KUMBHAKONAM

ADI KUMBHESWARA TEMPLE

Let us begin with Kumbheswarar Koil; fo the city owes its life and name to Siva.  The much-hallowed Sivalingam is in the shape of kumbha - pot, made of Earth mixed with Amrit and water by Brahma himself on the advice of Lord Siva. Just below this much exalted lingam, the idol of Nataraja is installed.  According to the Periapuranam of Sekkizhar, with the approach the great Deluge - Mahapralaya, Lord Brahma was terribly upset and totally paralyzed at the very thought of total destruction to the universe.  And if everything including the seed were to be destroyed, how would the universe be recreated? How to protect the seed? Who could save this? Perturbed with this puzzling problem, he approached Lord Siva for solution.  

Lord Siva then advised him to make a pot with earth and water along with Amrit and to decorate it with thread before keeping a coconut over the mango leaves and Kusagrass placed on the pot; this sacred Kumbha filled with Amrit to be kept hanging from a net, tied to a tree on the Meru Mountain.  It must be worshipped with bilwa leaves.  Done this, recreation problem would be solved. Though implemented, it was carried away and broken, the, mango leaves, coconut, Kusa grass etc., fell at different Maces, They became sacred thirthas later.  When Brahma made an intensive search for it, he found it where the present Kumbheswar temple stands.

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