Agastheeswarar Temple,
Talakaveri – Legends & History
Origin of River Cauvery:
Story 1:
‘According to the mythology,
when the milky ocean was churned by the devas and the asuras in order to obtain
amrita, the elixir of life, Lord Vishnu took Mohini Avathar, to distract the
asuras and restore the elixir to the devas. Goddess Lakshmi also sent along Lopamudra,
an incarnation of Parvathi, to assist Mohini. After the elixir was successfully
restored to the devas Mohini retired to Brahmagiri and turned into a rocky
cave. Lopamudra was brought up by Brahma as his daughter. After some time
Kavera, a sage, came to the Brahmagiri to meditate.
Kavera was lonely and prayed to
Lord Brahma for a child. Brahma was pleased with his devotion and gave him Lopamudra.
Lopamudra was renamed as Kaveri by the sage. Kaveri prayed to Lord Brahma that
she might turn into a river and flow through the country, pouring her blessings
on the people and turning the land green and fertile. She also prayed that her
waters might be so holy that all those who took a dip in it might be absolved
of all their sins.
Lord Brahma granted her boons
readily and Kaveri was really happy. Sage Agastya, an incarnation of Lord
Shiva, happened to see Kaveri when she was deep in meditation on the
Brahmagiri. He fell in love with her and asked her to marry him. Although her
heart was set on turning into a river of blessings, Kaveri could not refuse Sage
Agastya. But she made him promise that if ever she left her alone too long she
would have the right to forsake him and go her way.
Agastya promised and kept his
word faithfully for some time. But one day he got busy in a theological discussion
with his disciples and lost track of time. Kaveri waited patiently for a while
but after some hours had passed she jumped into Agastya’s special holy tank and
flowed from it like a river. As soon as the disciples of Agastya saw what had
happened they tried to stop her from flowing away. But Kaveri promptly went
underground and appeared again at Bhaganda Kshetra and finally merged into the
Bay of Bengal. And it has been worshipped as a sacred river throughout its
course ever since.
Story 2:
According to the mythology,
during the marriage of the Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi in the Mount
Kailash, the earth became unbalanced as north got sinking. Hence, Lord Shiva
ordered Sage Agasthya to go to the South specifically to the south of Vindhya Mountains, to
counter-balance the tilt in the North. Sage Agasthya was very reluctant to go
to the South, he also wanted to witness the celestial marriage and as an excuse
he informed that without a holy tirtha for doing his sankalpas and holy rituals
he would not budge from Mount Kailash. So, Lord Shiva packed the ever-flowing
Cauvery in the Kamandala (A Container to keep sacred Water) of the Sage
Agasthya and sent him to the south.
Lord Indra was cursed to hide in
between the strand of a fiber in a Lotus stalk. He had to perform a penance to
Lord Shiva to regain his lost glory for which he needed a holy Thirtha. Indira
was advised by Sage Narada, to pray to Lord Ganesha to bring a holy river to
where he was hiding and the nearest happened to be the Kamandala of Sage
Agasthya where in Cauvery was confined. Lord Ganesha took the form of a
crow and perched himself on the Kamandala of Sage Agasthya while he was
meditating. When Sage Agasthya realized this, he shooed away the crow. But the
Crow tipped the kamandala and toppled it. The crow disappeared and in its place
stood a small boy.
Sage Agasthya thought that the
boy was playing some prank and clenching both his fists, went to pound the head
of the small boy. But the boy escaped and Agasthya gave chase. Finally, the boy
vanished and Lord Ganesha showed himself to Sage Agasthya. Sage Agasthya was
aghast at the realization that he had just tried to knock the head of Ganesha himself.
As atonement, he knocked his own head with both of his clenched fists. This
became the “Pillaiyaar Kuttu” which is an integral part of Vinayaka worship.
Shivalli Brahmins:
It is believed that Mayura
Varma, and Narasimhan, the Kadamba
King who ruled vast areas of southern and central India in the
4th Century A.D. brought Brahmins from Ahi Kshetra (or Ahichatra)
and put them in-charge of various temples in Tulu Nadu. Ahi Kshetra is
mentioned in the Mahabharata as lying north of the Ganges, and as being the
capital of Northern Panchala. It is apparently the Adisadra of Ptolemy, and its
remains are visible near Ramnagar in Tahsil Aonla in Bareilly
district. The Brahmins who first landed in Shivalli in Tulunadu and
then spread across 31 villages came to be known as Shivalli Brahmins or Tulu
Brahmins. It is from Shivalli and Tulu Brahmins, that the priests of Talakaveri
temple have come from.
Achar Family of Talakaveri:
The beginning of the Achar
family in Talakaveri starts ten generations or about 220 to 230 years ago
before which it was worshiped only by kodavas and the priests being amma
kodavas A Brahmin named Venkappayya and his two brothers, along with their
families came to Talakaveri on a pilgrimage. Lingaraja the First was the ruler
of Kodagu. One-night, God appeared in Lingaraja's dream and indicated that
there was a Brahmin family currently visiting Talakaveri.
God commanded Lingaraja to
appoint this Brahmin to be the priest at the temple. After the king arose from
his dream, he sent for this Brahmin family. The king's messengers found
Venkappayya in Talakaveri and informed him about the king's desire. Venkappayya
accompanied the king's messengers from Talakaveri to Madikeri, a distance of
about 24 miles to meet the king. Lingaraja received Venkappayya and requested
him to start daily puja at the temple.
The king set up an endowment to
pay Venkappayya for his services at the temple. This was the beginning of the
Achar family of Talakaveri. The priesthood bestowed by Lingaraja upon
Venkappayya has passed on through many generations to his heirs. It is hereditary
as most priesthoods are, and all male members of the family have the birthright
to become priests at the temple. The current Achars are the ninth generation
from Venkappayya.
