| The name of the
hillock where the shrine stands i s called Nilachala (blue mountain). This name is
associated with legend,which is happily preserved to us in the Kalika Purana in the
chapter on Daksa Yaina. According to this source, when King Daksa, the father of Parvati
(Sati),instituted a great sacrifice, he sent invitation to all his daughters and the gods
and sages,except his eldest daughter Parvati and Siva, his son-in-law, as he disliked
them. This dislike was due to the fact that in
spite of his opposition Parvati married Siva, whose peculiar habits and quite irrelevant
attitude were not favored by him. Parvati however, came to learn about the perfor- mance
of the sacrifice through Narada. She further learnt from Narada that all her sisters with
their husbands had gone there. She very much desired to see her parents as well as her
sisters and also wanted to know from her fat-her what made him to ‘adopt such a
negligent attitude towards her and her husband.
Therefore, with the permission of her husband, Parvati
journeyed to her father’s place uninvited. But to her utter dismay she found her
father none happy at her arrival. This was naturally discouraging to Parvati, who
was further mortified to find that no necessary arrangement was made for the reception of
Siva although great care was taken to assign places of honour to all other gods. When she
asked her father why Siva was so much neglected by him, Daksa, without making secret of
his displeasure started abusing Siva. |
