Agastheeswarar Temple, Talakaveri – Legends & History

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 4^th 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.