Nilakantheswar Temple, Puri – Legends

Nilakantheswar Temple, Puri – Legends

Nilakantheswar:

Lord Shiva is known by various names and Nilakantheswar is one of them. Nilakantheswar means Lord Shiva with blue colored throat. There is a famous story associated with this name. During Samudra Manthan (the churning of the ocean), the ocean released a number of things. One of them was the lethal poison known as Halahala. This terrified the gods and demons because the poison was so powerful that it could destroy all of creation. The Devas then approached Lord Shiva for protection.

Lord Shiva consumed the poison to protect the three worlds. He was suffering intense pain, but could not die, and this could not be seen by Parvati, his consort. She immediately places a hand on his throat, stopping the poison to flow any further, and by her power stopped it forever. As a result, his throat turned blue and he was henceforth called Nilakantheswar (the blue-throated one; "Nila" = "blue", "Kantha" = "throat").

Pancha Pandava Temples:

Nilakantheswar Temple is one of the Pancha Pandava Temple of Puri. As per the legend, Pancha Pandavas (Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva) during their exile visited Puri and stayed here for one day. They worshipped Lord Vishnu for the safety of their journey. As a symbol of their visit, five Shiva temples were built at Puri in memory of their stay at this holy place. These famous five Shiva temples are Lokanatha, Jameswara, Kapalamochana, Markandeswarar and Nilakanthesvara. Together, these temples are called as Pancha Pandava Temples. Nilakantheswar Temple is associated with Sahadeva, one of the brother among the Pancha Pandavas.

Ashta Shambhus:

As per Skanda Purana Purusottama Mahatmya, Puri is called as Shankha Kshetra as it is conch shaped. Puri Jagannath Temple stands at the centre. lt is surrounded and protected by eight shrines called Ashta Shambhus. Markandeswar is one among them. The others are Kapalamochana, Kshetrapal, Yameshwar, lshaneswar, Bilweswar and Neelakantha.