Guest guest Posted March 12, 2006 Report Share Posted March 12, 2006 Dear Sarita Didi, Ok, didi, I have a few minutes to spare today for you. I will post on Durga Kavacha and Argala Stotra later as it will entail an elaborate posting. It is interesting that you ask about this temple. I came to know about this from my barber!(who massages my head with medicated oils).Wherever I go and whomever I meet I try to tell them about the greatness of Rajarajeshwari Amba without boring them and in an animated conversation with him, I came to know about the greatness of this Amman as he is from village near Trichy.I bow to him. Arulmigu Vekkaliamman temple is situated to the west of Pandamangalam in Urayur, Trichy district. Urayur is a kilometre away from Tiruchirapalli Fort railway station and there are a number of town buses plying to Urayur from Main Guard Gate and also from the Trichy Central Bus stand. Vekkaliamman temple is rather unusual in that the sanctum sanctorum of the presiding deity doesn't have the usual vimana or any kind of roof for that matter, providing shade to the idol. She is seated in her pedestal in the open, with the sky as Her roof. Considering the fact that Vekkaliamman temple is a very old temple, one is really curious about a roofless sanctum sanctorum. What could be the reason behind Her abode remaining roofless for ages together? The ancient city Urayur is one of the ancient cities of Tamil Nadu. The name of this city is mentioned in literature more than 2000 years old, like Silapathikaram, Pattinap paalai, etc. This was one of the popular trade centres of those days. Built by Sura Adithya Chola, Urayur was known by different names like Urandhai, Vasapuri, Kozhiyur etc. Urayur has the additional distinction of being the birthplace of Thirupanalwar, one of the twelve celebrated Vaishnavite Alwars. A sage by name Sara Mamunivar lived in Urayur during the time of Paranthaka Chola. Sage Sara Mamunivar tended a large garden of flowers. He used the flowers for his everyday puja and he used to dedicate all the flowers in the garden to his Lord. It so happened that the flowers from his dedicated garden began disappearing every morning, before he could go to pick them. The sage was worried and remained on vigil for the thief, as this became an everyday affair. And finally he could catch the culprit 'flower-handed'. The sage was shocked to know that the flowers were picked from the garden without his knowledge, with royal consent and royal nod for the use of the King. Whom to go on appeal when the judge himself is the thief! But the sage made up his mind to take the case to the king, tell him that what he was doing was not right and that thieving - even if it is as little as flowers - was not right. Paranthaka Chola was in no mood to listen to the wise counsel of the sage. 'A king is considered to be the second God. Therefore, there is nothing wrong in taking the flowers from the garden of the sage,' he argued. The sage could not convince him and he returned to the temple. Now he had no resort other than the Lord himself. He complained to the Lord about insolent might trespassing and violating the limits of decency and depriving him of the result of his devotion and toil, which was used for being dedicated to Him. As if to respond to the appeal of the sage, it started raining. It was not the regular rain. It was rain of sand, rain of dust on Urayur. It was so dense that people could not stand it any more, as it was suffocating. The king was shocked out of his senses and rushed to the temple of Vekkaliamman, along with the queen, Bhuvana Maadevi. The queen was at that time in an advanced stage of pregnancy. Bhuvana Maadevi had - without the knowledge of the king - dedicated a portion of the flowers that was brought to the palace from the sage's garden to Vekkaliamman in her everyday puja. The legend says that the sandstorm stopped with the grace of Vekkaliamman, who appealed to the Lord. The king was no doubt punishable for his offence. But the punishment, convinced the divine Mother, should not affect innocent people. Paranthaka Chola went north at the behest of Vekkaliamman and from that day, according to the legend, She is seated in the open, in a roofless sanctum sanctorum, facing the north, to protect Her people. The festival of poochoridhal - showering of flowers - takes place in March of every year and lakhs throng Her temple to participate in the festival. Hope this satisfies you Didi, Yours yogically, Shreeram Balijepalli Purity, Powers, Parabrahmam... Click to join Rajarajeshwari_Kalpataru Relax. Mail virus scanning helps detect nasty viruses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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