In the old puranas it is
said that the Lord Shiva was discussing to the Lord Brahma, the Lord of
creation about the creation of the three Lokas but the fact is that the Lord
Brahma refused to accept and agree what Lord Shiva said. Ultimately Lord Shiva
got angry and he plucked our one head from four of his heads. After this
incident Lord Brahma went to Lord Shiva and asked for forgiveness by begging to
him. Then he requested the Lord Shiva to stand in the Mayilai in the name of
Kapaleeswarar just because he was wearing a necklace made of skulls. Here a
skull stands for the Kapala. This is the reason why this particular name comes
for the Lord Shiva.
Actually in the puranas
it is said that the Lord Shiva and Brahma made their conversation in the Mount Kailash about the discussion on creation ofthree lokam. But when Lord Brahma dint agree for that, Lord Shiva cut and threw
his head off the ground. Now the intention of Lord Brahma is to convince Lord
Shiva and ask apology for his mistake. For this reason he came to Maylai and
created a Lingam for Lord Shiva and started making the necessary rituals and
pooja to cool Lord Shiva. It is said that after these efforts of Lord Brahma
finally Lord Shiva was convinced and Lord Brahma was given apology.
The special occasion in
which the power of the Lord shiva is very high is taken into consideration and
that particular occasion is used to worship the Lord shiva and get all his
blessing. It is very much necessary that the people should find the right time
to worship the Lord
shiva. All the festivals are celebrated to greater
extent in the Kapaleeswarar temple. The temple also offers special Pooja to the
Lord shiva in the special occasion of Mahashivarathri. It is said that whatever
thing that we ask to lord shiva during the Mahashivarathri, that will be fulfilled. And normally the other
occasions are also celebrated to greater extent in the Kapaleeswarar temple.
Mother Uma performed penance here
on Lord taking the form of a peacock. Lord Muruga got His Sakthivel
from Lord. Lord Brahmma got back His creation job with blessings of
Lord here shedding His pride. Vedas worshipped Lord Kapaleeswara, hence
the place is known as Vedapuri. It is also known as Shukrapuri as
planet Shukra-Venus worshipped Lord here. Lord Sri Rama stayed here,
performed pujas to Lord Shiva with festivals. The is the holy soil
where Poompavail was restored to life from her preserved bones, a miracle by
saint Tirugnana Sambandar. Saint Arunagiriar has sung the glory of Lord
Singaravela Muruga in his famous Tirupugazh. Adding to the reputation
of the land, this is birth place of Tiruvalluvar whose Tirukkural is honoured
with translations in many advanced languages of the world.
Thalami, a researcher from Greece, visited this place 2000 years ago and had
mentioned the name of the place as Malliarpa. This was the habitat of
peacocks. As they made sounds Arpu in Tamil the place was known as
Mayil (peacock) Arpu, changed as Mayilappu and finally stayed with the name Mylapore.
Lord Brahmma thought that He was as great and equal as Lord Shiva as He too
had five heads as Shiva. To teach Him a lesson and to check His pride.
Lord Shiva nipped one head and held the skull in His hand. Kapala in
Sanskrit means skull, hence Lord Shiva was praised as Kapaleeshwara and the
place KAPALEESHWARAM.
The first piece of literature on this holy soil was the song of Saint Tirugnana
Sambandar beginning with the line Mattitta Punnayam Kanal. These are
the lines that brought Poompavai, daughter Sivanesar back to life who died of
snake bite while plucking flowers for Shiva Puja. After cremating her
body, Sivanesar preserved the bones and ashes in a pot. After the visit
of Sambandar to the place, as required by the Saint Sivanesar placed the
ash-bone pot before him.
One of such songs addressed to Poompavai then in ash pot said that by her
death she was the loser missing the Thai Poosam festival dedicated to Lord
Shiva. The girl came alive after this song. However, Sambandar
could not accept Poompavai for his wife as requested by the father, as he
himself had now become her father by restoring her to life back. Poompavai spent the rest of her life as a virgin serving Lord Shiva and
attained salvation then.
Before waging His war on demon Surapanma, Lord Muruga performed penance in
this temple. Lord Shiva and Mother Uma blessed the Son and gifted the
weapon VEL to conquer the demon. Muruga returned triumphantly as
Singaravela on the demon peacock demon Surapanma was changed a peacock
vahan of Muruga. Indira gave his daughter Deivanai to Lord Muruga in
marriage. Iravadham elephant belonging to Indira could not bear the separation
of Deivanai and chose to stay with her. Both consorts of Lord Muruga,
Valli and Deivanai grant darshan to devotees sitting on Iravadham. This
is a rare darshan.
Each Poornima-full moon day is a day of special pujas to Lord and
Mother. As the divine Karpaga tree offers all wishes to a devotee,
Mother Ambica offers all that Her devotees wish, hence praised as
Karpakambika. All the 63 Nayanmars-Shiva devotees- come in procession
during the Panguni Uthiram festival in March-April.
Mother Uma wanted
to know the full meaning of the five lettered Mantra Na Ma Shi Va Ya and
the glory of the sacred ash. She begged Lord Shiva to teach Her on these topics. While Lord was teaching Her, Mother Uma was
attracted by the beauty of a peacock dancing before Her. Lord, for Her inattention, cursed Her to become
a peacock. For relief from the curse, He advised Her to go to Earth
and perform penance on Him. Mother Uma worshipped the Shivalinga under the Punnai tree in this place. Moved by Her penance, Lord appeared before Her and
confirmed Her release from the curse and named Her Karpagavalli. As requested by Mother Karpagavalli, Lord
approved the name of the place Mayilai-now Mylapore.
Temple Name: Mylai
Kapaleeswarar Thirukovil
Kapaleeswarar temple Built by: Pallava Nayanmars
God name in Kapaleeswarar temple: Kapaleeswarar
Goddess name in Kapaleeswarar temple: Karpagavalli
Location of Kapaleeswarar temple: Mylapore, Chennai
Vahanas in Kapaleeswarar temple: Bull, elephant, peacock, bandicoot, goat and
parrotadhikarnandi
10 day Panguni Peruvizha in March-April including celebrations for 63
Saivite saints drawing a huge crowd of devotees. The devotee crowd in the
temple is usually huge on New Moon and Full Moon days and Pradosha days. Some
Shiva related festivals are observed in the temple each month.
Devotees pray to Lord for mental peace and Mother Karpakambika for
child, wedding and family welfare. It is the staunch
belief of devotees that their prayer brings them relief from any illness.
Those suffering from any disease, carry sugar in a pot and distribute to
devotees on the 8th day of Thaipoosam festival. They perform abishek and
aaradhanas to Lord Mother offering vastras.
Kapaleeswarar temple is
one of the most famous temples in the Tamil Nadu. This
particular temple is situated in the Mylapore Chennai. There are lots of Shivan
temples available all over India and most of the temples are situated in the
southern part of India and the southern temples are mostly built by the kings. The god himself
comes in the form of the Lingam and that particular lingam is worshiped by many
saints and devotees of the Lord Shiva and the temple is given importance and
the temple is then constructed by the kings who rule that land. According to
one particular calculation it can also be said that the Kapaleeswarar temple is
built in the center part of the Chennai city in order to protect the people of Chennai. Lord Shiva is well known as the god of
destruction.
Every single temple in
India has its own significance. Similarly Kapaleeswarar temple also has its own
importance and significance. It is necessary that people should know more about
the Kapaleeswarar temple before visiting the temple. To tell in general there
are now people from all over the world who come to Chennai to visit the
Kapaleeswarar temple to get glory for their life. Kapaleeswarar temple is the most powerful
temple and
whatever thing that is demanded from the lord Shiva is fulfilled easily. It
will be more beautiful to visit the temple because the construction part is
made more attractive. When there is a function time then the temple will be
fully filled with the devotees.
Kapaleeswarar
temple was built in the 7th century by the Pallava Nayanmars. Nayanmars are
said to be the devotees of Lord Shiva who worship him by singing hymns in the temple.
They are more powerful such that whatever they desire, that will be fulfilled
easily. The Kapaleeswarar temple is built in such a way that it is made very
attractive for the people who visit the temple. Kapaleeswarar temple is the biggest temple in
the Chennai. It was built in such a way that it becomes one
of the biggest attractions for the devotees. The view of the temple from
outside will be very excellent to see. There is also a Pond in the temple which
is known as the Kolam or Theertham which is useful for sacred activities. Some
people also consider taking bath in that Kolam or Theertham as a sacred thing.
Architectural fact is
that the temple is a testimonial for the vishwarkarmas sthapathis. This temple is
built based on the Dravidian style in which the Gopurams are situated along the streets and
the main temple is sitting inside the gopurams. There are basically two
gopurams making two particular entrances to the temple. The height of the
temple is about 40m and the gopuram that is present in the western side faces
the Theppakulam or the so called tank of the temple.
Kapaleeswarar temple is
the temple of Lord Shiva who is considered to be the lord of destruction. It is said that the Lord Shiva gives punishment and
destroys the one who makes mistakes. According to the puranas it is said that
the Shakthi (wife of
Lord Shiva) worshipped
lord Shiva taking the form of the peacock and because of this reason the place
was named as the Mylai and moreover the temple was built after that by the Pallava Nayanmars. Mayil stands for peacock in the Tamil language.
It is said that the Puranas stated that the temple was built by
the Pallavas and this is indeed a great architectural work of the Pallavas.
Among other creations of the Pallavas the Kapaleeswarar temple is also one of
the greatest successes. The scholars tell that the temple was built actually in
the place of the Santhome church and when the Portuguese came to Chennai they
have destroyed the temple. However the architecture of the temple seems to be350 to 400 years old. This shows that the temple was built recently.
Some minority of the
people believe that the temple was actually on the shores but after days went
through the shores have gone a long distance from the temple. Now we can see
that the temple is nearly more than one and a half kilometer from the sea
shore. The Vijayanagara kings rebuilt the temple again in the 16th century and
it is also clear that the original temple was destroyed by the Portuguese.
The inner god inside the
Kapaleeswarar temple is Lord Shiva called as the Kapaleeswarar. The goddess in
the temple is called as the Karpagambal who
is Parvathi, the wife of Lord Shiva. The name Karpagambal gives the
meaning that she is the Goddess of Wish yielding Tree. There is also a great history behind
the temple existence. There are also many powerful aspects in the Kapaleeswarar
temple. This temple also has many festivals and the rituals during the special
occasions and the special days of Lord Shiva. In the Mahasivarathri also the
pooja is very famous in Kapaleeswarar temple.
Do:
- Do pray your Ishta Devata before pilgrimage to Temple.
- Do contact Temple Devasthanam information centre for enquiry, temple information and for Pooja details etc.
- Do reserve your travel and accommodation at Temple well in advance.
- Do bath and wear clean clothes before you enter the temple.
- Do concentrate on God and Goddess inside the temple.
- Do maintain silence and recite Om Namahsivaya or your Istamantram to yourself inside the temple.
- Do observe ancient custom and traditions while in Temple.
- Do respect religious sentiments at Temple.
- Do deposit your offerings in the hundi only.
Don't s:
- Do not come to Temple for any purpose other than worshipping of God and Goddess.
- Do not smoke at Temple.
- Do not consume alcoholic drinks at Temple.
- Do not eat non-vegetarian food in the Kshetram.
- Do not approach mediators for quick Darshanam. It may cause inconvenient to others.
- Do not carry any weapon inside the temple.
- Do not wear any head guards like helmets, caps, turbans and hats inside the temple premises.
- Do not perform Sastanga Pranama inside the Sanctum Sanctorum.
- Do not take much time while performing Sparsa Darshanam to God in Garbhagriha.
- Do not buy spurious prasadams from street vendors.
- Do not encourage beggars at Temple.
- Do not spit or create nuisance in the premises of the temple.
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