahma, the proud Brahma kept silent, and the enraged Shiva plucked off one of Brahma's heads. By Brahma's curse the skull (kapala) stuck fast to Shiva's hand, and any food placed in it vanished, so that Shiva wandered as a beggar. At Thirukarambanur (Uttamar Kovil) Lakshmi filled the skull and relieved his hunger, but only at Thirukkandiyur, where Shiva worshipped Vishnu and the goddess and bathed in the temple tank, did the skull fall away when the Lord granted him darshan. Hence the Lord is named Hara Saabha Vimochana (reliever of Shiva's curse), with his consort as Kamalavalli (Hemambujavalli). The place is called Kandiyur because Brahma's curse was here warned or checked (kandanam), teaching that even the gods must bear the fruit of their deeds. The sacred tank became the Kapala (Kabaala Moksha) Theertham, and the temple's vimana is the Kamalakruti Vimanam. The shrine is glorified by Tirumangai Alvar.
Mangalāśāsanam — the Āḻvār pāsurams
The Lord Hara Saabha Vimochana Perumal with Kamalavalli (Hemambujavalli) of Thirukkandiyur is glorified by:
Thirukkandiyur near Thiruvaiyaru (Thanjavur) enshrines Hara Saabha Vimochana Perumal — Vishnu who freed Lord Shiva (Hara) of the curse / Brahmahatti dosha that clung to him after the Brahma-kapala episode, the skull falling away at this kshetram. It is one of the rare sites where Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva are all enshrined nearby. The temple's sole Mangalasasanam is by Thirumangai Alvar, who is recorded as praising it in ten hymns of the Divya Prabandham.
Verses & references (1)
- Thirumangai Alvar sings the Mangalasasanam of Hara Saabha Vimochana Perumal of Thirukkandiyur — the Lord who relieved Shiva (Hara) of the Brahmahatti curse incurred for plucking off Brahma's fifth head, by letting the skull (kapala) fall away here. Multiple authorities record that the Alvar praised this shrine in ten hymns of his Nalayira Divya Prabandham (Periya Thirumozhi). Exact Tamil text and decade reference were not confidently sourced, so the Tamil field is left blank. — Thirumangai Alvar, Periya Thirumozhi · source ↗
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