| There is
another slightly varied version of this story: It says Neela was a devotee of Siva and so
he installed the Siva shrine at1iruvangad itself. Similarly Sweta who was a
Vaishnavite built a shrine for Rama, his ishtadevata. Thus Tiruvangad became a
center for worship of Siva and Vishnu. The main
deity, Sri Rama, like most Vishnu images, has four arms. The three arms hold sankha
(conchshell), chakra (discus), and the mace and the fourth is in the abhaya mudra
(protection gesture). The mace is, however, hold upside down, which is a
peculiarity.
It is believed that the deity is depicted as the full form assumed by Sri Rama for
annihilating Khara and his Rakshasa hordes including Dooshana and Trisiras who attacked
the princes in exile in Dandaka forest at the instance of Soorpanakha, Ravana's sister. |
