Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur – Legends

Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur – Legends

Formation of Kerala:

Parashurama wanted some new land to perform Tapasya:

The story of the origin of the Vadakkunnathan Temple is briefly narrated in Brahmanda Purana and there are references to it in some other works also. Though there are differences between these accounts on the details, all agree on the central fact, namely, that the temple was founded by Parashurama. Parashurama exterminated Kshatriyas twenty-one times. In order to cleanse himself and balance his karma he performed a yajna at the end of which he gave away all the land to Brahmins as Dakshina. He wanted to retire to some new land to perform Tapasya and so he requested the Lord of the seas and oceans Varuna to throw up a new piece of land from the sea.

Surparaka:

According to another version, some sages approached him at the end of the yajna and requested him to give them some secluded land. Parashurama then made the request to Varuna for their sake. Varuna gave him a winnow (surpa) and asked him to hurl it into the sea, as he did a large territory of land was at once thrown up by the sea; this territory that rose out of the sea was Kerala. It was then known by the name "Surparaka", from the word, "Surpa" meaning winnow.

Abode of Lord Shiva:

According to some other accounts, Varuna asked Parashurama to hurl his axe into the sea. Parashurama now wanted to consecrate this new land. So he went to Mount Kailash to his guru, Lord Shiva and requested him to take abode in Kerala and thereby bless the region. Shri Shiva accompanied by his wife Parvati, his sons Ganesha and Subrahmanya and his parashadas went along with Parashurama, to satisfy the desire of his disciple. Shiva stopped at a spot, now Thrissur, for his seat and later he and his party disappeared and Parashurama saw a bright and radiant Shiva Linga (aniconic symbol of Shiva) at the foot of a huge banyan tree.

This place where Shiva first manifested his presence through the Linga is known as the Sri Moola Sthana. For some time, the Linga remained at Sri Mula Sthana at the foot of a huge banyan tree. The ruler of Cochin Kingdom then decided to shift the Linga to a more convenient place and enclose it in a temple. Arrangements were soon made to reinstall the deity in the new place. But there was an initial difficulty. The Linga could not be removed without cutting off a large part of the banyan tree.

While cutting the branches of the tree, there was the danger of a piece of it falling on the idol and damaging it. When the ruler and the others did not know what to do, the Yogadirippad came forward with a solution. He lay over the deity so as to cover it completely and asked the men to cut the tree. The cutting began and to the wonder of all not a piece of the tree fell anywhere near the deity. The deity was moved with all due rituals and installed in the new place where it has remained till now. Then a temple was built according to the rules laid down in the Shastras. 

Names:

Shiva here is more popularly known as Vadakkunnathan (Sanskrit - Vrishabhachala & Tamil - Vidaikunrunathan (Vidai - Vrishabha, Kundru – Chala)). The Sanskrit Vrishabhachala refers to Nandi represented as a mound or hill. The town of Thrissur thus also derives a name Vrishabhadripuram. The Malayalam Vadakkunnathan literally translated, means The Lord of the North, who resides in Kailasam (The Himalayas) which is in the northern side of India. The name Thrissur is derived from 'Thiru-Shiva-Peroor', which literally translates to "The city of the sacred Shiva". Thrissur was also known as Thenkailasam or Dakshina Kailasam (Kailasa of the south) in ancient days.

108 Shivalayas:

Vadakkunathan is one of the 108 Shivalayas consecrated by Saint Parasurama. Since Devi Parvathy was alongside Siva when he gave darshan to the saint, Parvathy was also installed facing east in the temple.

Darshan Mode was formulated by Adi Shankaracharya:

The mode of dharshan for this temple was formulated by the saint Adi Sankara, who in turn was a born to his parents for their Tapasya at this temple. This dharshan order is still followed without alternations.

Shiva Vishnu Unity:

There is a legend behind the three main deities which are believed to have been installed by Parasurama. The story goes that, first he prayed to Siva that he should manifest himself there. But when he opened his eyes what he saw was the image of the four-armed Mahavishnu with the conch, the disc, the mace and the lotus. This is now worshipped as Rama. (In fact, in Kerala almost all-important Krishna temples including the famous Guruvayur temple whether worshipped as Rama or Krishna have the image of Mahavishnu in the form of Viswaroopa in which the lord appeared before Devaki and Vasudeva at the time of his birth.)

Not satisfied with the manifestation of Mahavishnu, Parasurama continued his meditation. This time a small Shiva Linga materialized to the north of Vishnu deity. Parasurama was surprised to see Siva on one side and Rama on the other side. He again went into meditation. Opening his eyes, he saw in the middle of the two deities, Sankaranarayana, the combined form of Siva and Vishnu or Narayana. He was now satisfied and realized that Siva and Vishnu are in fact one and the same.